Time Machine MTV

A WebQuest for 5th Grade | Designed by Sheri German | swanilda@mac.com

Beethoven Bach Tchaikovsky Mozart

Introduction

You've just been offered your dream job. You are going to be the star VJ (Video Jockey) on MTV. Your picture will be in People magazine, and you'll have lots of screaming fans. There's a catch, however. You're the host or hostess of MTV all right—for another century! You'll get out there on stage and introduce the music of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Stravinsky, or some other dude you'd rather not be caught dead listening to.

You're going to have to do a little research to pull this one off, my friends. There's got to be a piece by each of these guys that will excite your audience. Maybe if you set the stage with a little history of the musical period as well as a biography of the composer, there will be greater appreciation.

Back to the Top

The Task

After completing your research, each team should present an MTV show from a particular period in music history. You will choose a host, present introductory material about your time period and composer, and play some music that represents the style. Do you think there is no good classical music? Your task is to prove that this premise is wrong. There are lots of classical music pieces that make the foot tap and excite the blood.

You'll have to be creative to prove the point, though. Maybe your host can do dances or dress up in the style of the historic period your group represents. Conversely, you can present the history and biography in rap or poetry. Use your imagination and make classical music come alive.

And by the way: after you complete your research, see how many of the composers pictured on this page can you identify.

Back to the Top

The Process

First divide into four different groups. Each group should select a different period of music history from the list below:

Once you have chosen a period of music and studied its history, your group needs to select a composer or two that represents it. There is a lot of exciting music from each period, and this list of Internet sites will give you composers' biographies, as well as a chance to hear their music. Put on the headphones, sit back, and enjoy the concert. And don't forget to crank up the sound!

George Handel Who are these guys????

You can go to the New York Philharmonic site for kids and listen to music in the gallery of composers. You can also click on the "Create your own gallery" link. Once there, drag composer names from the lobby area to the gallery area. Then you can visit the gallery and listen to music by each of your composers.

And here's another great link to get biographies of all the composers: http://www.naxos.com/newdesign/leftmenu_learning.asp

Here are some representative composers and their music to help you get started.

Baroque
Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750
http://www.dsokids.com/2001/dso.asp?PageID=238
Toccata and Fugue in d minor for organ–listen to the organ impress itself with what it can do
http://www.sonyclassical.com/artists/hahn/site (Click to enter and then choose the "music" link)
Click on selection number one (which will play by default) Bach Partita for unaccompanied violin–so sad
Antonio Vivaldi 1678-1741
http://www.dsokids.com/2001/dso.asp?PageID=224
Spring from the Four Seasons
George Handel 1685–1759
A selection from the Water music is in the NY Philharmonic gallery
Classical
Gioacchino Rossini 1792–1868
http://www.dsokids.com/2001/composerchart.htm
In the gallery find Rossini and listen to his Barber of Seville Overture–don't sit down while listening to this one!
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1756-1791
http://www.dsokids.com/2001/dso.asp?PageID=64
Eine Kleine Nachtmuzik
Ludwig Van Beethoven 1770-1827
http://www.dsokids.com/2001/dso.asp?PageID=57
Symphony #5
Joseph Haydn 1732-1809
At the gallery listen to the "Miracle Symphony"
http://www.dsokids.com/2001/dso.asp?PageID=234
Symphony #97
Franz Schubert 1797–1828
http://www.vladimirhorowitzmusic.com/ (Choose selection number 3, the Impromptu in B-flat major)
Impromptu in B-flat major—a beautiful prayer
http://www.nyphilkids.org/gallery/main.phtml? (Find him in the gallery)
Fantasy in C
Romantic
Paul Dukas 1865–1935
http://www.dsokids.com/2001/dso.asp?PageID=240
The Sorcerer's Apprentice–Mickey Mouse, anyone?
Modest Mussorgsky 1839–1881
http://www.dsokids.com/2001/composerchart.htm
Scroll down to Mussorgsky and choose "Night on Bald Mountain" It's always Halloween on Bald Mountain...
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov 1844–1908
http://www.dsokids.com/2001/dso.asp?PageID=227
Procession of the Nobles
Gustav Mahler 1860–1911
http://www.dsokids.com/2001/composerchart.htm
Scroll down to Mahler and listen to the Symphony #1 fourth movement–very dramatic!
Tchaikovsky
http://www.playmusic.org/string/index.html (Click on the violin link and listen to the violin concerto)
Antonin Dvorak 1841–1904
http://www.nyphilkids.org/gallery/main.phtml? (Click on Dvorak in the gallery)
New World Symphony—sounds like "Jaws" to me!
Modern
Maurice Ravel 1875–1937
http://www.dsokids.com/2001/composerchart.htm (Scroll down to Ravel and listen to "Bolero")
Aaron Copland 1900–1990
http://www.dsokids.com/2001/dso.asp?PageID=58
Hoe Down from Rodeo–a real foot tapper
Igor Stravinksy 1882–1971
http://www.nyphilkids.org/gallery/main.phtml? (Find him in the gallery)
The Rite of Spring–
http://www.sonyclassical.com/artists/hahn/site/frame_top_music.html (Click on selection number 8 to hear the Stravinsky Violin Concerto)
George Gershwin
http://www.dsokids.com/2001/composerchart.htm (scroll down to George Gershwin and choose the first audio selection)
An American in Paris
Bela Bartok 1881–1945
http://www.nyphilkids.org/gallery/main.phtml? (Find Bartok in the gallery)
Concerto for Orchestra
Sergei Prokofiev 1891–1953
http://www.nyphilkids.org/gallery/main.phtml? (Find Prokofiev in the gallery)
Romeo and Juliet

One way you can organize your material is to use Kidspirations to develop a concept map or flow chart.

Back to the Top

Evaluation

Here is the breakdown of how I will grade your group.

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Very Good 3	Exemplary 4
Performance of the VJ	Shows little enthusiasm for presenting the composer and period in an exciting way	Exhibits some animation while performing; the audience is not bored	The audience is involved and enjoying the presentation; the host is really "getting into" the show	The audience is spellbound and now has a greater appreciation for another time in music
Quality of the biography	The group didn't put much research into the biography; facts are sparse	The biography is fleshed out a bit, but there could still be more information to enhance appreciation	The biography really adds to the understanding of the composer's music and period in history	The biography unearths exciting facts about the life and times of the composer
Creativity of the history presentation and biography	The information is presented in an uninteresting format	The group created a somewhat creative way of presenting the information	The group prepared a really fun way to convey the information	The group made the information as exciting as if it really were on MTV
Quality of musical examples	Few musical examples with indifferent introductions	More musical examples and more fully developed introductions	Good musical examples with intriguing introductions	Great representative musical examples with introductions that enhance understanding and enjoyment

Conclusion

You should now know quite a bit about a specific period of music history. As you can see, "classical" really is not just classical music. That is only one period of music history, though we use its name to describe all "serious" music from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.

At the end of all the groups' MTV presentations, you should also know something about the other major periods of music history. Which one do you like best? Which composer excited you most? Would you go out and buy a CD of your favorite classical composer's music?

Test out your new knowledge by playing this "Time Machine" game at DSO Kids Online. http://www.dsokids.com/games/timeline/index.html

Back to the Top

Standards

Maryland State Standards: http://mdk12.org/mspp/vsc/index.html
AEMS: Arts Education in Maryland Schools: http://www.aems-edu.org/main.html

The Maryland Fine Arts standards, which are aligned with the national standards and were created with the participation of over 1000 Maryland teachers, are a set of documents entitled "Maryland Essential Learner Outcomes for the Fine Arts" for dance, music, theater and visual arts for elementary, middle and high school. They describe what children should know and be able to do in the arts by fourth grade, eighth grade, and twelfth grade.

Each discipline comprises four outcomes:
1) Perceiving, performing and responding—aesthetic education
2) Historical, cultural and social context
3) Creative expression and production
4) Aesthetic criticism

Back to the Top

Credits & References

WebQuest Resources

Best WebQuests.com March 26, 2004 oxline.com March 26, 2004
<http://www.bestwebquests.com/>
Dodge, Bernie Bernie Dodge March 26, 2004
<http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/bdodge/bdodge.html>
Dodge Bernie WebQuest Training Materials 1999 Bernie Dodge March 26, 2004
<http://webquest.sdsu.edu/LessonTemplate.html>
WebQuest Portal February 26, 2004 March 26, 2004
<http://webquest.org/>

Classical Composer Image Source
Free pictures and images of popular classical composers and classical artists musicians 26 March 2004
<http://www.8notes.com/pictures/performers.asp >

Audio Clip Sources
The New York Philharmonic Kids Zone Symphony Zone March 26, 2004
<http://www.nyphilkids.org/gallery/main.phtml?>
DSO Kids The Dallas Symphony Orchestra 2004 Dallas Symphony Association March 26, 2004
<http://www.dsokids.com/2001/rooms/DSO_Intro.html>
Hahn, Hilary Hilary Hahn 2004 March 26, 2004
<http://www.hilaryhahn.com/>
PlayMusic.org 2000 March 26, 2004
<http://www.playmusic.org/string/index.html>

I would like to thank my "Technology Education" course students at Trinity College for inspiring me to spread the word about the benefits of great WebQuests.

Back to the Top

Based on a template from The WebQuest Page. Modernized with new formatting by Sheri German 2004