Music lessons enhance academics

Later, a class of third graders learns the biographies of famous explorers, presidents, inventors, and civil rights leaders through a series of songs.

It’s all part of music teacher Jennifer D’Elosua’s efforts to use music as an instructional tool to boost students’ skills in reading, math, and other key academic subjects.

“It works -- plain and simple,” D’Elosua says. “Teachers teach the core material, then I reinforce it with students to help their memory.” Test scores on state exams actually rose after students learned the songs.

What’s happening at Kings Park is a small but growing phenomenon: With the No Child Left Behind Act putting pressure on schools to boost student achievement, more teachers are turning to music as a supplementary instructional tool, and more music teachers are integrating coursework from regular classrooms into their music lessons.

“The primary reason for teaching music is its inherent value, but we do know there are a host of ways that the discipline of music can help with the learning of other subjects,” says Mike Blakeslee, deputy executive director of the National Association for Music Education.

Music has always been part of the teacher’s repertoire, of course. Many of us can remember learning the alphabet as a child by singing the ABC song.

But, for many years, teachers made only the most superficial link between their use of music and academic lessons, Blakeslee says. For example, fourth graders might learn the Mexican hat dance as part of their studies on Latin America.

That’s changing. “Teachers are getting more sophisticated” about how they integrate learning across the curriculum,” Blakes­lee says. “Because music is engaging and memorable, and it uses sections of the brain that otherwise would be idle during a lesson, it’s useful” in supplementing key academic concepts.

Plenty of research suggests teachers are on the right track. A recent Stanford University study found that musical training improves how the brain processes the spoken word. Other studies have suggested musical experiences increase verbal memory and help students grasp math concepts.

Experts caution against exaggerating the practical benefits of music on academics. But for school board members worried about meeting their adequate yearly progress (AYP) goals, all of this is reason to ponder. And music teachers hope the potential of music to boost test scores might shelter their programs from future budget cuts.

“If you have a school that’s faced with not making AYP, one action might be to give kids more silent reading time,” Blakeslee says. “But how will two hours of the same thing be more successful when one hour didn’t work?”

Perhaps, he suggests, the solution is to use a different form of instruction -- music -- to engage students and present academic concepts in a new way. The rhythm of music is helpful, too, in aiding memory. “That seems to be more likely to be successful than the brute-force approach” of rote learning or drilling.

In South Dakota, the state’s Arts Council and nonprofit music groups have joined together to use federal grant money to train teachers to incorporate music and the other arts into lesson plans.

“I think it’s a matter of efficiency,” says Pat Boyd, executive director of South Dakotans for the Arts. “Children learn in different ways, so although we are a very testing-oriented school system, to get a child to the point where he or she can answer those questions on a test . . . you can’t always drill facts into a child. Studying music can open a door for a child to understand basic concepts.”

That’s what music teacher Vicki Frye is doing in the Canton, S.D., school district. She has a repertoire of songs to help students memorize facts about penguins, grammar, and the names of all 50 states and uses drums to help teach about respect, teamwork, mathematics, and cultural history.

Elsewhere, teachers are using music to help special education or English-language learners (ELLs) improve their language skills. Joan Munro, K-8 reading and Title I coordinator for the Methacton, Pa., school district, says ELLs learn a lot when they sing to the written word.