Music Content Area Literacy

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Lecture: Writing

 

Legendary investor and billionaire Warren Buffett has a tip for young people: Focus on learning how to write and speak clearly.

“The one easy way to become worth 50 percent more than you are now — at least — is to hone your communication skills — both written and verbal,” says Buffett.

“If you can’t communicate, it’s like winking at a girl in the dark — nothing happens. You can have all the brainpower in the world, but you have to be able to transmit it,” Buffett continues.

“And the transmission is communication,” says Buffett, who is currently worth in excess of 86 billion.

Video

 

Writing literacy is crucial for an effective educator - not just to transmit to your students, but to communicate with parents!

 

9 Templates for Responding to Tricky Parent Emails

 

Best Advice for Managing Parents

 

Side note in writing: Avoid Implicit Bias!!

"Implicit" means we are not aware of a bias and how it can impact our actions and decisions. Sometimes referred to as "unconscious bias."

First of all EVERYONE has them.

What are some examples of an unconscious bias?

Bias (positive or negative) based on:

age, race, gender, culture, privilege, community, ability, ethnic, appearance, weight, height, education, success, familiarity

What are yours??

 

It's not just judging, it's assuming.

 

True story: My husband met a very old man, in his 90s, at church and was having a casual conversation. The old man was dressed in jeans with "carpenter suspenders" and my husband assumed he was a retired farmer or laborer, based on how he was dressed. My husband was one of the musicians at the church, so the conversation turned to music, and the old man revealed that he had been a French horn player in a symphony orchestra. Hmmm.

 

That reminds me of the Joshua Bell story in the New York subway . . .

 

Watch this video for more info

Back to writing!

 

Example: in a letter of recommendation, an Asian student was described as "quiet."

A Black student was described as "articulate."

(implication that these descriptions are somehow unusual)

 

Men's reviews are typically longer than women's.

(implication that the men have more positive attributes to identify)

 

 

But you can be careful to avoid implicit bias.

Be aware that it exists, that you have them, and audit what you write!

 

 

 

Learn to write, then write to learn!

 

 

 

 

Longer than 2 minute assignments that you might want to consider:

 

  • Secondary students can get in small groups and each write a program note for one of the pieces in the concert. Note in the program that these were written by the students.

 

  • Elementary students can write notes about music that can be included in programs. Think "How to cook a turkey"

 

There can be many teaching moments following written assignments!

 

 

 

https://www.inc.com/kaleigh-moore/study-73-of-employers-want-candidates-with-this-skill.html

 

 

 WritingGraduate sections

 

 

And of course . . .

 

 

Composition!

 

 

 

 

Summary

Vocabulary

confirmation bias

orthography

syntax

dysgraphia

implicit bias

Increased vocabulary

truncate

2-minute applications

Elementary music classroom

  • Write while listening to a piece of music with a prompt as in "what does this music make you think of?"

  • Quick sentence at the end of class in a journal of "what I learned today." This can also be used for assessment purposes.

Secondary ensemble/classroom

  • Require written requests, excuses, using complete sentences and appropriate syntax.

  • Students write a "post mortem" for a concert or contest. What went right/wrong/what can we do now to improve for next time. Using only one prompt would be plenty for 2 minutes.

  • 2-minute journaling at the beginning of class during roll check

Individual/private instruction

  • Keep a practice journal

Topics for discussion

  1. XXX

Assignments

 

 

 

  

Created and maintained by Vicky V. Johnson