Graduate Program

Music with Music Education Option

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Semester of Degree Completion

2016

Thesis Director

Danelle Larson

Abstract

The purpose of this action research study was to examine the use of writing skills in a third grade general music classroom. Students wrote narratives based on music they heard, used an interactive notebook to reflect on musical experiences, conducted a short composer research project and wrote a biography about the composer. The study was designed to investigate the following research question: Will the use of writing in the music classroom help the students apply writing skills from their general education classes while learning music content? The duration of the study was for an entire semester and the students attended music class once a week for forty minutes. The data collected consisted of interview questions and answers, writing graphic organizers, interactive notebook entries, student writing samples, and journal notes kept by the researcher. The results of this study revealed that the students demonstrated an average growth of 10% between their pre-writing and post-writing samples. This project encouraged cross-curricular lessons and working with colleagues outside of the music content area.

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