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Les Paul Study Units: Wisconsin’s Pioneer of �Rock-n-Roll

This music unit was developed through a collaboration between the Les Paul Foundation, the Wisconsin Center of Music Education, and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Educator Information - This PowerPoint is the second lesson from Unit Two – On the Road from the Les Paul Study Unit. This music unit was developed through a collaboration between the Les Paul Foundation, the Wisconsin Center of Music Education, and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

The lessons are geared for use with students in grades 4 and 5. The purpose of the units are to explore the life and achievements of a Wisconsinite who excelled as a musician, inventor, and sound pioneer, Les Paul. Les Paul’s life story offers learners an expanded view of how to develop their curiosities, nurture their creative nature, and to persevere through challenges. The lessons developed offer learners opportunities to explore, create, discuss, and share, while making connections to their own skills and knowledge about being a musician, inventor, and sound pioneer.

Standards are provided, along with essential questions, which help students deeply reflect and apply to their own lives. Additional extension activities are shared, along with blank templates for: Student Study Sheets, PowerPoint's, and Scrapbook pages. These templates allow teachers to build additional lesson activities. Suggestions for cross-curricular connections are also highlighted within the study unit and may be used in multiple increments of time and study with students in a classroom, multiple classrooms, or school building.

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Les Paul Study Units

Unit Two : On the Road

Resources

Unit Template
PowerPoint
Student Study Sheet
Prezi Link
Supplemental resource list

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Essential Question

How do people stay connected and find out what is happening around their neighborhood and the world?

Standards

I can sing/play independent instrumental parts while other students play contrasting parts. (B6)
I can identify the sounds of a variety of instruments, as well as male and female adult voices. (F6)

On the Road

Les Paul

Musician, Inventor, Sound Pioneer

On the Road

2

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Scrapbook – How do the clues fit the pictures?

On the Road

Les Paul

Musician, Inventor, Sound Pioneer

On the Road

2

Script - In our scrapbook, we have several pictures and clues that help us find out about Les Paul. Let’s get started with the scrapbook.

Question - How do the clues fit the pictures? (Students may use the Student Study Sheets to see the clues and pictures.)

Teacher Notes- Choose one of the following instructional methods for this activity.

Review the images as a class, describing what is in each image and possible clue word matches. Have students guess how these words might be connected to the images. The teacher offers a clue match/sentence (see the sentences for each clue on the next slide) to six students who then read the sentence about the picture.

Have the class divided into 6 teams, each with one of the pictures. Each team reviews the image, describes it, and identifies which clue might fit the picture. The team leader shares with the teacher, who then provides the students with the clue match/sentence. The team leader shares about the picture with the whole class and sentence.

CLUE/MATCH SENTENCES- (Quizlet – Words in italics are within the online dictionary. http://quizlet.com/37282801/les-paul-roots-and-beginnings-flash-cards/ .)

Listing – Newspaper resource identifying radio stations that groups Les Paul is performing with on air with.
Rhubarb Red- Stage name for Lester Polsfuss.
Broadcast – Radio show on the air.
Engineer – A person who works with two types of natural resources, materials and energy to solve challenges.
Professional – A person, in this case, a musician, who is compensated for their musical performance and skills.
Gig – A musical performance.

Extension Activities/Resources -

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Scrapbook – How do the clues fit the pictures?

On the Road

Les Paul

Musician, Inventor, Sound Pioneer

On the Road

2

Listing

Professional

Gigs

Engineer

Rhubarb Red

Broadcast

Script – Let’s find out what you figured out about the clues and the pictures. (Have student leaders from each team share what their team found out about the clue/match. Answers are below.)

Question - How do the clues fit the pictures?

CLUE/MATCH SENTENCES - (Quizlet – Words in italics are within the online dictionary. http://quizlet.com/37282801/les-paul-roots-and-beginnings-flash-cards/ .)

Listing – Newspaper resource identifying radio stations that groups Les Paul is performing with on air with.
Rhubarb Red- Stage name for Lester Polsfuss.
Broadcast – Radio show on the air.
Engineer – A person who works with two types of natural resources, materials and energy to solve challenges.
Professional – A person, in this case, a musician, who is compensated for their musical performance and skills.
Gig – A musical performance.

Extension Activities/Resources -

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On the Road

Les Paul

Musician, Inventor, Sound Pioneer

On the Road

2

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What do you know about Les Paul?	What do you want to know about Les Paul?	What have you learned about Les Paul’s start as a musician, inventor, or sound pioneer? Complete after the reading excerpt.

K - W - L - Fill in the boxes based on the information gathered so far about Les Paul .

K

W

L

On the Road

Les Paul

Musician, Inventor, Sound Pioneer

On the Road

2

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Vocabulary (Quizlet)

Underline one word you know. Circle one word you do not know. Broadcast Engineer Gigs Midwest Professional	I know the word ______________________________. Describe your word by drawing or writing a sentence about it. Share this work with a partner who has a different word.

On the Road

Les Paul

Musician, Inventor, Sound Pioneer

On the Road

2

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On the Road

Les Paul

Musician, Inventor, Sound Pioneer

On the Road

2

Watch How Radio Works from 1943.

What does the radio offer to people?

Watch WKID – a look at radio today.

How is radio the same or different from 1943 to now?

How do people connect and share information today?

Script –

We’ll be watching a short video (55 seconds) that describes a popular resource that has been around for over 100 years. We use this still today. The video is from 1943. While watching consider the question – What does this resource offer to people today?

Teacher Notes – Click on the video. Gather a few responses from students about the question.

How Radio Works – 1943 Video (55 seconds) (Full Video http://safeshare.tv/w/TNPCoIIPWU – 10 min.)

Script- (After viewing the video…) Do you listen to the radio? What type of programs do you listen to? (Select a few responses.) We’re going to see a video about WKID, a radio station with some innovative and creative people running it. Consider how radio of today is the same or different from radio in 1943. After the video ask a few students to share their ideas for the questions.

Teacher Notes - Click on WKID. This shows a tour of WKID station owned/managed by kids- http://safeshare.tv/w/ZkMEIPeUyR , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDjdQez_MMI.)

Extension Activities/Resources -

Moments in History episode 2 – (kid narrated) (8.5 minutes) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d91uySp4CfU

Tour of Life 100.3 (4 minutes)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca_eoMx8e3M; http://safeshare.tv/w/epeTyCyUak

How does a radio station work (10 minutes)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7BnOKcGgB8

A Brief History of the Radio (student narrators) (7 minutes)- includes a radio station tour and the history of radio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JlBQQs65Ec

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On the Road

Les Paul

Musician, Inventor, Sound Pioneer

On the Road

2

Radio Play

Student groups needed for the following radio topics:

News Weather

Sports Arts & Entertainment

Each group creates a report for the radio show. Groups may add believable supportive sound effects to the reports for the class performance.

Script –

Let’s create our own radio show. We’ll need four groups, one with a different report to share for the radio program. Here are the categories for the show- news, weather, sports, arts & entertainment. (Assist the students in being placed/selecting groups to be in.) Each group creates a report for the radio show. Groups may add believable supportive sound effects to the reports for the class performance. We will be performing and recording the group reports in ten minutes.

Extension Activities/Resources –

If you wish, consider asking the students for a fifth category for an additional team and incorporate that within the radio show.

Teacher Notes - Use either audacity, a tape player, or recordable device for your computer to record each group’s report. (Use the “Mad-libs” styled page, or have students create their own reports from scratch.) If you do not have the equipment, you may also just have the reports done live in class without recording the groups.

Equipment Suggestions -

Audacity use- Download the free online editing program. You will need a microphone connected to your computer.

Download site - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/

How to use Audacity tutorial (5.5 minutes)- http://safeshare.tv/w/BrFjyrVMll; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrPGMjZORCM

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Inventor and Sound Pioneer –

Rhubarb Red on the Radio

Read the excerpt with your group.

Think, share, and write with your group for the question below.

What have you learned about Les Paul as a musician, inventor, or sound pioneer?

On the Road

Les Paul

Musician, Inventor, Sound Pioneer

On the Road

2

Script - We are going to read a section of this article, with four groups each taking a different section, then a group leader sharing back the main points of their section to the whole class.

Group 1 - You will read section 1. A clue in your reading involves the word listing.

Group 2 - You will read section 2. A clue in your reading involves the word engineer.

Group 3 - You will read section 3. A clue in your reading involves the words gigs.

Group 4 - You will read section 4. A clue in your reading involves the word jazz.

Your group has five minutes to read and discuss the section. I will call you back for leader sharing with the whole class.

Article - Rhubarb Red on the Radio (The lesson packet has the classroom version, parceled out for a jigsaw reading activity.)

Extension Activities/Resources -

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What do you know about Les Paul?	What do you want to know about Les Paul?	What have you learned about Les Paul as a musician, inventor, or sound pioneer?

K - W - L - Fill in the box based on the information gathered so far about Les Paul .

K

W

L

On the Road

Les Paul

Musician, Inventor, Sound Pioneer

On the Road

2

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Essential Question

How do people stay connected and find out what is happening around their neighborhood and the world?

Standards

I can sing/play independent instrumental parts while other students play contrasting parts. (B6)
I can identify the sounds of a variety of instruments, as well as male and female adult voices. (F6)

On the Road

Les Paul

Musician, Inventor, Sound Pioneer

On the Road

2

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Next Lesson Clue –

Multi-track Recording

How is this clue connected to Les Paul?

On the Road

Les Paul

Musician, Inventor, Sound Pioneer

On the Road

2