Undercover Pop

Blowing the Cover off a Myth: Arrangings not just for the Pros

Melanie Sutherland 2

Melanie Sutherland
Foundations II Final Project: Unit Plan & Analysis

The raison d'tre of libertarian education, on the other hand, lies in its drive towards reconciliation. Education must begin with the solution of the teacher-student contradiction, by reconciling the poles of the contradiction so that both are simultaneously teachers and students. Paulo Freires Pedagogy of the Oppressed (page 70)

Preamble: My intent throughout the planning of this unit has been shaped by the reconciliation of Freirean principles, Abrahamic interpretations of those principles, and my own personal philosophy (as developed thus far over my twenty-three short years). Though there were many important aspects within these influences, I felt that one phrase in particular served as an ideal intersection of all three: Honoring their world. This phrase is presented by Abrahams as the first, paramount, step of the lesson-planning model derived from his analysis and clarification of Freires pedagogical principles.

While most of my formal studies in Education have had similar catch phrases, I found them to generally stand in conflict with my own personal belief systems. For example, the ever-popular Begin with the end in mind! seems like a wonderful idea

Melanie Sutherland 3 initially, but its implication is of course immediately derived from the philosophy of the deliverer. As it has primarily been delivered to me, it is supposed to mean, Decide quite clearly and certainly the format of each lesson by determining what final product you (the teacher) would like the students to manufacture. Rather than reject this motto entirely, I prefer to implement it as a tool of foresight: if you can imagine what your students may be interested in, or what challenges they may face, you are more fully capable of creating opportunities which serve to inspire and engage your students.

Teacher-student Duality & The Banking System: The problem-posing method does not dichotomize the activity of the teacher-student: she is not "cognitive" at one point and "narrative" at another. She is always "cognitive," whether preparing a project or engaging in dialogue with the students. He does not regard cognizable objects as his private property, but as the object of reflection by himself and the students. In this way, the problem-posing educator constantly re-forms his reflections in the reflection of the students. The studentsno longer docile listenersare now critical co-investigators in dialogue with the teacher. The teacher presents the material to the students for their consideration, and re-considers her earlier considerations as the students express their own. Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Pp. 80 81) Teacher Education programs all inherently allow the opportunity to build upon ones experiences as a student, a teacher, and a simultaneous student-teacher. Whether through journaling, course work, or discussion I have gained insight into my own learning and teaching preferences, as well as those of my peers, my teachers, and my students.

Melanie Sutherland 4 These insights would not necessarily be realized without the reflective practices instilled by my programs specific mandates and philosophies, for which I am very grateful.

While I am certainly not a quiet person, I could never justify nor would I enjoy standing in front of a class lecturing while my passive students absorbed (or, more likely, endured) my wise offerings of essential intellectual nuggets. With that being said, the practice of giving a five-minute set of instructions, followed by sitting at a desk while the students worked in quiet solitude was also something that did not resonate well with me. Thankfully, I found guidance in Pedagogy of the Oppressed, as Freire is fervent in his endorsement and explanation of dialogical techniques that serve to engage and include all participants as partners in learning.

Implicit in the banking concept is the assumption of a dichotomy between human beings and the world: a person is merely in the world, not with the world or with others; the individual is spectator, not re-creator. In this view, the person is not a conscious being (corpo consciente); he or she is rather the possessor of a conscious- ness: an empty "mind" passively open to the reception of deposits of reality from the world outside. Pedagogy of the Oppressed (page 73) As a teacher, I aim to take a constructivist approach with my students, considering them partners in learning. I believe students will be surprised but empowered by the idea that they have a say in not only the details, but also the concepts and direction of their learning. Rather than depositing knowledge as per the traditionally accepted banking system that Freire references, I want to recognize that my students are individuals with

Melanie Sutherland 5 their own knowledge bases. They are not empty vessels that need filling and sending on their way. They have referential points and biases that enter the classroom when the students do. Therefore, as I developed this unit plan, I wanted to incorporate popular culture references that would ideally be familiar and/or interesting to the students. While students may not know Pitch Perfect or any of the referenced bands/artists featured in my song choices, they certainly will be familiar with YouTube. I hope to engage them and pique their interest, as well as provide them with a starting point so that perhaps they will go home and explore many of the covers on YouTube themselves. In this way, students can take my I say this with all sincerity out-of-touch experiences and transform them into something that is not only accessible but significant and personal to them.

Guiding Principles of this Unit: Freire speaks of ten attitudes and practices that mirror oppressive society as a whole (Freire, p. 73) and are fundamental to the banking process. I would like to offer ten alternative statements that, truthfully, serve as the polar opposite of these banking attitudes. I feel that these statements can serve as guiding principles in a positive, Freirean learning environment. Their polarity to the banking model is what makes them relevant and constructivist; it is also why they cannot be considered infallible, nor can they be guaranteed to remain as they currently stand. I present them, for the time being, as follows: a. Each participant is an active teacher, and each participant is an active learner; b. Everyone knows something, and everyone can contribute positively; c. Everyone thinks analytically about what is happening in our learning; d. Everyone is given the opportunity to speak, and everyone listens with an open,

Melanie Sutherland 6 engaged mind; e. Rather than disciplining, we problem-solve as a collective group (this rule may be overturned if anyones physical or mental safety is compromised); f. The students are the wind that drives our collective learning, and the teacher ensures that the sails are adjusted accordingly (to ensure that everyone gets what they need to have a positive, fruitful learning experience); g. All participants are actively engaged and participating; h. The teacher may present the initial learning idea, but all of the participants determine where their learning goes; i. All participants recognize the importance of fostering a safe place, where the validity of everyones opinion and knowledge base is given freedom to co-exist and interact; j. No one participant is more valuable than any other. We all help each other learn and grow, both musically and personally.

Targeted Learning Outcomes: While Freire does not believe that outcomes are an efficient method of planning, Abrahams in his interpretation of Freire suggests that the philosophy ought to be interpreted in cooperation with goals or intended propensities in mind. I personally find that outcomes often serve as constraints to a learning experience, by limiting it to its originally intended goals. This is absolutely not honoring the students world.

Melanie Sutherland 7 That being said, I find that when approached with an open mindset, setting goals can be a wonderful tool for creating positive learning opportunities for your students. Better yet, we can set these goals with our students. Setting goals allows us to determine if we have gained or benefited from our learning experiences. Not meeting the goals does not mean that participants have not grown; rather the goals simply serve to help us assess and reflect upon our learning, not only summatively, but formatively as well.

Goals can be a wonderful tool throughout the learning process, but they must give way to spontaneity and natural processes of learning. The value of goal setting is eradicated the moment we allow our goals to dictate and restrict our learning.

The radical, committed to human liberation, does not become the prisoner of a "circle of certainty' within which reality is also imprisoned. On the contrary, the more radical the person is, the more fully he or she enters into reality so that, knowing it better, he or she can better transform it. This individual is not afraid to confront, to listen, to see the world unveiled. This person is not afraid to meet the people or to enter into dialogue with them. This person does not consider himself or herself the proprietor of history or of all people, or the liberator of the oppressed; but he or she does commit himself or herself, within history, to fight at their side. Pedagogy of the Oppressed (page 39)

Melanie Sutherland 8 In the creation of this unit, I hope to serve students interests and focus their growth in a way that is relevant, positive, and will promote life-long musicking. By facilitating the development of understandings that will allow students to make any music their own, I hope that students will feel confident and excited in pursuing further musical experiences. The Unit: 1. Context: Grade: 9 12 Choir (could very easily be adapted to Band, General Music, or other music-related courses) Most students have basic literacy skills in regards to traditional musical notation, though many have never read music prior to this class. Students have experimented with found sounds previously throughout the year, particularly during warm-ups, as well as in one piece sung by the choir: Bagatelle Scherzo (the score asks students to make farm animal noises, R2D2 noises, and pop paper bags, etc.)

2. Targeted Learning Outcomes: Not all possible outcomes are listed. Sometimes I have included the Specific Learning Outcome, and others I have included the General Learning Outcome. This is done with the intent of demonstrating where I believe specific goals to be worthwhile and applicable across a wide spectrum of activities. If I felt that the specific goals would not necessarily translate depending on what direction the learning experiences take, I have simply listed the General Learning Outcome.

Melanie Sutherland 9 ELAs Music Language and Performance Skills Outcomes/Goals 5-8 M-L2.1 Students play and/or sing by ear, reproducing rhythms with increasing accuracy, complexity, and expression 5-8 M-C1.1 Students generate multiple ideas for music making through constructive experimentation with music and sound 5-8 M-C1.2 Students demonstrate understanding of experimentation and improvisation as a valuable component of the music-making process Understanding Music in Context M-U1 Students experience and develop awareness of music from various times, places, social groups, and cultures. M-U2 Students experience and develop awareness of a variety of Watching YouTube covers Formative Are students thinking critically about what components are/are not effective? Activity/Project Assessment Cup Game Formative 1. Are students able to comprehend cup game? 2. Do they seem to be engaged and enjoying the cup game?

Creative Expression in Music

Cup Game Group Adaptations

Formative 1. Are students working cooperatively to choose and connect a song? 2. Are students thinking critically about what components are/are not effective?

Melanie Sutherland 10 music genres, styles, and traditions. M-U3 Students demonstrate understanding of the roles, purposes, and meanings of music in the lives of individuals and in communities. Creative Expression in Music 5-8 M-C3.2 Students sing or play responsively, demonstrating an awareness of the musical intent of the ensemble. 5-8 M-C3.3 Students rehearse, revise, refine, and share own and others music. 5-8 M-C3.4 Students make appropriate decisions as to whether own work is finished. 5-8 M-C3.5 Students collaborate with others to select, present, and share own and others individual and group works of music through performances, composition Students development of own rhythmic/vocal covers Formative Are students working cooperatively to develop a cover? Summative 1. Do students show evidence of a revision process? 2. Have students completed a cover to their satisfaction? 3. Have students had at least one section in the cover that is strictly vocal/rhythmic sounds?

Melanie Sutherland 11 portfolios, and/or recordings. Creative Expression in Music 5-8 M-C3.2 Students sing or play responsively, demonstrating an awareness of the musical intent of the ensemble. 5-8 M-C3.3 Students rehearse, revise, refine, and share own and others music. 5-8 M-C3.4 Students make appropriate decisions as to whether own work is finished. 5-8 M-C3.5 Students collaborate with others to select, present, and share own and others individual and group works of music through performances, composition portfolios, and/or recordings. Valuing Musical Experience 5-8 M-V1.1 Students engage consistently and constructively in music learning experiences. Students creation of final project Formative Do students engage in a respectful discussion to come to a collective agreement of standards for a final project? Students development of own covers (unrestricted instrumentation) Formative Are students working cooperatively to develop a cover? Summative 1. Do students show evidence of a revision process? 2. Have students completed a cover to their satisfaction? 3. Have students implemented strategies that they discussed as being effective?

Melanie Sutherland 12 5-8 M-V1.2 Students generate relevant questions and contribute thoughtfully to discussions in music learning experiences. 5-8 M-V4.2 Students collaborate in establishing appropriate criteria for assessing and guiding own learning in music (process and product) 5-8 M-V4.5 Students establish, reflect on, and reassess personal and group goals for extending learning in music. Valuing Musical Experience M-V2 Students Students selfanalyze their own evaluation, peerand others musical evaluations excerpts, works, and performances. M-V3 Students form personal responses to and construct meaning from their own and others music. M-V4 Students assess their learning in Formative 1. Do students feel they worked cooperatively as a group to create covers? 2. Do students feel they used their time positively, keeping their interactions relevant to the project? Summative 1. Do students recognize potential strategies for making future covers? 2. Do students recognize positive components of their own and others Summative 1. Do groups/the class as a whole follow through on their plan for the final project? 2. Is the final project completed to the students satisfaction?

Melanie Sutherland 13 performing, creating, and experiencing music. covers? What could be improved upon in future covers?

3. Instructional Contexts and Strategies: In addition to class discussions and full-class/small-group games, students will complete two projects in groups that they choose themselves. These groups may vary in their size, skill level, and the content that they address. The students will problem solve within their groups, and they will also determine the difficulty, the enormity, and the methods through which they experience their work. 4. Lesson Outlines: Each lesson is intended as a Learning Episode rather than a class period, meaning no time limit is set, and the Learning Episode may in fact be multiple class periods. Activate Opening Lesson:

Students enter. They are asked to stand in one big circle, and I will lead students through a series of rhythmic echo patterns, as have been present in the choral warm-ups throughout the course of the year. I will build to the final pattern being a cup-less version of The Cup Game. Acquire I ask the students if they have ever heard of the song Cups from Pitch Perfect. If any students know the cup pattern (or a similar cup pattern) I will ask them if they would like to teach the whole class. If nobody knows it, I will proceed to make the class aware the they have in fact just done the cup pattern in their warm-up, and then we will try it a few more times, until most people have gotten the gist of the pattern. I will then teach the students the song Cups (again, if any students know the song, they may teach instead), and

Melanie Sutherland 14 we will proceed to put the song and the rhythmic pattern together. Once students seem relatively confident in doing the song and the pattern, we will add the cups! If students find it difficult to sing and do the pattern, they may choose to only do the rhythmic pattern. We will play the cup game for a while, and then discuss how we find the song and rhythm together, or why someone would make a song in that way. Apply Students will break off into smaller groups, where they will pick a different song or chant to sing over the cup pattern. They may adapt the cup pattern if they would like, but they must still be able to use the pattern as part of the game. Assess As groups finish putting together a song and a pattern, they will wait for the next group to finish, and then groups will teach each other their version of The Cup Game. We will have a class discussion (or large group discussions, if some groups are taking quite a while longer than others) about why certain songs worked well with the game. If students find some versions particularly great we can play as a whole class, and incorporate them into the long-term classroom activities plan.

Activate

Mid-point:

Participants watch YouTube cover videos. The teacher has many ready to get the class started, but if students also have appropriate examples the class could certainly watch those as well. Acquire A class discussion will occur, determining what we liked or did not like about the various covers. Students can express their opinions regarding what was effective, what was strange or interesting, and any other ideas that the videos may have inspired.

Melanie Sutherland 15 Apply Students will then break into small groups of 2 6 (students may discuss with teacher if they feel they need more group members), and each group will brainstorm and eventually decide on a cover that they would like to do. They can use any instrumentation they want, but all group members must participate actively, with their best attitudes and effort. Assess Each group must work cooperatively to revise their work and to incorporate ideas as they go along in their work. Students must determine with their group when they are satisfied and consider their project to be done.

Activate

Closing:

Students will experience their final project, analyzing their finished product and actively considering how they feel about it. Acquire Students will discuss their opinions with others, determining what they thought was effective, what they would have liked to explore further, and whatever else they would like to discuss. Apply Students will complete evaluations. These could be completed in many different ways, including short written statements, interviews (peer-peer, student-teacher, groupgroup, etc.), or any other methods students would like to express their ideas in for the future. Assess A class discussion will occur, where we reflect upon our learning. Students will fill

Melanie Sutherland 16 out a short self-evaluation form, consisting of Yes, No, Maybe questions. The form will also have room for comments, or for additional assessment criteria that the students would like to write into empty boxes on the rubric. 5. Assessment Tools and Strategies: *See #2: Targeted Learning Outcomes for table outlining specific assessment practices. Assessment will occur both formatively and summatively. Formative assessment will serve to determine what direction the learning will take as the unit progresses, as well as how students are finding the content in terms of relevance and growth. Summative assessment will serve to determine if students saw growth in themselves and others, as well as uncovering what gains were made throughout the learning experience. As with all learning experiences, each groups work will be assessed by: i. The teacher ii. Their peers iii. Themselves Assessment AS Learning: By assessing, students not only evaluate their own and others works, but also can gain deeper understanding of concepts and can develop questions they wish to explore further. Assessment OF Learning: By assessing, the teacher (as well as the students) can evaluate what learning took place, how it occurred, and why it occurred. Were goals met? Did growth occur? Assessment FOR Learning: By assessing, all participants can evaluate and critique the learning experience, ensuring it is as beneficial as possible for current and future students.

Melanie Sutherland 17

6. Resources: A comprehensive list of resources required throughout the unit. Plastic Cups Cups Tutorial Cups Game - YF 2012 Call Your Girlfriend - Robyn Call Your Girlfriend - Erato Call Your Girlfriend - Lennon & Maisy Stella Disney Medley - Biola's King's Men Imagine Dragons - It's Time The Barenaked Ladies (The Bathroom Sessions) - Some Fantastic Gotye - Somebodies: A YouTube Orchestra Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir - 'Lux Arumque' Computer Projector Recording capabilities (audio, visual)* *Dependent upon specific execution of the unit Unit Outline according to Abrahams 8-step Lesson Planning Model: Undercover Pop Blowing the Cover off a Myth: Arrangings not just for the Pros Lesson Steps 1. Honoring their world: Throughout the term, parts of the choral warm-ups have been a series of rhythms. At the beginning of this new unit, I teach the cup game using the rhythmic components used throughout the warm-up series. This cup game is adapted from Once the students have mastered the basic essence of the game, students are divided into groups of approximately 6 students. Each group must come up

Critical Pedagogy Who we are

Melanie Sutherland 18 with a part of a song that they can sing while playing the cup game. 2. Sharing the experience: The group as a whole will then try each small groups version of the cup game. We will informally discuss the game, and if we like one groups version in particular, it can be used regularly as a warm-up tool. Did some songs work better than others? What did we like about the versions? What did we think was challenging? Can we combine some of the songs (in canon, at same time, etc.)? Who they 3. Connecting their world to the classroom: may become The teacher will show students various examples on YouTube of covers that use voice and rhythmic sounds together. Most of which the students may possibly know already. 4. Dialoguing together: Discussion: Do you like these covers? Why or why not? What do these covers do effectively? What would you like to have seen done differently? What aspects would you carry over to other covers? Do these videos give you ideas on covers you might like to do? 5. Practicing the content: Students will choose a song to arrange in the same style as the cup game. They can copy a video from YouTube, or any song from their iTunes, etc. The only stipulation is that whatever song they cover must have ONE significant difference from the version they are choosing to cover (be it the original, or a cover). They must use voices and either body percussion or percussive noises comprised of found-sounds. They may use other instruments for part of the song, but at least one section must be voices and rhythm only. Who we might become together 6. Connecting School music to the students world: Students will then have the freedom to do any cover (that is schoolappropriate) involving any instruments they would like, in groups of between 2 6 people (students choose groups). If they have an idea that requires more people they can discuss it with the teacher. The teacher could certainly join a group, particularly if a group seems lost for a starting point, or if they

Melanie Sutherland 19 struggle to bring their ideas to fruition. 7. Assessing transformation: Students will put have a final product to show for their work. This may take the form of a CD compilation recorded independently by students, a lunchhour concert in the cafeteria for their peers, or an alternative that the students suggest. 8. Acknowledging transformation: If the students do a CD, they can listen to it independently, and we can also play the songs as people walk in for choir. If they do a concert or something of the like, it would be nice to record it (audio and perhaps video) so the students can serve as their own audience. Regardless, giving the students a chance to reflect upon and evaluate their work (final product as well as the process) would be beneficial to all. This could take many forms including: a short paragraph, a brief interview (teacher-student, student-student, groupgroup, etc.), a class discussion, etc. Students would have the opportunity to self-assess, as well as offer constructive criticism to their peers as well as to the teacher.