Category: Lesson

Climate Refugees – Lesson Plan

The above PDF links to a teacher-friendly copy of my lesson plan. A more student-friendly, interactive version is featured in the iBook.

The curriculum standard most strongly addressed in this lesson is Standard E: A culturally-responsive curriculum situates local knowledge and actions in a global context. A curriculum that meets this standard:

1. encourages students to consider the inter-relationship between their local circumstances and the global community;
2. conveys to students that every culture and community contributes to, at the same time that it receives from the global knowledge base; and
3. prepares students to “think globally, act locally.”

This lesson introduces students to the idea of climate change through a local context by focusing in on the community of Kivalina, Alaska. It then expands the concept by introducing climate-threatened communities in Louisiana, Fiji, Greenland, and Solomon Islands.

Groups of students will focus in on these individual communities and discuss the local problems and potential solutions. For instance, Alaskan communities have worked to locate land for relocation and then attempted to source government funding for the move, which has been incredibly difficult to find. Louisiana’s Isle de Jean Charles has become the first U.S. community to receive such funding for climate-related reasons. Smaller island nations have purchased land in other countries and attempted to find international funding.

When groups bring the communities they’ve focused on to a class-wide discussion, it will create a conversation that has a global focus but uses local perspectives. The different approaches taken by these communities bring up an essential question: since climate change is a global problem with unequal local implications, who is responsible for finding a solution? Is it a global responsibility? Is it the responsibility of countries who are most responsible for emissions? This is a fascinating discussion that should bring out many different opinions. I think it meets all three of Cultural Standard E’s requirements.

Southcentral Alaska is very culturally diverse, so this lesson only zones in on two of the many musical styles of the region. Looking at the music of the Dena’ina and Alutiiq people, the activities ask students to consider what values and traditions come through music of Native Alaskans, as well as their own music. They are also asked to ponder the influence of Western culture on  Native music, such as the role of oral tradition vs. Western notation.

I linked my lesson plan to curriculum standards A and B, but it illustrates standard B really well. The Alutiiq music happening right now is rooted in the fact that so much culture has been lost due to colonialism and racism in this state/region. The Suqpiaq and Alutiiq are recovering some traditional songs and preserving the language by putting Alutiiq words to Western songs. The hybridization is a wonderful jumping off point for talking about cultural history and values.

The complete lesson plan can be viewed in PDF form here: MusicofSouthcentralAlaska-culturallyresponsivelessonplan

Music_Composition_through_the_Lens_of_the_Aleutian_People

Excerpt 1-War Song

Excerpt 2- Song of the Birds and Waves

The cultural standard my unit is closely linked to is Standard A-Culturally knowledgeable students are able to build on the knowledge and skills of the local cultural community as a foundation from which to achieve personal and academic success throughout life. From a Western music standpoint, the songs in my lesson of the Aleut culture are very difficult. My lesson looks at the content and elements of Aleut music from a music theory and aural skills point of view. Students also get to transcribe the music (like the Russian Orthodox missionaries) and consider whether the music would be harder to learn aurally or by sheet music. I believe this lesson is a window into why music of the Aleuts was taught aurally.

While students get to examine their own strengths in music, whether they are more comfortable with reading music or learning by ear, they also get to compare the musical strengths between Western European music, their own culture, and the Aleuts. Therefore, they will recognize and build upon the inter-relationships that exists among the spiritual, natural, and human realms in the world around them, as reflected in their own cultural traditions and beliefs as well as those of others (from the Alaska Standards for Culturally Responsive Schools). The activity where students ponder a significant object or event related to their own culture and write lyrics to a song combines two (or more) cultures into one song.

Biodiversity lesson plan