Brainball: Teaching Inquiry Music as a Team Sport

Inquiry is becoming more and more an area of interest in education. This book attempts to explain why music inquiry makes sense, what pieces are required to do music inquiry effectively (the knowledge, skills and dispositions) and then provides how to teach music inquiry in a series of day-by-day lesson plans.

Table of Contents:
Foreword Acknowledgements Introduction Section 1: Brainball (Music Edition) - Why Music Matter Chapter 1: Brainball (Music Edition) – The Point of the Game is Learning Chapter 2: The Big Ideas: Product, Process, and Community aligned with Purpose Chapter 3: Brainball (ME) Beliefs (Dispositions) Chapter 4: Brainball (ME) Key Knowledge Categories Chapter 5: Brainball (ME) Skills Section 2: Preparing to Coach the Game Chapter 6: Tip 1: Keep the End-in-Mind Chapter 7: Tip 2: Play the Game Chapter 8: Tip 3: Competitions as Evaluations Chapter 9: Tip 4: Sequences matter Chapter 10: Tip 5: Explicit Communications Section 3: Day-to-Day Lesson Plans: Brainball Illuminated Lesson 1: Observations Lesson 2: Observations Lesson 3: Observations Lesson 4: Observations Lesson 5: Curiosity Lesson 6: Gathering Information Lesson 7: Gathering Information Lesson 8: Action Plan – Criteria Day Lesson 9: Skills and Application Lesson 10: Skills and Application Lesson 11: Skills and Application Lesson 12: Workday Lesson 13: Workday Lesson 14: Presentations Lesson 15: Presentations Lesson 16: Final Reflections Conclusion Appendices Appendix A: S.C.A.M.P.E.R. Appendix B: Making the Most of Observations Appendix C: Stand Up- Hand Up- Pair Up Morning Meeting Appendix D: Student Outcome Engagement Ideas Appendix E: Classroom Roles Appendix F: My Brain is Already Full Appendix G: Student “Teach To...” Appendix: H: Blank Pages Appendix I: Composition Project Appendix J: How are central concepts used in composition?

About the Author :
Mickey Kolis is the author of six books and a veteran public school teacher; he is currently a university professor. Making learning relevant is his highest professional aspiration. Sarah Olson grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin and attended the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire. She currently teaches choir at Delong Middle School and serves as the school’s behavior interventionist. Benjamin H. Kolis is an actor and theater devisor in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Review :
Brainball (ME) is more than a game—it reimagines the music classroom experience. Kolis, Kolis and Olson draw connections between athletics and music, where teachers (coaches) facilitate experiences that awaken a thirst for learning from all students, instead of a select few. Packed with resources and sample lesson plans, this book will change the way you teach. If it doesn’t, then you’re not playing the game. Are you ready? Music and sports are different ways in which young people learn about themselves and the world. They are unique within themselves, but hold many common ideas. This book, Brainball, exemplifies what excellent and creative teaching and learning looks like taking the best from both areas. This book examines how students learn best, and explores how individual learning combined with small communities of learners results in a much richer learning experience for everyone. The book contains wonderful model lessons from a master teacher to help readers implement many innovative ideas into their own classrooms. If you enjoy the journey of teaching and learning, you will love this book! Sarah and Mickey’s stories from the classroom ground the book in the realities of the classroom. They remind us that teaching and learning are social phenomenon that treats the process of both as an intellectual phenomenon of shared work. The lesson plan examples are excellent models of ways to actively engage students in musical behaviors, behaviors that are coached and changed within a learning-focused team.