Can I Increase Vocabulary Through a Music Study?
My end result/ product: my students were going to create jingles/ & or songs
Action Plan:
1. I introduced the song of the week after we had just finished our the last topic in writers workshop (which was a poetry unit.) 3 times a week we really dissected & analyzed lyrics. We looked at writing techniques that we saw in songs (Thank you Drew Watson for inspiration!) 2. We downloaded dictionary apps so we all could be more proactive about learning & looking up new words 3. I introduced a word of the week 4. We created a dictionary in their writing journals 5. I introduced vocabulary games to use during their reading stations |
Example of a Vocabulary Game "Context Clues"
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There was a point somewhere in the middle of this study that I started to panic. It didn't seem to be working. Plus the problem with a "jingle" they were going to create was that it was a shorter piece of work that didn't really require specific, articulate writing. Since this was the case, how could I prove that their vocabulary was improving? But I kept plugging away.... |
I believe that there is a deep feeling & healing that can be transmitted through music (like the music corps program for veterans.) I really wanted to tap into that power with my class this year
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Example of a Song of the Week
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Noticings along the way:
1. My students became a lot more aware of words & their parts of speech -
(Especially with nouns being the most frequent word we happened to be looking up)
2. They started asking more questions when they didn't understand the definitions of a word
1. My students became a lot more aware of words & their parts of speech -
(Especially with nouns being the most frequent word we happened to be looking up)
2. They started asking more questions when they didn't understand the definitions of a word