4 Ways You Can Teach Music Concepts Using Storybooks
Storybooks seem like something fun to add to your daily activities, right? You’ve probably got a bunch of them, and your kiddos LOVE listening to all those silly stories about talking dogs and chicks that hop and skip. The problem is, how do you use storybooks to actually teach music skill?
It’s truly pretty simple, and I’m going to help you learn how. Storybook lessons are one of the best ways to teach music skills to your little ones, and believe it or not, also to your big kids. You’ve probably heard this, but now you’re wondering why? What’s so great about this method? Let me give you some thoughts:
- Storybooks keep your students more engaged. They LOVE listening to you read aloud. If you’re not sure, watch their little faces light up the next time you’re reading to them.
- Teaching music skills using storybooks helps your students practice their listening skills. This is a WIN WIN, because every musician needs to have good listening skills.
- This method is GREAT for behavior management. Students love to play instruments, and they love to sing. They are going to be quiet and attentive while you’re reading, because they can’t wait for their turn to play or sing.
- Using a storybook gives you an organic structure to your lesson, which means you’ll need less time for planning.
So now that you know WHY you should include storybooks, let’s talk about what to teach. I mean, there are SO MANY SKILLS you can teach using storybooks. Today you’re going to learn the 4 easiest skills to teach.
- Melody/singing – Maybe you’ve seen this technique. When a storybook has a repeating pattern, you can teach your students to sing it. Here are the steps to take when creating what I call a tiny melody:
- Look for a phrase or sentence that repeats over and over in the story.
- Read it out loud to decide what rhythm to use.
- Decide what the mood of the story is.
- Write a melody that fits the mood of the story. (For example, if the story is about a little bird who has lost his mom, you might want to use a minor key)
- Instrument or mallet technique – Is there a dog running or leaping? Think alternating hands for running and hands together for leaping. Is there a phrase in the storybook like, shakey, shake, shakey, shake, shake? You hear the rhythm right? If it repeats, you can use it to instruct your students on the best way to play their maracas.
- Timbre – One great way to teach timbre is to let your students experiment with an instrument. For example, you can give everyone rhythms sticks and tell the to find 4 ways to play them. The rule is that each method must make a different sound. Once your students have found and shared different rhythm sticks sounds, you can add them to a storybook. Select some sound words (you can hear a sound in your head when you read the word – like crunch or snip). Your students can use their new-found sounds to play the rhythm sticks in different ways while you read.
- Movement – Most storybooks include movement words (you can imagine a movement when you hear the word). Movement is a key part of music instruction and is also a great way to help your students learn new words. Simply write some of the words you find on the board or put them in a PowerPoint, put on some music that fits the theme of the story, and read the words one by one. Give your students instructions to move like they think the word describes. If you are teaching primary grades, you may want to go over each word and model a movement first.
Storybooks can be a great way to give your students a more active learning experience, and they can also give your lesson the structure you’re looking for. I’d love to hear what skills do you like to teach using storybooks. You can send me your ideas along with favorite storybooks at jeanette@storiesthatsing.net or post in my private Facebook group.
Want more great tips about how to use storybooks to teach music concepts? Join my email community for all the info.