Music Strategies in the Classroom

Welcome to Music Strategies in the Classroom!

Check out my portfolio here: Shannon McShane

Overview and Purpose

For many years, the Alphabet Song has been used across English-speaking countries to teach young learner the 26 letters of the alphabet. But why were the letters of the alphabet put into a song in the first place?

The purpose of this course is for participants to discover how music can be used daily in a classroom.

Throughout this course, you will learn the research behind music implemented into instruction, tips and strategies on how to implement music in the classroom.

Needs Assessment

Briefly summarize what you found out from your needs assessment regarding the learners' gaps of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that your mini-course means to address.

To ensure a range of educators were included in this needs assessment, the survey was sent to 41 participants:

11 Special Education Teachers
22 General Education Teachers
3 Teachers of Special Areas (Art, Physical Education, etc.)
2 Members of Administration
3 Student Teachers

Survey

Click Here for Survey Results

Results

Of the 41 total educators, 16 participated in the needs assessment survey.

A majority of the participants used music in less than 25% of their lessons.
The majority of participants also felt as though their confidence in their own musical ability greatly effected their amount of usage of music in their classroom.
The most common answers regarding types of musical strategies were "Songs to Remember Facts" and "Rhythmic Patterns."

There is clearly a gap of knowledge in using music in the classroom besides the typical strategies. In this course, I will address the typical and atypical strategies in which music is utilized as a teaching tool, rather than a teaching alternative. At the end of this course, you will return to your classroom with strategies to implement music that doesn't rely on your own musical abilities.

Course Units and Performance Objectives

This mini-course includes the following units. Click the title of a unit to go to its page.

Unit 1: How Does Music Enhance Learning?

Objective: The participant will describe how music enhances the learning process in the classroom.

Summary: In this unit, you will receive a brief introduction to the definition of music. You will then listen to two songs and compare/contrast the two. After reading about how the brain works when music is heard, you will check your understanding with a quiz!

Unit 2: Analyzing Music-Based Strategies

Objective: The participant will identify and categorize strategies using music in the classroom.

Summary: This unit will give you the majority of examples of strategies and tools to use in your classroom. Your task in this unit is to review these examples and categorize them into what they would be used the most for: instruction, changing the environment, or influencing routine in the classroom.

Unit 3: Implementing Music into Typical Classroom Routines

Objective: The participant will research more strategies and apply their knowledge in given scenarios.

Summary: This last unit is more hands-on. You will search the web and find at least 2 other strategies that were not mentioned in the previous unit. In addition, you will be given scenarios, and you will determine what music strategy to use in these scenarios. You will defend your reason for choosing that particular strategy.