In the spirit of Music in Our Schools month, I would like to reflect some more on how music can build community, this time through composition. With MCAS (Massachusetts’s high stakes test) next week, I think it is necessary to give my students a balance of testing with play. We WILL go outside and run around more than usual, but I also have something fun, creative and collaborative planned – composing some blues!
Well, yes, I could ask them to write the “testing blues”, but that would be the wrong way to focus their energy! Instead, we will write the Erosion Blues as a culminating activity to our unit on Land and Water.
COLLABORATION – My fourth graders will already have a basic understanding of the blues from what they learn in their music class. They learn and play the 12 bar blues. In fact when I wrote this form on the board yesterday, they clearly remembered it and were ready for a refresher. This kind of integrated project is one that I always strive to implement – one that is true to the integrity of the art form and to the curriculum I am teaching. It also provides a time for real collaboration between myself and the music teacher. She has given them a basis of knowledge in the structure of the blues and I’m going to bring other content to the table. Together, the students will synthesize two important areas of study.
CREATIVITY WITHIN A STRUCTURE – The blues has a relatively easy form for writing lyrics: AAB. For each verse there are three lines of lyrics. The first line is (A), then (A) repeats itself, and the last line is different (B). Once students know this basic form, they can really get creative. I will assign a group of students a specific topic in erosion (water erosion, ice erosion, wind erosion, other vocab terms to use) and let them compose.
COMMUNITY – This type of project, where students create together will surely add to the sense of community. With each verse, students will be collaborating as they show what they know about erosion. The part I am looking forward to is hearing how it will all come out in the end. Each group will perform their verse, creating one unified song through the structure of the blues. And for some added greatness, some students will be able to play the 12 bar blues on Orff instruments from the music room.
This musical experience of composing a piece of music is something I’ve been looking forward to doing with my students. (This year I have a particularly musical class.) It is my hope that I’ll be able to post a performance online. More to come!
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Elizabeth Peterson has devoted her life to education and to reaching out to other teachers who want to remain inspired. Mrs. Peterson teaches fourth grade in Amesbury, Massachusetts and is the host of www.theinspiredclassroom.com. She holds an M.Ed. in Education, “Arts and Learning” and is currently enrolled in a C.A.G.S. program through Plymouth State University with a focus in “Arts Leadership and Learning.” Elizabeth is author of Inspired by Listening, a teacher resource book that includes a method of music integration she has developed and implemented into her own teaching. She teaches workshops and courses on the integration of the arts into the curriculum, leads an arts integration PLC (PLaiC) and is adjunct faculty for PSU. Mrs. Peterson believes there is a love of active, integrated learning in all children and from their enthusiasm, teachers can shape great opportunities to learn. 
Any chance we will be able to read or hear the results on line when the work is done?
Yes! That is my hope… We’ll see how everything pans out next week during testing. One way or another my kids will get to create something!
In the meantime, here is a link to an MCAS prep song one of my students came up with on her own. It’s to the tune of Lady GaGa’s “Just Dance”.
JUST MEAT IT! (In other words, beef up your writing…)
I am coming to the end of a great unit with grade 7 Music called ‘The Earth – Where We Live’. The students are composing songs about global issues. First, they wrote lyrics using rhyming words, metaphor etc. They then worked out where the natural stresses and meter was in their words. Stage 2 – students used online music notation tools to make rhythms to match their words. Stage three was to actually change the rhythm into melody to create their songs. We used verse and chorus structure and the whole project took a lot of guidance, but with great learning along the way. It has been very challenging, but they learnt so much along the way. The students worked in small groups and some volunteers will sing the songs, record them and present their work in their digital portfolios.
That is great! Sounds like there is a lot going on with this project. Maybe you can link us up to where we can hear the product/performances when they are done. Looking forward to hearing more from you!
Here are the lyrics for the Erosion Blues. Hopefully there will be a recording ready to upload on Monday! http://www.amesburyma.gov/webpages/epeterson/files/SKMBT_60110032612090.pdf