Music in the Classroom

Music in the Classroom

Tying music into education has found to be most effective with young elementary aged children and those with disabilities. Music has had extreme positive influence on school-aged and non-English speaking children learning to read, write, and remember. It is sort of a motivation to learn and do well in school. Music in the classroom must begin with the teacher and end with the student. If teachers plan to integrate their teaching with music, they must find an effective way to do so.

Chalmers, Olson, & Zurkowski (1999) state that music possesses the power to arouse or relax, create a feeling of happiness or sadness, and even alter physiological states of heart rate and blood pressure. The power of music has the potential to be used in an infinite amount of situations. Using music in schools is a more recent idea that is slowly catching on. There is, in fact, a good amount of scientifically based research that shows the numerous and positive effects of using music in the classroom. Over 50 years ago, researches found that playing music in study hall classes led to an increase in reading comprehension (Chalmers et al., 1999). Between then and now, a lot of research has been done to affirm this fact and much more. A common finding is the sedating effect of background music (Chalmers et al., 1999). The style of music has a lot to do with the effects produced. Music played at the rate of 60 beats per minute (the ideal resting heart rate for humans) has shown it can create a relaxed state for both adults and children (Chalmers et al., 1999). Music played at this speed also led to a reduction in noise level and the enhancement of attention (Chalmers et al., 1999). The study by Chalmers et al. lists 10 helpful...

... middle of paper ...

...sroom.

Baltimore: Brookes.

Langfit, D. (1994). Integrating Music, Reading, and Writing at the Primary Level. The Reading Teacher, 47, 430-1. Retrieved April 29, 2015 from EBSCOHost Research Database.

Lems, Kristin (2001). "Using Music in the Adult ESL Classroom." Digest National Center for ESL Literacy Education. 30 March 2015. http://www.cal.org/ncle/digests/music.htm.

McGuire, K. (2002). Doing it all: Linking the elements of music and the standards. Music Educators Journal, 89, 49.

Staum, M.J. (2000). "Music Therapy and Language for the Autistic Child." Center for

the Study of Autism. 2 May 2004 http://www.autism.org/music.html.

"Using Music in the Classroom (2001)." ABT. 30 March 2015.

http://www.advancedbrain.com/Article_Music_in_Classroom.asp.

Williams, D. (2002). Easy rehearsal techniques for new teachers. Teaching Music, 9, 28.