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Curriculum Standards

 
 

This WebQuest is designed for use with the National Standards for Arts Education - Music.  These Standards encompass nine major points or content standards.  "The Great Divide" is aimed specifically at the Intermediate and Advanced levels, and deals with two interrelated strands as follows:   

  1. Understanding relationships among music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
    • C2.28 - The student will describe ways in which the subject matter of choral music such as history, expression and text, acoustics, and vocal production, are interrelated with those of  other disciplines taught in school.
    • C4.29 - The student will compare characteristics of the various arts within a particular historical period and from various cultural perspectives.
    • C4.30 - The student will describe in significant detail interrelationships between the subject matter of music and other disciplines taught in school.
  2. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.
    • C2.31 - The student will discuss the characteristics of an historical period/event that influenced the music of its time.
    • C3.33, C4.32, and C4.33 develop these ideas at an even deeper level.

Rule


This WebQuest works for enduring understanding - the kind which takes such hold of the students that they can retain it long after the details of a specific anthem or concert are forgotten.  Ideally, students will leave the WebQuest with a deeper awareness of the importance and influence of music in society.  They should feel better about themselves and their world because they learned discipline and depth by studying the best musical artistry humanity has created.  

Critical, analytical thinking is encouraged through the use of some broad questions. These questions do not necessarily carry "right" or "wrong" answers.  Rather, they demand abstract reasoning and individual thoughtfulness.  These questions are at the heart of the discipline of music. Ideally, as students grapple with these questions, they will develop a much deeper understanding of culture in general and of themselves in particular.

     The questions include:
  • Is music a luxury or a necessity?
  • Does music reflect culture or shape it?
  • What makes music emotional?
  • Can music from the past still touch us today?  Why or why not?  How?
  • What is the connection between our current music making and that of past generations?
  • How does available technology influence a society's music making?
  • What defines good music?


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