Yes, I teach music.
Yes, the students have designated reading time in the library and in their classrooms.
Yes, I use children's literature in my music classes - a lot.
In college, I was required to take a class called "Reading Across the Content Areas." Admittedly, I went into the class with a bad attitude. As with many aspects of teaching, I we so sure that I knew how things would go and what I would do, even before I had finished up my classes.
As per usual, I was wrong, and am once again humbled by how much I have to learn.
In this class, we looked at different ways to incorporate literature - both through read aloud, non-fiction journals and articles, and take home projects. I enjoyed the class immensely, but still left feeling like I wasn't really going to use what I had learned in my music classroom. I love to read, but at the time it seemed impractical to take up my music time with something other than music.
Which brings me to the fact that there is SO much more to music than singing folk songs. I have used reading and books many times in my classroom, and in many ways. There are plenty of books that lend themselves to speaking in rhythm, talking about rhyme, adding sound effects, and singing along. I love to use them for a rainy day when I need a little bit of calm in my classroom, and they make for a great, and easy sub plan.
One of my biggest accomplishments this year as a teacher was that I created my 1st and 2nd grade program around the story Giraffes Can't Dance , by Giles Andreae and illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees. The book tells the tale of Gerald the Giraffe, who is scorned by the other jungle animals because he isn't very good at dancing. In my program, the students of Eureka Elementary used their seven habits (which you can peruse here ) to help Gerald learn how to dance and to be confident in himself. The students sang and danced to songs about the jungle, giraffes, and the moon, and had a BLAST! The students loved the humor of the book, and took the message to heart. They discovered their "sparks," and the things that made them unique from their peers. After this year, I vow to always use children's literature for my programs for the wee ones.
Image courtesy of Amazon.com. Link to view or purchase the book can be found here
I also use books in my classroom outside of planning programs. Here are some of my favorites, as well as an example of a unit or lesson that I would incorporate the book in!
Image from vosa.org. The book series can be found on Amazon or from West Music.
So-me Series. This set of 12 books written by Stuart Manins, was created with the purpose of teaching musical concepts through literature, with an emphasis on Kodaly and Orff methodology. The books follow the main character Some (a play on the solfege syllables, sol and mi,) and his friends. Each interactive book focuses on a main concept, such as hearing both the descending and ascending sol-mi pattern, or listening for every day sounds. The books have an accompanying CD or tape, but can also be read aloud by a teacher. The students can sing along in some places, show the Curwen hand signs for the syllables in use, and provide sound effects for the actions in the story. The website here will give you a great idea of all of the concepts that Some helps the students to learn!
Image provided by Amazon.com. A link to view or purchase the book can be found here
We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Helen Oxenbury and Michael Rosen. This book was literally used in my kindergarten class this morning. There are SO MANY ways to approach the use of this delightful book. My preferred lesson looks something like this: Read the book, while the children listen to the story. Invite the students to help with the words on the colored pages (splash splosh, tiptoe, etc.) Sort the students into small groups, one group for each of the different obstacles. Each group gets an instrument that corresponds to the sound that the people make as they travel through each obstacle - see the list below. This time, there are few more components involved in the telling of the story. This can be stretched out into many readings, or can be squished down to add time for other things in the same lesson. Some classes will be fine with multiple readings, others will get bored. The teacher reads each line of the "A section" of the story, and the students echo, as they pat their legs with alternating hands, as if they are walking. Then instead of, or in addition to the students speaking the sounds of the traveling, the instrument groups get a few seconds of glory to play their instruments to their hearts' content. At the end of the story as the hunters return home, the students "run" their hands on their legs, instead of walking them.
- Grass - shakers, sand blocks, guiro
- River - triangles, finger cymbals,
- Mud - (I haven't quite found the "right" instrument here... I have used a vibraslap, slide whistles, slapsticks, and deep field drums. None of them really mimic the "squelch" sound, but they work pretty well anyways.)
- Forest- shape drums, agogo bells
- Snowstorm - thunder tubes and glockenspiels. It's a winning combination.
- Cave - woodblocks. Simple, but I like that they have an echo-ey sound.
Once again... image from Amazon.com, where you can view and purchase the book. Check it out here
Satchmo's Blues by Alan Schroeder. This book is great for older students (even fifth grade!) I use it during my April Jazz unit to highlight Louis Armstrong, and his life when we was the same age as many of the students that I teach. My school is predominantly white, and while we have some African American students, there are still probably fewer than fifteen in a school of 350 students. We just went to a workshop that discussed whether our lessons asked our students to look in a mirror, or through a window. It's important that students see themselves reflected in our lessons, and also important that they see into another culture as well. This book give an opportunity for the African American students to see a mirror image of themselves, and it allows students living in poverty to also see a mirror of their situation, regardless of their skin color. It's got a lot more words on each page than younger students are accustomed to, but it's a sweet book about how Louis Armstrong obtained his first trumpet.
Amazon.com. here
My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss. Who doesn't love a good Dr. Seuss book? This one is a little more tame as compared to many others where you do your best to struggle through syllable after syllable and word after word of "seuss-isms." This is an incredible book that can help students with emotional development, particularly in the area of emotional identification. The book talks about how a person has different days, and those different days are different colors, depending on how the person is feeling. I read the book to the students very slowly. At each color, I play a song that matches the color and emotion, and I ask the students to either move in a way that matches the music OR in a way that reflects the color and feeling of the day. If you want an example, or a starting place for creating a playlist of music for the book, OMazing Kids Yoga has a soundcloud playlist already created, with each song labeled by color. Find it here! (Preview... this is what I'm using for my 4th and 5th grade program next year!)
I feel a little like this post is a written version of the end of a "Reading Rainbow" episode. There are so many more... I could write my own book about all of the ways that I use books in my classes. From kindergarten through fifth grade, I try to incorporate a variety of books and forms of literature. Sometimes I read aloud, sometimes I ask the students to read. If I could leave with one take-away for this post, it would be this: reading in music is a worthwhile use of time. Don't shy away from it because it takes up time... instead, utilize the books and the texts and imbed musical concepts in the reading of the book. There shouldn't be such a great divide between specials and core subjects... use the two to work together and assist in growth in each area!
What are your favorite books to use in your classroom?
Happy Monday!
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