I’m sure you are aware of the wide-spread push to add cross-curricular learning in every subject. You’re probably also aware that adding reading skills is one of the most important styles of integration. And if you read my last blog post, you also know why it’s important to integrate reading skills into your music classroom. Today, I’m going to tell you who this type of integration can benefit and why.
Teacher, I know you’re struggling. I know how difficult your job has been the last couple of years especially. Even in the best of times, your job is still challenging and far busier than anyone else in the school knows. You don’t have time in your day or in your life for ONE.MORE.THING. I’ve been where you are. I know your struggle, because I also do it every day.
Please allow me tell you my story. Early in my career, I was asked to begin teaching struggling readers through a pull-out program. I knew very little about how to teach anyone to read, let alone a struggling reader. So I did what I know you do when faced with a challenge. I did some research, talked to a couple of master teachers, and muddled my way through. I had no idea what I was doing, but I found that my students were responding positively, and I found that the skills I was learning were the same skills I was teaching every day in my classroom. This discovery led me to learn as much as I could about how to teach reading skills and to spend an extra minute or too (legit, it just takes a couple of minutes).
Here’s what I know now. Everyone in the school benefits when you add reading skills as part of your music activities. Let’s dive into this a bit more:
- Struggling Readers benefit – Your struggling readers tend to be students who have put up a roadblock to learning. They know they are moving slower than their classmates, they are frustrated, and they have gone from “maybe I can” to “I can’t“. This is a sad place to be when you’re 7 or 8 or 10.
- These students need a completely different way to learn. They aren’t getting it. Their brains just work differently than yours and mine. Many struggling readers can benefit from learning some simple reading skills in your classroom, because you are move visual and more kinesthetic. These students often learn better by seeing and doing.
- You can leap over their roadblock, because they truly just think they’re having fun in your classroom. While we don’t always like this as the serious educators we are, this can be a great way to reach students who think they can’t.
- Your class can be the connection that these students need between what they are learning in their classrooms and where the disconnect is. You can help them increase vocabulary, learn basic reading skills, and read more fluidly.
- All Learners benefit – I know what you’re thinking. How can this be?? Well let me tell you…even if you have never added any reading strategies to your music classroom, your students are still getting LOTS of great literacy learning in music. Almost every skill we work on can benefit readers. If you add just a couple of small techniques to your normal day, the learning increases three fold. Here’s why:
- Students need to see that what they are learning in their classroom is connected to life outside of their classroom. Every time you add literacy lingo or a math skill to your lesson, your students have one of those “AHAH” moments that we teachers love to see. Once they see the connectivity of their learning, they are going to be more engaged. Isn’t that what you’re looking for; students who are not only engaged in the learning but also more willing to try something new?
- Music is THE ONLY subject in school where both sides of the brain have to talk to each other. Students who are reading music and playing an instrument have as much activity in their brains as someone who is having a seizure! Increased brain activity also creates more pathways that ALL students can use for new learning. Plus, students who have a better developed corpus callosum (that’s the fancy pants term for the part of the brain that connects the two halves and gets them talking to each other) have better spatial awareness and are better able to multitask (focus on more than one thing at a time)
- Classroom Teachers benefit – As much as we’d like to think that we are respected and appreciated by our colleagues, that is sometimes just not the case. I’m not saying that your co-workers and administration don’t love and appreciate you and your program. However, we know better than anyone how easy it is to dismiss our subject as one that doesn’t really matter. You are keeping a really powerful secret in your classroom. You know how good music is for the brain! You know how effective music can be both as engagement and as a teaching tool. You just need to share that knowledge with your fellow staff members. Here are some ways to toot your own horn and get teachers to see exactly how effective music can be in their students’ learning:
- Invite classroom teachers and your admin in to see a classroom performance of a storybook lesson. If they can’t make it, be sure to record it and email it to your students’ teacher. Pick the best one and email it to your admin.
- Use a math teacher concept and show their work. If they used stickies to take notes, collect them and hand them to the teacher as they are leaving. If they filled out a Google Form or Sheet, make sure they share a copy with their teacher.
- Do some professional development with your staff and show them exactly how to plan and do a couple of storybook lessons with their students. Be sure to include a glossary of music terms and some basic instrument play instructions. Set up some instrument kits that classroom teachers can borrow.
- Collaborate with your classroom teachers. Ask one grade level or more what storybook they are working on in the future. Pick one and do a collaborative project.
- You benefit – This is important. When you add storybook lessons into your classroom, you create more engagement, better learning, and students who are excited to come to class. This is a WIN, WIN in my eyes. You benefit as a teacher and as a person when your students are happy and learning. You have less behavior problems. Your teacher heart is fulfilled, and you leave school happier than when you got there.
Integrating reading skills into the music classroom is literally the best way to benefit everyone in the school building. For more information on how to do this, be sure to join my community and check out my private Facebook group, Stories That Sing for Teachers.