Moody MusicUsing Mood and Music to Aid in Pre-

Writing

Colleen GravesNTSWP

Denton ISDCgraves@dentonisd.org

“Take a music bath once or twice a week for music is to the soul what water is to the body.” --O.W. Holmes

Chalk Talk

• Silently (and one at a time) come add or subtract comments to the statement on the board.

What do We Want to do?

• Be actively engaged• Respond to Reading

• Explore mood using music

• Explore ways to meet the needs of multiple intelligences

Research

• “Students are attuned to song. Song lyrics and rhythms fill students’ heads.” - Tom Romano

• “Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.” - Ludwig Van Beethoven

• “Music helped Thomas Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence….The music helped him get words from his brain onto the paper.” Laurence O’Donnell

More Research

• “Music helps us learn because it will-- enhance imagination, provide inspiration and motivation.”- Chris Boyd Brewer

• “(Music)helps set the scene for many important experiences…it greatly affects and enhances our learning and living.” - Chris Boyd Brewer

• “Music is the doorway to the inner realms and the use of music during creative and reflective times facilitates personal expression in writing, art, movement, and a multitude of projects.” CBB

More Moods

• “Moonlight Sonota” by Beethoven

• “Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley

• “Take Five” by Dave Brubeck

• “The MP” by The Album Leaf

Adagio by Barber

• Suggestions: On one half of the paper write down a few images the song brings to mind.

• On the other half draw the image or images you visualize in your head.

• Continue piece as a poem, a story, or simply work further on your drawing.

• Adapted from Laurence Baines

Student Examplesfrom Adagio

• Somebody is in misery• Maybe a bad thing is

happening to an important symbol, person, or thing.

• Somebody’s about to do something brave

• Something terrible is happening

• A car crash just happened to somebody and that somebody is important

• Being alive, breathing

• (There is) nobody in the world but you.

Student Example

• A woman is really poor she doesn’t have no money. The policemen is arresting her because she rob something and the women’s crying because there’s been lots of days that she hasn’t eat so she’s crying because she don’t want to go to jail. All she wanted was some food. Poor women this shows that there’s lots of cases like hers. The women has to give food to her children so they could survive. - Cintia

More Examples

• I see a girl cring because, her mother and father died so she is holding them in her arms. While she cries rain is falling. When she puts them down gently. She gets up takes her parents to the grave yard, digs two holes and bury them and then begans crying louder. -Karla

Examples from ESL Students

• I imagine that a mother is very worried because her son is very sick. But she can’t go to the Dr. because she does not have a lot of money to pay. But she is crying and praying to Jesus. This is very sad story. – Ismael

• Theas remainds me (of) Nexon send the atomic bom to those inesent people. How diden’t involve this disaster and oribol deth being destroid by the strongest bom ever created -Judas

Reaching multiple intelligences

• “The creation of music expresses inner thoughts and feelings and envelops the musical intelligence through understanding of rhythm, pitch, and form.” Chris Boyd Brewer

• “The musical intelligence involves developing an ability to respond to musical sound and the ability to use music effectively in one’s life.” Chris Boyd Brewer

Extensions

• Story writing with music

• Do you have any ideas?

T.E.K.S.

• (6.1) Listening/speaking/purposes. The student listens actively and purposefully in a variety of settings.

• (6.4) Listening/speaking/culture. The student listens and speaks to gain and share knowledge of his/her own culture, the culture of others, and the common elements of cultures.

• (6.8) Reading/variety of texts. The student reads widely for different purposes in varied sources.

• (6.10) Reading/comprehension. The student comprehends selections using a variety of strategies.

• (6.11) Reading/literary response. The student expresses and supports responses to various types of texts.

• (6.15) Writing/purposes. The student writes for a variety of audiences and purposes and in a variety of forms.

• (6.24) Viewing/representing/production. The student produces visual images, messages, and meanings that communicate with others.

Bibliography

• Baines, L. (2000). Going Bohemian: Activities that Engage Adolescents in the Art of Writing Well. Newark, Delaware: International Reading Association

• Brewer, C. (1995) Music and learning: integrating music in the classroom. Retrieved June24, 2005 from New Horizons website: http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/cits/brewer.htm

• O’Donnell, L. Music and the brain. Retrieved February 23, 2005 from the Brain and Mind website at : http://www.cerebromente.org.bo/n15/mente/musica.html

• Romano, T. (1995). Writing with passion. New Hampshire: Heinemann.