Guitar Hero

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Playing the song

Have you heard of the rock band from Aberdeenshire called Full Moon? Have you heard their latest release ‘Pure Black Magic'? No! Well, have a listen to this. The lyrics and the music were a collaborative effort - this performance was the first recorded version of this rock classic! Some keen-eared listeners may notice the borrowing of a riff from a White Stripes' song but, nonetheless, a pretty catchy tune and a memorable chorus, don’t you think?

Writing guitar adverts

The context for the children to explore functional writing in the form of a persuasive advert was a natural extension of the guitar design project. A shop was constructed in the class to display and sell their guitars but descriptive adverts were required to seduce buyers to splash out on the various wonderful guitars that were available at the Strings of Steel guitar shop.

Art and design

The context of the game allowed the teacher to explore aspects of art and design that she could link to the collaborative story that was underpinning the project. As a result the children engaged with designing tour posters, CD covers and tour t-shirts for Full Moon’s European Tour.

Cross-curricular science

The teacher has used the context of being in a rock band to explore the science of sound. Experiments were carried out to investigate pitch and volume.

Design and Technology - 01

In this clip the class teacher discusses she initiated a design project that required the children to design their ‘must have’ guitar. Little did they know that they would then be asked to create a 3D model of this using paper and card. The teacher details the design criteria for this task with the main one being that the children were not allowed to use tape to hold their guitar together.

Design and Technology - 02

In this clip we hear the pupils’ take on their experience of this guitar design task and how this helped learn about planning. We then see three of the girls talking about their guitars and what they had to do make their 'must have' guitar a 3D reality that they could hold and play, well in air guitar style anyway!

Drama

The class teacher worked in conjunction with the visiting drama specialist to create a series of tasks that fitted in with the collaborative story that had been created via the Guitar Hero context. One of the tasks involved the children participating in an improvisation activity that saw them host a Brit Awards ceremony. Names were drawn at random and then the children had to react in character in order to deliver a speech in acceptance of their award.

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