Teaching Academic Skills Through the Exploration of Music
Sloan Edward Williams III
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The Fifth to Eighth graders may have some musical training before you teach them, might have some preconceived ideas of what goals you are trying to accomplish and love to challenge the teacher’s knowledge. If you capture their hearts and imaginiation, you will be amazed at what they learn and recall while studing film, literature and music. Their goals, strategies and objectives are as follows:
Strategies, Goals and Objectives
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1. Pre-screening and musical activities are not as central to planning as the forniat and your presentation of the structure of your film, literature and music goals.
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2. In the first class assess their musical, literary, and film exposure and experience by showing a film clip and have them write their observations on paper. (Note that you might show your students the same film clip at the end of your unit and have them write their findings and pass back their first papers and have them compare the two).
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3. Have students keep a journal. Each student should have a section for music, art, film literature and personal observations.
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4. Have a central or key concept to concentrate on during each lesson; have the students write in each section. Each section should start with a list of vocabulary words to be learned each week of the unit.
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5. Before showing the film and listening to music, make a list of other resources for the students to use. For example, bring in articles that relate to the film that you are showing
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and which help put viewing film into an educational prospective. There is also a computer version of “Jurassic Park” which is interactive and has built-in science projects ready to go. Make a list of museums in your local area the students to visit after school.
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