Music Instruction in Early Childhood - Capstone Research and Implications

Music Training for Young Children:  A Comparison of Early Childhood Music Instruction Programs

As I journey deep into the land of research for my Capstone paper, I am both excited and surprised about my topic.  When I first began preparing to be a music educator, I had my sights set on high school choral music.  I love conducting!  I love singing!  And...I wanted to work with musicians who were capable and prepared.  Then I took my first job - elementary music...including PreK?!?  Okay, I knew exactly what to do with grades 3-5.  I could figure out grades 1 & 2.  Kindergarten...that would be a little more challenging.  And then PreK... Could I really teach them anything?  Could they learn?  Was I prepared?

Honestly, we learned together and the classroom teachers helped me figure out what to do and what was developmentally appropriate.  Sessions at TMEA helped me to figure out these little learners too.  I remember my first Lynn Kleiner TMEA session in 1999.  She opened the door to what was possible.  With my research in full swing for a literature review of early childhood music instruction programs, I've had many opportunities to look at my own teaching and reflect on how it has changed over the last seventeen years.  I've also implemented some new methods into my teaching in the last couple of weeks.

Most importantly - Free play!  Wow, this type-A personality, control-lover had to really take a deep breath and sit on her hands for this one to work.  Over and over, I've read about the importance of free play or exploration time.  Some of the articles are from the late 1990's.  Others are quite recent.  In a couple of the articles, I felt like I was reading about myself.  One article described a teacher who implemented free play and felt "odd" because she wasn't doing anything!  Yes, I felt that too.  But then I began to see the amazing learning and processing going on in my classroom.

One of my favorite observations happened this week in a 3-yr-old class.  After I emptied the "explore box" onto the carpet, one of my little boys took a ball and began letting it drop, using his voice to follow the ball from high to low.  I had done that exercise with them the previous week and only I had had a ball.  This little guy had remembered that exercise and was practicing what he had learned.  Other children mimicked other activities with instruments or improvised their own music.  Dramatic play happened with scarves.  One of my little girls put a scarf on her head and sang about how she was a bride.  Explore time was a success!

In kindergarten, I implemented explore time in centers.  One station had a box of "tappers" (a drum, a woodblock, a triangle, claves, and a tone block), the second station had scarves and recorded music, the third had farm animal puppets the children had previously seen in class, and the last station had a box of age-appropriate books with nursery rhymes and songs.  The children were in groups of 4-5 and spent about three minutes in each station before rotating to the next.  When we were finished, I heard the children saying, "That was fun!"  "Did you see what I did with the scarves?"  "I got to make the horses dance!"  These comments inspired conversation for the last three minutes of class.  Each child told the whole group which activity had been his or her favorite and why.  The responses were wonderful.  The children were using musical terms to describe a lot of what they had been doing.  "I kept a steady beat on the woodblock."  "I made my scarf bounce with the music."  "I made the puppet dance up high when I heard the high music."  "I found a book about the 'Wheels on the Bus' and I know that song!"  Their answers inspired the other children to think of different ways to use the tools.  Center time was a success!

Yes, I felt odd not providing direct instruction, but I learned so much by observing them and asking them questions.  My students were providing me with feedback about their learning through their play.  I look forward to continuing "explore time" and making it a regular part of my classroom.

OneNote for Teachers

OneNote is a free Microsoft product that allows the user to keep materials in one place.  Notes, bookmarks from the web, Word documents, Power Point presentations, copies of emails, and more can be kept together on pages in a notebook.  As a teacher, I see the value of the ability to do this.  Instead of having materials strewn between a desktop, mobile device, emails, bookmarks, and hardcopy, OneNote makes it possible to collect related items into pages or notebooks.  The screenshot below shows an example of how a teacher collected an article, video, and personal notes onto a page.  

One example of using OneNote as a teacher is in lesson planning.  The teacher can collect resources from multiple sites and organize them to create a presentation or worksheet.  OneNote gives teacher the ability to embed voice recording and video recording as well.  All of these features would help in creating flipped lesson plans.  In the screenshot below, the teacher has laid out the tasks of the lesson plan - lecture/introduction, video, and article.  She can then attach a worksheet or other assignment to check for comprehension.  

After watching several tutorials on One Note for Teachers, I definitely see the value and possibilities of OneNote.  I do think the learning curve may be a bit steep as I begin.   There is so much you can do with OneNote, it may be a bit overwhelming at the onset.  I plan to try it out and see how it works for me.   

http://www.onenote.com/

Professional Development and Networking through Technology

Our final chapter for this course focuses on productivity and professional development.  Technology is an incredible asset to both of these topics.  In the last seven weeks, my classmates and I have been challenged and stretched in our knowledge and use of technology as it applies to music education.  Although seven weeks is a relatively short time period, I have learned so much and developed some habits that will help me to further develop my technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK). 

How often do music educators attend teachers’ conferences or professional development seminars that have little or no “take-away” for them?  Furthermore, how often do music teachers find themselves with no way to connect with colleagues who specialize in the same area of music education?  In my own experience, the answer is a resounding, “Too often!”   Bauer (2014) states, “Professional development needs to be relevant to a teacher’s personal interest and needs” (p. 175).  Technology can assist music educators in creating a personal learning network (PLN).    I would like to highlight some of the technological tools I have either been using or recently started using in my own professional development and networking.

Feedly

I have to admit that I have become slightly addicted to Feedly.  https://feedly.com  Seven weeks ago, I had no idea what Feedly or an RSS was.  “RSS, which stands for real simple syndication, is a technology that allows…resources to be tracked through feeds, a technological protocol that provides notifications when new items are published” (Bauer, 2014, p. 175-176).  It is a personalized newsfeed.   Since engaging with Feedly, I have read numerous articles on education and music education.  Through Feedly, I have a better idea of what is currently going on in my field – resources, standards, technology and ideas.  It is an easy way to connect with other professionals and professional organizations. 

Blogs

Before this course, I had not understood the value of blogging.  It has been enlightening  to create my own blog and read others.  Blogs are a wonderful way for people of similar interests or professions to share their ideas, successes, and frustrations.  The ability to comment on one another’s posts is a springboard for discussions and insights.  Of course, with any internet resources, one has to look for credibility and professionalism.  

Social Networking

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ and Twitter https://twitter.com/ are user-friendly platforms to connect to music teachers all over the world.  Through Facebook, colleagues can create private groups.  For example, I am a part of a private group for my Orff levels classes.  Our group Facebook page has been a valuable resource when I have questions, need ideas, or want to share.  There are also open group pages that you can “like” to receive information and join in the conversation.  As for Twitter, I am a new user due to this course.  It has been a helpful link to articles and discussion forums as well.

Online Learning/Distance Education

I am so thankful for the possibility of distance education!  I have been in the online Master of Music in Music Education graduate program at Kent State University (KSU) for a little over a year.   http://musicedmasters.kent.edu/  When I first thought of the possibility of obtaining a music education graduate degree online, I was not sure what that would look like.  I have been extremely pleased with the program offered by KSU.  Bauer (2014) lists several advantages of an online course.  I found myself nodding along as I read the text.  Two of the main advantages I have experienced that Bauer (2014) lists are the “ability to remain employed while in graduate school” and “immediately applying what is learned in coursework” (p. 182).  It has been motivating to connect with other music educators all over the United States as well as some overseas colleagues.  As a teacher, wife, and mom, I appreciate the flexibility of the courses as well.  I can work on my own time.   Although I do not meet my classmates and professors in person, tools like Blackboard Learn and Collaborate create the feel of a classroom and make communication easy.  Ironically, my husband wrote his Master’s Thesis on distance learning back in 2007.  It has been interesting to see how the possibilities and structures have changed and how things are different or the same as what he projected. 

Good luck to my classmates as we end this course and move on to the next.  It has been a pleasure to connect and share.

Bauer, W. (2014). Music learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and responding to music. New York, NY: Oxford.

Creating a Tutorial

Another challenge for this week was to create a video tutorial and post it to You Tube.   I chose to create a tutorial on improvising in pentatonic.

I am truly thankful that my husband is a camera and video nerd!  He had fun setting up a little studio for me so I could record my tutorial.  It was also fun to sit down with him and learn how to use Pinnacle studio software.  Teamwork!

Creating an Original Song

This week's challenge was to compose an original song.  It is a complicated process.  I frequently arrange songs or write melodies for existing text.  I am quite comfortable with that aspect of composition.  During this process, I realized that I do not have much if any experience as a lyricist.  When I began my composition, I started with a children’s book.  Children’s books are often where I draw my inspiration and this particular book has been on my shelf for several years.  The book has no words, just pictures.   I looked at the visual storyline, jotted down some ideas for lyrics, and made some marks for vocal contour.  From there, the composition process took a different direction. 

I started working on melody the way I teach my students.  I came up with a simple melodic line and created a set of elemental phrases.   I tend to be a visual learner so I used Noteflight in this part of the process.  My phrases automatically centered on the I, IV, and V chords since that is where I spend most of my time teaching.  After I had my A section, I created a contrasting B section of the same length.   I now had thirty-two measures of melody but no accompaniment. 

After accompanying myself on my guitar, I decided to experiment with garage band and see what I could do there with multiple instruments.  In a way, it felt like cheating to have the app play my music for me, but it also seemed like the smartest way to approach making an mp3 for the purposes of the assignment.  It was fun to play with the smart guitar and smart drums.  I found a guitar groove and percussion timbres that seemed to work well together and enhanced the guitar part. 

Lyrics.  That is where I got stuck.  I am a vocalist and have always used words to convey music.  Ironically, when it came time for me to use my own words, I could not find them.   The book I had chosen as inspiration was not inspiring me.  I could not find the right words to match the melodic line.  As a vocalist, I knew what vowels I wanted for certain notes, but the story didn’t fit where the song was leading.  I decided to forgo my original book inspiration and go with the vowels and the words that kept coming to my head for the chorus.  This change of theme worked as a springboard in the writing process.  My melody and lyrics led into what could be classified as a ballad.  There is room for several verses to tell the story of a maiden and her lost love, but the audience will hear the abridged version in my recording.

Garage Band for iPad was frustrating when I could not figure out how to see the entire song.  After searching a number of tutorials and not finding the “puzzle piece” icon on my version of Garage Band for iPad, I decided to rerecord the song as a complete unit of 45 measures one track at a time.  I was concerned about some of the pickup notes in the vocals not being precise.   After recording the three tracks – guitar, percussion, and voice, I played with the reverberation and echo effects.  I decided to add a little reverb as it fit the seashore setting of the song.  I also added an introduction, interlude, and coda. 

Finally, I needed to create some images for my audience to see as they listened to my song.  My eleven–year–old gave me some helpful hints about creating an iMovie and how to import music and images.  I will say that the most frustrating part of using technology is when it does not cooperate.  I had issues in the uploading stage.  It is a very stressful feeling to have finished product that is locked in a device and will not come out. 

I feel I learned a lot from this process, both as a musician and as a tech user.  The tech tools we have been learning about for the last few weeks were put to good use in the creation of this project.  As for application in my classroom, song creation would be a good experience in bringing multiple skills together in one project. 

The Maiden’s Love by Karin Schatte

A maiden walked alone by the edge of the shore

Thinking of her lover gone to war

She came to the place where they’d made their last vow

La loo la loo la lay

O why, Love, why did you go

And leave this pain in my heart to grow?

O why, Love, why did you go

And leave me here all alone?

The maiden walked along with the wind in her hair

Along to the churchyard to pray for him there

One single rose she placed upon his grave

La loo la loo la lay

O why, Love, why did you go

And leave this pain in my heart to grow?

O why, Love, why did you go

And leave me here all alone?

You left me here all alone.

La loo la loo la lay

Active Listening: Music maps, Movement, and Video

Today in first grade, we were studying the Finale from the William Tell Overture.  I don’t think the students realized just how many times they heard the same piece (at least four!) because they were actively listening to it.  Our first listening occurred during our last class period together.  I projected a listening map on the interactive whiteboard and pointed to the various icons for the different sections as the music played.  Today, I asked a student to come up and point to the map while the students followed along.  My listening map depicts a horse race.

As the listened, they patted the beat for the A and B section, and “jumped” with their hands for the C section.  During the D section, they “cantered” using alternating patting.  The coda includes a smattering of body percussion.  It was fun to see them following along and anticipating the changes.   After a movement activity with the parachute and an “orchestra” activity with small percussion sections (fromArtie Almeida's Parachutes, Ribbons, and Scarves, Oh My!), I showed a video clip of the Italian rhythmic gymnastics team performing at the 2012 World Cup. Video Clip (go to 21:40)  The students were amazed an inspired by what they saw.  And…they recognized the music!!! We’ll be creating our own ribbon, hoop, and ball movement for the piece next week.

This week’s chapter on responding to music (Bauer, 2014) made me think more about how I approach listening in my classroom and just how much technology is involved.  I am very thankful for tools like the interactive whiteboard and iPad that allow me to store what previously would have been on a paper charts(…if I could find the right one…) and on CD.    I have also been thinking about the use of video.  I was trained to believe that video was something used for a day when a substitute had to be called in or maybe on one of those days when you just need to fill time.  I have had to reteach myself that including video in lessons is very powerful.  The key is to find appropriate video of appropriate length.   Short video samples of specific pieces or cultures is far more engaging and educational that me lecturing to my students about it. 

With today’s technology capabilities, students can hear authentic samples from music around the world.  One of my favorite examples of this idea happened with my fourth graders this fall.  In Texas, the fourth grade social studies class is Texas history.  (I know that may be strange to people outside of Texas.  I grew up in the upper Midwest.  We didn't devote an entire year of study to North Dakota or Minnesota.)  As my students were studying the Native American tribes of Texas, we were beginning our recorder studies in music class.  I showed them a shortened version of Songkeepers (Songkeepers Promotional Video), a video I had watched for the course, “America’s Music.”  The video inspired a wonderful discussion about nature, culture, and improvisation.  My students were inspired to try more improvisation.  The knowledge about recorders made their learning about Native American people more relevant and exciting. 

There are so many wonderful technology tools for teachers.  When used appropriately and wisely, they will only enhance our teaching. 

Bauer, W. (2014). Music learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and responding           to music. New York, NY: Oxford.

Assessment and Instructional Design

Assessment

I believe one of the most difficult things to do in elementary music classes is to assess.  Scratch that.  I feel that while I constantly assess my students (formative assessment), the quarterly grades I give to do not accurately provide feedback about students’ growth in music.  Assessment seems to be a blinking red light on my radar throughout this graduate program.  At least three final projects I have completed have to do with assessment.  Although I am very pro-assessment, I do feel that elementary music should be all about exploration.  I ask three things of my students: cooperate, participate, and respect.  If they are doing these things to the best of their individual ability, they will receive an “E” (excellent) or “G” (good).  This does not mean I let my students slack through my classes.  I have very high expectations and I hold them accountable.  I also realize that we all have different levels of skill and there are many skill areas within the realm of music. 

One of my conclusions has been to create a checklist for skill development.  If I am diligent in my record-keeping, I will be able to track my students’ development from kindergarten through fifth grade.   Technology will be very useful in keeping these records.  As I read about Google Forms in the text this week, I was encouraged try it out and see what I can create (Bauer, 2014).  Creating some standard rubrics using Google Forms is also smart.  That way, I can access the forms via the web instead of having them in one program on my desktop computer.

Just this week I dove into using Edmodo with my theatre arts middle school elective.  Edmodo is a website (and app) that creates an educational social network.  What is Edmodo?  With Edmodo, I am able to send assignments to my students, receive and grade their assignments, facilitate online discussion, and communicate with students one-on-one.   My students are very familiar with Edmodo as they use it for several other classes at our school.  I have been impressed already with the opportunities for questions and feedback.  While I am excited about using it for my middle school elective, I do not see myself using it for my elementary classes.  If I had music ensembles in middle and high school, I would definitely use Edmodo or a similar tool.

Webquests

Maybe I’m way behind the times, but I don’t think I’d ever heard of a Webquest until this week.  My colleagues (some who have been teaching at least the sixteen years I have been teaching and some much younger) were very familiar with the term and had used them years ago…”way back” in the 1990s.  Even though the idea is “old school,” it is amazing to think of how the idea, process, and resources base have evolved through the years.  I am very excited to design my own Webquest for our final project.  I see Webquests working well for groups and for individuals.  In a way, I feel that I have been on a large-scale Webquest throughout this degree program, especially in the class “America’s Music.”  It has been very eye-opening to see how much information is readily available from notable sources.  I look forward to integrating more tech tools to supplement my teaching.   

Bauer, W. (2014). Music learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and responding             to music. New York, NY: Oxford