Teaching Literacy is Teaching Music!
Eve Kodiak presents Using Music to Teach Literacy: Our Best Hope for Saving Music in Schools? at The Children’s Music Network Northeast Regional Gathering Saturday, March 23, in Canton, MA.
I thought I might start this post by talking about the general state of the arts in public education. But I’ve decided not to go there. I may think that the impetus to teach children to read at younger and younger ages is not only developmentally insupportable - but can actually be damaging to the development of the physiological infrastructure needed for reading! . . .
But, as a practical matter, we can sidestep the issue of whether or not music is important as academics, simply by making music indispensible. Because there is no better way to teach literacy skills than through music and movement.
The South Shore Conservatory is currently piloting my new CD/Book set, Listenin' Live for LIteracy, in public schools in Hull and Brockton, in which this "music teaching literacy" model is being explored with young children. I'll write more about this program another time.
Are there any models in the field of human development that support the idea of teaching literacy through music?
Multiple Intelligence Theory is one. In his book Frames of Mind, psychologist Howard Gardner proposed a new model of intelligence. Instead of a single unit of “smart,” he postulated that there were many different kinds of intelligences. Educators now count nine of these “smarts”: Linguistic, Logical-Mathematical, Musical, Visual-Spatial, Body-Kinesthetic, Inter-personal, Intra-personal, Natural, and Existential.
I attended a workshop in January that gave me the experience of what happens when you mix up these intelligences in a setting of education and play. Amazingly enough, the state of Connecticut funds public schools that mandate arts integration, using (among other models), Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences! More on this in another post. But if you’d like to spend a week with some of these wonderful and creative “teaching artists,” you can attend a H.O.T. (Higher Order Thinking) Schools Summer Institute at Wesleyan University July 8- 12
How does multiple intelligence theory help us to understand how music can teach literacy?
According to Howard Gardner:
1. The structure of musical intelligence runs almost parallel to the structure of linguistic intelligence.
2. Music intelligence is one of the first to develop, and it is related to the need to learn speech.
3. Language skills are typically highly developed in those whose base intelligence is musical.
Using the structure of music to teach the structure of language is something early childhood music teachers do all of the time.
For instance, we know that “antecedent-consequent” phrasing parallels the dialogue in language. A musical phrase asks a question, another phrase “answers” it. The answer is responsive to the question – it’s not a lot longer or shorter, and it makes musical sense.
When we add words to these little ditties, the musical and linguistic intelligences are working hand in glove:
“Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any wool?”
“Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.”
Musical information is stored all over the brain, whereas linguistic information is located in more targeted areas. If the language is riding on the music, that ride is free! Language can locate itself many more places than it would ever get its own.
Placing information all over the brain means that this information is retrievable in more different ways. This aids us in memorizing, motor-coordination, creative problem solving. Using music to create the literacy framework is an obvious way to speed and deepen the learning process.
Baa Baa Black Sheep seems almost too simple to be called a deep educational experience, but let’s look at how much learning – both musical and linguistic –is taking place!
Musical/ Linguistic
1. Antecedent consequent phrasing/ Asking a question, responding with answer
2. A tonal language based upon a melodic scale/ Sentence structure built upon parts of speech
3. Inflection that rises and falls with the sense of the phrase/ Ditto
4. Harmonic sense/Alliteration and rhyme
5. Singular sounds flowing together to create a larger meaning / Ditto
You may be thinking, This is all very well, but it is not about reading and writing!
But it actually is! More about that in the next post, when we explore phonological awareness.
Comments
Hurry and write more about this - I can’t wait!
Interesting…My children are all raised, but each had
music at an early age ( I teach music, they didn’t have
a choice).... All took piano lessons as well as were in
school bands. Each child have a natural ability
to speak a foreign language and my last child hearing
piano teaching in the house 24/7 grasps my exchange
students languages quickly…The harder ones like
Mandarin, Thai and Japanese come naturally to
him..My children are socially incredible…Student body
officers etc. They know how to communicate to
make everyone feel great… and are fun to be around.
On the other hand, I just married a man with 8 children
that are brilliant in math and straight A’s in other
school subjects (Their father is a civil engineer), but
never had music in their home and only sang at church
services once a week. My husband is tone deaf,
but loves to sing…(Frustrating to me singing next to
him each week…TRUE LOVE), Anyway, each one of
them are socially inadequate…Shy, will not speak out
not knowing what to say to others, will not communicate
with others than with their own family unless forced,
they have a hard time expressing their feelings, not
talking or coming to family gatherings…Who know’s
why?...My children can’t understand!
This really speaks to me. Very interesting
post!
THANK YOU….I will pass it on…
A very good article regarding early reading ability and music literacy was recently posted in the National Association for Music Education’s “Music Educators Journal” (Volume 99, Number 2, Dec. 2012). The title of the article is “Aural Skills” by Professor Dee Hansen (Hartt School). Professor Hansen describes in detail research that reinforces the theory that musical training assists in the processes critical to phonological processing. Definitely worth reading!
Patricia Kjolhede Laingsburg Mar 17, 2013
How do I learn more about your CD/book set?