Project Title: The Forties and the Music of War

Project Description (a vignette or some paragraph): This particular unit will be looking into the
prime years of World War II (further referenced as WWII). This unit will have the students
looking into their position (either propaganda in war or propaganda and protest), with the
added specification of the years 1942-1945. The unit before this would habe been a choice
between World War I and the Depression Eras, both limited to the United States perspective.
The WWII unit on the other hand will be broadened to allow students the opportunity to
include other countries music as a source. This course and assignment will focus particularly on
music, although it will look into other arts as a source of propaganda. Students will look into
songs on this time period, create their own piece, and be able to present and discuss their
beliefs about music as propaganda to the class.

UbD Planning Template:

Stage 1 Desired Results
ESTABLISHED Transfer
GOALS with Students will be able to independently use their learning to
Standards Recognize musical styles and qualities of propagandic music
(specifically from the WWII era)
Students will be Evaluate a piece of music, or art, and discuss how the chord
able to recognize progression and melody may have a psychological effect on the
musical listener. They should also be able to discuss how historical content is
propaganda in added into the lyrics (looking into the sociology of music as
their own lives. propaganda)
They will gain Compose and perform/present a propagandic piece of music that is
experience working historically and stylistically accurate for a song of this type.
with primary and
secondary sources Meaning
to support an UNDERSTANDINGS ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
argument they Students will understand that How was music used as
deduced on their Music can create a culture without propaganda during
own. They will the publics cognition WWII?
have to use critical Music can effectively reflect How did music
thinking skills, several opinions on the same topic compliment other forms
connecting while still accurately reflecting the of propaganda during
material from era in which it was written. this time?
history classes to Music from different cultures may What are important
the music room, as have similar traits, expressing the components that should
well as other music same sociological ideas be in propaganda piece?
skills built over the
years. Acquisition
Students will know Students will be skilled at
Students will Key facts about WWII Using research tools to
recognize what Important parts of musical look up songs and
universal music propaganda information about their
means in a new How music can be used as a mean topic
light. Students will to support different ends Using technology to
come to hear how notate or create their
music from own composition.
different cultures
may share the
same psychological
or sociological
premises thus
uniting unexpected
groups of people.
Stage 2 - Evidence
Evaluative Criteria Assessment Evidence
Songs from PERFORMANCE TASK(S):
the right Students will create a thesis based on their collection of music
time propaganda
period Students will defend their thesis in a discussion with their peers
Songs fit Students will work collaboratively with one or two peers to compose a
the piece of music using music technology tools to either formally or
propagand informally notate their composition.
a material Students will present their compositions with the class
Historically Students will be able to discuss their creation, defend it in line
accurate with their thesis, and explain their musical decisions based on
facts the knowledge gained in previous classes pertaining to
Material propaganda.
presented
well

How to OTHER EVIDENCE:

defend a Gathering facts beyond what are shared in class to support claims
thesis they Explanation of how their context fits into the broader topic we are
created talking about in class.
themselves Short written explanation of thesis and composition.
in a
discussion
with their
peers.
How to be
well
spoken.
Well
supported
arguments
Stage 3 Learning Plan
Summary of Key Learning Events and Instruction (these would be the summaries of the actual
experience designs: Outline a project for 6+ days
Day 1: The first class will consist of the teacher introducing the new nit. This will be more of a lecture
style lesson, where the teacher discusses the happenings in society from the depression into World
War II (WWI). The class will cover, briefly, the European history leading up to the war and the United
States entry into the war. We will also touch on subjects such as womens roles on the homefront and
total war. Lastly, we will start discussing musical developments during this time. This will be a review
and addition to information discussed in previous units. (This unit will be the first chance students
have to look into propagandic music of other countries.)

Day 2: On the second day students will continue to defend their stance on protest or war and find 3
songs that they want to explore further. Theses songs should all have a similar topic. Some examples
of these are women working or role at home, men leaving home, American strength, ending the fight,
etc. Once students have found these songs they will analyse the music to decide what makes theses
songs popular, catchy, memorable, and meaningful. Students can choose to focus more heavily on
American music to analyze in the following days, however they will also be required to find at least
one European propaganda song (country of their choosing). Before the next class students will have
to have a thesis they would defend that pertains to their research.

Day 3: Students will continue analysing their music looking further into lyrics and how it relates to
public events of the time. This step requires students to look further into the facts of the time.
Students will also be asked to find media (ie: Disney short films, radio clips) and art (newspaper
clippings, posters, paintings, etc) from the time that relate to their song.

Day 4: This class is a Fish Bowl style discussion. There is a smaller group of students in the middle of a
classroom and a larger circle surrounding it. The students will have a discussion based on what they
are standing behind, THey will discuss what similarities and differences there are between the music
and the different forms of art. Half way through the class the groups will switch. If the class is on the
smaller side, there will only be one discussion group. These discussions will be started with a prompt
from the teacher, but from that point on it will become fully student lead (unless conversation is
running low in which case the teacher may step in and rekindle the conversation).

Day 5: Students will take the information they have gathered themselves as well as the positions they
heard in the discussion and begin to work on a song. THey will work on the song with tone or two
partners (assigned by the teacher or self determined, under the prerequisite that they are not
allowed to work in a group with someone they have already worked with). They will be responsible
for using whatever music technologies they see fit. It would be preferable that they use Finale,
however this class is not a composition class, therefore students are not required to formally notate
music as long as they are still able to present their work effectively to the class. This song will be a
couple verses and at least one chorus. It will be the students version of a propaganda song from
the WWII era.

Day 6: Students will have as much time as needed in class to finish up their songs. As soon as the
groups are finished the rest of the class will be spent presenting their pieces to the class. After one
group finishes their piece we will take time as a class to discuss their song, what the class heard its
meaning to be, what the intended message of the song was supposed to be, as well as a short
explanation from the group on how their song relates to their lives. (If necessary the class will spend
one more day listening and discussing songs.)

ADAPTATIONS & MODIFICATIONS What changes related to color, size, pacing, and modality will you
need to make available overall? How can you increase or decrease the challenge/complexity while
retaining focus. Be specific and provide examples.
For those students who may not be a as vocal during the discussion there will always be an
option for students to turn in a written assignment that has their responses to statements
said in class as well as information they may have like to present but did not receive the
opportunity to do so.
Group work can always be implemented earlier in the project if there is a need for students
to make use of cooperative learning. (As well as the option for individual work.)
This unit can be simplified by taking out the fish-bowl discussion to create another work day
or a more teacher-student discussion rather than student run. I think it is important to push
the students to be able to verbally articulate their opinions, however this might not be a skill
that the school has provided the student with, or is not a skill that comes easily to some
students. The first few semesters may have to contain a balance between the two, however
this would be the 4th or 5th unit and therefore would not be the students first encounter
with these discussions so they should feel comfortable to take charge of these conversations
on their own.
Because the topic of WWII is so encompassing, one class may not be enough to discuss all
that needs to be said on the subject for students to feel prepared for the assignment,
therefore I could assign readings or shorter assignments as homework that would help prep
for the following class more fully. This would also give students with slower processing skills
the ability to take in the information in their own time and not feel like they are falling behind
during class.
I think that all people have some sort of synesthesia, or at least have the ability to associate
colors to a piece of music based off of an emotion. Having the students classify their findings
by color and comparing them to their other classmates has the potential to lead to other
discussions that may not have happened before.

EXAMPLE END OF PROJECT ASSESSMENT RUBRIC:

1. The student presented a clear argument on which they based their research:
/10
2. The student find three songs that could be classified as propaganda:
/18
3. The student found sufficient information to support their songs relation to their argument:
/12
4. The student was participated in the group discussion, offering points of substance to further
the conversation:
/10
5. The student successfully created a song that follows the style of WWII propaganda:
/10
6. The student was able to present their musical creation with the class:
/10

Total: /60