Works Cited
Literature Review – Literacy in the Music ClassroomThere is a great amount of research highlighting the benefits of increasing literacy skills in students across the curriculum. As music educators, we have been provided with research listing all of the benefits of music education and how that affects a students’ success throughout school. With the current push towards focusing on cross curricular literacy, educators need to know how to incorporate these strategies into their classrooms effectively and understand the research behind these techniques.When music educators are put to the task of increasing literacy skills of their students and to incorporate literacy strategies into their teaching, some may feel under qualified or think it is a daunting task. As you look through the research literature and journal articles on the topic of music and literacy, it should be apparent that literacy is naturally developed through music as it is experienced, created and valued. The following research highlights some of the benefits of music education for improving literacy as well as strategies to further implement into the music classroom. Much information is provided for the benefit of music education for young children and its impact on early reading skills. In 1993, researchers Susannah J. Lamb and Andrew H. Gregory published findings on a study they did investigating the relationship between pitch discrimination and phonemic discrimination in young children and how that related to reading abilities. The results of this investigation supported their theory that awareness of pitch changes correlated with reading performance because the children had higher phonemic awareness. This study was conducted with first grade children and focused on early education.In the May 2009 publication of The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, Dr. Johnathan Bolduc and Dr. Carole Fleuret from the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa wrote a journal article on enhancing early literacy development through music. This article highlighted six research studies on the benefits of early music education and its correlation with improved reading abilities. The studies showed the increase of phonological awareness, word recognition, word decoding, and writing strategies when children were provided with different forms of musical education along with their regular educational experiences.In this article, Bolduc and Fleuret offer four innovative teaching recommendations for music educators as well as classroom teachers to improve literacy skills in their students. The four strategies include singing activities to reinforce learning to the tune of familiar melodies, percussion activities to increase syllabic stress awareness, playing a melody to a word with multiple syllables to sing the word using syllables and phonemes, and expressing a song in writing where the student is asked to represent on paper the sounds that they are hearing. The strategies listed in this article are again targeted towards the lower elementary levels but could be adjusted for different grade levels given the correct context. These strategies are also very easy to manipulate and use across the curriculum.In 2004, a book called “The Music and Literacy Connection” was published that also provided practical strategies for the classroom and examines the skills directly paralleled with reading and music learning. This book provides relatively recent research information involving music and literacy and it is targeted at the upper elementary grades. The book is divided into parts, each dealing with a different aspect of musical learning. The first section of the book talks about the importance of musical play and how that affects learning. The second part talks about the roles of the general classroom teacher and the music educator having responsibility to each teach music as well as literacy. This section includes information on decoding and comprehension both in the general and music classroom. The third part focuses on students constructing their own knowledge through listening, speaking, viewing and writing. The last part of the book focuses on assessing literacy skills.This book is a wonderful resource for a teacher to have that wishes to expand their repertoire of literacy strategies as well as look into the research behind the strategies that supports the connection and importance of music and literacy in the classroom. In my experience teaching elementary music, I found that the lessons in which I incorporated literacy strategies were my most engaging and successful lessons. In the research listed above, students’ recognition of pitch is directly linked with their phonemic awareness and word recognition among other benefits. My biggest barometer for student learning and the benefits of incorporating literacy strategies in my music classroom was present in two students who were English Language Learners. These students came to school knowing very little English, but as I had the students perform music to stories and use instruments to accompany a chorus within a story, these students performed confidently along with their classmates. The repetition of the structure really helped with the students’ confidence and awareness while the singing and instrument elements made the text easier for the students to grasp. I saw great improvement in these students in terms of participation and they became more vocal in class throughout the process.Given the research mentioned previously, it is clear to see that a strong arts education, especially when implemented early in a child’s development, can be an incredible advantage for that child in terms of increasing literacy skills. The danger though that we need to be cautious of is not to have our arts programs diminished or cut because of budget concerns. While it is important to incorporate music strategies across the curriculum to increase literacy skills, it is not a replacement for a full music program. Students must be provided with regular and consistent music classes so that they can have a broad range of musical experiences which are proven to be linked with many benefits in education.While it is important to look at the data on early childhood literacy, it is equally as important to look at the data on increasing literacy throughout junior high and high school aged students. As we build the foundational literacy skills in our young students, what can we be doing to enhance those skills at a secondary level?Through my research it is prevalent that an early start to music education has a lasting effect on the literacy skills they possess which leads to higher success rates later on at school. While there is not nearly as much research surrounding the benefits of literacy strategies in the music classroom for older students, there is an overwhelming amount of statistics available that promotes the benefits of music education.A publication called “A Case for Music in the Schools”, written by Allan Miller and Dorita Coen, highlights some of the major benefits of music education throughout all levels of the education system. One of the statistics that they mention is: A study of 7,500 university students revealed that music majors scored the highest reading scores among all majors including English, biology, chemistry and math. (Coen, 1994)Looking at the information from this statistic, a strong argument is made for the value of music education and its benefit to literacy skills in our students. From looking at the data provided from the elementary aged students’ research, this statistic should come to no surprise as it has been proven time and time again the benefits and advantages that music education provides for literacy skills.One of the ways supported to increase literacy strategies in high school students is by teaching literacy through the arts. A program was created by the Royal Conservatory of Music and it is centred on using arts based activities to teach curriculum to students. This has been a very successful intervention method and teaches literacy through relevant artistic activities. The LTTA (Learning Through the Arts) Program is a whole school approach that brings in artists certified to teach the curriculum to work creatively alongside classroom teachers to make lessons relevant and engaging to students. This is a strategy that can work in many classrooms across grade levels and curriculum to enhance the curriculum outcome learning and connect the students to the content in a creative and expressive manner.It is important to note that while there are a great amount of studies that prove the advantage of literacy improvement through the arts and in the arts, we cannot simply accept that improving literacy through artistic venues in the general classroom will be enough for students. Studies show that with regular and consistent exposure to music classes, students are able to continue to build these literacy skills throughout their schooling experience which will then in turn affect their literacy skills later on in junior high and high school. When students experience success at these levels, there is a significant decrease in dropout rates.In conclusion, it is evident that there has been a great deal of research linked to the benefits of music education and literacy skills. As music educators, we need to take a hold of those facts and knowledge and take ownership of the power we have in our music classrooms. We must advocate for ample music education programs and make them readily available to our students throughout all grade levels. Increasing literacy skills is the responsibility of all educators and being armed with strategies and learning how to collaborate with other educators and specialists provides our students with the best chance at success.Works Cited BIBLIOGRAPHY Coen, A. M. (1994). A Case for Music in the Schools. Phi Delta Kappan , 459-461.Dr. Jonathan Bolduc, D. C. (2009). Placing Music at the Centre of Literacy Instruction. The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat , 1-4.Hansen, D., Bernstorf, E., & Stuber, G. M. (2004). The Music and Literacy Connection. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group.Susannah J. Lamb, A. H. (1993). The Relationship between Music and reading in Beginning Readers. Educational Psychology: An International Journal of Experimental Educational Psychology Volume 13 , 19-27. ................
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