Copyright in Music

Hello! Sorry it has been so long. Blogging has definitely gotten away from me these past few months.

Today I'm going to be sharing some of my ideas and lessons for discussing copyright in the world of music. Our school is 1:1, meaning each student has a laptop or iPad for their work during school. We also have a lab for each side of the building, a mobile cart and a set of iPad minis in my music room.
This year, our focus has been on digital citizenship. Digital citizenship is using proper netiquette, observing copyright and creating a positive presence online. Each month, we have an hour long PD session to learn about appropriate techniques and lessons to help our students with digital citizenship. While this job generally goes to the classroom teacher, I really want to solidify and encourage what's going on in the students' classrooms. 
Fifth grade has always been a struggle for me. They have the option of band and/or chorus, but also have general music. The students are at that point in their life where they are starting to feel grown-up, but don't always act that way. I am constantly looking for new activities, units, brain breaks, etc. that appeal to them. At the same time, I want them to be aware of what is currently going on in the music world.
Last month, I opted to do an online digital citizenship class in lieu of the monthly meetings. I was really excited....until they expected me to create a unit like a classroom teacher. UGH! Yes that is important...but I'd love to do several lessons about online bullying or copyright. I ended up just doing a general unit with extra music stuff added in. Then, I stumbled upon a newer issue of Activate! Magazine. It talked about Weird Al Yankovic and his use of parody. BINGO! This would be a great lesson to incorporate copyright!
To start, my students used the bio in the magazine to learn about him. You can also show your students his two children's books. There were two kinds of worksheets included in the issue, which work well for substitute or "no-talking" days. 








The next day was the best! We use Symbaloo in our building so students can access everything in one spot. I created a tile for Weird Al and put my information in. I used SafeShare to create two clean copies of Weird Al songs. From there, I created a Google Form for students to record their favorite, an explanation of why and then finally the importance of copyright. I loved reading their responses!