Musician
Fine Arts Activity - Student will write a song that supports a chosen cause.
SS/ELA Activity:
1. Have students research old newspaper articles from the State, the Sun Times, and Charleston Post and Courier on Hootie and the Blowfish around the time of their debut album and Grammy awards. Then have them work in small groups to answer the following questions that can be discussed as a class: What is the article saying about the band? Is it positive or negative? What are they saying about Darius Rucker in particular? Does the article portray the band in a certain way? Different than your own opinion?
2. Then have students discuss the implications of Darius as a solo artist (who broke away from the band) and a country artist (not a rock artist). Inform then that he just won a Country Music Award for Best New Artist. Does this change the perception people have of him? How is the country scene different from the rock scene (audience, lyrics, style, message, etc)?
3. Then have them work in small groups to write their own newspaper article about Darius today, tracing his popularity and artistry. They can work on computers and the Internet if available and add photos and quotes from Darius and others to enhance the article.
4. At the end of class, the teacher can play a few music videos of Hootie and the Blowfish and Darius Rucker's country songs as well as his acceptance speeches at the Grammy Awards and/or the CMAs.
Fine Arts/ELA:
Objective: TSWBAT (The student will be able to...)
- Complete Bell work Questions: Who is one of the most successful African American country recording artists?
- Identify at least three genres of music
- Describe Darius Rucker’s contributions to others through his philanthropic activities
- Evaluate the reasons Darius Rucker was able to achieve success in his music career
Procedures: TSWBAT
- Listen to various types of music on the CD player
- View different performers and their music videos
- Answer the following questions: What is the message the artist conveyed? How does the song make you feel? What is your favorite part of the song, the music or the words? What are the differences and similarities between the various types of music? (This can be done as a whole class discussion or you can divide the students in groups)
- Create a poem (individually or in groups) or song of your own…(teachers you may take this opportunity to incorporate any theme or objective you want to fit your subject matter)(this strategy can be used in art, science, math, English, or social studies)
- Present your creations to the class (you can be as creative as you like with your students here)
Note: This is only a short guide. You may alter or modify it to fit your needs. I have used this in my class when I taught various subjects in history. One kid wrote a song about Jamestown, another kid wrote a song about the Grimke sisters and how they were viewed by many white southerners, another student wrote a song about the threat of North Korea…so there are a wide range of things to cover in social studies: (imperialism, industrial revolution, WWI, WWII, Great Depression, etc.).