You’re right that this type of activity should be integrated into instruction to increase learning and engagement. Imagine what might happen if, rather than potentially uninformed use of music, language arts teachers collaborated with the music teacher to include richer use of musical concepts and skills at the same time! For example: What musical effects are metaphors for the main idea, sequence, or details of the information students are asked to remember? Was it a crescendo, or an explosion? What do those sound like, and how do you musically create the effect? When students make these types of decisions during composition, they will remember not only the facts, but the generalizations that allow them to apply the learning going forward, and compare the knowledge to other learning. You’re on the right track, and it can be even more powerful when teachers collaborate!
