MUED 376: Choral Music, Materials & Techniques (M2 & T)

Developing Choral Excellence Through Teaching and

Performance:
TASK ANALYSIS – Non musical

NAME: Journee Smith

Write down the steps you took to teach your Martian to eat a
bowl of hot, steamy oatmeal!

One of my classmates was the teacher while myself and

another pretended to be the martian. Her steps to teach us
how to eat the oatmeal were first to explain what the bowl of
oatmeal was and why we eat it. Then she demonstrated how
to eat it with a spoon. She showed us, rather than telling us.

Explain in detail why you took this path and what your
thinking process was in this activity.

My classmate first explained the significance of eating the

oatmeal in order to give the martians a reason for why it’s
important to eat food. With music education, it is important
to give context to everything that we do. For example, giving
the history behind the music that the students are singing.
When the students have this knowledge, they are able to
further connect to the music and perform at a deeper level of
thinking.

She also demonstrated how to eat the oatmeal with a spoon

instead of simply explaining it to us because, as martians, we
didn’t know what she was saying. This process can be
transferred to music and teaching. Being a demonstration
instead of explaining actions to students can be used in the
developmental hierarchy of learning. Speak less and act more.
A simple act possesses the potential to teach much more
than five minutes of explaining which then leads into an
action. It’s important for the students to get in as much
experience as possible. Sometimes explaining an action has
the potential to take away from the precious moments that
students could be singing, experiencing and learning on their
own and with the teacher.