WELCOME TO
All That Jazz
by
Dolores McConnell
July 20, 2000

Curriculum Guide

All That Jazz

Aim

This web site will use technology as a resource and social studies as a means of exploring music of the Jazz Age during the 1920's and 1930's.

Rationale

Students will undertake this project to increase and broaden their understanding and appreciation of jazz. This module seeks to provide students with opportunities to see how something about the past can help them to make inferences about the future. Students will be encouraged to communicate and collaborate via online projects and other activities to promote engaged learning.

Goals and Objectives

Students will:

Learn and become involved in a multidisciplinary unit involving the use of the World Wide Web to encourage critical thinking and discovery on the part of all participants.

Search the web site successfully through the use of links.
Locate activities in site to individualize learning.

After culminating this unit, students will be able to:

Use basic computer skills and Internet searching skills as a primary resource.
Create a writing project that profiles selected jazz artist during the 1920's-1930's.
Students will use vocabulary which relates to the study of jazz and demonstrate their knowledge by constructing a report or project which they will present to the class.
Demonstrate knowledge by making a dramatic presentation or skit of key artist during the Jazz Age of the 1920's-1930's.

The objectives of the module correlate with the following state goals and Chicago
outcomes.

Social Studies

State Goal : Understands the role American culture and how it was created.

Language Arts

State Goal l : Reads with understanding and fluency.
State Goal 4 : Communicate effectively

Fine Arts

State Goal 6 : Identify and describe how music tells a story about the people and a specific time.
State Goal 9 : Students will identify examples from the Jazz Age and relate them to musical examples which they will select from their own experience.

Audience

This unit is to be used with students from grades 6th-8th.
Special education students will be given the opportunity to participate by peer tutoring with other students who could help them in their area of need. Special needs students may need help with reading and writing the materials or using the computer.

Prerequisites

All That Jazz was designed for intermediate students and their teachers. Both students and teachers should have basic computer skills and be familiar with browsing a web site. Students should know how to click on images and recognize that the images represent pages of the module. Students should have a general knowledge about the Internet and the World Wide Web.

Instructional Plan

The students will choose one artist to study in detail. The students will share the information so that at the end of the unit all students will know about various jazz artists of the 20's and 30's. The approximate time of study of this unit is 8-10 weeks with 40 min. per week spent for research, writing, and other activities.

1. Introduce the unit by asking the students what they know about jazz artists and what they would like to know. Make a lists of jazz artists that are familiar (KWL chart). Hang charts up around classroom.

2. Divide the class into groups with each group assigned to select a particular jazz artists which they are most interested in researching, discussing, and writing about. Students may work in pairs if they choose to.

3. Review using the Internet and the browser in class.

4. Have students go to the kids page to research topics listed on the KWL charts.

5. Students should have a folder for keeping notes. The journal will contain information gathered by searching the internet. In addition to using the web to locate information, encyclopedias, books, and magazines can be used as a resource.

6. Go to links to learn more about the names of various jazz artists on the wall charts.

7. Students will compare the contributions of various artists of the 20's and 30's, and record and enter information into their journals each day.

8. Students will become familiar with jazz artists their music, life, and time periods. They will be able to choose appropriate information sources to answer given questions. Students will understand and explain the historical events surrounding the music of the jazz artists and how they put it together.

Materials

The following are needed to use this project:

A computer connected to the Internet
A web browser like Netscape or Internet Explorer
URLs, World Wide Web addresses
Paper and Pencils
Access to the library
Common art supplies (markers, paper, paint, etc.).
Journals, notebooks, folders
A disk
Jazz music of the 20's and 30's
Guest speaker (optional)
Field trips: DuSable Museum, Chicago Historical Society and Broadcast Museum

Assessment and Evaluation Plan

Portfolios

Students create portfolios of the Jazz Age. This might include essays about the project and their role in it, reports or notes from research they did on their artists, artwork , pictures, or stories about various jazz artists of the 20's and 30's. They may be submitted by each student, or by small groups working together.

Journals

Students record their progress through the project, including what they have done on the computer and how they retrieved their information.

Presentations

Students present their work and share their experiences and information to their classmates, to other classes, teachers, and family. Poster presentation, web pages, projects and photos can be used as tools to enhance their presentations.

Teacher Observation

Observe students and record observations and progress regularly. Some criteria might include engaged learning, classroom participation and discussion, creativity and problem solving as the students work with computers, etc.

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