Me? Teach Music?
I remember sitting in my undergraduate music class that first day, listening to the concerns expressed from fellow students about the preconceived difficulty of the music course they were about to take. Many thought it was out of their realm of comprehension – ergo, they feared the worst – that they were about to embark on the most strenuous of all courses they had to take. As many in class experienced, music isn’t difficult. More important, one doesn’t have to be an accomplished musician to reap the immense benefits music has to offer.
This blog is for primary educators (musical and non-musical), parents, and children. It offers ways to develop musicality in the classroom and at home. Explore the songs, rhymes, poems, and finger plays that appear over time for ways to encourage learning while keeping children entertained in the process.
Rainbow by Nancy Ellington/Bill Ellington
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Maria Montessori
“We cannot know the consequences of suppressing a child's spontaneity when he is just beginning to be active. We may even suffocate life itself. That humanity which is revealed in all its intellectual splendor during the sweet and tender age of childhood should be respected with a kind of religious veneration. It is like the sun which appears at dawn or a flower just beginning to bloom. Education cannot be effective unless it helps a child to open up himself to life.” Maria Montessori
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Daily Archives: February 22, 2017
Music use in the primary classroom…
Music and Multiple Intelligences – Partners in Pre-Reading Success…
According to researcher Howard Gardner, there are nine ways of being smart. Children are “natural” learners and learn best in ways that are “natural” to their innate learning style(s).
Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences…
- Body Smart
- Music Smart
- Picture Smart
- Number Smart
- Word Smart
- People Smart
- Self Smart
- Nature Smart
- Existential Smart
It’s interesting to note that music lends itself to all ways of being smart when it comes to acquiring pre-reading skills in early childhood. Here are just a few examples of integrating “music smart” with “partner smarts” to make learning basic pre-reading skills interesting and fun.
Body and Music Smart
- Move body to form letter shapes to music.
- Jump rope to the alphabet song.
Music Smart
- Sing vowel sounds.
- Use lyrics to simple songs to find and circle letters.
Picture and Music Smart
- Illustrate and label pictures to a song.
- Create an adaptation songbook.
Number and Music Smart
- Count the number of bunnies in a song.
- Order events in a songbook.
Word and Music Smart
- Sing the “Word Family Song”.
- Find and circle words in a song or lyrical poem.
People and Music Smart
- Share and teach favorite songs with someone.
- Sing with a buddy.
Self and Music Smart
- Sing aloud to a stuffed animal friend.
- Listen to a rhyming songbook on CD.
Nature and Music Smart
- Text to real world connections. Name the living things you see outside? What songs do they remind you of?
- Sing and dance to “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush” while circling a tree or bush.
Existential and Music Smart
- Find letter blends in the song “Giving”.
- SIng a friendship song. Brainstorm the ways to be a good friend.
Multiple styles can and should overlap in any learning activity but it should be noted that including music turns a not so interesting lesson into one that piques a child’s curiosity and attention span!
Sing-a-Song Learning K-3 
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