The Sound and Feel of the 1920’s

Learning Target OR Standards & Connections
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.7 Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.1
  • ISTE Student Standard Knowledge Constructor: Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.
Essential Outcomes(s) Level(s)
Students will…

  • analyze examples of art from the 1920s, build an understanding of the times and create an audio recording to represent a time in their life. 
 High School
Activity/Project
  1. Play a popular current song as students arrive. Ask students to think/discuss songs that are popular today. What issues are reflected in the song? Political? Economic? Social? What attitudes are portrayed? What words are used that are typical of today? 
  2. Play music from the 1920s. Several websites have audio clips that can be played, including: http://www.tedstaunton.com/labels/1920-1929.index.html, http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/1920m.html Review and discuss the significant issues, events and individuals that were studied as part of the previous era (WWI). Ask if students know any issues, events and individuals that took place during the 1920s and post them appropriately on the timeline.
  3. Do the same for 1920’s visual art and/or images. Discuss. 
  4. Do the same for current visual art and/or images. Discuss.
  5. Compare & contrast the differences of decades (you could break your class into pairs or groups for this section). 
  6. Assign the project – create an audio file (song?) that represents a chosen image from their life. They will need to explain the reasoning for track and/or instrument choice through aural or written assessment. 
  7. Share, publish and reflect. 
Extended Learning
  1. Share the project, using the Collaboration feature, with the parents (or someone else they choose). Encourage them to comment and/or add to the project. 

 

The author of this is Meredith Allen. Prior to joining the Soundtrap team, Meredith served as an Instructional Technology Consultant at Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency in Iowa.  Preceding her consulting, Meredith taught instrumental music, K-7 technology and facilitated a district’s Virtual Reality Education Pathfinders program. She also served on their District Leadership Team, served as the district’s Technology Integrationist, and assisted with the implementation of the district’s 1:1 computing initiative. Meredith has a Master’s of Science in Technology for Education and Training and participated in the 2016 Iowa cohort of the national Teacher Leadership Initiative.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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