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Hey music educators! An important part of a Culturally Responsive Music Education is utilizing learning moves that move students from dependent to independent learners. Today, I’m sharing one strategy to support deep thinking that you can use in your classroom.
And as always, be sure to hang with me until the end where I’m sharing a free resource!
Visible Thinking
Visible thinking routines consist of a sequence of steps that guide thought processes and active processing. It is a research-based framework that was designed to “integrate the development of students’ thinking with content learning across subject matters (Harvard Project Zero).” Learn more about Visible Thinking Routines from Harvard’s Project Zero here!
In the music room, visible thinking routines are a great way to spark student thinking and take them beyond surface level description and analysis of music.
Using visible thinking routines is a great way to support students listening deeply to and connecting with music. How often have we heard students say “I like this!” without being able to further explain what about the music they are connecting with? I find that visible thinking routines have greatly increased my students’ capacity to more specifically name what they are hearing and connecting with. Engaging them at this deeper level increases their cognitive capacity; a critical component of culturally responsive teaching (Hammond, Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain, 2014)
There are many visible thinking routines, and many that are especially well suited to the arts. Today, I’m sharing about the Hear-Think-Wonder routine (originally See-Think-Wonder)!
Hear-Think-Wonder
The Hear-Think-Wonder routine is a great way to introduce new music material to students and practice describing and analyzing music. The routine stimulates curiosity for the new music as well as encouraging students to make thoughtful interpretations.
Here’s how it works:
- Direct students to listen for what they hear, then play an excerpt from the music for students. Afterwards, invite students to list as many things they heard as possible. Sometimes, I make it a friendly competition for students to share in pairs, then see which pair can come up with most things that they heard! This is a great opportunity to challenge students to use musical vocabulary during discussion.
- Next, direct students to listen and again and think about what they think is happening in the music. Play another excerpt from the music. Afterwards, invite students to share their thoughts with a shoulder partner and/or the group.
- Finally, direct students to listen again (or play the rest of the piece or the whole thing if it’s not too long) and think about what they wonder about the music (questions they have about it). Afterwards, invite students to share their wonderings with a shoulder partner and/or the group.
You could engage students in this activity completely verbally, but I find that having students write or draw their thoughts on a worksheet to be helpful because it gives students a chance to gather their thoughts individually before sharing, it encourages active participation from all students, and the option to draw one’s thoughts instead of speaking helps to support participation from students for whom speaking or conversing is not yet the best way to glean their understanding. Remember: culturally responsive music instruction considers potential barriers and provides options and choices for students to engage meaningfully.
To encourage movement during the activity, invite students to get up to talk to someone new after each hearing.
As a follow up to the Hear-Think-Wonder activity, use the students’ wonderings and questions as inquiry into further learning. For example, they will probably be curious about the performers, the genre, etc. You can anticipate some of what they may be curious about and then share that information with them with text, pictures, etc.
The Hear-Think-Wonder activity is a great way to kick off a new unit, or as an introduction to a new song that students will learn to sing, play, or move to!
To help you get started with this strategy, I’m sharing a free resource with you: Hear-Think-Wonder activity to introduce string instruments and The String Queens! I designed the resource to be a “done for you” resource, meaning you have everything you need to do this in your classroom tomorrow!
Here’s what you’ll get in the download:
- Google & MS Power point slides featuring “Crazy/Rolling in the Deep” performed by the String Queens (I recommend the Google slides)
- Slides include Hear-Think-Wonder visuals and information on the DC based string trio, The String Queens
- Google Slides include already shortened music excerpts (MS Power point includes music, but you will need to manually start and stop the music)
- Student Hear-Think-Wonder worksheet
Cognitively Challenging Work: An important Part of a Culturally Responsive Music Classroom
Culturally responsive music educators know that sharing the cognitive load of teaching and learning with students increases their engagement and supports their ability to become independent learners. When we utilize intentional instructional moves to build learner capacity over time, the result is students who are confident in their learning abilities and enjoy engaging in musically challenging tasks!
Want to learn more about Culturally Responsive Music Instruction? I’m doing a free, live webinar this Wednesday, January 26th from 7-8:15pm EST, “An Introduction to Culturally Responsive Music Instruction.” Join me to learn more about the main tenants of culturally responsive music teaching as well as some practical examples that you can apply in your own classroom!
Click here to register. Registration is free!
What instructional strategies do you use to support deeper thinking?
I would love to know what instructional strategies you’re using in your music classes to support deeper thinking! Comment below or share on social media and tag me: I’m @ACuthbertson10 on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Also, let me know what you think of this post! If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for my weekly email newsletter where I’ll be sending these blog posts each week, as well as other music ed resources and tips.
Until next time,
Ashley
P.S. Don’t forget to grab your copy of the Hear-Think-Wonder lesson resource, it’s free!
P.P.S. Join me this Wednesday, January 26th from 7-8:15pm EST for my free live webinar, “An Introduction to Culturally Responsive Music Instruction.” Register here, it’s free!
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