Page 286 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

258 Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students
FIGURE 12.1 Paint- ing of Harriet Tubman as she Escorts Escaped Slaves into Canada
quadrants, and then divide the class into small groups and assign each of them a quadrant to study. The class then regroups as a whole to discuss what it observed.
Regardless of how students use art, help them distinguish between observations and interpretations. Consider using a T-chart in which the left column has observations and the right column has interpretations. In an image of the Underground Railroad, for example, students could make interpretations about who the individuals in the painting are based upon what they observe. They might infer that the individuals are slaves who are escaping based upon the observations that their skin is black, that they are traveling across a bridge, and that they are carrying their personal belongings. See Figure 12.1.
Music Music is a powerful vehicle for extending communication about people and cultures across time and space. For example, through songs related to big ideas derived from a unit topic, students can experience feelings of loneliness, sadness, jubilance, strug- gle, and so forth. If they are studying a particular culture, they can acquire a deepened appreciation for its customs and traditions through music and dance. For example, if Cuba or Argentina were being studied “up close,” listening to folk music or watching video performances of the tango would evoke emotion and reveal cultural borrowing phenomena in a very powerful way.
Integrating music into the social studies curriculum has potential for fostering respect for diversity in authentic ways. It can be used as a background to create atmosphere and interest in a topic, as a strategic part of a lesson to reveal a tone or feeling, or as a medium for communicating a point of view. Typically, students would not be asked to memorize lyrics or perform a dance, because in these instances the social studies understandings would be overshadowed by the “doing” of music and dance.
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