{"pk":48077,"title":"Implementing Mapping the Beat in the 8th Grade","subtitle":null,"abstract":"This article looks at the woeful lack of geographic understanding exhibited by young people in the United States and proposes a solution. A series of workshops designed to supplement the eighth grade American history curriculum are described. Focusing on historical and ethnic music—the “soundtrack” of American history—the curriculum focuses on expanding student awareness of physical and cultural geography.\n \nThe workshops build on the Mapping the Beat curriculum, originally developed for the fifth grade and funded by National Geographic. The migration of musical forms is used as a metaphor for human migration and cultural interaction. Nine workshops, on topics ranging from Native American music to the songs of the Civil War, are described. Analysis of conversations with student focus groups suggested that recreating the musical “soundtrack” of American history helped students to meaningfully connect with (and make connections within) the United States history curriculum.","language":"en","license":{"name":"","short_name":"","text":null,"url":""},"keywords":[{"word":"Mapping the Beat"},{"word":"environment"},{"word":"identity"},{"word":"middle school"},{"word":"Physical and Cultural Geography"},{"word":"Social Studies"},{"word":"United States history"},{"word":"migration"},{"word":"Culture"},{"word":"writing fluency"},{"word":"Focus Group"},{"word":"enthusiasm"},{"word":"motivation"},{"word":"Interest"},{"word":"intellectual curiosity"},{"word":"Exploration"},{"word":"fun"},{"word":"enjoyment"},{"word":"Affect"},{"word":"Attitude"},{"word":"slavery"},{"word":"American folklore"},{"word":"instruments"},{"word":"polka"},{"word":"Industrial Revolution"},{"word":"Native Americans"},{"word":"National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE)"},{"word":"Test of Geography-Related Knowledge (ToGRA)"},{"word":"Improvement"},{"word":"qualitative"},{"word":"American History (United States)"},{"word":"Arts and Humanities"},{"word":"Curriculum and Instruction"},{"word":"Economics"},{"word":"Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research"},{"word":"Geography"},{"word":"Social Sciences"}],"section":"Arts and Geography","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7fk7q9b9","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Ronald","middle_name":"Craig","last_name":"Richardson","name_suffix":"","institution":"University of California, Irvine and Los Angeles","department":"None"}],"date_submitted":"2010-05-22T08:00:00+01:00","date_accepted":"2010-05-22T08:00:00+01:00","date_published":"2010-05-28T08:00:00+01:00","render_galley":null,"galleys":[{"label":"","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/cla_jlta/article/48077/galley/36215/download/"}]}