Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: Identifying Commonwealth countries

15 minutes

Find Out: Discovering traditional music

30 minutes

Take Action: Presenting research findings

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions

Students will:

discover traditional music from around the Commonwealth.

Success criteria

Students can:

share information about traditional music from a Commonwealth country
discuss the importance of music to culture.

Tune In: Identifying Commonwealth countries

Teacher note: This lesson builds on concepts from the previous lesson (Theme Songs to Inspire), where students explored some theme songs of the Commonwealth Games and how music can influence how we feel, act and communicate messages and ideas from across the world. If you haven’t delivered Lesson 3 yet, we’d recommend starting there.

Step 1

Begin the lesson with a class discussion recapping the concepts explored in Lesson 3. Ask students the following questions to help jog their memories and check for understanding:

What are theme songs? How do they differ from other types of music?
In the previous lesson, we studied some of the theme songs of a particular event. What event was it?
What do we already know about the Commonwealth Games? What don’t we know?

Possible answers:

Theme songs are melodies that have been created for specific events, people, places or brands. They differ from other music because they are only played for certain occasions to represent and/or celebrate the person, place, event or brand they were created for.
The Commonwealth Games.
Students are likely to know that the Commonwealth Games are a multi-sport event, but they may not know how many countries participate, which countries are involved and why, the history of the Games, or its cultural significance.

Step 2

Leading on from the previous question, ‘What don’t we know about the Commonwealth Games?’, ask students if they know how many countries participate in the Commonwealth Games and whether they can list some of them. Encourage students to try and recall the host countries mentioned in the previous lesson (England, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and India).

Step 3

Display the map of the Commonwealth countries. Highlight to students that 74 nations and territories compete in the Commonwealth Games. Invite students to identify some of the countries based on their shape and position on the map.

Find Out: Discovering traditional music

Step 1

In pairs or small groups, students are required to research the traditional music of a Commonwealth country using the research template provided on the Student Worksheet. You could approach this task by allowing groups to select a country or allocate 1 using a randomised system, like drawing from a hat. You may like to suggest the following countries because of their music diversity: Sri Lanka, Ghana, Jamaica and Singapore.

Step 2

Before students begin researching, discuss the instructions and types of information listed on the Student Worksheet. Clarify where needed. Remind students that the time allocation is 15 minutes, so they will need to work quickly to source the answers online and take adequate notes in preparation for the next part of the task. Remind students to use their own words (paraphrase) as much as possible ie do not copy directly word-for-word from sources (except numbers and facts).

To assist groups in getting off to a quick start, you may like to suggest specific roles for group members to assign themselves, such as head researcher, scribe, presentation planner and head presenter.

You may also want to show students an example of a completed table (also on the Student Worksheet):

Country	Bangladesh
Language(s)	Bengali (Bangla)
Which athlete has won the most Commonwealth Games medals for this country?	Asif Hossain Khan - Shooting (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
What is the name of the national anthem? Find and listen to the anthem. Describe the song in your own words.	Amar Sonar Bangla (My Golden Bangla) slow-paced and majestic
Traditional instruments and/or styles of music	folk music with instruments called ektara and dotara (string instruments), dhol and tabla (drums) and flute
Specific well-known songs	• ‘Ami Banglay Gan Gai’ by • Abdul Alim‘Amar Shonar Bangla’ by Rabindranath Tagore
Special days/events/ceremonies where this music may be played	• Bengali New Year (Pohela Boishakh) • Durga Puja • Eid • weddings • rural fairs (haats) • agricultural festivals
Who/what influences the way this music is made?	• everyday life experiences and religious practices • the Bengal region and neighbouring West Bengal, India
Other notes	• Music is important to • Bangladeshi culture, for entertainment, cultural expression and spiritual connection. • Artists blend traditional and modern music to create new sounds.

Take Action: Presenting research findings

Step 1

Provide students 20 minutes to convert their notes into a digital presentation using PowerPoint, Google Slides or Canva. Encourage them to:

use the research categories in the left-hand column of the table as headings for each slide or section (ie how to structure their presentation)
use images, diagrams and keywords on their slides rather than lengthy sentences or ‘slabs’ of text
focus on creating a presentation that conveys quality findings, not just visual aesthetics.

If time permits, students may like to source and embed an appropriate song to play as background music during their presentation.

Step 2

Ask groups to pair up and present their research findings to one another in under 5 minutes. Students should use their digital presentations to engage their audience, rather than read from it word for word. If time permits, encourage groups to give each other feedback on the quality of their information and presentation, or ask each group to report the most interesting thing they learned from their other group at the end of the presentations

Extension opportunity: If time permits, students could brainstorm additional research questions, spend longer gathering information online and put together their presentations.

Reflection

To wrap up the lesson, facilitate a class discussion, inviting students to reflect on what they’ve learnt. Use the questions below to prompt their thinking:

What did you find interesting about the traditional music you researched?
What did you find interesting about the information presented by others in the class?
Does Australia have traditional music? What does it sound like? Who or what influences the way it is made?

Commonwealth Songs

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Summary

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