Brazil

My 5th graders and getting a unique experience! We are doing a Passport Unit - or we are traveling the world through music. This past week we went to Brazil. In my General Music Methods class I along with a friend were told to come up with a unit related to a country/culture. So I recycled a lesson on Brazil Carnaval. Attached you will find the link I used. I found that you have to give a primer with this video. Students will see women clad in almost swimsuit like outfits and sometime the immature students will giggle and snicker. I addressed that right away, sharing that it was a culture and we are not to make fun. Anyway the video was showed and questions were asked at the end. "What did you see, why is Carnaval so important to the culture, what makes up Carnaval?". The students were then told to get up and I taught them how to samba - like many of the performers in the video. If you would like the specific ways I taught them just ask. At the end of the dance I had everyone sit down. The students received an assignment... They were asked to create a float for our Carnaval and they will be posted in our classroom - pictures to follow.

Here's the link for the Carnaval Documentary - I showed about the first 6 to 7 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3mYDwRTALo