Boomwhacker Lesson Plan
Illinois State Standards
Anchor Standard 7 (Responding)
Perceive and analyze artistic work.
Enduring Understanding: Individuals choose music based on their interests, experiences, musical understanding, and each musical work’s purpose.
Essential Question: How do individuals choose music to experience?
Anchor Standard 8 (Responding)
Construct meaningful interpretations of artistic work.
Enduring Understanding: Through their use of elements and structures of music, creators and performers provide clues to their expressive intent.
Essential Question: How do we discern the musical performers’ emotions, thoughts, and ideas?
Anchor Standard 9 (Responding)
Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.
Enduring Understanding: The personal evaluation of musical work(s) and performance(s) is informed by analysis, interpretation, and teacher- or student-established criteria.
Essential Question: How do we judge the quality of musical work(s) and performance(s)?
Anchor Standard 10 (Connecting)
Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art.
Enduring Understanding: Musicians connect their personal interests, experiences, ideas, and knowledge to creating, performing, and responding.
Essential Question: How do musicians make meaningful connections to creating, performing, and responding?
Objectives
Students will:
- Learn the history of the boomwhacker
- Listen to two boomwhacker songs
- Compare and contrast boomwhacker songs
- Play Boomwhacker Song guided through YouTube tutorial
Materials
- Computer
- Speakers
- Smartboard
- Boomwhackers
Activities
-
Listen and Watch
2-5 minutes
“Here Comes the Sun,” “Walking on Sunshine,” and “Sweet Child O’ Mine” for Boomwhackers performed by HarvardTHUD students (listen to all or a portion)
-
History of the Boomwhacker
10 minutes
Students share what they already know about the boomwhacker.
- Invented in 1994 by Craig Ramsell
- Sold over 4 million boomwhackers through his company, Whacky Music
-
Listen and Watch
5 minutes
"Classical" Boomwhackers: “Offenbach vs. Liszt” arranged by Chris Brooks
The song goes between the “Can-Can” and “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2.” -
Compare and Contrast
10 minutes
- Which example do you prefer and why?
- How do the examples sound similar?
- How do the examples sound different?
-
Depth Questions
15 minutes
- How do individuals choose music to experience?
- How do we discern the musical performers’ emotions, thoughts, and ideas?
- How do we judge the quality of musical work(s) and performance(s)?
- How do musicians make meaningful connections to creating, performing, and responding?
