Stage 1 Desired Results

• ESTABLISHED GOALS
• Cultural Literacy
• Critical Listening
• Artistic Tolerance and Appreciation

Standards

Students will be able to independently use their learning to…        

• draw connections between musical trends, social norms, and historical events of the past 40 years.
• assess and analyze a song's structure, lyrical content, and commercial appeal.
• develop an abiding sense of objectivism in determining how a song, artist, and/or genre might appeal to a particular demographic.

Meaning

UNDERSTANDINGS        

Students will understand that…

• music is intimately and tangibly connected to a society's cultural norms, political/economic climate, and global events
• popular music comprises far more than just melodies and lyrics. It is an amalgamation of complex harmonic, textural, rhythmic and melodic variables.
• no musical artist or genre exists within a bubble; that all popular music trends have a cause and effect relationship with the world they inhabit.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS        

• How do specific musical artists and genres utilize the social climate, technological advance, and pop culture of a particular era to gain mainstream acceptance and commercial viability?
• Why do two songs released in the same year but with seemingly nothing in common with one another both achieve widespread acclaim?
• In what ways do new musical trends access past influences and the current sociological climate to create music that is sometimes timeless but often ephemeral?

Acquisition

Students will independently be able to use their learning for...        

• the ability to relate music and its embedded emotional context to both micro and macro societal events.
• a nuanced capacity to judge a song's merit based on myriad factors that go beyond merely beats, words, and hooks.
• the development of a more objective and inclusive approach to assessing an artist's worth and influence.

Students will be skilled at…        

• identifying the relationships between music and other aspects of culture.
• peeling back the layers of song to critically assess its genesis.
• accessing music through a variety of mediums in order to broaden their understanding of music's sweeping and varied influence.

Stage 2 - Evidence

Evaluative Criteria

Assessment Evidence

• listening skills
• technological acumen
• writing samples

PERFORMANCE TASK(S):        

• formative assessments
• summative assessments

OTHER EVIDENCE:        

• spotify playlists
• album reviews
• traditional tests (multiple choice, matching, T/F, etc.)

Stage 3 – Learning Plan

Summary of Key Learning Events and Instruction

• 1970s/1980s hip-hop
• 1980s new wave
• 1980s arena rock and hair metal
• 1980s thrash metal
• 1990s alternative rock
• 1990s Britpop and trip-hop
• 1990s female singer/songwriters
• 1990s post-grunge/nu-metal/teen pop