Concept Map

This week I developed a concept map for a music class I might do with either my older elementary or middle school EI students. I will admit it was a little difficult because we spend a lot of time with picture communication or symbolic communication in what we do. However, I did like the idea of creating an overall picture of the project as a point of reference for my students. To have a diagram like this could be useful in providing a place to look back and check work; to make sure we are on task and completing the necessary steps to successfully do the activity. I chose to do a song-writing task and have organized the map with the two major divisions in the task - music and lyrics. We would first discuss the song topic - this may be a title, a theme, or even a style the student would like to use. The first main component of our writing would be music, which includes the rhythm or beat of the song; harmony, which involves the chords; and melody, which provides music for the lyrics. The second main component is the words. This side is divided between the chorus, which repeats a main idea several times; and verse, which generally is the part of the song that tells the story. I would use the map as a reference point throughout the lesson, drawing students' attention back to check for all aspects of the song, to problem solve when having difficulty generating ideas, and to assess the final product.

I do like how the concept map provides a picture of how complicated the process of writing a song might be. Just be looking at it I realize that I may need to put more effort into developing the musical portion of my song because there seems to be more parts to it. I also can see how the chorus is a simpler portion of the words. I would probably want to start with that to get my process started. Seeing the longer chain for the verses might encourage me to think about my story and how I will develop it over the course of the song.