Troubled Times Green Day Circle Dance

Rationale:

The purpose of this activity is to show students that you can use art, music, and movement to get a
point across, express ideas, and/or to make a political statement. By using multiple media, you can
emphasize your opinion and create more accessibility.

Understanding Statements:

I Can Statements:

I can demonstrate understanding of relationships between music and the other arts, other disciplines,
varied contexts, and daily life. (MU:Cn11.0.4)

I can explain how context (such as social and cultural ) informs a performance. MU:Pr4.2.4c

Materials:

Troubled Times music video

Multiple music players (one per student group)

Process (60 min class):

Students will repeat move names of verse 1 rhythmically after teacher (~30 seconds)
Students will say and do moves of verse 1 without music in beat (~30 seconds)
Students will whisper and do moves of verse 1 with music (~30 seconds)
Students will think and do moves of verse 1 with music (~30 seconds)
Repeat this process for other chunks, adding on (5 min)
Students will think and do entire dance (3 min)
Students will discuss if they saw any connections between the words and the moves (3min)
Students will watch Troubled Times music video (3 min)
Students will discuss they visuals used in the video, why did Green Day create a video like this,
discuss connections with current events (15-20 min)
Students will break into groups and create their own circle dance moves for an assigned chunk
of the song (10-15 min)
Students will put chunks together and learn new student created dance (10 min)

Assessments:

Student discussion

Student dances
Adaptations:

Displaying written out moves

Students take notes during video

Extension:

Students will create art to go along with the song Troubled Times.