“Listen  Up!  Music:  More   Than  Words”   Using  the  elements    of  music  to  create   lifelong  learners  in  English   Geoff  MacDonald  [email protected]  

Agenda: Introduction

5 min

Patty Griffin-- “Tony”

15 min

“24 Frames” and “Something More than Free”

15 min

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBdSu1DTbbM http://diffuser.fm/jason-isbell-story-behind-something-more-than-free-song/ Song Exploder

15 min

http://songexploder.net/the-national Thematic albums (The Suburbs, Prairieography)

15 min

Del Barber https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDDAKkHk-F4 The Suburbs https://vimeo.com/36170225 Specific songs to support themes (e.g. “All These Years) 10 min “All These Years” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTisgKe-tAo

O-Comes--(1.1.1, 2.1,2.1.1., 2.2, 2.3, 2.31,2.32,2.33,3.1.1, 3.2.2,

Its funny how I never knew

4.1.1, 4.1.2, 4.2.1, 5.1, 5.1.2

"Tony"

There I was sitting right behind you

Patty Griffin

They wrote it in the local rag

Does anyone remember Tony

Death comes to the local fag

A quiet boy, little over weight

I guess you finally stopped believing

He had breasts like a girl

That any hope would ever find you

When I wasn't too busy feeling

Well I know that story,

lonely

I was sitting right behind you

I'd stare over his shoulder At a map of the world

Hey Tony, what's so good about

He always finished all his homework

dying

Raised his hand in homeroom

He said I think I might do a little

He called the morning attendance

dying today

With the pledge allegiance to the

He looked in the mirror and saw

gloom

A little faggot starin back at him

Hey Tony, what's so good about

Pulled out a gun and blew himself

dying

away

He said I think I might do a little

Hey Tony what’s so good about

dying today

dying, dying

He looked in the mirror and saw

Hey Tony what’s so good about

A little faggot starin back at him

dying, dying

Pulled out a gun and blew himself

Hey Tony, what's so good about

away

dying He said I think I might do a little

I hated every day of high school

dying today

It's funny, I guess you did too

He looked in the mirror and saw

A little faggot starin’ back at him

Pulled out a gun and blew himself

Pulled out a gun and blew himself

away

away

Pulled out a gun and blew himself

"24 Frames" (Jason Isbell) This is how you make yourself vanish into nothing And this is how you make yourself worthy of the love that she Gave to you back when you didn’t own a beautiful thing This is how you make yourself call your mother And this is how you make yourself closer to your brother And remember him back when he was small enough to help you sing You thought God was an architect, now you know He’s something like a pipe bomb ready to blow And everything you built that’s all for show goes up in flames In 24 frames

This is how you see yourself floating on the ceiling And this is how you help her when her heart stops beating What happened to the part of you that noticed every changing wind This is how you talk to her when no one else is listening And this is how you help her when the muse goes missing You vanish so she can go drowning in a dream again You thought God was an architect, now you know He’s something like a pipe bomb ready to blow And everything you built that’s all for show goes up in flames In 24 frames You thought God was an architect, now you know He’s sitting in a black car ready to go You made some new friends after the show But you’ll forget their names In 24 frames In 24 frames

    Mac McAnally (Great closing activity for A Doll’s House)—asking the question: “Which would be worse?” "All These Years"

She likes adventure with security And more than one man can provide She planned adventure feeling sure that he Would not be home 'til after five He turned on the lights and turned them off again, And said the one thing he could say All these years Where have I been I've been down the road to work and home again And I'm still here Until I'm gone And don't you rub it in too hard that I've been wrong All these years

           

She said, "You're not the man you used to be" And He said, "Neither is this guy" She said, "There's some things you refuse to see... But I guess sometimes so do I" She made no excuse why she was lying there, She said the one thing she could say

All these years What have I done? I made your supper and your daughter and your son Still I'm here, And still confused But I can finally see how much I stand to lose All these years... I'm still here And so confused But I can finally see how much I stand to lose, All these years.

      Links:   http://songexploder.net/    (a  wonderful  podcast  explaining  how  lyrically  and   musically  a  song  comes  together)   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBdSu1DTbbM    (Jason  Isbell  24  Frames)   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUJ4OGLkugQ  (Jason  Isbell  How  I  wrote  that   song)   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDDAKkHk-­‐F4  (  Del  Barber’s  Prairiography)  

8 Ways to Use Music in the Language Arts Classroom (From: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/using-music-strategies-languagearts-classroom-heather-wolpert-gawron) I think when we talk about using music or art or theater in the Core classes, there is still this persistent suspicion that a teacher who plays music in the classroom must be too "soft" or "granola-y." Don't get angry; I'm just stating an observation of perception, not a fact of truth. I would push back, however, that using the arts in the core subject-area classes is far from fluffy. What I do understand, however, is that not everyone is a musicologist. Not everyone has in depth knowledge of this composer or that artist, and that can serve as a gatekeeper to incorporating the arts. However, I believe, a more casual everyday use of music can have as much power as explicitly teaching music as it relates to one's subject matter. One doesn't need Bach in the background to qualify as having used music. There are many ways to trigger the benefits of music in, say, a Language Arts class, that doesn't require too much knowledge of music in general.

Why Use Music?

Music can be used to help control a classroom environment or to support the content within that class. It can be used to signal different transitions within the class as well as to serve as a writing prompt itself. Music is also a way to build community and to share yourself as a teacher. After all, if the students don't have a sense of who you are as a human, they will inevitably lose respect for you as a teacher. Music is a way in with students, a way for them to learn about you and for you to learn about them. And we know that reciprocal learning in a classroom, whether to build subject matter competency or community, is key in pulling out the best academic results from those students. The week after I saw The Lego Movie, every period that walked into my middle school classroom was greeted with "Everything is AWESOME!" Haven't heard it? I dare you to be asleep or disinterested in anything for at least a full hour after hearing that 2:43 song. As an a cappella geek, I have been known to play a song from the a cappella group, Pentatonic, every now and then as well. The beat boxing in some of their YouTube videos is slamming every which way you look, and they take on multiple genres with their beautifully blended voices. Reciprocally, I never thought I'd actually appreciate K-pop until my students shared it (sort of in thanks for me turning them onto some Danny Elfman scores). Music helps create a classroom environment of creativity, but I would also add that it helps make the brain more receptive to deeper critical thinking. Music opens up neurons, opens doors in your brain that create a kind of loft space receptive to learning.

The Activities But what do you do if you don't have a lot of knowledge about music? Feeling like you have to bring in another content area can be daunting, but adding music as a learning layer isn't like that, and there are many options you can use to keep those students awake and more receptive to absorbing your content. Here are eight ways to use music for this:

#1 Songs to Teach Academic Vocabulary Using music as an aid in memorization is just plain smart. Add in songs that are focused in your content area, and they're gold. That's why history teachers still use "Elbow Room" from Schoolhouse Rock fame to introduce the concept of exploration. As a Language Arts middle school teacher, I love the Princeton Review Vocab Minute podcast. You can look through the list of short minute-long songs that teach concepts from word origins to synonyms.

#2 Lyrics as Poetry I love looking at lyrics through a poetic lens. Clearly I'm not alone because my own secondgrader's teacher sent him home with the printed out lyrics to Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive." My son had circled the nouns and underlined action verbs. In my own classroom, I have even had

students create a web trying to trace the logic from Willie Nelson's version of "I Am My Own Grandpa."

#3 Songs as Writing Prompts

Picture this. The students enter the classroom. John Williams is playing on the speakers. Maybe it's the ominous opening from the film Jaws or the flying sequence from Hook. Now write. #4 Music to Aid in Role-Playing

Earlier this year, my students embarked on a project-based learning unit that I developed based on the United Nations. On each day, we had music from the different nations playing, national anthems, processional marches, etc...as we role-played as ambassadors to the U.N. #5 Developing Playlists to Teach Narrative

I once did a great project when I was in eighth grade in Ms. Sauve's class that's always stuck with me. We had to develop an album cover, complete with visuals on the front and a song list on the back. We then had to include a dust jacket that had lyrics to each of the songs. As I think about it, there would be something interesting to have the students develop a mythical playlist, a mix-tape of sorts, that tells a story through its song titles. #6 Jingles to Teach Persuasive Commercials jingles are a great way to show that people are writing persuasively in many genres and in many modalities. Have students analyze a jingle as you might analyze an article or review. Better yet, have them write one.

#7 Reviews as Literary Analysis Music reviews are persuasive, sure, but they are also a form of literary analysis. Look at Amazon reviews or Rolling Stone reviews for elements of analysis. Have students listen to the music they are referring to. Did the reviewer miss the boat? Do they agree with the review and what evidence can they bring to the table to prove their analyses?

#8 Music to take "Syn-naps" Last, but not least: simply turn on a good tune every now and then. I talk a lot about Judy Willis' concept of "syn-naps." This is when you wake up the brain by jolting it a bit. Sometimes you can use an image stuck in the middle of a PowerPoint slide, but music works beautifully as well, flicking the groggy brain into wakefulness. It doesn't have the last long, merely a stanza or two, but enough to get the oxygen back to their noggin' and the alertness back in their eyes. I could pretend that I use music in my Language Arts classroom because of all the brain-based research that surrounds its use as a learning enhancer. But the fact is, that I use it to set a tone in

my classroom -- a tone that acknowledges that music is in our species' blood, that it makes us smile and cry and laugh and a have a common experience in our hearts. Creating a common experience with your students is what one's classroom should be all about. Is it place students want to go? Is it a place that isn't a waste of their time? Is it a place that cares about their interests and challenges them to appreciate others' interests? Music helps towards all of those goals.   E N G L IS H  L A N G U A G E  A R TS  G E N E R A L   O U T C O M ES General Outcome 1 Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to explore thoughts, ideas, feelings and experiences. 1.1 Discover possibilities 1.1.1 Form tentative understandings, interpretations and positions 1.1.2 Experiment with language, image and structure 1.2 Extend awareness 1.2.1 Consider new perspectives 1.2.2 Express preferences, and expand interests 1.2.3 Set personal goals for language growth General Outcome 2 Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to comprehend literature and other texts in oral, print, visual and multimedia forms, and respond personally, critically and creatively. 2.1 Construct meaning from text and context 2.1.1 Discern and analyze context 2.1.2 Understand and interpret content 2.1.3 Engage prior knowledge 2.1.4 Use reference strategies and reference technologies 2.2 Understand and appreciate textual forms, elements and techniques 2.2.1 Relate form, structure and medium to purpose, audience and content 2.2.2 Relate elements, devices and techniques to created effects 2.3 Respond to a variety of print and non-print texts 2.3.1 Connect self, text, culture and milieu 2.3.2 Evaluate the verisimilitude, appropriateness and significance of print and nonprint texts 2.3.3 Appreciate the effectiveness and artistry of print and nonprint texts General Outcome 3 Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to manage ideas and information.

3.1 Determine inquiry or research requirements 3.1.1 Focus on purpose and presentation form 3.1.2 Plan inquiry or research, and identify information needs and sources 3.2 Follow a plan of inquiry 3.2.1 Select, record and organize information 3.2.2 Evaluate sources, and assess information 3.2.3 Form generalizations and conclusions 3.2.4 Review inquiry or research process and findings Program Outline English Language Arts (Senior High) General Outcome 4 Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to create oral, print, visual and multimedia texts, and enhance the clarity and artistry of communication. 4.1 Develop and present a variety of print and nonprint texts 4.1.1 Assess text creation context 4.1.2 Consider and address form, structure and medium 4.1.3 Develop content 4.1.4 Use production, publication and presentation strategies and technologies consistent with context 4.2 Improve thoughtfulness, effectiveness and correctness of communication 4.2.1 Enhance thought and understanding and support and detail 4.2.2 Enhance organization 4.2.3 Consider and address matters of choice 4.2.4 Edit text for matters of correctness General Outcome 5 Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to respect, support and collaborate with others. 5.1 Respect others and strengthen community 5.1.1 Use language and image to show respect and consideration 5.1.2 Appreciate diversity of expression, opinion and perspective 5.1.3 Recognize accomplishments and events 5.2 Work within a group 5.2.1 Cooperate with others, and contribute to group processes 5.2.2 Understand and evaluate group processes