Since the beginning of time music has universally been one of the most powerful forms of communication and has long been used as a tool for teaching literacy. Music not only stimulates our senses and emotions, it also engages our listening, speaking, writing and reading skills.
Young children are naturally responsive to sound and rhythm. Therefore, Early Childhood Education utilises music extensively and successfully, as it allows students to experiment with grammatical rules and rhythm patterns in songs and other written texts.
However, this response to music and the power of music in teaching Literacy is not limited to the early years. Many teachers attest to this and utilise music if possible.
I commenced my teaching in Early Childhood and my students and I sang and danced our way through a never ending assortment of resources. As soon as I entered middle and upper primary this changed as the resources diminished considerably. Whether this is a result of the assumption that beyond Early Childhood music is no longer an effective tool in teaching literacy, or that students beyond this age do not respond to music in the same way, or that there is not enough time/space in the curriculum, I am not sure. What I am sure of, though, is if it works for young children then, dependent on the approach taken, it will work with all students of all age groups. Furthermore, whilst there may not be as many resources available in the form of CDs and accompanying texts, technology provides the perfect tool for combining Literacy learning and music. Through technology music can be used to engage listening, speaking, writing and reading skills and can provide that meaningful avenue we are always seeking in the learning experiences we provide.
Take a look at these links to get you thinking about how you can use podcasting and movie making to enrich your literacy lessons.
Flocabulary is a brilliant resource from the US that teaches literacy to primary and secondary through rap. Although the resource itself is not free, the website allows you to explore the concepts and demonstrates the possibilities of using this popular music genre.
Flocabulary is a brilliant resource from the US that teaches literacy to primary and secondary through rap. Although the resource itself is not free, the website allows you to explore the concepts and demonstrates the possibilities of using this popular music genre.
The following address links you to the MTV website where you can view videos about the many Harry Potter bands. Imagine how powerful it would be for our students to write and perform songs about their favourite books!
http://www.mtv.com/videos/news/155156/harry-and-the-potters-unload-with-the-weapon.jhtml#id=1561807
The Flight of the Concords is not only, according to the many fans that watch it, an awesome show, it also demonstrates how easily music can be used to communicate in everyday life. Poetry might be interesting to all students if they could present it in such a form!
Written by Beyond Chalk Blog .Beyond Chalk Blog
