MUED 376: Choral Music, Materials & Techniques (M2 & T)

Developing Choral Excellence Through Teaching and Performance:

TASK ANALYSIS non musical

Jenny Hoye

Write down the steps you took to teach your Martian to eat a bowl of
hot, steamy oatmeal!

1) Present them with the bowl of oatmeal allow them time to look
and smell, but indicate through gestures that they need to keep
their hands away because its hot
2) Set up a bowl for yourself to allow for modeling
3) Give the Martian a spoon allow them time to explore the spoon
4) Model holding the spoon properly in your hand, let the alien copy
5) Model scooping up a spoonful of oatmeal, let the alien copy
6) Blow on the oatmeal and encourage the alien to do the same,
attempt to communicate that it helps the heat through gestures,
etc.
7) Model taking a bite from the spoon, chewing, and swallowing, let
the alien copy
8) Repeat step 7 several times, then slowly stop modeling until they
are eating on their own

Explain in detail why you took this path and what your thinking process
was in this activity.

Since there was a language barrier with the alien, I knew

instructions wouldnt be able to be communicated verbally. In thinking
about nonverbal directions, a few gestures and a lot of modeling the
actions step-by-step seemed to be the easiest way to communicate what
they needed to do. I allowed time for exploration both at the beginning
when the bowl was placed in front of them and when they were handed a
spoon to encourage a bit of play and discovery on the part of the alien,
but made sure to include instructions to communicate the importance of
refraining from touching or tasting at first to keep the alien safe from
burning its hands or mouth. I included time to model each step holding
the spoon, blowing on the oatmeal, scooping the oatmeal, and eating
which broke the process down into smaller chunks that were more
manageable than demonstrating in one big sequence. By the end, the
modeling would phase out after a few bites and the alien would be free
to eat on their own and feel successful.