Integrating Music into the Classroom
Music has always been playing in the background of my life. From blaring music in my bedroom when I was little, to walking to classes equipped with earbuds in college, to using music in my classroom as a current educator, I've always believed in the power of melody. Music offers solace, it connects to the soul, and it teaches valuable lessons in a manner no lecture can touch. I believe it serves a purpose to inject messages into willing individuals. These messages conjure up memories that will last a lifetime.
Living and teaching in Music City is the perfect excuse to integrate music and pop culture into my ELA lessons. Students connect to music and can explore Nashville's cultural significance through analyzing lyrics. Whether you reside in Nashville or not, music is a powerful connector that can serve as a mentor text in your classroom. With the arts quickly declining in many public schools, it is essential for educators to expose students to contextually significant popular and visual culture. Here are some simple ways to integrate music in to your lessons.
Fluency
One way I've inserted music into our daily routine in my classroom was through fluency practice. I picked a "song of the week" for my students. Every morning, after the morning announcements and class pledge, I would project the lyrics to the chosen song on the board, as well as print a copy for each of my students. I'd play the song and students would sing along. This is especially helpful for English Learners (EL's). By adding rhyme and rhythm to new words, I found that my EL students were picking up sight words quicker and recognizing them in lyrics.
Grammar/Phonics Scavenger Hunt
After practicing fluency with song lyrics, I would conduct grammar mini-lessons with the song of the week. I'd choose a song that featured whatever standard we were working on, whether it was contractions or plurals, and discuss the usage in the song. Students could highlight, circle, or underline other examples they found in the song. This could also be used for phonic lessons: students could search for short "a" sounds or long vowel patterns. After practicing with the song of the week, I'd even have students go back to previous songs and look for new grammar features.
Theme
Theme is a difficult concept for many students to master. I found that before tackling longer stories that required high levels of stamina and endurance, it was much easier to practice on shorter pieces first. Songs are a perfect opportunity to discuss common themes often found in literature. Whether you are analyzing "Hero" by Mariah Carey or "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus, there are fruitful conversations to be had before jumping into a difficult novel study. Students love discussing their favorite artists and they are able to relate to songs. It is a great sounding board for students and can lay the foundation for future discussions on theme.
Paired Text: Poetry
Songs are poetry put to music, so I love pairing songs with other texts and teaching them as paired texts. Songs lend themselves to poetry standards (teaching stanzas, rhyme scheme, etc.) and are often easier to comprehend prior to studying more abstract poems. Additionally, they can serve as paired texts to nonfiction articles, novels, short stories, and other anchor texts that you already teach. By pairing texts with songs, it invigorates a lesson and allows students to discuss similarities and differences between texts. This comparison and contrast of two or more texts is a spiraling standard found in most grade levels.
Brain Break Sing Along
Songs can also serve as brain breaks and transition ques. Students will enjoy a few minutes to sing along to a favorite song or clean up stations to a soundtrack. I've also played songs and had students illustrate an image to accompany the song to practice visualization (an important comprehension strategy).
Creative Writing: Song Writing
Songs are filled with figurative language. I always use songs to teach similes, metaphors, symbolism, and personification. One of my students' favorite units was a creative writing unit in which we studied popular songs, their components, and then students wrote their own songs. You will find teaching figurative language a breeze when using artists that students admire to do some of the heavy translation for you.
As an English teacher, it is easy to fall into a monotony of teaching less than exciting texts. We do not always get the luxury of selecting texts to teach in our lessons, but by selecting songs to teach, this becomes a quick and simple way to liven up any lesson. Your lessons are only limited to your imagination. From facilitating SEL discussions to teaching poetry, take a look at how music can change the soundtrack of your classroom.
Living and teaching in Music City is the perfect excuse to integrate music and pop culture into my ELA lessons. Students connect to music and can explore Nashville's cultural significance through analyzing lyrics. Whether you reside in Nashville or not, music is a powerful connector that can serve as a mentor text in your classroom. With the arts quickly declining in many public schools, it is essential for educators to expose students to contextually significant popular and visual culture. Here are some simple ways to integrate music in to your lessons.
Fluency
One way I've inserted music into our daily routine in my classroom was through fluency practice. I picked a "song of the week" for my students. Every morning, after the morning announcements and class pledge, I would project the lyrics to the chosen song on the board, as well as print a copy for each of my students. I'd play the song and students would sing along. This is especially helpful for English Learners (EL's). By adding rhyme and rhythm to new words, I found that my EL students were picking up sight words quicker and recognizing them in lyrics.
Grammar/Phonics Scavenger Hunt
After practicing fluency with song lyrics, I would conduct grammar mini-lessons with the song of the week. I'd choose a song that featured whatever standard we were working on, whether it was contractions or plurals, and discuss the usage in the song. Students could highlight, circle, or underline other examples they found in the song. This could also be used for phonic lessons: students could search for short "a" sounds or long vowel patterns. After practicing with the song of the week, I'd even have students go back to previous songs and look for new grammar features.
Theme
Theme is a difficult concept for many students to master. I found that before tackling longer stories that required high levels of stamina and endurance, it was much easier to practice on shorter pieces first. Songs are a perfect opportunity to discuss common themes often found in literature. Whether you are analyzing "Hero" by Mariah Carey or "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus, there are fruitful conversations to be had before jumping into a difficult novel study. Students love discussing their favorite artists and they are able to relate to songs. It is a great sounding board for students and can lay the foundation for future discussions on theme.
Paired Text: Poetry
Songs are poetry put to music, so I love pairing songs with other texts and teaching them as paired texts. Songs lend themselves to poetry standards (teaching stanzas, rhyme scheme, etc.) and are often easier to comprehend prior to studying more abstract poems. Additionally, they can serve as paired texts to nonfiction articles, novels, short stories, and other anchor texts that you already teach. By pairing texts with songs, it invigorates a lesson and allows students to discuss similarities and differences between texts. This comparison and contrast of two or more texts is a spiraling standard found in most grade levels.
Brain Break Sing Along
Songs can also serve as brain breaks and transition ques. Students will enjoy a few minutes to sing along to a favorite song or clean up stations to a soundtrack. I've also played songs and had students illustrate an image to accompany the song to practice visualization (an important comprehension strategy).
Creative Writing: Song Writing
Songs are filled with figurative language. I always use songs to teach similes, metaphors, symbolism, and personification. One of my students' favorite units was a creative writing unit in which we studied popular songs, their components, and then students wrote their own songs. You will find teaching figurative language a breeze when using artists that students admire to do some of the heavy translation for you.
As an English teacher, it is easy to fall into a monotony of teaching less than exciting texts. We do not always get the luxury of selecting texts to teach in our lessons, but by selecting songs to teach, this becomes a quick and simple way to liven up any lesson. Your lessons are only limited to your imagination. From facilitating SEL discussions to teaching poetry, take a look at how music can change the soundtrack of your classroom.
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