Submitted by Gretchen Taylor and Martha Stanley, Illinois and Tallahassee, Florida

Idea posted July 29, 2004

I've been working on my sub tub this summer and finished something you all might find interesting and useful. The original idea did come from the MusicK8.com Mailing List. I've just modified it a bit.

I've prepared a worksheet using a table with two columns and eleven numbered rows. The left (L) column is labeled "descriptive notes," and the right (R) column, "title." On the back of the worksheet I have another table with one column labeled "title" and ten numbered rows. Everyone needs one worksheet and a pencil.

I prepared eleven excerpts I burned from my Idiot's Guide to Classical Music along with the track listing for the sub. You could use other music sources, but this CD is perfect because the song clips are short excerpts.

Directions: The students will be listening to eleven separate musical excerpts from eleven classical musical works. After each excerpt, they are to jot down any descriptive notes about the music that will help them remember it. They will write these notes in the L column under the number corresponding to the track. They can write things like "loud," "fast," "sad," or identifying specific instruments - anything that will help them remember it. After the first excerpt is heard, the teacher will tell them the title of that song, which the students write in the R corresponding column. This will continue until all excerpts have been heard and identified. Then the quiz begins. The kids turn their paper over to the ten-item table. The teacher explains that s/he will play ten of the eleven excerpts again, but in a different order. Based solely on their descriptions, they must try and identify the excerpts by title, which they'll write down. (They are free to refer to the front side of their worksheet.) After the ten clips are played, papers are exchanged and correct answers are given, allowing discussion about the results and reasons for their choices (especially the wrong ones).

Finally, all eleven selections are played again in their original order with students sharing their descriptions and how they could have made their descriptions better to more easily identify the music.