Integrating Music and Reading for Effective Learning

Pearson UK (n.d.) stated “Evidence suggests that children who read for enjoyment every day not only perform better in reading tests than those who don’t, but also develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and a better understanding of other cultures. In fact, reading for pleasure is more likely to determine whether a child does well at school than their social or economic background.” This review and comparison consists of two lessons. One lesson presented by Megan Tupper is a comprehension and rhyming lesson that helps children understand the body characteristics and the understanding of what their body characteristics do in the story Eyes, Nose, Fingers, and Toes (Hindley & Granstrőm, 1999). The other lesson presented by Nina Deroziere where she used her talent to bridge the gap between music and language arts by reading the story Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon (Lovell & Catrow,
I love the fact that she added music to her lesson which helps with the multiple intelligence students. She gave directions and introductions to the class verbally and visually. She also begins the lesson with a song and rhythm to set up the lesson. Nina was able to used her talent to bridge the gap between music and language arts. Her expressions in her face and her voice reflect the tone of the story and she paused to ask questions and allowed time for answers. Nina’s lesson taught rhyming, rhythm, and word phrases and she showed patience with different interruptions that arise. She also had the students engaging in the lesson by keeping beat on a tambourine which showed her students were comprehending the lesson being taught. Rereading certain parts of the book and the way she added music to her lesson, I notice it was easier for the students to recall parts of the story. The only suggestion I would add to the lesson is give every child a hand drum to keep the rhythm or beat and add another song at the end to tie it all