Riverbend Elementary School sits right along the Mendenhall river, where the sight of the glacier takes your breath away. It is one of the three Title 1 schools in the JSD, where 43% of its students qualify for free or reduced lunch. With a population of 324 students, males actually outnumber females at Riverbend Elementary; the student body is 55% male and 45% female. The school’s population is drawn from varied socio-economic and ethnical communities with a strong Alaska Native presence. Riverbend Elementary is in the bottom 30% of Alaska elementary schools based on how the student body performed on the state reading and math exams, and 15% of the students are on IEPs.
Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) are used at Riverbend to increase academic success and behavioral skills. It is a school- wide plan, that is used by all staff to help improve students social skills and learning goals. A big part of my own teaching philosophy is based on positive behaviour and language, so it is a pleasure to be in a school were all staff works together through PBIS to create a positive school environment.
I have had the opportunity to work with both of the first grade classes since the beginning of the school year. Although the first grade classes display a wide range of learners. It has simply been a pleasure watching these young violinist grow and explore their instruments.
All students will participate in all parts of the unit with varying degrees of challenge and support. Every lesson includes elements of the Universal Design for Learning, including multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement. The unit is also built upon the premises of varied repetition where students can participate in class at the level that they are at. |
I read the quote above on a flier for the 2015 Sharing Our Knowledge Conference at the Sealaska Heritage Institute here in Juneau. This quote is really at core of the unit’s design, as the unit serves to prove that we can accomplish rigorous goals that align with the 1st grade violin curriculum by making use of local knowledge; specifically Alaska Native folk songs. The goal of the unit is to teach the skills and techniques through culturally relevant curriculum. This will be accomplished through collaboration with musicians, youth and educators from across Alaska and the Yukon, including cultural specialists.
Unit Overview:
At Riverbend Elementary School, all first grade students receive ninety minutes of group violin instruction each week through a program called Juneau Alaska Music Matters (JAMM). Based on cognitive research, JAMM offers early access to violin instruction as an academic intervention in place of their general music class. This UbD unit plan is specifically designed to function as an integral part of the JAMM Program. The unit will take place over five weeks, with both first grade classes receiving thirty minute lessons, three times a week. Pre-assessment will take place with students performing a piece they already know, Boil Em Cabbage, in small groups. The students will be primed for the unit by watching a video of a traditional Athabaskan song, Eagle Island Blues, made by the Young Native Fiddlers (YNF) in Fairbanks, Alaska. They will then be challenged to learn a song of their own, to teach others. In collaboration with the school’s cultural studies teacher, who will introduce the Tlingit drum, the students will learn a Tlingit folk song called the Hook Song.
Another part of the unit is an emphasis on oral traditions, as the students will have opportunities to listen to authentic versions of Eagle Island Blues and the Hook Song in their home classrooms. They will also learn Eagle Island Blues orally by echoing the teacher. Throughout the unit the first grade students will take part in creating a video that teaches others to learn to play the Hook Song. In creating the video, students will discuss what Alaska Native folk music tells us about Alaska Native culture and society, particularly the rich history of the Tlingit Hook Song. This video will be used in other JAMM classrooms as part of an initiative to build a permanent repertoire of culturally significant music. Finally, proceeding the unit, both first grade classes will perform Eagle Island Blues and the Hook Song at a school assembly.
Currently there is an assembly at Riverbend Elementary School scheduled for Mid-March. See this blog for more updates about how this exciting unit and performance unfolds!