The period of schooling, represented by grades seven and eight, is especially critical in students’ musical development. The music they perform or study during that time often becomes an integral part of their personal musical repertoire. Composing and performing provide students with unique insight into the form and structure of music, and at the same time help them develop their own creativity. Broad experiences in the music education classroom require students to make informed musical judgements. Similarly, this breadth of background enables students to begin to understand the connections and relationships between music and other disciplines. By understanding the cultural and historical forces that shape social attitudes and behaviors, students are better prepared to live and work in communities that are increasingly multicultural. The role that music will play in students’ lives depends in large measure on the level of skills they achieve in creating, performing, and listening to music.

Throughout the current Unified Arts marking period, students in Mr. Anderson’s General Music classes have, quite literally, been making music. Students began this three part unit by constructing guitars from any assortment of cardboard boxes that were brought to school by students, faculty, and staff.  Students used the construction project to practice basic and advanced problem solving skills, advanced spatial reasoning abilities, while learning about the common anatomy of stringed instruments. After students constructed their own guitar, they experimented with composition, writing pieces they would later perform at the end of the marking period. The performances were, quite possibly, the most entertaining part of the unit for every student. Some students went “all out” for their performance, making grand entrances onto the stage (aka, the front of the music room), performing songs with special lyrics, or unique and advanced playing technique. All in all, students made the most out of this short unit (18 days) by discovering how to improvise solutions to basic problems. In addition, most students achieved the standards addressed in this project, including Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music, Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines, Reading and notating music, Listening to, analyzing, and describing music, and Evaluating music and music performances.

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