Ms. Hatch

Music in the Classroom

Tests and quizzes:

I play classical music during tests and quizzes. Typical choices include:

Titanic soundtrack

Dan Gibson’s Solitudes,Ocean Surf – an entire CD of ocean waves hitting the surf

Windham Hill Artists – A Winter Solstice

George Winston – December

Beethoven for Relaxation

I play various CDs or the radio when students are working on an activity

Poetry Unit:

To help understand imagery and generate ideas for an imagery poem, we listen to and analyze Mary Chapin Carpenter’s, “I am a Town”, which is filled with imagery.

  • Students generate some of their own poetry in class with this unit.
  • To help generate ideas for the imagery poem (format below), I play a series of four instrumental songs.
  • Before I play the songs, students write the numbers 1 – 4 on their paper so that there is space to write between each song.
  • I then have students close their eyes. I play a tune for 1 – 3 minutes.
  • After a minute or two – I say to the students as they are listening, “Where are you?”
  • Students write for a bit and then I say, “What are you doing?”
  • I repeat this for each song. I try to make the 4 songs different so there are different moods.
  • After all four tunes have been played, I give students the imagery format and they are to write

apoem based on one of their writings from the tunes we listened to in class.

Imagery poem format

I see ______

I smell ______

I hear ______

I taste ______

I feel ______

When I leave this place I take with me ______

______

  • After the poem is written, it is revised and extended. It is hoped that the- I see, I smell, etc. is removed so the poem is more natural in tone.

*I have used this same activity (without the poem) in the past when discussing mood and atmosphere as an introduction to a short story where we are studying these terms.