Who Do You Know?

Want to bring a speaker into your classroom? Who do you know? My fifth graders are studying music through the 20th century, so I asked my dad to take a class period introducing music of the 1950s and 60s. Rather then spending hours researching, I figured it would be even better coming from someone who lived in that era. As a kid, my dad spent hours listening to the radio and recording music. He can tell you the title, artist, and year of almost every song of that time period. He brought in his reel machine, so the students got to see something other than a CD player. We've been connecting music to historical events, so he discussed Martin Luther King and JFK, which was perfect because he spoke the week before MLK's birthday. He even played radio clips of the announcement of JFK's death. The students were impressed, and they were happy to sing along with "What the World Needs Now" and "Eve of Destruction." Think about who you know to bring into your classroom. The students will remember the experience for a long time!