Literacy in the Music Classroom

Muskegon Area Intermediate School DistrictNovember 10, 2014

Phillip HashCalvin College

pmh3@calvin.edu

Basic Principles

• Focus = MUSIC. [Is this MUSIC instruction?]

• Literacy integration should improve music learning

• Performing ensemble vs. MS/HS general music

• Class activities or homework? Student Reaction?

• Must be deliberate & documented

• Grading = Mastery Learning• Coordinate w/ school writing

program (common core rubrics, etc.)

• Create/Use Common Core Rubrics

• http://www.essaytagger.com/commoncore

• Holistic rubrics – keep simple!• See samples in handout

Literacy/Music Activities

• Reading Materials• Instrumentalist• In Tune• Online materials

• Assess comprehension• Brief quiz• Oral summary to the class

• Reflection Journal (w/ criteria)• Individual progress• Opinions on music• Evaluate progress

• Research/write program notes• Listen & Evaluate Performance

• Their own or others• Essay or adjudication form

Piggy Back Songs

• Create new lyrics to a familiar song in trios

• Examples of good songs• Twinkle, Twinkle • On Top of Old Smokey• Yankee Doodle• Itsy-Bitsy Spider• I’m A Little Teapot• Farmer in the Dell• Happy Birthday• Others?

Directions• Step #1 – Pick a familiar song• Step #2 - Brainstorm words/ideas for

your assigned topic• Step #3 - Count out syllables for each

line in your song.• Step #4 – Mark the spots where

rhyming words occur.• Step #5 – Create new words to match

each phrase in the song, using the same rhyming word pattern. Make sure you teach something!

Piggy Back Songs

"Arbor Day Song" Sung to the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" Plant, plant, plant a tree Watch it grow up tall On Arbor Day we help the Earth Even though we’re small

Plant, plant, plant a tree Apple, pine or pear. Do your part on Arbor Day, The earth must not be bare. "Thanksgiving Dinner" Sung to the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" Gobble, gobble said the turkey As he ran way, Wouldn’t you rather eat spaghetti On Thanksgiving Day?

Corn and beans and jelly bread, Cake and pumpkin pie, All these good things you must eat, The turkey said “Goodbye~” "Dinosaur Days No More" To the tune of "Fere Jacques" Pterodactyl, pterodactyl Where are you? Where are you? No more Dino Hoosiers, they’re Jurassic Losers

Improving Reading Fluency

• Read quickly, accurately, w/ expression (ability to predict what comes next – letters, syllables, words [see next slide].

• Reading in rhythm enhances fluency

• Chants [2 slides down & handout]

Can You Read This?

Arocdnicg to rsceearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pcale. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit pobelrm. Tihs is buseace the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Improve Elementary Reading Fluency (Edwards, 2012)http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2012/12/using-music-improve-reading-fluency

• Adding literacy skills to what you already do• Sing & Read Lyrics (it’s that simple)

• Music creates a steady pulse to which as student must read in time (steady rhythm)• Provide song lyrics w/o notation to each student in a 3 ring binder• Students listen and follow along to learn the song• Then sing along following lyrics w/ finger• Find songs w/ themes or types of words• Students analyze lyrics (e.g., find adjectives, learn new vocabulary, explore meaning)• Use all kinds of music. Make sure it is appropriate• Find music w/ multiple verses. Rotate the songs often. You want students to sing while

reading rather than memorize lyrics

Horse and a Flea

Horse and a Flea and three blind mice,Sat on a curbstone shooting dice,Horse he turned and sat on the flea,“Oops” said the flea, “There’s a horse on me!”

Edmund Fitzgerald (Frasher, 2014)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vST6hVRj2A - Complete Worksheet as you listen

• Comprehension Connections by Tanny McGregor (2007)

• Six strategies for developing/encouraging reading comprehension

• Apply to musical works• Vocal & Instrumental (program music)• Multiple hearings

SIX STRATEGIES• Schema: (Danger/Fear)

• a concept common to all• Have you ever been in a storm?• On a boat?

• Questioning: who, what, where, when, why?

• Inferring: What were the sailors feeling? Thinking? [Just fear?]

• Determining Importance: What is the basic message of the song? [remembering?]

• Visualizing: Listen to the song and visualize the story in your head (Discuss what you saw in your imagination)

• Synthesizing: How does the song build? Just in lyrics? Summarize or recreate in some way.

Sound Poems – Choral Readingshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp-VTHGIKWA

• Music = expression, arranging, timbre• Integrate = drama, literature, [writing]1. Read the poem2. Experiment w/ expressive reading. Vary

speed, dynamics, & pitch (inflection)3. Divide reading into solo, duet, full class,

etc.4. Add sounds w/ instruments & objects

• OK for more than one inst. and/or voice at a time

• Don’t have to represent every sound

Choral Reading

The Homework MachineShel Silverstein

The Homework Machine, oh the Homework Machine,

Most perfect contraption that's ever been seen.

Just put in your homework, then drop in a dime,

Snap on the switch, and in ten seconds' time,

Your homework comes out, quick and clean as can be.

Here it is--"nine plus four?" and the answer is "three."

Three?

Oh me . . .

I guess it's not as perfect

As I thought it would be.

The Sound CollectorFrom All the Best – The Selected Poems of Roger McGough

A stranger called this morningDressed all in black and greyPut every sound into a bagAnd carried them away

The whistling of the kettleThe turning of the lockThe purring of the kittenThe ticking of the clock

The popping of the toasterThe crunching of the flakesWhen you spread the marmaladeThe scraping noise it makes

The hissing of the frying panThe ticking of the grillThe bubbling of the bathtubAs it starts to fill

The drumming of the raindropsOn the windowpaneWhen you do the washing-upThe gurgle of the drain

The crying of the babyThe squeaking of the chairThe swishing of the curtainThe creaking of the stair

A stranger called this morningHe didn't leave his nameLeft us only silenceLife will never be the same

Noise DayShel Silverstein

Let’s have one day for girls and boys

When you can make the grandest noises.

Screech, scream, holler, and yell—

Buzz a buzzer, clang a bell,

Sneeze—hiccup—whistle—shout,

Laugh until your lungs wear out,

Toot a whistle, kick, a can,

Bang a spoon against a pan,

Sing, yodel, bellow, hum,

Blow a horn, beat a drum,

Rattle a window, slam a door,

Scrape a rake across the floor,

Use a drill, drive a nail,

Turn the hose on the garbage pail,

Shout Yahoo—Hurrah—Hooray,

Turn up the music all the way,

Try and bounce your bowling ball,

Ride a skateboard up the wall,

Chomp your food with a smack and a slurp,

Chew—chomp—hiccup—burp.

One day a year do all of these,

The rest of the days—be quiet please.

The Wind – Lilian Moore (choral reading w/ sounds)

When the wind blowsThe quiet things speak.Some whisper, some clang,Some creak.

Grasses swishTree tops sighFlags slapAnd snap at the sky.

Wires on polesWhistle and hum.Trash cans roll.Windows drum.

When the wind goes--Suddenlythen,the quiet thingsare quiet again.

Art & Writing Worksheethttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpbkg_KRWAc&feature=related

• See handout• Upper Elementary or even MS• Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level = 5.0 (vs. Reading Ease Score)

• Grade level• Based on average sentence length & syllables per word• WORD or https://readability-score.com/

• Language arts, art, music• Integration can happen w/ same activity in different ways (e.g.,

music vs. regular classroom)

Objectives

• Students will develop and demonstrate their understanding of adjectives and use them as such in sentences.

• Students will write a poem or short story conveying coherent ideas and a logical sequence of events.

• Students will listen to and interpret a piece of music through writing and drawing.

Standards: Language Arts

• Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. (3)

• Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. (3 & 5)

• Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes. (5)

Standards: Music

• Recognize, analyze, and describe connections among the arts; between the arts and other disciplines; between the arts and everyday life.

• Observe and identify cross-curricular connections within the Xrd grade curriculum.

• Discuss the various rationales for using music in daily experiences. (e.g., movies)

Radio Plays

• Before Television • http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ43UC5tIOY

• Integrates• Literature/writing• Music• Science/sound production• Drama

• See handout• Take one story – script & extend to

3 minutes• Dramatize as a radio play w/

sound effects & music

The Whistler (Ep. 3 – Local Storm)https://archive.org/details/TheWhistler1944_0

"The Whistler" was an American radio program running from May 16, 1942 until September 22, 1955. It was one of the most popular mystery drama's of its' time. The stories followed an effective formula in which a person's criminal acts were typically undone by their own stupidity. Ironic twist endings were common. The Whistler narrated, often commenting directly upon the action in the manner of a Greek chorus, taunting the criminal from an omniscient perspective.

Questions

• What sound effects did you hear?• When was music used? When was there no music?• What were the characteristics of the music used to heighten the

drama?• Could this be an appealing form of entertainment for people today?

Why or why not?

Assignment (see handout for details)Objectives• Students will write a short story in

the form of a dramatic script• Students will explore timbre by

creating sound effects• Students will select appropriate

music to accompany a drama• Students will examine the history

of radio through listening, discussion, & producing their own program

Standards

Music (national standards)• Responding/Select: Choose music appropriate for a specific purpose or context.• Creating/Plan 7 Make: Assemble and organize sounds to create initial expressions of selected experiences,

moods, images, or storylines. Language Arts (MI)• Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive

details, and clear event sequences.(3 & 5)• Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations when appropriate

to enhance the development of main ideas or themes. (5)History (MI)• 1 – H2.0.5 Use historical records and artifacts (e.g., photos, diaries, oral histories, and videos) to draw• possible conclusions about family or school life in the past.• 1 – H2.0.6 Compare life today with life in the past using the criteria of family, school, jobs, or communication.

[several MI drama standards]

Elementary Exampleshttp://www.826michigan.org/feature-of-the-month-mitchell-elementary-radio-plays/

• Mitchel Elementary – Ann Arbor • Adapt fairy tales, nursery rhymes, fables, and other famous children’s stories into radio plays (K-3)

• Adapt students’ stories (3+)• Adapt any short story• Recreate actual radio scripts

(MS/HS)• http://www.simplyscripts.com/radio.html