Let's Save Music Programs

To Whom it May Concern,

Thank you for taking the time to hear why I believe we should fight to keep the Music Program thriving in the schools. Music is important to all students, staff, and community people; therefore it should not be cut due to budget issues.

 Music has the power to encourage and empower students physically, emotionally, spiritually, socially, and intellectually. Musical learning and performance teaches students to have self-discipline, dedication, teamwork, knowledge, self-confidence, and humility (Petress, 2005 pg. 112); all of which are imperative skills for students to learn to be a contributing member to society and the classroom. Ken Petress (2005)  states, " that music takes self discipline because one needs to learn to practice, take instruction, and criticism, and to perform whether solo or as a member; dedication, musicians learn to take the necessary time to learn and perform music; teamwork, musicians have to work as a team for their performance to be appreciated and valued; knowledge, studying music demands that one learn some level of theory, history, and cultural sensitivity; and confidence, being able to perform musically to entertain audiences and to understand and follow a composers intentions". All of these skills that  a Music Education offers students, carries out into their abilities to build in the general education classroom.

Music improves students brain development and enhances skills in all other areas. By making music we are strengthening the human brain. Making music targets the sensory and perpetual systems: auditory, visual, tactile, and kinesthetic, the cognitive: symbolic, linguistic, and reading, planning movements: fine and gross muscle action and coordination, feedback and evaluation of actions, learning memory, and motivation (pleasure) (Weinberger, 1998, pg. 38). By learning music, students have the opportunity to engage all senses at once. Also, studies have shown that when students receive instruction in music listening, reading scores increased compared to those who did not receive training (Weinberger, 1998, pg. 38).

If these facts are not enough to convince the board the we should not cut funding for the Music Programs in our schools, let us not forget the obvious. Students love music. A world without music is dull and unexciting. Music surrounds these children in their everyday lives and rather than removing it from schools, we should be embracing it. Lastly, MUSIC IS FUN!

 

Thank you for your time,

Tanya

 

Petress, K. (2005). The Importance of Music Education. Music Education, 126(1), 112-117. Retrieved        from http://fac.teachers.ab.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/FAC.teachers.ab.ca/Advocacy          Articles/6.pdf

Weinberger, N. (1998). The Music in Our Minds. Educational Leadership.

Teaching Channel

                This was the first time I had ever been on this website or even heard of it! In the last 7 months I have learned that there are so many more resources for teachers to be inspired by each other than I had thought. It is exciting and a bit overwhelming; just because there is SO much out there. As I was trying to decide which videos I was going to watch I could not help by gravitate to the videos that incorporated dance and movement. This is probably because dancing has always been something I have enjoyed since I was a little girl. The videos I watched were: Exploring Dance: Movement, Space, Poetry, Moving to the Beat: Many ways to Teach Rhythm, Elements of Art: Color, Space, and Texture, and Combining Academics and Dance with 4 Basic Moves.

                Throughout these videos (with the exception of Elements of Art), there is a common theme and understanding that acknowledges the value of incorporating dance in all areas of the curriculum. The video, Exploring Dance (2014) was the video I enjoyed most. The teacher discusses the importance of teaching students about positive and negative space and isolating body parts while traveling around the room and connecting with partners. Using poetry the teacher helps the students learn the vocabulary related to their various body parts and the importance of each part. The teacher encouraged the students to create their own motions to go alone with each line of the poem to help student retain the information. By doing this students will more likely be able to recall the information learned by remembering what they did with their body for each vocabulary word. He completes assessment of activities like this through journals, allowing students to co-create the expected criteria, observation, and by providing rubrics.

                Moving to the Beat (2014) combines words, movement and the use of instruments into everyday lessons. This approach allows for all students (especially ELL students) to understand the sound of English words and tie them to movement. By using song and movement to learn words, students can hear the inflection of the words helping them to see and hear the patterns. Combining Academics and Dance with 4 Basic Moves (2013) focused on the use of 4 simple motions: pin, ball, wall, and twist; all of which could be displayed with the use of just one body. In this video the students manipulate their bodies to represent stages of growth (Science) of a plant using these 4 basic moves. The teacher reports that when students apply motions to the stages, they were more engaged with learning even after the "dance lesson".  Lastly, Elements of Color , felt more like a reminder more than anything else. This teacher reiterates the importance of using art in the classroom. She enforced the idea of bringing art from all around the world into the class and engaging in discussion about the art with the students. She says that students are usually very engaged with learning about arts in all forms and from all places. As the video follows her in the lesson, I was reminded of the importance of modeling everything to students, because as this teacher mentions, some students do not retain information simply by hearing, but by seeing and doing. I will definitely look to this website again for more ideas.

Combine Academics and Dance with 4 Basic Moves. (2013). Retrieved May 24, 2015, from                 https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/reinforcing-concepts-with-dance

Exploring Dance: Movement, Space & Poetry. (2014). (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2015, from                 https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/elementary-school-dance-curriculum

Moving to the Beat: Many Ways to Teach Rhythm. (2014). (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2015, from https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/elementary-music-teaching-techniques

Elements of Art: Color, Space, and Texture. Retrieved May 24, 2015, from https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/elements-of-art-lesson