peace.love.writing
Susan Horn's Demo 6/30/09
Swimming Upstream: Literacy Strategies in Music
How can literacy strategies support a greater understanding of musical concepts?
Susan Horn teaches Band & Orchestra grades 6-8 at Mead Middle School. The origin of Susan’s question is rooted in the written responses she was getting from her students who, when unable to participate, wrote concert reviews for make up assignments. Susan felt the writing she was getting was not the students’ best work nor did their writing show what the students knew about the music they were hearing and critiquing. While investigating her question, Susan found that there was very little written to explore the best uses of writing to learn in music classes. Rather, the research focused the other way and discussed the benefits of using music as a means to improve or inspire writing: Susan, then, is minding a gap in educational research through investigation into her question. The highlights of Susan’s work manifested in fun activities such as personifying musical instruments; listening and interpreting a piece of music and then creating a short story that fits the movements of the piece; and finally breaking into groups to experience rhythm, reading (music), brass, and percussion exercises all involving different modes of writing. Now, with stars and wishes in hand, Susan must embark on her own to make sense of her feedback, share her findings to mind the gap, and create educational harmony for music classrooms everywhere. Nice work Susan.
How can literacy strategies support a greater understanding of musical concepts?
Susan Horn teaches Band & Orchestra grades 6-8 at Mead Middle School. The origin of Susan’s question is rooted in the written responses she was getting from her students who, when unable to participate, wrote concert reviews for make up assignments. Susan felt the writing she was getting was not the students’ best work nor did their writing show what the students knew about the music they were hearing and critiquing. While investigating her question, Susan found that there was very little written to explore the best uses of writing to learn in music classes. Rather, the research focused the other way and discussed the benefits of using music as a means to improve or inspire writing: Susan, then, is minding a gap in educational research through investigation into her question. The highlights of Susan’s work manifested in fun activities such as personifying musical instruments; listening and interpreting a piece of music and then creating a short story that fits the movements of the piece; and finally breaking into groups to experience rhythm, reading (music), brass, and percussion exercises all involving different modes of writing. Now, with stars and wishes in hand, Susan must embark on her own to make sense of her feedback, share her findings to mind the gap, and create educational harmony for music classrooms everywhere. Nice work Susan.
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