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Music can be a really inspiring sensory stimulus to
writers and its wide variety of tone, mood, rhythm and
instruments can be used to good effort. Music appeals to
people in different ways and the choice a teacher makes to
use with their class, depends very much on individual taste.
If the teacher cannot hear, see, feel or imagine something
through a selected piece of music, it is likely that the
children will not. Again, enthusiastic child response will
only come from enthusiastic teacher delivery.
1. Tell children they are going to listen to a piece of
music and that they are going to write about the pictures
that come into their minds while they are listening.
2. Suggest to the children that they imagine they are
watching a film which the music accompanies.
3. Play the music, posing questions at the same time, which
do not require a verbal response, but are intended as idea
seeds:
- What do you see, hear, feel?
- What do you see that is still?
- Is anything moving?
- What colours do you see?
- What kind of landscapes do you see?
- Are their any signs of living things?
- Do you see anything which is dead or dying?
4. After listening give the children a short time to talk
with a partner or in a small group about the images they
visualised on first hearing the music.
5. Play the music again, this time asking the children to
write, either as a list or using unconnected descriptive
phrases about the pictures the music creates.
6. Ask the children to begin the first draft of their
writing, putting into sentences the brief notes or phrases
they have jotted down.
7. It will serve as added inspiration to continue playing
the music quietly.
The stimulus for the writing below,‘Illusion Of Paradise’,
was a piece of music titled ‘Moss Garden’, from David
Bowie’s album, ‘Heroes’.
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ILLUSION OF PARADISE
Ice cold frost began to eat my flesh. The strong powerful
wind raced through my golden hair. My stiff arms huddled
together to keep warm. I was alone in the vast countryside,
which surrounded me. Everything was either dead or decaying.
A curtain of mist hung over the deserted land. Everlasting
heather covered hills were now piles of rocks and boulders
of immense size. Gradually they were now being covered with
a spider’s web.
I gazed into the distance, only to see death and
destruction.
Nothing could save this world, only a miracle. Everyone had
been drawn to their grave by hunger or cold, and now I was
the only living thing. The wind seemed to be growing, then
suddenly, without any warning, it stopped, dead. Not a
single leaf rustled. All was silent and still. Rays of
sunshine glided down to earth. A new life had begun. Flowers
of all shapes and colours peeped through the earth to feel
the warmth of the glowing sun. Birds of all glowing colours
flew into the air. Noises of all kinds filled the country.
Heather appeared on the hills once again. My feet began to
explore the dew covered green grass. I gazed onto one of the
hills to see lambs playing, as if it was spring. A stream of
cold pure water lay nearby, waiting for thirsty visitors.
The sun shone its sunbeams to make it look like a river of
glittering diamonds.
Women in silk began to dance round a large colourful fire.
The flames began to lick the wood, which was brought to
them.
They ate away with pleasure till at last it was only grey
and black charred wood ash. Their bodies began to dance
towards me.
I walked towards one of the ladies who was dressed in bright
yellow and put out my hand, but as soon as she touched my
palm, her figure had gone. I yelled out a large scream and
stepped back with fear. No one could help me now. I was
alone and scared. Terror struck me as if it was lightning.
The colourful birds stopped their music, as if they had
heard my painful scream. They stood on their crooked
branches, listening. Everything stopped as if I had
performed a spell. I gazed up towards the sky and as I did
so, the clouds began to turn a darker shade of blue, and
then black.
Rain began to fall. The birds didn’t seem to like the
weather so they decided to fly off to a warmer land.
Coloured flowers closed their buds and submerged under the
water. And so did the ones that lived on the earth.
The wind came back once more, bringing with it the evil
frost and mist. No more sunbeams danced upon the glade.
Every wild animal had gone, leaving no trace of it’s
existence behind. Once again the curse had been laid upon
the land. By Kelly – Y6 Castle Hills Primary School, Doncaster. |
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