Pedagogy

GREG CROWTHER published an article about classroom uses of science songs in the March/April 2006 issue of CONNECT, a magazine for K-8 science and math teachers. The article is titled Learning to the Beat of a Different Drum.

SSA president LYNDA JONES of Sing-Smart writes:

"Catchy music with a good beat is a more powerful medium for memory and learning than most people realize and is still severely underutilized in the academic realm. The brain learns best, regardless of age, with multi-sensory stimuli, and music is an important component of that. The ideal learning experience would include the stimulation of sight, sound, rhythm, touch, movement, taste, smell, emotion and intellect, followed by the opportunity to recite, review, reflect, discuss, and respond. TV advertisers, who must get their messages across in less than a minute, strive to appeal to as many of these as possible. Why should education do any less?

"A catchy and carefully constructed academic song will address many of the above requirements for optimum learning, namely, sound, rhythm, emotion, and intellect, and leave an impression that invites recitation, review, and reflection. The power of teaching through music has only just begun to be tapped."