I currently teach band, orchestra, and general music at the High School for Environmental Studies in midtown Manhattan.   My general music classes only meet for one semester.  It is very hard to prioritize what it is most important for them to learn.  I’m in the process of writing a curriculum that will be entitled Music and Social Justice.  I know I am going to start the class with a cultural sharing in which students present a song to their class they they find most relevant in their lives.  I also know thathat I will have students look at the music of Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, and Shostakovich.  We are going to examine meaning in music with lyrics and without.  I also have an idea to create a song writing project with alternative notation that will allow them to create a composition using symbols they see in their daily lives.   Does anyone have any ideas related to this curriculum?  I’m brainstorming now and will be solidifying the curriculum for my students at the beginning of February.  Thanks!