Special Features

Composer "Road Rally" (for grades 5-8)

By Sandy Toms

Preparation: Write one question each separate card or piece of paper. Attach these cards or papers to the backs of a # card (see Key) OR hide them in appropriate places while writing the directions on the # card. (See 3 a & b) Index cards and magic marker work fine. (Teacher should have several false totals as well taped up in different areas as red herrings. Part of the exercise will be math!)

1. Students will first be given time to read one of the 2 bios below. (If you want to check their note taking, they could be required to take notes and return the bio to you and work off of their notes the next day.)

2. Two teams are given a copy of the clue sheet. (One team for Beethoven and one-Bach)The first question clue is given to each group. They are to answer the question with one or two clues, write in the # of the clue(s) and total the #'s for that question.

3. When they are sure they have the correct answer, they check the total for that question and look for a piece of paper around the room with that # on it. This is where all the students on the team can help finding the clues. The students should proceed to that piece of paper (w/correct total) and: Here there are 2 possibilities:

a. Have the next question taped to the back of the paper with # on it

OR

b. Have a clue as to WHERE the next question will be. (For instance, "Question clue #2 is located under the Brahms poster.") And they would find it there.

4. For the next question, the total will include the previous total plus the present. For example, the total for # 2 will be the totals for #1 and # 2.

The object of the game is to finish first with the correct total # for their assignment.

It's really for fun and a break in the routine of general music. It will require an amount of organization and the teacher may want to write additional bios and questions in order to make each group smaller but it's worth it when you see the 'competitive spirit' accomplish more than just a race. It might be worthwhile to have students go over answers in the form of a report after the race for each other. My apologies ahead of time for any errors, deletions or mistakes.