A big part of Douglasville, what I called my second grade classroom, was music. I wanted my students to have a taste of classical music, so I used it in many different ways. My favorite was Mozart. Whenever it was time to study for a test, or right before we took a test, I would play a piece by Mozart. A couple that I used were: 2nd Movement Of The 21st Piano Concerto or Romance (2nd Movement From eine Kleine Nachtmusik). I'm not sure if it really made the class smarter, but it did help the mood of the room!
One composer that all my students knew was Vavaldi. If it was raining out or just a real cloudy day that looked like it could turn into rain, I would put on one of his concertos. On a rainy morning I would say, "Oh, my, look at that rain. It looks like a Vavaldi day." I have a feeling that even now those students might think of that music when they see rainclouds!
Beethoven and Debussy were also a way to get students into the writing mood. I could put on that CD and the sensuous, tender, beautiful music would take us out of our world into whatever we were daydreaming about. Words would go onto paper much easier with music in the background.
Music in Douglasville was for a purpose, but also for just realizing that music is a part of life.
6 comments:
Lovely idea to use this Slice of Life Challenge to reflect on your years of teaching! I wish you the very best with this. I, too, love using classical music in my classroom (in my case, w/preschoolers)...I often have it playing during our centers time. Thanks for sharing!
During a quiet time I've been known to say "if you can't hear the music we're too loud"
During a quiet time I've been known to say "if you can't hear the music we're too loud"
During a quiet time I've been known to say "if you can't hear the music we're too loud"
Music is so powerful, evoking emotion and images. I used to play classical music to help my students with visualization. We would share the scenes of our minds eye through discussion or drawing before transferring to writing. I agree that music can help students write deeper.
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