Music Education and Reading

I have spent the past 3 weeks preparing a program for students who do not yet have the foundational skills that they need to be successful in a reading program.  The program that we are about to start will help our students to distinguish between words and syllables and to change sounds within words, such as changing "cat" to "bat".  In this program, children will clap, chant, and play percussion instruments to the rhythm of the words.

Along with this, the reading certificate program that I recently completed had me thinking about prosody in reading; reading with good tone, phrasing, emphasis, etc.  Basically, reading like you are reading in the same way as you would have a conversation. Prosody is sometimes called "the music of the language".

As I thought about these components of early reading education, a clear connection between the skills that children learn in music education and pre-reading and reading skills began to come to light. 

• In teaching children how to identify syllables, we show them to put their hand under their chin while they say a word and count how many times their chin drops; once per syllable.  In music education, children are taught to be very aware of the movement of specific parts of their bodies; hand position on a drumstick or bow, mouth position on a mouthpiece, etc.
• Once children can identify syllables, we tap them out in rhythm, to help them see the difference between syllables and words.  In music, students develop a solid sense of rhythm.
• We teach children how to hear all of the sounds in a word, instead of seeing the word as one, unchangeable piece.  (Children who can't do this often have a hard time with vowel sounds and blends; they simply can't hear those sounds in the middle.)  In music, children are taught to listen for slight differences in sounds.
• We teach children how to read with good tone, phrasing and emphasis.  As this prosody is known as "the music of the language" this relationship pretty well sums it all up.  This is when it all comes together.

As I think about all of these aspects, I'm thinking (mostly seriously) that all children should have music education.  The benefits are so far-reaching.  At the very least, all children should be provided with high-quality early education that includes a music and movement component.  Just my two cents!

Misty 

Why Trust is Critical

I have long believed that one of the absolute first tasks I have when working with a new student is to earn that student's trust.  I have to show each student that I am worthy of their trust, that the program that I am using to teach them will be effective, and that the room in which we work is a safe place.  They must feel safe physically and emotionally.  It takes a lot of trust in someone to be willing to make a mistake in front of them.  And, as I explain to my students, their mistakes are what allow me to see where we need to focus our attention.

So, while all of this made perfect sense to me, there was one aspect of trust of which I was unaware and makes that relationship even more critical.  When input enters our brain, the first area through which it passes is the area in which the brain determines whether that input is dangerous.  If it's perceived as dangerous, it is immediately passed along to the "fight or flight" area; the brain can't send it anywhere else until it determines whether it is truly a danger.  Given that information, I now realize that if my student, for any reason, feels that what I might be telling them or asking them to do presents any danger to them, that information will not make it into the deeper processing areas of the brain.  This perceived danger can be something as simple as a fear of failing. 

What this means for teachers is that, if a student doesn't trust us to provide a physically and emotionally safe environment at all times, our best efforts at teaching can be thwarted.  Establishing trust is a critical component of any relationship with our students.

Misty

Neuroplasticity--Shaping Young Minds

For 400 years, we were wrong.  We believed that our brains were hard-wired.  We believed that brains that were injured remained that way.  We believed that if we just didn't "get" math, or reading, or whatever, that was just the way we were wired and we never would "get it".  We were taught that about our own brains and we based our way of teaching children on that idea.  

Over the past 20 years or so, we have learned that we have been mistaken.  Our brains are, in fact, changeable.  Scientists call this neuroplasticity--neuro, meaning involving the brain, and plasticity, meaning the ability to be shaped or molded.  So our brains can be shaped or molded.  And we're not even just talking about the wiring of the brain; we are talking about the actual structure of the brain that can be changed.

So, what is it that shapes the brain?  It is the experiences we have throughout our lives.  EVERY experience we have helps to shape our brains.  For me, as a teacher, that is an awesome, yet very humbling concept.  Every single thing that I do or say around my students has an impact on them.  I have the opportunity to help shape the very brains of my students; to help them not just compensate for, but actually overcome some learning challenges.  However, a brain that is changeable is also vulnerable.  If I misspeak, am just not "on top of my game" one day, or heaven help me, speak in less than a kind manner to a student, I am also shaping that student's brain, but in a negative way.  As Voltaire said (and Peter Parker's Uncle Ben in Spiderman), "With great power comes great responsibility".  

With the understanding that a person's brain is structured according to that person's experiences, the task of a teacher is much more clear.  Appropriate interventions, especially early interventions, do result in measurable changes in students' brains.  Therefore, we must provide our students with a multitude of rich experiences, particularly if the students come from environments in which those experiences were not provided.  The challenge, and therefore our professional expertise, comes in determining which students need which experiences and planning appropriate activities to provide those experiences.  In doing that well, we can have an impact on our students that previous generations never dreamed was possible.

Misty

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