Composer Bio-Pages
Sean G. Donaldson
donaldsons@duq.edu
Duquesne University (student)
TI:ME Technology Areas Addressed:
Multimedia
Level:
Middle School
Class:
Music Technology
Equipment:
Computers with Soundcards Internet Microsoft Word
Duration:
80 Minutes
Prior Knowledge and Skills:
Internet surfing ability, word processing basics.
MENC Standards Addressed:
MENC 9: Understanding Music in Relation to History and Culture
Materials:
A Projector on a Teacher station would help for demonstration, but is not necessary.
Objectives:
When this lesson is completed, the students will be able to capture a number of different multimedia formats from the internet, and Insert them into Microsoft Word. They will be able to see the multimedia/technology capabilities of your everyday Word Processor. They will also demonstrate their ability to do basic online research and their presentation skills.
Procedures:
5m: Preparation
Explain the overall project, that the students will be making a Biographical Page about a composer of their choice. This will be done in Microsoft Word, and it will incorporate Weblinks, Images, and Sounds. Have each student choose a composer they would like to research. Open a New Document in Word.
15m: Search
Have the students find at least 3 websites which they will bookmark and copy and paste the URL into their Word document:
- Site with Biographical information about their composer
- classicalarchive.org’s URL pertaining to their composer
- Site with a Complete List of Works by the composer
Note: If you haven’t done so previously, register your membership with www.classicalarchives.com so you can help your students to use it easily.
20m: Gather
- From whichever site they prefer, have the students grab an image to insert into their Document.
- From the biographical site they found, have the students copy and paste a short biography of the composer into their Document.
- From the Classical Archives, have the students download 3-5 MIDI files of important / favorite compositions.
- From the site with the Complete Works, have the students get information about each of the pieces of which they chose to get MIDI files.
20m: Compile
In Word, have the students assemble all of their gathered items.
Walk through each of the processes of
- Copy/Pasting weblinks and web text;
- Copy/Pasting or Inserting an image; and
- Inserting a MIDI file.
They can follow your example for layout, but if they are ahead of schedule, encourage them to be creative in the placement of the information.
20(+)m: Presentation
Have each student present their BioPage to the class. Or, if time is running short, all of the pages can be compiled into one Word document which everyone can be given a copy of. For each presentation, have students give each presenter (positive) feedback about the layout and other choices.
Evaluation:
Create a chart/checklist that can be used to score the items in each student’s BioPage.
Ex)
Composer: ___________
Image: ___________
Bio: ___________
Weblinks: ___________
MIDI: ___________
Presentation: ___________
Follow Up:
If this is something your students are productive with, it can be followed up with other Multimedia platforms, such as PowerPoint, Flash, or Dreamweaver (webpages).
Items to Purchase:
A paid Registration to www.classicalarchives.com will be necessary for the class to download MIDI files.
