Reading/Writing Digital Project by https://padlet.com/aiyanacierra/ijk16zr8jsk8yaab Aiyana Mourino, Music Education en-us 2023-04-23 20:09:42 UTC 2025-11-06 14:36:47 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.net/icons/png/1f4da.png aiyanacierra https://padlet.com/aiyanacierra/ijk16zr8jsk8yaab/wish/2564809176 1. Writing is beneficial for teachers and students alike.

2. Student writing conveys student thinking.

3. Writing doesn't have to turn Music class into English class. ]]> 2023-04-23 20:36:27 UTC https://padlet.com/aiyanacierra/ijk16zr8jsk8yaab/wish/2564809176 Take Away 1: Writing is beneficial for teachers and students alike. aiyanacierra https://padlet.com/aiyanacierra/ijk16zr8jsk8yaab/wish/2564812008 One of my biggest "AHA" moments in this module was realizing that writing can benefit both the student and the teacher. In "Writing, Not Just In English Class", authors Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey explain that student writing can be a great source of learning data for teachers. Analyzing student writing can help teachers reflect on how effective their teaching is, what they can change or keep for future years, and how to proceed with instruction. In terms of my own classroom, what I got from the article was this: if my students can listen to a piece of music and discuss the range in tempo using musical words and definitions, I know they have an adequate understanding of tempo. On the flip side, if my students have spent a week studying a composer in class, but they cannot write a paragraph summarizing key characteristics of their musical style, I as a teacher know that the students need additional instruction on that topic. ]]> 2023-04-23 20:44:28 UTC https://padlet.com/aiyanacierra/ijk16zr8jsk8yaab/wish/2564812008 Take Away 2: Student writing conveys student thinking. aiyanacierra https://padlet.com/aiyanacierra/ijk16zr8jsk8yaab/wish/2564814796 Just as you would write your thoughts and feelings in a journal better than you might be able to explain them out loud, student writing is an influential way for students to show "what they have experienced, imagined, thought, and felt" (Common Core State Standards, 2010). In this module, my understanding of writing to learn changed; instead of writing to prove that a student understands, I learned that "writing is thinking" (Fisher & Frey). ]]> 2023-04-23 20:51:49 UTC https://padlet.com/aiyanacierra/ijk16zr8jsk8yaab/wish/2564814796 Take Away 3: Writing doesn't have to turn Music class into English class. aiyanacierra https://padlet.com/aiyanacierra/ijk16zr8jsk8yaab/wish/2564814985 A big reason I (and a lot of music educators, I reckon) tend to stray from writing in the music classroom is because we do not want it to take away from the art of music making. In fact, the few times I have had students writing in my classroom, they often say something along the lines of, "I thought this was music class!" 
But, the truth is, writing is extremely important for student understanding. And it doesn't have to be about writing essays all day, everyday; it can be something as small as writing for sixty seconds about a piece of music or a small article as a bellringer before the music making begins. Or, it could manifest as something like Read - Write - Pair - Share, where students read (or maybe listen), write briefly about it, pair with a stand partner or section mate, and share their thoughts. This helps students to read, write, and speak fluently about a musical topic. It's important for students to understand and be able to discuss the music they are creating, not just be able to make it sound nice. ]]> 2023-04-23 20:52:20 UTC https://padlet.com/aiyanacierra/ijk16zr8jsk8yaab/wish/2564814985 "Students think about the content while they are writing. In fact, students often report that they understand the content a bit better once they have written about it. We have had more than one student tell us, “I didn't know what I thought until I wrote it down.”" aiyanacierra https://padlet.com/aiyanacierra/ijk16zr8jsk8yaab/wish/2564818548 In "A Range of Writing Across the Content Areas", authors Fisher and Frey discuss how writing can convey student understanding in ways that speaking or showing cannot. This particular quote stood out to me because I can imagine one of my students saying this exact quote to me. This was another "AHA" moment for me during this module. I realized after reading this section of the article that writing in the classroom isn't just about the student showing that they understand, but it can really help the student to understand as well. ]]> 2023-04-23 21:02:22 UTC https://padlet.com/aiyanacierra/ijk16zr8jsk8yaab/wish/2564818548 "After all, teachers should not be able to grade all of the writing students do. If they can, they aren’t inviting students to write enough." (Fisher & Frey, 2012) aiyanacierra https://padlet.com/aiyanacierra/ijk16zr8jsk8yaab/wish/2564820406 This quote from "Writing, Not Just in English Class" really got me. It made me realize that I was not allowing my students to engage in writing about music nearly enough. Throughout the module we have been given a multitude of strategies for implementing writing into our own individual content areas, and I never really considered that my students should be writing every day in my class and that it shouldn't always be about getting graded on it. This quote proved to me that writing should be for both the student and the teacher, but mostly for the student. It goes along with student-centered teaching, which is an approach that is very important to me.  ]]> 2023-04-23 21:06:44 UTC https://padlet.com/aiyanacierra/ijk16zr8jsk8yaab/wish/2564820406 How do I plan to implement writing in my classroom? aiyanacierra https://padlet.com/aiyanacierra/ijk16zr8jsk8yaab/wish/2564824653 In my middle school general music classes, my students already engage in some writing activities. However, these activities are often few and far between, and mostly about getting a grade rather than about conceptualizing their understanding. I plan to change this by implementing writing into every single lesson. When the students do write in my class, it is usually as a bellringer. I plan to use different writing activities as a bellringer each day; for example, a few days out of the week we may do a 60-second write to learn activity where they listen to a piece of music and write for 60 seconds with a set of questions to consider. Other days, students would participate in an activity such as Read - Write - Pair - Share, where we popcorn read an article about a genre or composer and students then respond to a set of prompts about the topic, discuss their responses with a partner, then engage in a class discussion. I also found the annotation strategy from 50 Strategies to be particularly interesting; as I read that chapter, I found myself thinking of ways I could tinker it to be helpful in a musical score. I will implement this writing strategy by having students annotate their scores, but instead of writing in musical markings (as annotating in music is usually done), they would respond to questions such as "What was the composer doing here? What do you think they were trying to convey with this phrase? What do these lyrics mean? What is this rhythm supposed to symbolize?". ]]> 2023-04-23 21:18:36 UTC https://padlet.com/aiyanacierra/ijk16zr8jsk8yaab/wish/2564824653 aiyanacierra https://padlet.com/aiyanacierra/ijk16zr8jsk8yaab/wish/2564826798 This article discusses a myriad of purposes for writing, such as to inform, to persuade, or to entertain. For each purpose, the author discusses ways you can incorporate this specific purpose in the music room. I loved this article in particular because when we think about writing, especially in the music classroom, most teachers jump to the middle or high school worlds. However, as a K-8 teacher, I cannot just leave out my elementary kiddos! This article included lots of ideas for the elementary music teacher to engage their students in writing for a variety of purposes. ]]> 2023-04-23 21:24:56 UTC https://padlet.com/aiyanacierra/ijk16zr8jsk8yaab/wish/2564826798 aiyanacierra https://padlet.com/aiyanacierra/ijk16zr8jsk8yaab/wish/2564832288 This video, found on spencerauthor.com, provides an option for helping reluctant writers in the classroom. The video provides an overview for what they call "Genius Hour", or "20% time", which allows for the student to write about a topic they are interested in. The students are given a period of time to pursue something they are passionate about, which may help them enjoy the process of writing. In the article I discovered this video from, the author asserts that "his doesn’t guarantee that every child will love writing. Sometimes it takes a while, especially when students have a fixed mindset. However, it’s a great start, because you’re telling your students,  “I value what you have to say. I’m interested in your geeky interests.”". I believe this is important, especially in a music classroom, because it shows the students that although we will be doing lots of writing along with our music making, there is always room to enjoy the process of writing and there is always space to make the writing their own. ]]> 2023-04-23 21:39:48 UTC https://padlet.com/aiyanacierra/ijk16zr8jsk8yaab/wish/2564832288 aiyanacierra https://padlet.com/aiyanacierra/ijk16zr8jsk8yaab/wish/2564836623 10 teacher-tested strategies to engage reluctant writers. John Spencer. (2020, October 27). Retrieved April 23, 2023, from https://spencerauthor.com/reluctant-writers/ 

Easy ways to help your music students write for different purposes. Sally's Sea of Songs. (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2023, from https://www.sallysseaofsongs.com/2021/10/easy-ways-to-help-your-music-students.html 

Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2012, March). Writing, Not Just In English Class. National Association of Secondary School Principals. Retrieved April 23, 2023. 

A range of writing across the content areas. Reading Rockets. (2015, February 23). Retrieved April 23, 2023, from https://www.readingrockets.org/article/range-writing-across-content-areas 
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