Category: Idea

A Place of Sounds

My lesson aims to inform students about recording and documenting the world around them with audio. The idea is founded around documenting the Yup’ik culture – west coast Alaskans with cultural heritage and language that has eroded over many generations.

I aim to present a resource for teaching students about the history of field recording, the genesis of the World Soundscape Project and its offshoot organizations, alongside a foundational focus on using audio to preserve culture.

This lesson would be appropriate for middle schoolers or high schoolers – and the depth of the resulting recording project would fit the age of the students. I am assuming it would take at least a week to introduce the material and share relevant projects – but it could really be a long term study supplemented with materials relevant to the local area. Furthermore, recording and editing practice could be included to add many weeks of learning and hands-on creativity for a technology focused music classroom.

I feel the big question I want to ask are what sounds, stories, songs, etc. can we preserve through recording? The words spoken are often as important as the place they are spoken. There are sonic artifacts – or keystones – in our communities. These are the sounds of the sea, the wind, the voice of an elder, and so much more.

I have found several student made documentaries from the Lower Kuskokwim School District on YouTube, like this one on the Responsibility of Culture – I am hoping to include one or two as external or internal materials (pending permission!).

I have other videos resources that show the intrigue of recording things in nature, like this blog post on the Soundscape Explorations Blog documenting aRaven‘s sounds.

I want to pose essential questions that can be used as inspirations for projects. E.g. What are sounds around you that are apart of your culture you would want to preserve and share with others? What sounds define a place for you? What sounds are a person? How do different people tell the same story? How do different people say the alphabet?

The student project would involve going out and recording these sounds. I am also considering the possibilities for them making something like a sound walk (where you follow a map and listen to recorded or ambient sounds) or a documentary style project where they share audio clips on Soundcloud or YouTube of stories, people, nature, places, etc.

First of all, I am so excited with this project. I have stumbled onto some people and places and possibilities that I truly do hope to incorporate this school year.

1. My intended audience will be 6th grade music students in Juneau. These kids have been playing violin (or another string instrument) since Kindergarten. They have performed a lot throughout the community. This is their first year outside of the program, so they are trailblazers about to spark something new!
2. I would like to spend a few days covering Ruth’s study on the history of Athabaskan music and a few days studying more recent Athabaskan music. Following the historical context, I have two projects. The first would probably take a week, depending on the tools available. My  second project could take a trimester in the spring, leading to the Alaska Folk Festival; this project could also draw from math, problem solving, art, etc.
3. After studying the history and current practices of Athabaskan Fiddle Music, I would like the students to consider the following:
   1. How is the Athabaskan community working to preserve their music traditions and educate youth?
   2. Consider the evolution and immigration of folk music? Is music an organic, living art? When does a piece of music deserve the ownership of a composer or artist, versus public domain?
4. I would like to incorporate video from past fiddle festivals, photos of the Young Native Fiddlers, Interviews (if people respond to my calls/ emails), Newspaper articles online, Texts from the Alaska State Library and UAS Library.
5. Projects: My subject is large is flexible enough to offer a variety of exercises dependent on age and time that I am given to teach. Here are my main two ideas:
   1. Music Evolution and Ownership: Give one student a piece of music. The student must add an element to the music that reflects that student’s cultural identity. Nothing may be removed from the music, only added. After hearing the final product, each student must state what their inspiration was for their addition.
   2. As a larger, broader project. My students would study the Athabaskan Fiddle Festival in greater detail: what are the values and rules at the festival? How can the festival keep on going if it is free? Then the students will compare that festival with the local Alaska Folk Festival. If possible, I would have some board members come into the classroom and talk about some of the behind the scenes challenges, basic system for running the festival, and why the festival is an important part of the Juneau community. Long term, I would like the kids to problem solve using all their academic skill to put together a concert: should it be free, how many volunteers are needed, how will they get the word out, what kind of music will be showcased, what are the values they want to express, etc…During the annual Folk Festival, in April, each student should volunteer for 2 hours at the festival. Afterwards we can debrief.

At this point, I know I want my students to think about music as a way of telling stories, passing on values of the culture, and to consider non-western ways of representing music. The Southcentral region of Alaska has Alutiiq, Aleut, and Athabaskan native representation, so I think it would be important for students to look at some of the similarities and differences of music in those different tribes. While, the lesson should only take 1 or 2 class periods (1 hour each), I would like it to be designed for older students, who probably have some background knowledge to music notation and performance. I have two main ideas for what students can do to obtain some discussion and experience with the essential question and resources below. I would love some feedback on either activity and am open to other ideas as well:

1. Students will dictate an Athabaskan, Alutiiq, or Aleut, song by listening to it to discover the risks and difficulties in using western ways of notation to pass along non-western music. Then, after listening to and analyzing music from the different tribes, students will compose a short song based on the values, vocables, ornamentations, and pitch sets we’ve identified as a class.
2. Students will compare and contrast the values and characteristics of the 3 main groups’ songs, and have a discussion about the various sounds inspired by animals, nature, or stories that make up the music. After broadening our definition of music (organized sound) students will consider a parallel example of organized sound by looking at a modern composer who has used different sounds (John Cage or Steve Reich) and then think about sounds in their world that could represent their values or stories.

EQ: How are the values of the native people in Southeast Alaska reflected in their music?

Resources for students include several modern videos of native dance groups, recordings collected of songs, and examples of western dictations of these songs. Here are a few videos that could be a starting point.

https://youtu.be/B4cpqtQffVQ

https://youtu.be/TOXXwG4MZbw

Lesson Idea -Southeast AK

8^th Grade Literature Arts

Thematic Comparative Literature

Time frame approx. 2 weeks

The Big Question: How do certain themes in Native Alaskan stories compare across cultures?

What to do: Students will read English translations of Native Alaskan stories and discuss the themes that emerge. Students will then decide what theme they would like to explore further. They will be placed in reading circles based on their chosen theme. Each group will select a story or stories from another culture to further explore their theme.

-Ongoing journal reflections with opportunities for students to respond to one another

-Full class discussions will take place so that we can discuss themes cross culturally.

-Ongoing self-evaluations and group evaluations

AK Native Sources:

Books by Nora and Richard Dauehauer

Haa Tuwanáagu Yís, for Healing Our Spirit: Tlingit Oratory.

Haa Shuká, Our Ancestors: Tlingit Oral Narratives.

Culminating project: Students will create their own stories based on their theme. Stories will be recorded to be presented as a podcast.

Resource: http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/printouts/podcasts-nuts-bolts-creating-30311.html