Austin Van Allen

National Standards of Excellence in Music Education; Standards addressed by the Jamaican Unit:

_X__Singing alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music
_X__Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music
___Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments
___Composing and arranging music with specific guidelines
___Reading and notating music
_X__Listening to, analyzing, and describing music
_X__Evaluating music and music performances
_X__Understanding relationships between music, the other arts and disciplines outside the arts
_X__Understanding music in relation to history and culture


Jamaican Cultural Music Unit
This unit is designed and based on my experiences teaching in rural Jamaica during the summer
of 2013. It can be taught separate or it can be included as a subunit of a broader World Music/Musical
Cultures Unit. This unit will be taught over three days, which usually takes about a week in the public
school general music classroom. I am a believer in music doing, so there is a strong emphasis on
singing, dancing, and playing instruments. The materials, objectives, assessments, and procedures are
included under the following, separate lesson plans. The national standards addressed in this unit are
located above. If this unit were taught as separate from a more inclusive World Music Unit, I would
segue into a Hand Drum Group Composition Assignment, which would include the three remaining
National Standards.

Lesson Plan:
Jamaican Cultural Music
Day One

Materials
-Djembes or other hand drums
-Projector
-External Speakers
-Jamaican PowerPoint

Student Objectives
-SWBAT play Jamaican drum beats with consistent tempo
-SWBAT experience Jamaican culture through dance
-SWBAT experience Jamaican culture through Dinki Mini drumbeats

Teacher Objectives
-Give students appropriate, specific feedback
-Build good rapport with the students
-Deliver instruction clearly and concisely
-Practice good classroom management skills in a drum and dance lesson

Austin Van Allen
Assessment
-Informal assessment of students ability to maintain a steady tempo while performing Dinki Mini
Drum beats.
-Ask questions to direct students to assess themselves.
-(Optional) Create an opportunity to formally assess students playing abilities including playing
techniques and cultural knowledge.

Procedure:
Outline:
I. Getting the groove (power point presentation)
A. Intro Video to Jamaica!
B. Brief explanation of Jamaica and Jamaican music
1. Includes the cultural Significance of the Dinki Mini
2. Include my background in Jamaica
II. Playing the Dinki Mini
A. Learning boom (bass) and Dah (tone)
B. Combining patterns in duple, in syncopation, in dotted rhythms
C. Learning Drum parts for Dinki Mini
1. Learning Dinki Mini drum beat 1
2. Learning Dinki Mini drum beat 2
3. Combining the drum beats together (explain how the beats fit together)
4. Add the shaker part
D. Instructor sings Mango Time over students playing the ensemble
III.The Dinki Mini Dance
A. Teach the students how to execute the dance moves.
B. Have students experiment with the dance moves
IV. Putting the ensemble together
A. Divide students into 3 groups 2 drum parts, and one dance group
B. Start ensemble
1.Have students dance as a group while the ensemble is playing both parts
the Dinki Mini Drum Beat.

Contingency Plan:
Rotate groups to give everyone a chance to perform Drumbeat 1, Drumbeat 2, and Dance.












Austin Van Allen
Lesson Plan:
Jamaican Cultural Music
Day Two


Materials
-Djembes or other hand drums
-Projector
-External speakers

Student Objectives
-SWBAT play Jamaican drum beats with consistent tempo
-SWBAT experience Jamaican culture through Bruckins drumbeats

Teacher Objectives
-Give students appropriate, specific feedback
-Build good rapport with the students
-Deliver instruction clearly and concisely
-Practice good classroom management skills in a drum

Assessment
-Informal assessment of students ability to maintain a steady tempo while performing Bruckins
Drumbeats.
-Ask questions to direct students to assess themselves.
-(Optional) Create an opportunity to formally assess students playing abilities including playing
techniques and cultural knowledge.

Procedure:
Intro:
-Have students sit down at their drums
-Review Boom and Dah
-Review Dinki Mini
Body
-Introduce new patterns to the students
-Teach Bruckins Drum Beat 1
-Teach Bruckins Drum Beat 2
-Divide the class in half, start drumbeat 1
-Bring in Drum Beat 2
-Switch the sides of the class playing the drumbeats.

Contingency Plan:
-Have students start up both parts of the drumbeats. Teacher sings wings of a dove over top of the
ensemble.



Austin Van Allen

Lesson Plan:
Jamaican Cultural Music
Day Three


Materials
-Guitar
-Projector
-Lyric Sheets
-Hand Drums

Student Objectives
-SWBAT experience Jamaican culture through singing traditional Jamaican Folk Songs
-SWBAT experience Jamaican culture through playing traditional Jamaican Drum Beats

Teacher Objectives
-Give students appropriate, specific feedback
-Build good rapport with the students
-Deliver instruction clearly and concisely
-Practice good classroom management skills singing lesson & Drumming lessons.

Assessment
-Informal assessment of students ability to sing correct pitches utilizing proper singing technique.
-Informal assessment of students knowledge of Jamaican culture through questioning and discussion.
-Ask questions to direct students to assess themselves.

Procedure:
Intro:
-Before class begins set up projector and lyric sheets to help with students learning songs by rote.
Body
-Teach Mango Time to students by rote using short phrase, long phrase, and whole song echo sequences.
-Add Guitar Accompaniment while students sing
-Divide class into thirds. One-third plays Dinki Mini part 1; another third plays Dinki Mini part 2;
the final third of the class sings Mango Time.
-Encourage students who are playing the drumbeats to sing as well (if they can).

Contingency Plan:
-Rotate class so that everyone has a chance to play both drumbeats and sing