In the music lecture, we looked at where children have musical experiences and where to discover music. This allowed me to think of possible musical experiences I had when I was in primary school and where I’ve seen music being used whilst on placement. Reflecting back on my experience in primary school I remember ever year having a ‘Scottish week’ which culminated in each class performing a Scottish song for the rest of the school and parents to see. I can now see that music was used to link different curriculum area’s and when I am student/teacher I will be able to link music with other curriculum areas to link in the topic, maths literacy etc. my thoughts on how to participate in music are now changing from singing and playing an instrument to learning to use music in ICT, learning to perform and learning to listen.
Drama workshop Developing Drama Using a Stimulus
Process Drama. I have learned what process drama is and the benefits of process drama. I feel reassured and at ease knowing that the learning can still be achieved without having to have an end result such as a play or a big performance. Bowell, P., Heap, B, S. (2013). I can now see the link between process drama and active learning. “Active learning is learning which engage and challenge children’s thinking using real-life and imaginary situations” (Scottish Executive 2007).
I found the Teacher in role section of the workshop very interesting and within my group we discussed how we could this in a classroom. In my group, we discussed the teacher in the role of a trainee cashier who has a hard time working out the change that is due and needs help from the other members of staff that work in the shop (the children). This would link to mathematics experience and outcome MNU 1-09a – I can use money to pay for items and can work out how much change I should receive Education Scotland (2009).
Another curriculum area that we discussed that could use the teacher in role could be history. We used the example of the teacher playing the role of a soldier who has just woken up from a coma and wants to know what happened in the rest of the war. The children would then play the role of the soldiers explaining what happened during the war. This could link to experience and outcome SOC 0-04a – “I have explored how people lived in the past and have used imaginative play to show how their lives were different from my own and the people around me Education Scotland “(2009).
With both of these linking to drama experience and outcome, EXA 1-14a “I have developed confidence and skills in creating and presenting drama which explores real and imaginary situations, using improvisation and script” Education Scotland (2009). This shows the value of the arts in the curriculum as it is a cross-curricular area that can be used to develop skills in literacy, maths and social sciences.
Pulse and rhythm
Today I really enjoyed the Pulse and Rhythm workshop. Within this workshop, I was able to learn a lot about music. After not reading or playing music properly for at least 8 years it felt like a breath of fresh air. I had totally forgotten all of the names of the notes so the slide with the name, value and symbol on it was very beneficial to me. Find the picture of the slide below.
The workshop was fun but challenging as well, as we progressed through the PowerPoint the pieces of music got harder and more complex. Here is a video of me playing along with the music.
I think this PowerPoint will be a great teaching resource when out in placement as it was very easy to follow along with and required no prior knowledge beforehand. It also required very little equipment and pupils could even use pencils instead of wooden spoons. The PowerPoint can be used with all age ranges and depending on the stage can be used from EXA 0-16a to EXA 4-16a. With my new knowledge of notation, I was able to annotate Scotland the Brave notes, giving their name and value.
Throughout all of today’s learning my confidence in teaching using drama conventions and my confidence to teach music has increased and I would now feel less anxious towards this subject area.
References
Education Scotland (2009) Curriculum for excellence: Social Studies: Experience and Outcomes Available at: https://education.gov.scot/Documents/social-studies-eo.pdf (Accessed 20 October 2020)
Education Scotland (2009) Curriculum for excellence: Expressive Arts: Experience and Outcomes Available at: https://education.gov.scot/Documents/expressive-arts-eo.pdf (Accessed 20 October 2020)
Education Scotland (2009) Curriculum for excellence: Numeracy and mathematics: Experience and Outcomes. Available at: https://education.gov.scot/Documents/numeracy-maths-eo.pdf (Accessed 20 October 2020).
Scottish Executive (2007) Building the Curriculum 2: Active learning in the early years. Available at: https://www.education.gov.scot/Documents/btc2.pdf (Accessed 20 October 2020)
Bowell, P., Heap, B.S. (2013) Planning Process Drama: Enriching teaching and learning. London: Routledge (Accessed 20 October 2020)
