Music Meditation

Storytelling Elements using Music
This meditation takes the student out of the equation. There are 2 worksheets below - one for teachers to track the songs, and one for the students.  The teacher then leads them into a state of relaxation. Finally, the teacher plays one minute of music from a number of different genres and has the students answer the questions at the headings. The teacher specifically does not note country / place to allow more creativity. For some students it is enough to write “Paris” while for others it is more comfortable to write “a café in Paris.”

n.b. It’s helpful to have songs without many English words or with words from a language the students don’t know so they can focus on the emotions and interpretations. Music names should not be made available to the students until after the meditation.

Music pieces used by the writer of this paper:		Music Number	Links
	La Vie En Rose, Edith Piaf		http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NdmIpHKfgk
	Miserere Mei Deus, Allegri		http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZL3POaATn8
	Get Busy, Sean Paul		http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajbzdOeaT7M
	Flower Duet, Lakmé		http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qx2lMaMsl8
	Sueño Mama, Roberto Poveda		http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8j2wRJaPcE
	Kongurey, Ondar and Pena		http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVfzQVlVAUA
	Song for the Morning Star, R. Carlos Nakai		http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpmfkH0VHNA
	Tidal Wave, R. Sotomayer (The Art of Fusion)		http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rad7x9FtD6s
	Beethoven’s Fifth as Salsa		http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_sSnLmJN78
	Lys til nattsvart jord,  Helene Bøksle		http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pjXOckaVRg

Music Meditation Student Sheet

Music Number	Where or When	The people / characters and their relationship	Action – What are they doing?
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The Holstee Manifesto

What is your passion?

First, I show the students this video.  Then we read the manifesto.  Each student works with another student.  They each alternatively read one sentence. 

After giving a few examples of what a person's passion is - the thing we spend our time, energy and money on - the students are instructed to write a list of 50 things they love TO DO.  Making it action oriented makes them think more about WHY they love it. 

Then they look at their list and put a star by 5 or so things that they love to do the most. 

We do a round robin or cocktail party like exercise in which each student talks for 1-1.5 minutes about one of the things they starred.  Their partner then talks for the same length of time. 

Change partners and talk about a different thing from the starred list.

At the end, we look at the list.  Are they majoring in what they love?  Are they spending time doing the thing that is their passion?  If not, challenge them to make their lives more passionate. 

The Holstee Manifesto: