All seventh grade students will be taking Music Essentials for approximately six weeks during the course of the year as part of their Unified Arts rotation.  This course emphasizes the history of jazz; the history of African American slave songs; reading, writing, and performing rhythms; singing; and analyzing and describing music through the process of listening to a variety of styles of music.  Grading is based upon classwork, projects, quizzes, and class participation.  This course will allow students to create, perform, and respond to music.