How to Integrate Music into Your Curriculum

Music is a great tool to use as you homeschool your child. Here is a way to integrate music into your curriculum by listening actively to it.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• recording of music (any genre you prefer)
• 10-15 minutes of listening time

1. Pick out a recording of some music YOU enjoy. It can be from any genre from classical to country, rock to jazz. The piece should be relatively short at first, about 2 minutes.

2. Invite your students to close their eyes as they listen to the piece for the first time.

3. Get students' initial reactions to the piece.

4. Before playing the piece again, ask your students a guided question that helps them to listen actively to the music. For example, have them listen for surprises in the music, listen for certain instruments or for a repeating melody. Then, play the piece again.

5. Ask the students for their reactions again. Conduct a discussion about what things they heard as they listened actively.

6. Once students have actively listened to the piece 2-3 times, integrate this listening experience into your writing curriculum. Have the students write down some words that come to mind as they listen to the piece of music and develop a poem out of the words. Maybe the students can visualize a story in their head as they listen. Encourage them to write down the story in a first draft to be edited and revised.

Tips & Warnings

• For many great ideas on how to integrate listening experiences into your curriculum, get the book "Inspired by Listening" by Elizabeth Peterson.
• Don't just play a piece of music once and expect your students to be able to write about the listening experience. Allow your students the time it takes to listen repetitively and actively.

Resources

• Visit TheInspiredClassroom.com

[wing0125]

on 7/6/2009 Suggestion - Start with Benjamin Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. There's a wonderful version with Leonard Bernstein conducting and narrating, and explaining everything. The same CD also has a wonderful narrated version of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.... as well as Saint-Saen's Carnival of the Animals. All these are MUST LISTEN pieces for aspiring young musicians.