EDGE Institute 2014 SongSmith Cheryl McClure Meridian Middle School - Science

Agenda Introduction – What is SongSmith? Student Engagement - Learning ownership via SongSmith SongSmith Application o Accessing SongSmith o Lesson Ideas for SongSmith Creating your own SongSmith Brainstorming & Sharing

Introduction – SongSmith? So what is Songsmith exactly? A Microsoft application for students to easily create a song  Songsmith generates musical accompaniment  Students sing into their laptop’s microphone  Students record their own song!

Introduction – SongSmith? Why use SongSmith? “Even outside of music classes, Songsmith is a great way to encourage creative approaches to learning. We’ve heard from teachers who had students write songs about science concepts, and we’ve heard from parents whose children used Songsmith to memorize their multiplication tables”. “Songsmith allows somebody who has limited or no musical experience to sing into a microphone and get back a piece of music right away.” “Songsmith is a great way to encourage students to be creative : many music teachers know that sometimes just helping kids “ find their spark ” is the hardest part of stimulating musical creativity”.

How do I use SongSmith? What do I do to make a Song? Select a Style Select a Tempo Sing & Record Lyrics Save your Song

Student Engagement SongSmith as a tool for learning ownership (see below in notes) How can SongSmith foster Student Engagement? SongSmith provides student choice – They write the lyrics from lesson objectives – They chose their own music style – They sing their own song to review their learning Are students nervous to sing? Yes Do students laugh and giggle during the song making process? Yes Do students understand the concepts better after they have made a song? Definitely! Are students nervous to sing? Yes Do students laugh and giggle during the song making process? Yes Do students understand the concepts better after they have made a song? Definitely!

SongSmith Objectives and Success Criteria Lesson Objectives: SongSmith allows students to review and formalize their learning. Producing an end of unit song demonstrates their understanding of the material in a fun, creative way. Success Criteria: Students will be able to produce their own lesson song based on content learning objectives “We can explain content creatively, requires students to recover what they’ve learned” - real quote from an actual middle school student

SongSmith Objectives and Success Criteria Lesson Objectives: SongSmith allows students to review and formalize their learning. Producing an end of unit song demonstrates their understanding of the material in a fun, creative way. Success Criteria: Students will be able to produce their own lesson song based on content learning objectives “SongSmith is fun and having our own group and making silly lyrics that are facts helps our learning” - Another real quote from a different middle school student Student Produced Song Student Produced Song Video

SongSmith Application How do I download and access SongSmith? SongSmith is a free Microsoft application Sign up and registration on the Microsoft Educator Network (Partners in Learning) Find SongSmith and a host other free applications to download to your personal computer Click Free Tools Navigate to SongSmith Download application

SongSmith Application How do I download and access SongSmith for School? KSD teachers can request SongSmith for their classroom/teacher/student computers by putting a request into the Customer Service Center (CSC) CSC needs the KSD barcode of the computers to push out the program Extension to CSC

SongSmith ~ Lesson Ideas Here are some examples of how I use SongSmith in class Learning Goals to help with Lyrics Self Evaluation Guide to help keep work on track Final Song Check ~Group Rubric In my science class, I use SongSmith as an end product for the Unit/Lesson review. First, I remind them to use their Learning Goals to help write their lyrics

SongSmith ~ Lesson Ideas Learning Goals to help with Lyrics Self Evaluation Guide to help keep work on track Final Song Check ~Group Rubric Here are some examples of how I use SongSmith in class A self evaluation guide can help individual and group members stay on track – helps my students know my expectations to work productively each day

SongSmith ~ Lesson Ideas Learning Goals to help with Lyrics Self Evaluation Guide to help keep work on track Final Song Check ~Group Rubric Here are some examples of how I use SongSmith in class A Final Song Check is the final checklist of requirements. Students know they have to print their Lyrics and evaluate the quality and quantity of the content of their song.

Creating your own SongSmith Access SongSmith Select a Style Select a Tempo Sing & Record Lyrics Save your Song Now your turn… What do I do? 1.Find a partner or group 2.Chose a lesson or topic 3.Write out Lyrics 4.Make a Song

SongSmith Brainstorming Lesson Ideas – Grab & Share How do I use SongSmith is my classroom? What are my Learning Goals for my students? What song product do I want my students to create? How about you? Let’s Brainstorm ideas that could work for your students!

SongSmith ~ Wrap Up Please free to contact me (during the school year ~ I’ll be taking this summer off ) Cheryl McClure Meridian Middle School Any Questions?