Talking Music ‘Talking Music Discussion Mats’ are a resource to engage students in discussion of music. This resource is intended to be used as flexibly as possible by teachers and their students. The ‘Talking Music Discussion Mats’ may be used as starters or plenaries. They may be used for whole class discussion, group discussion or for pairs or individual students. They may be adult led or student led. They can be placed in learning areas for independent choice activities, or used as extension and challenge activities and they develop higher order thinking skills. The ‘Talking Music Discussion Mats’ explore minims, crotchets and quavers. The set includes Teacher Notes; Six ‘Talking Music Discussion Mats’ as pdfs; A PowerPoint ‘show’ presentation of the ‘Discussion Mats’. Print and photocopy ‘Talking Music Discussion Mats’ or display the ppt on a large screen. Laminate for durability. You may wish students to record the results of the discussions in order to have evidence of the development of their ‘musical skills’. ‘Post it’ notes are very useful to record student discussions. This resource meets the requirements for the development of musical skills at Key Stage 2: Aims understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration*, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations. Pupils should be taught to sing and play musically with increasing confidence and control. They should develop an understanding of musical composition, organising and manipulating ideas within musical structures and reproducing sounds from aural memory. Pupils should be taught to: Use and understand staff and other musical notations.