LITERACY-BASED DISTRICT-WIDE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Aiken County Public School District January 15, 2016 LEADERS IN LITERACY CONFERENCE

Literacy Strategies in the Music Classroom Jaime Powell, Band Director North Augusta Middle School LEADERS IN LITERACY CONFERENCE

Session Objectives Define “Literacy” Define “Music Literacy” Discuss the parallels between literacy and music literacy. Discuss literacy strategies in the music class room Briefly discuss Patricia O’Toole’s book Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance Break out into groups and discuss best practices for music and literacy.

Defining Literacy Traditional definition (Mirriam-Webster Dictionary): The ability to read and write. OR Knowledge that relates to a specified subject. Do we agree with this definition? Is it all encompassing for today’s standard of literacy? James Paul Gee (1989), Professor of Literary Studies at Arizona State University, defines literacy as “control of secondary use of language” (n.p.). This definition relates more to comprehension and communication within a social context.

What is music literacy? Music literacy is MORE than being able to read and write music. Just as literacy is more than purely being able to read and write. Qualities of a musically literate individual: Expression Comprehension Understand and perform appropriate stylistic characteristics Make musical decisions Read and write music Creativity

Literacy Strategies for Performance Based Classes Read, write, discuss music history – Historical characteristics of the piece and/or composer. Discuss and or journal about the inspiration of the piece being performed. Analyze a piece based on theory and the text (if applicable). Perform focusing on expression – Have students experiment with several interpretations of a piece. Discuss which one fits best and why. “Tune of the Week” or a listening journal Sight reading strategies compared with “Read Around the Text”

Literacy through Listening Listening to music can be a valuable teaching tool! Start with shorter songs the same as you would start with shorter text in reading. In the classroom: Creative writing (and illustrating) using a writing prompt and classical music. BME (beginning, middle, end) to describe what you’re listening to. My Soundtrack Group writing – 4 people in a group. Each person writes one sentence in the paragraph based on the listening example.

Comprehensive Musicianship A method of planning and teaching that goes beyond simply preparing for a concert. This is teaching with deeper meaning and with a more student-centered approach.

Five Basic Principles Teaching “students to perform with a historical and theoretical understanding of the music and the creative process” (O’Toole, 2003, p. xi)

Analysis “Within every good piece of music there is a rich curriculum waiting to be discovered by your inner musical detective.” (O’Toole, p. 3). Musical – Theory, harmonic, melodic, rhythmic, etc. Historical Identifying and communicating the HEART of the music. (Why is it interesting? How are you going to engage your students to work on this material for 2-3 months?)

Outcomes When considering outcomes, think about using verbs from levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Technical Skills – Incorporate these into warm-up Musical knowledge – Theory lessons Affective outcomes – What is the mood of this piece? How can the performer convey that to the audience? Affective outcomes can have several similarities to literacy skills, specifically communication.

Strategies Teaching strategies should be based on your desired outcomes. Student-centered instruction – lead students to the solutions, but do not tell them. Give students more responsibility in the decision making process. Student conductors Invite students to the front of the room to listen and give feedback. Record the ensemble and have the class give verbal or written feedback. Have students do a concert reflection. “Take out the piece…” strategy.

Assessment Assessments should be meaningful and use a variety of assessment types. Written tests Observations Performance assessment Journals Portfolios (Would work better with a smaller class and possibly for SLOs if you are well organized.)

Selection Quality Music Literature – not just any music. This holds true even for the beginning students, where quality literature is sometimes lacking. Breadth AND Depth – “The music that is selected should be chosen for its musical worth, stylistic validity, teaching potential, and suitability for programming.” It can be difficult to keep this in mind when our groups have so many performances to prepare throughout the year. Collaborate and use resources available to you. BDG – Twice Taught List Share CMP lesson plans with other teachers

5 Rules of Good Teaching According to Patricia O’Toole, there are 5 rules of good teaching (p115). 1.Teach one concept at a time. Anything more is confusing 2.Sequence each learning activity so you are slowly leading students through new ideas 3.Teach, don’t tell. Allow students to solve problems on their own instead of just telling them the answer. 4.Make them successful early so they are eager to continue learning 5.Celebrate each little victory and remember that failures offer opportunities to grow

Best Practices – Share your expertise! I will record the best practices discussed in our breakout groups and the list out to anyone who wants it.

Works Cited Adams, Robert. "What Is Music Literacy?" Mr a Music Place. N.p., 04 Sept Web. 13 Jan Bruce Pearson. "Comprehensive Musicianship Lecture." Comprehensive Musicianship Lecture. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Jan "Literacy." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 11 Jan Tarbert, Kelsey. "Learning Literacy through Music." Oneota Reading Journal. Luther College & Decorah Public Library, Web. 11 Jan