As I continue to focus on the task of using technology to do different things rather than just doing things differently (Thornburg, 2004), I like the idea of using student blogs to analyze music. The elements of music are frequently talked about and discussed in my elementary general music class. In all grade levels, kindergarten through fifth, weekly effort is put into helping the students have an understanding of melody, harmony, pitch, tempo, dynamics, form, tone color, rhythm and beat and how they are used to create music. The ultimate goal is to have students develop a discerning ear for how the elements are expressed in different musical selections. Both the ear and knowledge need to be developed through frequent listening activities and exposure to a variety of musical styles and compositions.
In fourth and fifth grade music class, students will create blogs about class listening selections. The blogs will give students an opportunity to analyze what they are hearing using musical terms and strengthen their understanding of the elements of music. Initially, their blogs will give them the opportunity to privately express their understandings and feelings about pieces of music. As students' blogging experience grows, they could be invited to post comments about classmates interpretations. This experience could also lead to blogging between students in another class, another school, or even possibly a composer. Incorporating this activity into the elementary music class curriculum supports the goal of doing different things because it presents the opportunity for very different lines of communication for students to experience. It also gives every student a voice and opportunity to express their personal reactions to music in a private setting, something a tradition, teacher-lead class does not offer.
Julie,
ReplyDeleteYour idea of students creating their own blog is a pretty cool idea. I like how they can use it privately or to network with others. We all know that expressing your opinion is a little less intimidating when behind a computer, so they may be able to discuss things feeling about music less inhibited when on a blog as opposed to in a classroom full of peers. Another good idea may be for you to start a blog that is entirely for student opinions. Instead of every student creating a blog, if you created on for students and posted topics and they could comment on the blog with their opinions it may be easier to keep track of activity and a little on the easier side for elementary students. Love the idea!
Angel
Angel,
DeleteThank you for your suggestion. That could be a good way to handle the student comments, keeping them all in one blog with them commenting on a blog post submitted by myself, which could be responding to a music selection. One of the reasons I suggested each student creating their own blog was so that they could keep a running log of their own reflections. I appreciate your suggestion and will explore that possibility. In talking with my school's tech people last week about blogging in the classroom, I found out that no other teacher has been working with blogs in the classroom yet, so this would be a new avenue for our school, which I think is exciting.
Julie
Julie,
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of having your students create their own blogs to talk about what music they like. Having the students express what their are interested in will give great ownership to their blogs. Not to mention to get them excited about the lesson. Great idea, John