Read what a teacher says about this activity:
‘Musical dictation is a great activity, especially for auditory learners. It gets students to be creative and adds a different activity type to the lesson.’
Stage 1:
Before your lesson choose two pieces of music that have no words and are different in style. Make sure you will be able to play the music to your learners.
You could also sing these songs to your class.
Stage 2:
On the board write the following words:
- Name?
- Age?
- Gender?
- Nationality?
- Appearance?
- Personality?
- Likes/Dislikes?
- Hobbies/Interests?
Stage 3:
Say: ‘Copy the list down twice.’ Circulate and support.
Stage 4:
Say: ‘I’m going to play two pieces of music. As you listen to each piece, use your imagination to complete the information. There are no words so you need to use your imagination.’
Stage 5:
Play the two pieces of music. Monitor and encourage your learners to be as creative as possible.
Stage 6:
Put learners in pairs or small groups and say: ‘Compare and discuss what you wrote.’ Encourage them to give reasons or explanations.
At the end, ask a few learners to share with the whole class.
At first this seems like a very strange activity, but it is a great opportunity to be creative. Once learners get started it can produce amazing results!