Music and Literacy Connection

Dee Hansen, DMA, is professor of music education at The Hartt School, University of Hartford. She is known for her work in literacy and music learning, curriculum and assessment development, and leadership.Elaine Bernstorf, PhD, CCC-SLP is professor of music education at Wichita State University, Kansas and a speech pathologist known for her work in disabilities, literacy, and arts integration. Gayle Stuber, PhD, is the Early Childhood Coordinator for the Kansas State Department of Education. In addition to working with schools across the state, she is actively involved in national initiatives for early childhood education.

Pressure to improve student literacy skills has grown in this era of common core state standards (CCSS) and the Race to the Top initiative. Many administrators and specials teachers have sought to tie subjects such as music to literacy as a means of obtaining greater student achievement in this area. The Music and Literacy Connection provides a framework that will permit music education specialists, administrators, reading specialists, and general education teachers to teach musical activities in a way that allows students to transfer certain skills to reading. The book, which also contains an introduction and appendices, is organized into four parts that treat children as interactive learners, explore the connection between literacy and music instruction, discuss ways to teach literacy through multiple processes, and examine the lifelong benefits of musical training. The book includes detailed explanations of some of the fundamentals of music andliteracy instruction and a variety of charts, tables, figures, and other visuals that make the work accessible to all. Especially useful are a variety of subsections directed at practitioners, including recommendations for using instructional strategies with cooperative groups, children of different ages, and connections with the CCSS. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers, upper-division undergraduate students, and above.

• Foreword PrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroductionChapter 1 The Threads of the Literacy Fabric: Foundation for The Music and Literacy ConnectionCreating a Common VocabularyDecoding: Learning Musical Language and about Musical LanguageImplications of School-Reform IssuesImplications for Music Educators: The Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and the National Core Standards for the ArtsPart I: Principle 1—Children are Interactive Learners.Chapter 2 Learning Language through Musical PlayThe Role of Play in LearningTheories of Child Development that Support PlayFunctional and Practice PlayThe Teacher’s Role in Play and Literacy DevelopmentLanguage Learning through PlayThe Role of Music in Play and Literacy LearningLanguage Literacy and Musical PlayThe Teacher’s RoleExercises for Professional DevelopmentPart II: Principle 2—Music Teachers are Literacy Teachers; Classroom Literacy Teachers are Music Teachers.Chapter 3 Music in the Reading Environment: DecodingEnhancing Reading Strategies Using MusicPhonological AwarenessPhonemic AwarenessRhymingPhonemic Awareness and Phonic InstructionSight IdentificationGraphophonemic AwarenessCueing Systems AwarenessFluencyExercises for Professional LearningChapter 4 Reading in the Music Environment: DecodingEnhancing Music and Reading Strategies: Completing the Connection LoopDeveloping Specific Decoding Skills in the Music ClassroomExercises for Professional LearningChapter 5Music in the Reading Environment:ComprehensionAcquiring Conceptual UnderstandingCurricular IntegrationStrategies Used Before ReadingQuestioning StrategiesTeaching ConceptuallyExercises for Professional LearningChapter 6 Reading in the Music Environment: ComprehensionAttentionWorking MemoryLong Term MemoryComprehending Music Elements: Developing Conceptual Understanding of MusicInquiry the Music ClassroomModeling Building a VocabularyCooperative Learning ActivitiesSome Cooperative Learning Group TechniquesReflecting on Teaching for Musical UnderstandingExercises for Professional LearningPart III: Principle 3—Literacy Can Be Taught through Multiple Processes.Chapter 7Considerations, Adaptations, EnhancementsMusic in the Reading Environment: Decoding ConsiderationsComprehension ConsiderationsEnhancements through Media: Helpful or Hurtful for Comprehension?Reading in the Music EnvironmentDecoding ConsiderationsComprehension ConsiderationsAdaptations across Reading and Music EnvironmentsMaterials AdaptationsSimplificationUse Iconic Representations or Graphic CuesPacingTask Analysis and SeparationScaffoldingRepetitionModelingText Reading EnhancementsMusic Reading EnhancementsSpecial Education and English Language LearnersDifferentiated InstructionMusic Education DifferentiationTen Applications for Materials in this ChapterExercises for Professional LearningChapter 8 Common Connections: Skills and Concepts for Lifelong LearningListening, Viewing and Speaking: Building Blocks for Language and LiteracyConnecting Concepts with Skills: LVS Skills First?Create, Critically Think, Communicate, CollaborateCommon Core Connections with Core ArtsExecutive FunctionsArts Education: Language Arts SkillsLVS Skills in Language ArtsLVS Skills in the Music Classroom: Listening, Viewing, SpeakingAnchor Standards: Tooling for DifferentiationExercise for Professional LearningChapter 9 Writing in the Music ClassroomWriting GenresThe Six-Trait Model of WritingThe Six-Trait Model of Writing for Music CompositionOther Writing in Music Class: JournalingForms of WritingWriting for Developmentally Delayed StudentsLanguage and Experiential AspectsWriting for English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)Teacher RolesExercises for Professional LearningPart IV: Musical Training Provides Lifelong Benefits.Chapter 10: Literacy Connections for Secondary Students(Brian Weidner, Contributing Author)Literacy Skills at the Secondary LevelDecodingHigher-Order Thinking in Music at the Secondary LevelHigher-Order Thinking and Executive Functioning21st Century Skills, Executive Functions, and Instructional StrategiesTeacher EvaluationsExercises for Professional LearningChapter 11 A Summary of Research Supporting the Benefits of Music TrainingEarly Childhood: Play, Musical Experiences, and Musical DevelopmentEmergent Reading DevelopmentLanguage and Reading AcquisitionBrain and Language DevelopmentWorking Memory and TransferAttentionMemory, Emotion, and LearningExperiences for Professional Learning AppendixesAppendix I: Assessments of LiteracyAppendix II: SMART Board ApplicationsAppendix III: Cross-Disciplinary Literacy ExamplesAppendix IV: Analytic Scoring Guide for Evaluating Music Composition Bibliography