Unit One: Whos on First?

Lesson 1: Cultural Heritage

Lesson Overview:
Roberto Clemente was extremely proud of his Puerto Rican heritage. This lesson
introduces opportunities for students to explore their own heritage and share their
discoveries with others. This lesson provides a basis for celebrating cultural heritage
throughout the year.

Standards:
The following National Standards in Social Studies will be addressed:
NSS-G.K-12.2 Places and Regions
Understand the physical and human characteristics of places.
Understand how culture and experience influence peoples perceptions of places
and regions.

The following National Standards in Language Arts will be addressed:
NL-ENG.K-12.1 Reading for perspective
NL-ENG.K-12.2 Understanding the human experience
NL-ENG.K-12.4 Communication skills
NL-ENG.K-12.6 Applying knowledge
NL-ENG.K-12.8 Developing research skills
NL-ENG.K-12.9 Multicultural understanding
NL-ENG.K-12.12 Applying language skills

Length of Lesson:
Ongoing

Objectives:
After completing this lesson, students will be better able to:
-Identify elements of culture and heritage
-Identify elements of their own culture and heritage

Supplies:
Construction paper
Magazines
Glue
Scissors
Heritage Bank: a shoebox decorated with diverse cultural images
Heritage Bank deposit slips: Teacher created slips of paper containing the
statement: I am proud of the following aspect of my heritage
_________________________
Name: ___________________________________.




Instructional Plan:
Warm-Up:
Ask students to define the term heritage.
Copy the students oral definitions onto the board.
Decide on a collaborative class definition.

Activity Discussion:
Explain that the concept of heritage is shaped by ones country of origin, languages,
rituals, foods, traditions, and other forms of culture such as dance and theatre.

Activity Instruction:
Provide students with magazines.
Instruct students to cut out cultural heritage-themed images found in the
magazines.
Each student should apply these images to a piece of construction paper in collage
form.
Have students complete this sentence on the back of their collage:
Cultural Heritage is __________________________________.
Break students into small groups. Each should share their collage with the group.
Next, have students share the most important thing about their own heritage with
the group. Example: The most important thing about my heritage is that one of
my ancestors was an Indian chief of the Oneida tribe.
Next, students should complete Heritage Bank deposit slips recording the most
important element of their own heritage.
All slips should be deposited into the Heritage Bank shoebox.
Once a week (each Monday) a student should be selected to make a withdrawal
from the Heritage Bank. On Friday, the author of the deposit slip will be asked to
share what appears on their slip in any way they choose. Example: bring in a
photo, news article, story or food that relates to what they find most important
about their heritage.

Wrap-Up:
How has this activity helped you to build knowledge and opinions about your life and the
life and legacy of Roberto Clemente?

Assessment:
Students should be assessed based on the following criteria:
Completion of Heritage collage.
Contribution to Heritage Bank.
Sharing an instance of pride in cultural heritage.

Unit One: Whos on First?

Lesson Two: Latin Rhythms

Lesson Overview:
Roberto Clemente loved music. He spent much of his free time listening to classical
music. In this lesson, students will have the opportunity to engage in a musical listening
experience and web-based research on the various genres of music that were born in
Puerto Rico. The musical genres covered include: demica (folk), seis (folk), danza,
plena, bomba, and salsa. Students will also research the different types of instruments
used in these various genres of Puerto Rican music.

Standards:
The following National Music Standards will be addressed:
NA.5-8.9 Understanding music in relation to history and culture.
NA.5-8.8 Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines
outside arts.

Length of Lesson:
Five minutes at the beginning of the school day (or class period) for one week. Then, 1-2
class periods, depending on the availability of computer resources.

Objectives:
After completing this lesson, students will be better able to:
-Conduct web research.
-Discuss different types of instruments and music that are related to Puerto Rican culture.
-Identify the types of music studied by listening to clips and identifying instruments used.

Glossary:
1. Demica (folk): This folk music genre, originating in southern Spain, is probably the
earliest example of the fusion of native rhythms to the lyrics and melodies of Spanish
music.
2. Seis (folk): The 'seis', which literally means 'six' is, in fact, a great number of
different melodic motifs each of which can then be used as the basis for sung poetic
improvisation.
3. Danza: The danza may be described as a mix of the waltz with an Afro-Caribbean
beat.
4. Plena: The plena is an important genre of folk music in Puerto Rico and typically
associated with coastal regions of the island.
5. Bomba: The bomba is a uniquely Puerto Rican musical genre for dance.
6. Salsa: A popular form of Latin-American dance music, characterized by Afro-
Caribbean rhythms, Cuban big-band dance melodies, and elements of jazz and rock.




Supplies:
Computer resources, Internet access and speakers
Pencils
Activity Sheet: Latin Rhythms
CD player
Teacher-selected CDs of Puerto Rican music

Instructional Plan:
Background Information:
Puerto Rican music is rooted in native Taino, Spanish, and African traditions. There are
many websites that explore Puerto Rican music and culture. It would be preferable to
preview several prior to presenting this lesson to the class, bookmarking particularly
helpful sites on student computers. Students should also listen to the different types of
music listed in the glossary. The instruments that are connected to the different genres of
music should also be explored. This exposure will help students more easily identify the
different genres.

Warm-up:
Play a selected clip of music at the beginning of the day, each day, for one week.
(Smithsonian Folkways recordings http://www.folkways.si.edu are an excellent
source of Puerto Rican music.)
Ask students to close their eyes and listen to the music carefully. Ask students to
open their eyes and begin the school day as usual.
After a week, play the selected clip of music at the beginning of the day, and then
lead them in an exploration of culture through music.

Activity Discussion:
Have you ever heard this kind of music before? If so, what kind of music does this
remind you of?
Can you identify the different instruments in the piece?

Activity Instruction:
After completing the discussion and listening exercises, students should be given
the activity sheet to complete by utililizing the Internet as a research tool.
Students will answer questions on the worksheet and share them in a class
discussion.
Students will be asked to find examples of music (streaming clips that they could
cite and return to later to share with class members).
The student should be able to identify the music genres, and challenge their
classmates to try and guess the genre, based on their own research and music that
they were exposed to.
Students may present their research (based on the information they gather) to the
group.
Teacher may decide to have students listen to different types of music again and
have them guess what genre it is and identify what instruments are being played.


Wrap-Up:
Students discuss lessons learned from this activity.
Students discuss how they may be able to use the information gained from
completing this exercise in the future.

Assessment:
Students should be assessed based on the following criteria:
Demonstration of knowledge of conducting web-based research to complete
worksheet.
Conclusions drawn from the information acquired in class.

Unit One: Lesson 2
Student Activity Sheet Name:_____________________________
Latin Rhythms
Roberto Clemente loved music and was proud of his cultural heritage. In this worksheet
exercise, use a search engine, to conduct web-research on one of the following types of
music. During your research, you should identify the different musical instruments which
make the music unique. Be sure to list the links that you visit.

Music genre types (choose one):
demica (folk)
seis (folk)
danza
plena
bomba
salsa

Find the definition of the type of music you are researching. Paraphrase it below.





What are the origins of the musical genre that you chose?




What are some of the instruments used to make this particular type of music distinct from
the others?




List links that you visited in your search below.