Escape from the MEAP

The following video needs a bit of an explanation before viewing.

I used to teach a music appreciation class.  Part of the assignment for students was to listen to music without lyrics, such as the 1812 Overture and see if they could tell where/how the story fits into the music.  This started with an assignment where students make a poster board size comic strip detailing the adventures of Napolean's army as it invades Russia.  Starting with the chorale section at the beginning of 1812 where Russian's are a peaceful people, the story goes on until the climactic war between the French and Ruskies, cannonball shooting and all.  (they liked drawing the cannonballs the most)

Then the process was reversed.  We would start with a tune, sometimes from a movie soundtrack.  They would then make their own story as we listened to the music as a class.  I would take notes as the class would brainstorm ideas in conjunction with where the music was taking them.  We would then hash out a plot based on what we heard.

The resulting video was titled, "Escape from the MEAP" (The MEAP is a Michigan standardized test) based off the music of John William's "March of the Slave Children".  Enjoy!