Soundtrack of Your Life
Again, this is a lesson plan that I found during my pop music in the classroom search. I really thought the my students would like this lesson, so I wanted to include it in this post. The link to this lesson plan can be found in the previous post.
Type of Activity: Individual.
Approximate time: Four 50-minute class periods.
Objective: Students will write reflectively and personally.
Materials: The Soundtrack of Your Life assignment sheet includes blanks for songs and artists and an explanation of each required paragraph. It may also be necessary for students to consult their Compact Disc (CD) liner notes or Internet sites for lyrics. The Green Book by Jeff Green is a great optional resource which provides a thematic categorization of over 20,000 song titles.
Setup: Play music as the students are entering the classroom.
Procedure:
Day One: Distribute a copy of the lyrics and play Bon Jovi's "It's My Life." Then, discuss the meaning and message of the song and the possible relationships to Jon Bon Jovi's life. Next, have the students discuss this song in relevance to their own lives. After the discussion, have the students choose eight major events — deaths, first car, entering high school — in their lives and then choose songs to accompany each event. Some students will need overnight to complete the list.
Day Two: Have the students collect the titles of at least eight meaningful songs that correspond to the events they selected on Day One. The songs should be of a school-appropriate nature. By using CD Liner notes, the Internet, and The Green Book, students will be able to find lyrics that fit their events. It is also helpful to encourage sharing of events in order for students to find songs that fit their musical tastes.
Day Three: Now that the students have created an "imaginary soundtrack" to their lives, have them write a reflective letter that explains why each event and song is included. Create examples or use examples fromwork by previous students to help explain the expectations of the assignment. Have the students follow the outline on the student handout for constructing the soundtrack of their life.
Day Four: (Wait several days after Day Three for this part of the lesson.) This is the day the writing assignment is due for presentation to the class along with a visual aide. Students need only share a small portion of their soundtrack; this helps everyone feel more comfortable in front of the class. As the students share their visual aides (usually CD cases of their soundtrack) everyone in the class begins to better understand their peers, which builds a positive classroom climate and mutual respect among students.
Summary: This assignment combines a student's passion for music with a teacher's respect for the personal narrative. It's an invaluable combination for inspiring students to write. The assignment sets a positive tone at the beginning of school by having students share their lives with each other and with the teacher. Through the vehicle of the personal narrative, the teacher learns about each student's background through a first writing effort that unfolds in a safe, creative, and comfortable atmosphere. Of course, the personal narrative — particularly as it connects to music — also engages students in the emotional response to a creative work, which the teacher will expect from them when they respond to literature later in the school year.
Enrichment: Use this same "imaginary soundtrack" activity, but create the soundtrack to a novel your class is reading instead. This works extremely well because it challenges students to summarize the main ideas of each chapter with an individual song that captures or shares that same meaning. Other successful and creative ideas include a poster and presentation, an interview with the "rock star" (student), a CD release party, a mock concert, or a "behind the music" documentary.
One way in which I could alter this assignment:
I have been in a classroom where I was given the task to make a CD that represented me. On it, I was able to put music that represented me throughout the different time periods of my life. After each member of the classroom had finished their CD, we swapped. In fact, we put them all in a box and randomly drew one out. They did not have our names on them.
You then were required to write a two page paper discussing what you felt this person was like, hat they went through, or what this music represented for them. After these papers were graded, the person who made the CD was given the paper.
One addition that I would make to this assignment is to have each student write an initial paper reflecting on their music choices. Then, they can swap papers with the person who picked their CD. Then they could have a discussion about how similar or different the interpretation of the music choices were.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Resources for Teaching Popular Music in the Classroom
Rock and Roll hall of Fame Museum website
This site has 52 lesson plans that cover a wide range of topics – from the music of the Vietnam War, to Woody Guthrie and the Grapes of Wrath, to the Bill of Rights. I picked a lesson at random to look at (Lesson 40 – Rock and Poetry: A Thematic Project). I chose this because I have before tied music lyrics to poetry. What I found when I clicked on a link is a very well thought out, detailed lesson plan. It gives information on the objectives of the lesson, Materials needed, background information, procedures, evaluation, and more. If each of the lesson plans found here are this well done, it is going to be a wonderful site to keep going back to.
Media Awareness Network website
I wanted to include this particular lesson plan because it went so well with our assignment for this week. On this page you will find a lesson plan that introduces students to the idea of popular music and music videos. In this lesson plan, the students will get to learn about the role that music videos play in the history of music itself (much like we did) and also look at how music and popular culture invade their lives as well.
Read Write Think website
Over my career as a teacher, I have found a lot of great lesson plans on the Read*Write*Think website. I feel like this website has a lot of materials that connect standard Language Arts curriculum with pop culture. Along with this specific lesson plan, I have also used lesson plans that discuss satire with both the movie Shrek and the television show The Simpson’s. I have included these links below as well.
This specific lesson plan uses the lyrics of Stairway to Heaven to examine and analyze metaphors in poetry. Again, I have done something similar and it worked really well. I think I would use this lesson to introduce a poetic device project I would want my students to complete.
Lit Tunes Lesson Plans website
The reason that I included this website was it’s main belief or goal. The lesson plans on this page are meant to “enhance literacy and inspire writing.” I think that this is definitely a goal that most, if not all, Language Arts teachers can relate to. It looks as though it has quite a few lesson plans that would interest my students, including ones on The Barenaked Ladies and Johnny Cash.
I also really like the “Soundtrack of Your Life” lesson plan. It is reminiscent of an assignment that I completed while taking a Rhetoric of Rock Music class at the University of Minnesota.
Read Write Think website
Here are the two lesson plans on satire that I used during a summer school class. I think that the one based on Shrek and fairy tales was a definite success. The one based on The Simpson’s was also fun, and the students were engaged, but I think I would tweak it a little bit to make it more successful.
Shrek
The Simpson's
This site has 52 lesson plans that cover a wide range of topics – from the music of the Vietnam War, to Woody Guthrie and the Grapes of Wrath, to the Bill of Rights. I picked a lesson at random to look at (Lesson 40 – Rock and Poetry: A Thematic Project). I chose this because I have before tied music lyrics to poetry. What I found when I clicked on a link is a very well thought out, detailed lesson plan. It gives information on the objectives of the lesson, Materials needed, background information, procedures, evaluation, and more. If each of the lesson plans found here are this well done, it is going to be a wonderful site to keep going back to.
Media Awareness Network website
I wanted to include this particular lesson plan because it went so well with our assignment for this week. On this page you will find a lesson plan that introduces students to the idea of popular music and music videos. In this lesson plan, the students will get to learn about the role that music videos play in the history of music itself (much like we did) and also look at how music and popular culture invade their lives as well.
Read Write Think website
Over my career as a teacher, I have found a lot of great lesson plans on the Read*Write*Think website. I feel like this website has a lot of materials that connect standard Language Arts curriculum with pop culture. Along with this specific lesson plan, I have also used lesson plans that discuss satire with both the movie Shrek and the television show The Simpson’s. I have included these links below as well.
This specific lesson plan uses the lyrics of Stairway to Heaven to examine and analyze metaphors in poetry. Again, I have done something similar and it worked really well. I think I would use this lesson to introduce a poetic device project I would want my students to complete.
Lit Tunes Lesson Plans website
The reason that I included this website was it’s main belief or goal. The lesson plans on this page are meant to “enhance literacy and inspire writing.” I think that this is definitely a goal that most, if not all, Language Arts teachers can relate to. It looks as though it has quite a few lesson plans that would interest my students, including ones on The Barenaked Ladies and Johnny Cash.
I also really like the “Soundtrack of Your Life” lesson plan. It is reminiscent of an assignment that I completed while taking a Rhetoric of Rock Music class at the University of Minnesota.
Read Write Think website
Here are the two lesson plans on satire that I used during a summer school class. I think that the one based on Shrek and fairy tales was a definite success. The one based on The Simpson’s was also fun, and the students were engaged, but I think I would tweak it a little bit to make it more successful.
Shrek
The Simpson's
Music and Politics from the 1970's and 1980's
Due to growing up in the eighties, I was rather excited about starting off with the chapter in Rockin’ Out that Reebee Garafalo dedicated to that decade. Learning about the music that I grew up with definitely interested me and kept my attention - again, I have to make a bit of an aside to reiterate that if we could catch our students’ attention by engaging them in a topic that they are interested, we will achieve this same effect with them. They will want to acquire more knowledge in that area and we, as educators, will sneak in that pesky reading that they seem adverse to. Ok. Rant over. Back to the topic at hand.
While I don’t define myself with the songs and artists of the eighties, I am sure that they had some influence over me. This influence could have taken root in the more political aspect of my life. I find that I agree with the outcome of the political actions of the eighties. Now I know that my political leanings did not come solely from the music of the eighties (since I was between the ages of 0 and 10) but I am sure they influenced the people around me and therefore passed on when I got to the age to think more politically.
While reading Chapter 9: Music Videos, Superstars, and Mega-Events: The Eighties, I found myself immersed in the story of the time. As a naïve, passive music listener, I really had no idea about the history that surrounded this decade. I grew up in a world where MTV dominated the television. In fact, I only lived one year of my life devoid of this channel. It was interesting to learn how the pairing of the auditory and the visual helped the recession that occurred in the music industry to bounce back.
On the other hand, it was quite sad to learn about the racist and sexists practices MTV succumbed to in order to make money. I realize that big businesses have to follow the practices of the times if they want to make money, but you would think that a revolutionary business would be willing to takes more risks and take them in a speedier manner than they actually occurred. This was just not true.
As far as the topic of race was concerned, the music industry showed its true colors both in the artists it signed, but also in the artists it showed on television. I think that the quote by veejay Mark Goodman really sums up the argument against promoting African American performers: “Of course, also we have to try and do what we think not only New York and Los Angeles will appreciate, but also Poughkeepsie or the Midwest. Pick some town in the Midwest which would be scared to death by Prince, which we’re playing, or a string of other black faces, or black music” (298). This just shows the political influence that controlled the music industry. I will be forever grateful to Michael Jackson for breaking down the color barrier that exists not only in the music industry, but also in our society. Who knows where we would be as a society if he had never gained the fame and popularity he did.
When approaching the topic of women in music, and specifically in music videos, I feel that my last post goes into a lot of that detail, and I refer you to that if you haven’t already read it. However, I will say that I do not believe that the use of women in male artists’ videos has changed much in the last thirty years. It seems that the idea of using women as visual hooks is still alive and well. Will this ever change? Part of me hopes that it will, but the larger part of me thinks that this is a trend that will stay for a long time.
Overall, I was thrilled with the leaps and bounds that the political realm gained due to or at the same time as the leaps and bounds made in the musical realm of the 1980s. On the other hand, while reading the chapter in Rockin’ Out that talked about the history of the 1970s, I had the opposite reaction.
My beef doesn’t really reside with the music of disco, but rather with its counterpart of punk music. Since I was not a child of the 70s, I really had no exposure to the music that came out of this decade. Even my older brother, who was born in 1973, missed this era of music entirely. I do now, however, have a group of students that are taken over by puck music. In fact, one of my students decided to do a research project on punk music, reading for weeks about intimate detail of two of his favorite bands. After reading chapter eight in our textbook, I began to wonder if he really understood what punk music meant or represented. It would be interesting to find out if this particular student knows the history of the punk music or if he just fell in love with the sound of the music.
I have to say; I understand some of the philosophy behind punk music. I understand not wanting to be controlled, and instead opting to be something different. But, I do think these thoughts were taken to some pretty far extremes. And sadly, these extremes showed up in the political climate of both Britain and the U.S. I know that it wasn’t the goal of the punk movement to become a symbol for the National Front, but when you choose to use symbols such as the swastika to make a political stand, it can come back and haunt you. The book states that it was more about confrontational art and not an endorsement of racism, but it amazes me that they could have over looked the history of the aforementioned symbol.
Not only did they forget about the history surrounding the swastika, they used it not to enhance their beliefs, but instead to make more money. For Westwood and McLaren, it became a way for them to put a stamp on the fashion of the times as well as get themselves immersed in markets other than music, such as the film industry. To make money off of the tragedy that surrounds this symbol is disgusting to me.
I was glad to hear that groups formed to combat the message and beliefs of the National Front. I feel that the Rock against Racism (RAR) was indispensable to what our country became. I loved that they worked to bring not only blacks and whites to the stage at the same time, but worked also to cross the gender and sexual orientation barriers. It is amazing to me that the culture of music has such a wide reach that it could help a politician gain the popular vote in an election. And this is not something that only happened in our history. This is still going on today. You can see it in shows such as Rock the Vote. I am glad there are people who are using their influence to make people think about what it is they want our country to stand up and believe in.
As a teacher, it seems like a no brainer to want my students to understand how politics and music go hand in hand. I think in noting this connection, it will help them understand the music and lyrics that they are enamored with.
While I don’t define myself with the songs and artists of the eighties, I am sure that they had some influence over me. This influence could have taken root in the more political aspect of my life. I find that I agree with the outcome of the political actions of the eighties. Now I know that my political leanings did not come solely from the music of the eighties (since I was between the ages of 0 and 10) but I am sure they influenced the people around me and therefore passed on when I got to the age to think more politically.
While reading Chapter 9: Music Videos, Superstars, and Mega-Events: The Eighties, I found myself immersed in the story of the time. As a naïve, passive music listener, I really had no idea about the history that surrounded this decade. I grew up in a world where MTV dominated the television. In fact, I only lived one year of my life devoid of this channel. It was interesting to learn how the pairing of the auditory and the visual helped the recession that occurred in the music industry to bounce back.
On the other hand, it was quite sad to learn about the racist and sexists practices MTV succumbed to in order to make money. I realize that big businesses have to follow the practices of the times if they want to make money, but you would think that a revolutionary business would be willing to takes more risks and take them in a speedier manner than they actually occurred. This was just not true.
As far as the topic of race was concerned, the music industry showed its true colors both in the artists it signed, but also in the artists it showed on television. I think that the quote by veejay Mark Goodman really sums up the argument against promoting African American performers: “Of course, also we have to try and do what we think not only New York and Los Angeles will appreciate, but also Poughkeepsie or the Midwest. Pick some town in the Midwest which would be scared to death by Prince, which we’re playing, or a string of other black faces, or black music” (298). This just shows the political influence that controlled the music industry. I will be forever grateful to Michael Jackson for breaking down the color barrier that exists not only in the music industry, but also in our society. Who knows where we would be as a society if he had never gained the fame and popularity he did.
When approaching the topic of women in music, and specifically in music videos, I feel that my last post goes into a lot of that detail, and I refer you to that if you haven’t already read it. However, I will say that I do not believe that the use of women in male artists’ videos has changed much in the last thirty years. It seems that the idea of using women as visual hooks is still alive and well. Will this ever change? Part of me hopes that it will, but the larger part of me thinks that this is a trend that will stay for a long time.
Overall, I was thrilled with the leaps and bounds that the political realm gained due to or at the same time as the leaps and bounds made in the musical realm of the 1980s. On the other hand, while reading the chapter in Rockin’ Out that talked about the history of the 1970s, I had the opposite reaction.
My beef doesn’t really reside with the music of disco, but rather with its counterpart of punk music. Since I was not a child of the 70s, I really had no exposure to the music that came out of this decade. Even my older brother, who was born in 1973, missed this era of music entirely. I do now, however, have a group of students that are taken over by puck music. In fact, one of my students decided to do a research project on punk music, reading for weeks about intimate detail of two of his favorite bands. After reading chapter eight in our textbook, I began to wonder if he really understood what punk music meant or represented. It would be interesting to find out if this particular student knows the history of the punk music or if he just fell in love with the sound of the music.
I have to say; I understand some of the philosophy behind punk music. I understand not wanting to be controlled, and instead opting to be something different. But, I do think these thoughts were taken to some pretty far extremes. And sadly, these extremes showed up in the political climate of both Britain and the U.S. I know that it wasn’t the goal of the punk movement to become a symbol for the National Front, but when you choose to use symbols such as the swastika to make a political stand, it can come back and haunt you. The book states that it was more about confrontational art and not an endorsement of racism, but it amazes me that they could have over looked the history of the aforementioned symbol.
Not only did they forget about the history surrounding the swastika, they used it not to enhance their beliefs, but instead to make more money. For Westwood and McLaren, it became a way for them to put a stamp on the fashion of the times as well as get themselves immersed in markets other than music, such as the film industry. To make money off of the tragedy that surrounds this symbol is disgusting to me.
I was glad to hear that groups formed to combat the message and beliefs of the National Front. I feel that the Rock against Racism (RAR) was indispensable to what our country became. I loved that they worked to bring not only blacks and whites to the stage at the same time, but worked also to cross the gender and sexual orientation barriers. It is amazing to me that the culture of music has such a wide reach that it could help a politician gain the popular vote in an election. And this is not something that only happened in our history. This is still going on today. You can see it in shows such as Rock the Vote. I am glad there are people who are using their influence to make people think about what it is they want our country to stand up and believe in.
As a teacher, it seems like a no brainer to want my students to understand how politics and music go hand in hand. I think in noting this connection, it will help them understand the music and lyrics that they are enamored with.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Women and Sexuality in Music Videos
After watching the assigned videos, and reading the critique of Fiona Apple’s Criminal, I was at a bit of a loss as to what to write for this blog post. Leaving the subject as open as it was makes me think about the plethora of topics that could be discussed. So, that’s what I am going to do. I am going to dissect each of these videos and look at the images, the lyrics, it’s place in history, and the reaction the viewer had upon seeing the stimuli.
We first viewed Lesley Gore’s It’s My Party video. This video was produced in 1963 and shows the artist singing to a group of dancing young adults while background dancers perform behind her. The camera cuts back and forth between Lesley, the crowd, and the background dancers as the song goes along.
As far as the lyrics go, they are pretty harmless. It is a poppy little tune about her boyfriend dumping her for another girl and bringing the new girl to the exes birthday party. Of course, his old girlfriend is a bit upset by this new revelation and decides to cry. And do we want to stop her? Why would we – It’s her party and she can cry if she wants to, as the song tells us.
The first thing that I noticed is the lack of connection between the music video and the lyrics of the song. I think my generation is used to the video either telling the pictorial story of the song or at least enhancing the song through images. With this video it is not the case. The images do not follow the lyrics, nor do they enhance the song. I am assuming that the reason for this is due to the time period in which this song was written and performed. This video felt like more of a performance than a music video – one maybe taped during an episode of American Bandstand.
Due to the “safe” lyrics and the even safer video, I did not have too much of a reaction to this song. It is one that I had heard many times in many circumstances, from on the oldies channel to on the Sweatin’ to the Oldies VHS tape my mom still brings out on occasion. This particular song from this era, coupled with the video, does nothing to challenge or shock its viewer in any way.
In 1996, Fiona Apple gave us the song, and video, Criminal. In this music video we see a young woman in the basement of a house that we, the viewers, are led to believe that she has just taken part in an orgy.
The lyrics to this song talk about the fact that she has made mistakes and needs help to redeem herself. In fact, in the lyrics to this song she compares herself at one point to the devil. These song lyrics are a far cry from Lesley Gore’s It’s My Party. As time has gone on, and decades have passed, women have been able to take more of a power role when expressing themselves though song. If Lesley Gore had decided to write something similar to Criminal, there would have been an outrage and both the music industry and her adoring fans would probably have ostracized her.
When I first saw the Criminal video, fourteen years ago, I remember really liking it. It seemed to my sixteen-year-old self that it was a really good video. Looking at it today, I would agree with that assessment. I think that the mood of the video matches with her voice and the lyrics of this particular song.
Video reviewer, Mark Zeltner dislikes that in this video we, the viewers, were pulled into this sensual video through the use of Fiona both taking a picture of us in the beginning and also singing straight to the camera (to us) throughout the video. I actually think that this is what most artists shoot for. They want their listeners to be drawn into the music, into their lyrics, into their video. If we were not meant to be apart of their work, it would never be published for us to read/hear/see.
Another critique Mark Zeltner makes is the assertion that the director of the video has created “a soft porn four minute masterpiece masquerading as a contemporary rock music video”. If you look at what the accepted definition of what soft porn is you will see that this video, while sexual in nature, does not meet these standards. One definition found on Wikipedia states that “Softcore pornography depicts nude and semi-nude performers engaging in casual social nudity or non-graphic representations of sexual intercourse or masturbation.” I would argue that the actors in Apple’s video do not engage in any sort of representation of sexual intercourse or masturbation. While these acts are hinted at, they are not displayed for the viewer to see.
This is very unlike the images shown in Lil Kim’s How Many Licks. This video is filled with nothing but “semi-nude performers engaging in casual social nudity or non-graphic representations of sexual intercourse or masturbation.” Why then did Mark Zeltner leave this song alone when writing his critiques? In Lil Kim’s video, multiple images are cut together to show the story of the main character. We see this character 1.scantily clad while dancing with other scantily clad women, 2. on a poster with nothing covering her breasts other than pasties, 3. being used as an image for a gentleman to get self-pleasure, and 4. as a take charge sexual being wearing a low cut, skin tight outfit while driving a powerful automobile.
Not only were the images of this video explicit, but so were the lyrics. Holy cow. During the introduction of this song Lil Kim uses very graphic language. I had never heard this song before, so when I did hear it for the first time I was quite shocked.
But, I do think that was the point. She is challenging the conventions of each and every viewer with both her lyrics and the video she put together. Over time, we have definitely come a long way from the tame videos of the 1960’s.
The last question I want to bring up is this: if Fiona Apple’s or Lil Kim’s songs were performed by males, would Mark Zeltner and I be more comfortable with them? I believe that the members of our society are pretty used to men being in charge, taking control, and flaunting their sexuality, both in life and in music videos. Would that have made Zeltner more comfortable with the “soft porn” images, or me more comfortable with Lil Kim’s lyrics? It is hard to know the answer to this, but I tend to think the answer is a resounding yes.
We first viewed Lesley Gore’s It’s My Party video. This video was produced in 1963 and shows the artist singing to a group of dancing young adults while background dancers perform behind her. The camera cuts back and forth between Lesley, the crowd, and the background dancers as the song goes along.
As far as the lyrics go, they are pretty harmless. It is a poppy little tune about her boyfriend dumping her for another girl and bringing the new girl to the exes birthday party. Of course, his old girlfriend is a bit upset by this new revelation and decides to cry. And do we want to stop her? Why would we – It’s her party and she can cry if she wants to, as the song tells us.
The first thing that I noticed is the lack of connection between the music video and the lyrics of the song. I think my generation is used to the video either telling the pictorial story of the song or at least enhancing the song through images. With this video it is not the case. The images do not follow the lyrics, nor do they enhance the song. I am assuming that the reason for this is due to the time period in which this song was written and performed. This video felt like more of a performance than a music video – one maybe taped during an episode of American Bandstand.
Due to the “safe” lyrics and the even safer video, I did not have too much of a reaction to this song. It is one that I had heard many times in many circumstances, from on the oldies channel to on the Sweatin’ to the Oldies VHS tape my mom still brings out on occasion. This particular song from this era, coupled with the video, does nothing to challenge or shock its viewer in any way.
In 1996, Fiona Apple gave us the song, and video, Criminal. In this music video we see a young woman in the basement of a house that we, the viewers, are led to believe that she has just taken part in an orgy.
The lyrics to this song talk about the fact that she has made mistakes and needs help to redeem herself. In fact, in the lyrics to this song she compares herself at one point to the devil. These song lyrics are a far cry from Lesley Gore’s It’s My Party. As time has gone on, and decades have passed, women have been able to take more of a power role when expressing themselves though song. If Lesley Gore had decided to write something similar to Criminal, there would have been an outrage and both the music industry and her adoring fans would probably have ostracized her.
When I first saw the Criminal video, fourteen years ago, I remember really liking it. It seemed to my sixteen-year-old self that it was a really good video. Looking at it today, I would agree with that assessment. I think that the mood of the video matches with her voice and the lyrics of this particular song.
Video reviewer, Mark Zeltner dislikes that in this video we, the viewers, were pulled into this sensual video through the use of Fiona both taking a picture of us in the beginning and also singing straight to the camera (to us) throughout the video. I actually think that this is what most artists shoot for. They want their listeners to be drawn into the music, into their lyrics, into their video. If we were not meant to be apart of their work, it would never be published for us to read/hear/see.
Another critique Mark Zeltner makes is the assertion that the director of the video has created “a soft porn four minute masterpiece masquerading as a contemporary rock music video”. If you look at what the accepted definition of what soft porn is you will see that this video, while sexual in nature, does not meet these standards. One definition found on Wikipedia states that “Softcore pornography depicts nude and semi-nude performers engaging in casual social nudity or non-graphic representations of sexual intercourse or masturbation.” I would argue that the actors in Apple’s video do not engage in any sort of representation of sexual intercourse or masturbation. While these acts are hinted at, they are not displayed for the viewer to see.
This is very unlike the images shown in Lil Kim’s How Many Licks. This video is filled with nothing but “semi-nude performers engaging in casual social nudity or non-graphic representations of sexual intercourse or masturbation.” Why then did Mark Zeltner leave this song alone when writing his critiques? In Lil Kim’s video, multiple images are cut together to show the story of the main character. We see this character 1.scantily clad while dancing with other scantily clad women, 2. on a poster with nothing covering her breasts other than pasties, 3. being used as an image for a gentleman to get self-pleasure, and 4. as a take charge sexual being wearing a low cut, skin tight outfit while driving a powerful automobile.
Not only were the images of this video explicit, but so were the lyrics. Holy cow. During the introduction of this song Lil Kim uses very graphic language. I had never heard this song before, so when I did hear it for the first time I was quite shocked.
But, I do think that was the point. She is challenging the conventions of each and every viewer with both her lyrics and the video she put together. Over time, we have definitely come a long way from the tame videos of the 1960’s.
The last question I want to bring up is this: if Fiona Apple’s or Lil Kim’s songs were performed by males, would Mark Zeltner and I be more comfortable with them? I believe that the members of our society are pretty used to men being in charge, taking control, and flaunting their sexuality, both in life and in music videos. Would that have made Zeltner more comfortable with the “soft porn” images, or me more comfortable with Lil Kim’s lyrics? It is hard to know the answer to this, but I tend to think the answer is a resounding yes.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Why teach popular music in the classroom?
After reflecting over the school board’s idea to move “back to the basics” in order to improve test scores in reading and writing, I wanted to put forth reasons why this plan may not work.
For many years, we have seen a decline in not only students’ test scores, but also in their interest level in participating in class discussions, assignments, and other coursework. What seemed important and interesting to the student population fifty, forty, or even ten years ago does not hold the same value for the students we are currently teaching. Our students’ interests are evolving right along with the change in our society. Why is it that we, as educators, are not willing to change right along with them, but instead stick to the same rigid curriculum we have been teaching, without success, for a long time?
The lack of interest in the curriculum they are supposed to learn is a key reason why they are becoming more and more disinterested in our classrooms. If we can provide the students with a “hook”, or a link to who they are and what they like, we may be able to draw them back into an environment where learning can, and will, take place.
I want you to think for a moment about a topic in which you have no interest to learn about. Maybe it is knitting, or fishing, or maybe it is underwater basket weaving. Now consider how you would react if I told you that all you could read about for the next nine months was that one topic, which you have already professed disinterest. Were you overjoyed at the thought of learning more on that subject and being able to understand it better, or did you groan audibly, shut down, and decide you wouldn’t do the reading? Now think about how you would have reacted if you were a teenager.
Next, think of a topic that you love. If you got the chance to read about that topic for the next nine months, how would you feel? Excited? Interested? Ready to get started? We are not so different from our students and I think we lose sight of this as we continue to choose curriculum that does not interest them. Now, I do understand that there is not a magical topic; a subject area that will appeal to each and every member of our school’s community. But I do feel that there are those that will appeal to a large majority of our student population.
One topic that may garner the interest of the majority of the population is popular culture, and, more specifically, popular music. The question is: how do we incorporate the topic of popular music into the already existing standards that we have set for ourselves? Where does this topic fit? At first glance, it doesn’t seem like it would be a smooth transition to bring the topic of popular music into our school. Into which discipline would it best fit?
While reading Rockin’ Out: Popular Music in the USA by Reebee Garafalo, I felt that the ideas presented in both the introduction and in the chapter on the music in the 1980’s would be not only interesting for the students to learn, but also would enhance their understanding our country’s history. Just as reading Wuthering Heights enhances a student’s understanding and knowledge of 19th Century England, learning about and reviewing music from various eras can provide a lens in which to view history and culture.
We can use popular culture and popular music as bait to help students become interested in new subject matter. Will we only be discussing the history of music without opening the doors to the history of our country and the world? Of course not; the two are intertwined. We cannot look at the history of music without talking about the history of the world. It is just not possible. Our history influenced the music of the times, which in turn, influenced our history. Many social and cultural shifts that occurred in the American society happened right along with shifts in the music scene.
If a social studies teacher was given the opportunity to reach out to a student through their love of music, we may be able to help them culture a new passion for history by linking the two together. This new passion could carry on for years, opening new doors to our students as they continue on through the world of academia.
You may be asking, if we can only teach popular culture and popular music in socials studies class, why are you, a language arts teacher fighting for this opportunity? I struggled with this myself. After a cursory glance it seemed that the most logical place to study popular music would be in the social studies classroom, but after probing further into the topic and talking with my colleagues, it is apparent that the topic of popular music is a multidisciplinary one.
Go back to our earlier example of reading something that interests you and relate this to our students. As a language arts teacher, one of my duties is to open our students’ eyes to writing from across the world. By the time they graduate high school, my students are supposed to have been exposed to American literature, British literature, world literature, and poetry. I cannot tell you how many times I have introduced a new novel to a group of incoming students and have been told, I haven’t read a book since elementary school. When asked why this is, it quickly becomes apparent that they have no connection to what they are reading.
Even today, after the students took the practice MCA-II Reading test, one student told me it wasn’t so bad since the reading was interesting. In fact, many concurred with this assessment stating that they hoped to never read about how to peel potatoes ever again; which was one of the passages we had read earlier in the year. The message from our students is clear: if we let them read things they’re interested in, they will want to read. Once we can get past a student’s aversion to reading, I believe they will be much more inclined to give other topics found in literature a chance.
Along with literature, the students must be introduced to poetry. When we think of poetry, people like Emily Dickinson, William Shakespeare, Deborah Keenan, and Allen Ginsburg pop into our minds. But what about the likes of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Kanye West? Looking back at the works of Emily Dickinson or William Shakespeare it is easy to see where a high school student could get lost when trying to come up with the “true meaning” of their poetry. While the themes may be universal, the language used is not. It can be quite tedious for a novice in poetry to understand the intentions of the poet. If we instead were able to introduce them to poetry through a poet of our students’ generation, such as any of the above musicians, I believe the students would have an easier time understanding the poetry and grasping the meaning. Does that mean that there isn’t a place for Henry Wordsworth Longfellow in our curriculum? Definitely not. After the students have mastered the poets of their generations, it would be our job to take them a step further and challenge them with the classics. But at least them we would have built upon the groundwork of the knowledge and confidence of our students.
In summary, we have tried the “back to the basics” approach and have seen the decline in our student’s knowledge and willingness to learn. Why not try to generate an interest in their own education by offering topics that interest the students instead of pushing them away? Please consider this proposal to include the topics of popular culture and popular music into our curriculum.
For many years, we have seen a decline in not only students’ test scores, but also in their interest level in participating in class discussions, assignments, and other coursework. What seemed important and interesting to the student population fifty, forty, or even ten years ago does not hold the same value for the students we are currently teaching. Our students’ interests are evolving right along with the change in our society. Why is it that we, as educators, are not willing to change right along with them, but instead stick to the same rigid curriculum we have been teaching, without success, for a long time?
The lack of interest in the curriculum they are supposed to learn is a key reason why they are becoming more and more disinterested in our classrooms. If we can provide the students with a “hook”, or a link to who they are and what they like, we may be able to draw them back into an environment where learning can, and will, take place.
I want you to think for a moment about a topic in which you have no interest to learn about. Maybe it is knitting, or fishing, or maybe it is underwater basket weaving. Now consider how you would react if I told you that all you could read about for the next nine months was that one topic, which you have already professed disinterest. Were you overjoyed at the thought of learning more on that subject and being able to understand it better, or did you groan audibly, shut down, and decide you wouldn’t do the reading? Now think about how you would have reacted if you were a teenager.
Next, think of a topic that you love. If you got the chance to read about that topic for the next nine months, how would you feel? Excited? Interested? Ready to get started? We are not so different from our students and I think we lose sight of this as we continue to choose curriculum that does not interest them. Now, I do understand that there is not a magical topic; a subject area that will appeal to each and every member of our school’s community. But I do feel that there are those that will appeal to a large majority of our student population.
One topic that may garner the interest of the majority of the population is popular culture, and, more specifically, popular music. The question is: how do we incorporate the topic of popular music into the already existing standards that we have set for ourselves? Where does this topic fit? At first glance, it doesn’t seem like it would be a smooth transition to bring the topic of popular music into our school. Into which discipline would it best fit?
While reading Rockin’ Out: Popular Music in the USA by Reebee Garafalo, I felt that the ideas presented in both the introduction and in the chapter on the music in the 1980’s would be not only interesting for the students to learn, but also would enhance their understanding our country’s history. Just as reading Wuthering Heights enhances a student’s understanding and knowledge of 19th Century England, learning about and reviewing music from various eras can provide a lens in which to view history and culture.
We can use popular culture and popular music as bait to help students become interested in new subject matter. Will we only be discussing the history of music without opening the doors to the history of our country and the world? Of course not; the two are intertwined. We cannot look at the history of music without talking about the history of the world. It is just not possible. Our history influenced the music of the times, which in turn, influenced our history. Many social and cultural shifts that occurred in the American society happened right along with shifts in the music scene.
If a social studies teacher was given the opportunity to reach out to a student through their love of music, we may be able to help them culture a new passion for history by linking the two together. This new passion could carry on for years, opening new doors to our students as they continue on through the world of academia.
You may be asking, if we can only teach popular culture and popular music in socials studies class, why are you, a language arts teacher fighting for this opportunity? I struggled with this myself. After a cursory glance it seemed that the most logical place to study popular music would be in the social studies classroom, but after probing further into the topic and talking with my colleagues, it is apparent that the topic of popular music is a multidisciplinary one.
Go back to our earlier example of reading something that interests you and relate this to our students. As a language arts teacher, one of my duties is to open our students’ eyes to writing from across the world. By the time they graduate high school, my students are supposed to have been exposed to American literature, British literature, world literature, and poetry. I cannot tell you how many times I have introduced a new novel to a group of incoming students and have been told, I haven’t read a book since elementary school. When asked why this is, it quickly becomes apparent that they have no connection to what they are reading.
Even today, after the students took the practice MCA-II Reading test, one student told me it wasn’t so bad since the reading was interesting. In fact, many concurred with this assessment stating that they hoped to never read about how to peel potatoes ever again; which was one of the passages we had read earlier in the year. The message from our students is clear: if we let them read things they’re interested in, they will want to read. Once we can get past a student’s aversion to reading, I believe they will be much more inclined to give other topics found in literature a chance.
Along with literature, the students must be introduced to poetry. When we think of poetry, people like Emily Dickinson, William Shakespeare, Deborah Keenan, and Allen Ginsburg pop into our minds. But what about the likes of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Kanye West? Looking back at the works of Emily Dickinson or William Shakespeare it is easy to see where a high school student could get lost when trying to come up with the “true meaning” of their poetry. While the themes may be universal, the language used is not. It can be quite tedious for a novice in poetry to understand the intentions of the poet. If we instead were able to introduce them to poetry through a poet of our students’ generation, such as any of the above musicians, I believe the students would have an easier time understanding the poetry and grasping the meaning. Does that mean that there isn’t a place for Henry Wordsworth Longfellow in our curriculum? Definitely not. After the students have mastered the poets of their generations, it would be our job to take them a step further and challenge them with the classics. But at least them we would have built upon the groundwork of the knowledge and confidence of our students.
In summary, we have tried the “back to the basics” approach and have seen the decline in our student’s knowledge and willingness to learn. Why not try to generate an interest in their own education by offering topics that interest the students instead of pushing them away? Please consider this proposal to include the topics of popular culture and popular music into our curriculum.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)