Brainstorming and Clustering
PLO 1: compare and contrast music from a range of historical and cultural contexts, including their interrelationships
PLO2: compare and contrast the form of a variety of music compositions
The clustering strategy helps students see connections between ideas, which supports students discovering the relationships between historical and cultural contexts or music composition forms
If you compare two concepts in two different clustering maps, than students will be able to compare and contrast the similarities and differences between historical and cultural eras or music composition forms.
Framework: Pre-reading/Pre-writing
Grade 9 Band Class
Who:
40 students
19 Boys
21 Girls
2 on IEPs – 1 plays trombone and the other plays Tuba
1 ESL - Oboe
Educational Background - All the students took grade 8 exploratories the year before so they should have a basic understanding of simple principles and form of design.
What:
Brainstorming
· Teachers will present ideas or concepts without any background knowledge. After that is achieved, the teacher will set a time limit for the students to list as many facts/ideas as possible. The set time will vary between classes, as it will depend on the class’s strengths. After brainstorming, the teacher will instruct students to beginning clustering the ideas from the brain storm.
Clustering
· Can be viewed as a variation on brainstorming
· Writing them around a nucleus word or concept (which is the focus of the lesson)
Introduce the topic/concept that you are going to talk about, and have the students say any ideas that come to mind when they see that word. The students and the teacher cluster the words together to get meaningful connections. It should be teacher led in the being, and you can scaffold away, so that the students will be able to lead it on their own.
“Because there is no right or wrong way to develop a cluster, students should be encouraged to play with ideas based on what they are studying and learning in class” (pg 228)
Educational Goal - “Brainstorming and clustering are exploratory strategies for pre-reading or pre-writing, since they help students to establish purpose as they think about ideas and concepts to be studied” (pg 226). We as teachers want to create learners who are independent, and if we provide them with clustering and brainstorming skills they will be able to write journals and essays more efficiently.
Where and When:
In a band room with music stands and chairs
Monday and Wednesday Mornings at 7:00am-8:15am
Students will be sitting, facing forward and looking at the board
No limitations of the environment are present
Framework: Pre-Reading/Pre-Writing and introduced before the subject has been studied
They have been introduced to a piece in the baroque period which will be played for their winter concert
Why:
It allows students to visually see, compare and contrast different aspects of the particular concept that is being presented. This is really effective for visual learners and great for oral learners as they are talking about main ideas.
If they understand the ideas, and the connections the students will be able to attain greater recall.
How:
Present the concept of the BAROQUE ERA
Ask the students what they know about it, or what they think of when they see the word. There is no wrong answer, please share your thoughts with the class
The brainstorm process will take about 10mins
After the brainstorming process the students will start clustering, by taking all the ideas from the brainstorm, and put them into the graphic organizer by analyzing the connections between the ideas of the brainstorm. They should end up with clusters of words that have meaning.
At the end, after students complete the cluster, students will be given the opportunity to compile all the word and write a paragraph on the Baroque era.
ADAPTIONS:
Students who are still don’t get it, the teacher will have the students write down their thoughts, and they don’t necessarily have to share them with the class, but just the teacher.
For students who have an IEP or the ESL students, we would give some background knowledge before the class brainstormed to these students so that they can participate in a positive manner.
Another adaption would be Think-Pair-Share, where they can share their thoughts in a small group setting.
Laura Eilers
Stephanie Mile
