Students use a digital collaboration board to share their “wonderings” about the songs they are listening to in class. The teacher selects 3-4 songs from various cultures. Students add sticky notes to the collaboration board using appropriate music terminology, and share their musical preferences in a respectful manner. Students can have the ability to like or comment on each other’s posts and engage in meaningful conversations in small groups after sharing their wonderings digitally.

In this lesson, students respond to music in triple meter and discover facts about the famous Japanese film music composer, Joe Hisaishi. Literary connections and global music concepts are also explored through the picture book The Sound of Silence by Katrina Goldsaito.

Students will explore the blues by listening and describing a blues piece, learning about the history of the blues, analyzing form, and collaborating to write lyrics utilizing blues lyric form.