Project Proposal

Understanding Jazz

A course for middle school general music teachers to later implement in their own classroom or as a on-line home, only, student assignment. This course focuses on understanding jazz as a practice and an art form through authentic learning tasks and summative assessment. The course is not intended to be an all-encompassing history lesson.

Topics to be considered

what makes jazz jazz?
Learning what is actually happening in a jazz performance
different styles of jazz
what is jazz in the present day?

Needs Assessment

Instructional Problem

As world cultures assimilate more and more into each other so too does music. If music is to remain a field of study in American schools than musical practices of our cultural must be incorporated into the music curriculum. One aspect of music performance that has not been taught on the whole to non-musician students is American Jazz improvisation.

What is to be learned

This course will enable middle school general music teachers to teach the combining elements of jazz without having had great personal exposure to jazz. The course follows a "what" "who" and "when" approach to sequencing.

Learning audience

Middle School general music teachers for their classes grades 6-8

Learning Content

The content is a combination of text with audio or video clips from youtube to focus the text and provide authentic examples.

Performance Objectives

After this course the teacher will be able to:

1 Guide students through the jazz compositional choices.

2 State the different roles of each instrument.

3 Explain the performance arrangement techniques of jazz improvisation.

Prerequisite Skills

Essential

Ability to write thoughts in clear language
Previous experience in musical appreciation (i.e. general music class)

Supportive

Appreciation of American music

Instructional Sequencing

Unit 1 "what?"
- Students will be introduced to the compositional foundation of jazz.

Unit 2 "who?"
- Students will be exposed to the different instruments of jazz, their roles and will learn of some major contributors.

Unit 3 "when?"
- Students will see what makes jazz different from other genres and will learn how it is performed.

Curriculum Map

File:Jazz ICM.doc

Rationale

This course is designed based on the constructivist view of learning. Often in assessment during each unit, there is no wrong answer and for other questions there is only one correct answer. Just as there is no one "correct" way to improvise, the learner must be allowed to give his/her own interpretation of the presented material. Likewise, the use of authentic musical sources (not re-records) and authentic video clips enhances the learning process and brings excitement to the topic.

Proceed to:

Jazz in the General Music Classroom

References

Kernfeld, Barry ed. The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991.

Shambaugh, R. Neal & Magliaro, Susan G. Mastering the Possibilities: A Process Approach to Instructional Design.Boston: Ally and Bacon, 1997.

Gagne, Robert M., Wager, Walter W., Golas, Katherine C., Keller, John M. Principles of Instructional Design 5th ed.Australia: Thomson/Wadsworth Learning, 2005.