Music has been around since the world began. Banging on logs, shaking pebbles, blowing through carved out bones, clapping hand and stomping of feet signaled: celebrations, dangers, worships and even stories. Every country has its own sounds, rhythms and instruments which reflects their cultures and people. Listening to a favorite kind of music can bring comfort and pleasure and inspire new artists to find their creativity. Music is essentially everywhere, why not include music in your classroom? Music can add warmth to your classroom, increase concentration for auditory learners, challenging students to find the real meaning of lyrics, all while introducing students to multiple cultures. Quality features to look for are: appeal, accessibility and appropriateness.
My Favorite Picks:
Gilbert, S. (2010). Play it loud!: The rebellious history of music. Mankato, MN: Compass Point Books.
Lexile: 1180L
Complexity Band: 6-8
This text talks about how music teaches us about social, political and cultural change that have taken place in our world. This text starts out with a small introduction to what music is and then leads into specific chapters on influential turning points. The text explains the many movements that have taken place in music history, leaders of the eras, musical statements and the effects of their music. The text is filled with actual illustrations and timelines of significant events. Text features include: chapters, bolded vocabulary words, a glossary and additional sources in the back. This book is best suited for 6th grade and above but would be a great Read Aloud as an introduction to a 3rd or 4th grade music lesson. This text has so many functions in the classroom. It is filled with dates and timelines as well as current events happening in our world at those times, so would pair up nicely with a history lesson. This text could also be used as topics for a writing lesson. Students could read and listen to the artists and how their lyrics play a role in what is happening around them. Students could write their own lyrics telling a story of who they are. A very diverse text to add to your library.
Walsh, K. (2006). Music math. Vero Beach, FL: Rourke Pub.
Lexile: 870L
Complexity Band: 4-5
This text links music to mathematics. The students will learn important music vocabulary words while working math problems. The book starts out by defining the word quartet and duet and then progresses into a math challenge "how many more people are in a quartet than a duet". This text moves from simple problems, like the above, to more complex problems like, "A standard piano usually has 88 keys. If there are 12 notes in an octave, how many octaves are there on a standard keyboard?" The text ends with a challenge on how many songs can your MP3 player hold. This text is suited for 4th and 5th graders but could be Read Aloud to 2nd and 3rd graders to work through the challenges together. I think this text has a strong appeal to students due to the current up to date music formats. This book is perfect for overlapping math and reading into a music setting.
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