Lesson Plan for Middle School Core Classroom (MUSIC512)

Teacher Names Dakota Cavanaugh, Wesley Crow, Morgan Higgins, Jacob Wright

Lesson Goal: 7th grade students will understand the history of Afro-Cuban Music and the
societal/cultural functions and implications of said music in Latin America.

Standards Being Addressed - Kansas History Standards (7th Grade):

 3. Societies are shaped by beliefs, idea, and diversity.
 4. Societies experience continuity and change over time.
 5. Relationships between people, place, idea, and environments are dynamic.

Standards Being Addressed – Music:

 MU:Re7.1.7a – Select or choose contrasting music to listen to and compare the
connections to specific interests or experiences for a specific purpose.
 MU:Cn10.0.7a – Demonstrate how interests, knowledge, and skills relate to personal
choices and intent when creating, performing and responding to music.
 MU:Cn11.0.7a – Demonstrate understanding of relationships between music and the
other arts, other disciplines, varied contexts, and daily life.

Materials of Instruction:
 Cuban Food Etude – percussion instrument patterns for (3-2 son clave) by Dr. Kurt
Gartner
 Instruments from the closet in 105 (clave, bucket drums, etc.) (?)
 Worksheet
Lesson Sequence:

Activity #1 (approx. 20-25 min) (Objective): 7th grade students will perform the speech
ostinato, “Cuban Food Etude,” with accurate rhythm to experience the rhythmic drive and
basic concepts of Cuban Son and Afro-Cuban Music.

1. Welcome to class today! We are music teachers from K-State and we are going to talk to
you about Afro-Cuban music and Latin American culture.
a. Teachers will introduce themselves to the students (Mr. Cavanaugh, Mr. Crow, Mr.
Wright, Ms. Higgins).
2. Follow me (starts into clave rhythm for Cuban Food Etude speech ostinato) …
a. “Cu-ban-food-e-tude…”
b. Students join in as a whole group.
c. Repeat process for remaining five ostinato lines.
d. Use GarageBand to have a back beat on to keep the groove going.
3. Split students into six groups (could be by column, row, etc.).
a. In these groups, assign students to one of the six speech ostinato lines.
b. Start from the bottom of the chart and move up (i.e. start with Clave (Cuban Food
Etude) and work up to Mambo Bell (I like to eat apples…). Get students started and
keep them going before you add a new line.
c. Have a visiting student from 512 stick with each group to keep the line going.
d. Continue to use GarageBand to keep the groove going.
e. Let students do all six lines at once for a minute or two.
f. Rotate which students are assigned to which line (circular; Cuban Food > Salsa >
Tomatoes… )
4. Let students know that they did well. Ask students as a group to select three or four of their
favorite ostinato lines.
a. Student selections will vary.
b. Continue to use GarageBand to keep the groove going.
c. Give students choice about which line they would like to do. (Hopefully groups
will be somewhat even).
d. Keep 512 students scattered throughout.
e. Let students do the line of their choice, again working up from Clave to Mambo
Bell.
f. If Clave is not chosen, teacher group will need to do Clave or use back beat to keep
the groove going and ground the rhythm.

Transition: Great job guys! What you just did was a kind of Cuban music called Son.

Activity #2 (approx. 10-15 min) (Objective): 7th grade students will take notes on background
of Afro-Cuban Music and complete a worksheet to understand the basic origin of the style.

1. Split students into pairs or small groups (no larger than three or four students per group).
2. Ask students to use iPads to complete the worksheets with their partners.
a. Put up a timer (5-7 minutes) on the board so students can see how much time they
have.
 b. Teachers will walk around the room to observe groups and give help where
necessary.
c. 512 students can also float around the room, or can join groups to help complete
the worksheet.
3. Go over worksheet answers with the group and give additional background knowledge.
a. Ask students to share the answers they found with the group as a whole.
4. Give students a brief lecture about the history of Afro-Cuban music.
a. Use PowerPoint to supplement information, providing photos and general music
examples for the students.
b. When finished, collect worksheets from students as a small form of assessment.

Transition: Now that you’ve learned a little bit about the history of Afro-Cuban Music, we’re going
to finish up today with a fun activity.

Activity #3 (approx. 10-15 minutes) (Objective): 7th grade students will participate in a
Kahoot to assess the knowledge gained about Afro-Cuban music.

[insert Kahoot things here]

Assessment: How well did the students do on the Kahoot? Did they get at least 60% of the Kahoot
questions correct? Did students display basic understanding of Cuban culture and Afro-Cuban
music?

Closure: Thanks for making music with us today! We hope we were able to teach you a little bit
about the music that comes from the region you’re studying. 