The following information is adapted from posts on In Harmony – A music education blog from Heritage
Music Press. In
deference to The Husband, who maintains that blogposts are different than book
chapters, I am breaking the information into two parts. You can thank him
later. Really. He’d love to be thanked – because that means he’s right.
Hello, everyone. Ms. Brigid here, from Merit School of Music in
Chicago, IL. Thank you for joining me.
An App to Love
Before we get to the main topic of this post, I’d like
to share a recently discovered and brilliant app: Freeze Dance. For a mere $.99, you can select any
song in your iTunes library and add pauses – essentially doing away with
remotes or lurking next to the CD player when your kiddos are freeze dancing. Users can select Auto Freeze or create customized intervals. The app is highlighted
in Amy M. Burn’s FREE e-book, Help! I am an elementary music teacher with one or more iPads!
Full disclosure: This book was was discovered via the 15 Of The Best Music Technology in Education Books web article by Australian, Katie Wardrobe. Her music-tech-education site, Midnight Music, is a treasure trove of great ideas and information. You’ll be happy you took a look!
Why Sing a Book?
One of my passions is music and literacy – and a favorite
way to share this with students and families is by presenting musical books at
the end of class time. When a book is sung, it goes beyond the simple and everyday
– it’s elevated into a new and special experience. A musical book engages, invites positive communal
participation, opens teaching opportunities and provides non-stressful (group)
pronunciation practice, especially important for the many families and students
I work with whose first language is not English.
Music/songs share many elements with the books read in early
childhood classrooms. Music/songs/books
·
use symbolic notation,
·
are rhythmic and sequential (there are
beginnings, middles, ends)
·
provide vocabulary enrichment,
·
teach tenses and plurals,
·
are rich in poetic language,
·
allow visualization, reflection and
·
encourage good pronunciation.
Music is also reductive – it gets to the heart of things
very quickly.
 |
| Shadow Chasers by Elly MacKay. Thank you, S. Hassler! |
Depending on the season and concepts I want to reinforce,
Books are sung two or three times, and their subject matter reflects the season
or concepts highlighted during class. Most books employ audience participation
through echoing the text line by line or a chorus. Some books are even vehicles
to encourage solo singing.
How to Begin?
1. Find a song that
has been turned into a book, and sing it!
The best place to do this is a library. You’ll be amazed
what you can find in the children’s section! But wait, there’s more. To add a
richer dimension, consider pairing books with the recordings that inspired
them, e.g., What
a Wonderful World, by George David Weiss
& Bob Thiele, Ashley Bryan (illus). The singer that made this song famous
was Louis Armstrong.
This brightly
illustrated book is filled with positive
images of the world and different cultures and is a favorite of those I teach. The
story goes that this song was written specifically for Armstrong in the
late 1960’s to quell civil unrest, since he was a beloved civil and cultural
ambassador. This may or may not be true- but it’s interesting to ponder! After
introducing Armstrong and the book, I turn the pages while playing a recording of
the song. We don’t stop there. We immediately sing it again – but this without
accompaniment.
Another option: After reading the book, use the app, Watchlater,*
or another video downloader, to
download the YouTube video of Armstrong directly to
your iPad or computer. My families love watching this great man sing. He
doesn’t play his famous trumpet on this recording, but it’s right there in his
hand! *At this writing, Watchlater is
still operable, but is in a transition period with the iTunes, due to the
recent IOS updates.
There are many more wonderful options to choose from. Here
are songs/books that work nicely, all with iconic singers attached:
YouTubes
to use: Burl Ives. The stringed instruments are fantastic.
Danny Kaye’s version is included as a comparative. You’ll either love or hate the background singers!
Danny Kaye’s version is included as a comparative. You’ll either love or hate the background singers!
A, You’re Adorable. Perry Como’s 1949 hit is about how adorable his sweetheart is. For me, this song/book works far better as song an adult sings to a child.
YouTubes
to use: Dean Martin’s
recording OR Sesame
Street.
YouTubes to use: Julie Andrews’ recording.
The book’s rich illustrations call for slowly turned pages, so this recording may be for listening purposes only! Film clip.
The book’s rich illustrations call for slowly turned pages, so this recording may be for listening purposes only! Film clip.
2. Referencing Melodies. There are a number of deservedly popular books that reference a well know melody and add or “piggyback” their words onto it. These books wouldn’t works as well, or at all, if they didn’t have a very specific song and melody as their foundation. Let’s take a look at two:
I
Ain’t Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont. David Catrow, illus.
Melody: “It Aint’ Gonna Rain No More.” This is a great book for colors,
patterns, rhyming, body parts….and slightly subversive fun! The illustrations
are exceptional (though the little boy is a bit creepy – in an art-is-purely-subjective
kind of way).
NOTE: Syllabication is not completely
accurate. Be sure to practice
before presenting, and make necessary
adjustment.
Melody: “The
Ants Go Marching.” “Dressed in raincoats and carrying umbrellas, a platoon of aunts
march through the rainy city streets led by a little girl with a drum in this
cumulative rhyme.” (cover). Clever illustrations of rapid numeric (aunt)
expansion highlight this funny take on this classic childhood song.
Other examples: The
Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort & G. B. Karas (Melody: Wheels on the Bus) and Cows
in the Kitchen by A. Anderson (Melody:
“Skip to My Lou”).
That’s all for now. Please
join me in November for Part II: Piggybacking Melodies.
I am continually inspired by The Children’s Music Network (CMN) community. an international group of socially conscious musicians, educators, librarians, families, songwriters and good people, who “celebrate the positive power of music in the lives of children by sharing songs, exchanging ideas, and creating community.” Please visit CMN, and find a gathering in your region.
©2014 Brigid Finucane * 847-213-0713 * gardengoddess1@comcast.net
http://prekandksharing.blogspot.com
http://brigidfinucane.blogspot.com
@booksinger1
Blog History: December 2013 – Present
Love to sing books Brigid. Thanks for the suggestions. I especially like the elements that books and music share......
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gari. More advanced ideas to come..... xo
ReplyDeleteBrigid, Loved your post today...Fun to find like minded songsters. I also have a slew of sing-a-long books that I love to sing with kids. They say a song is like a thousand sermons. And adding the visual literacy aspect is a delightful bonus to a great song. Thanks for all the resources you shared today. Dawn aka TheSingingNurse
ReplyDeleteDawn, Always good to find another kindred spirit. I enjoyed looking at your website - and finding out about you and your work! Lots of music and literacy people in Orff, Kodaly and the Children's Music Network. I'm inspired by all the great ideas that are shared - and can be found online!
ReplyDeleteThanks Brigit, I will have to check out your links a little deeper here in this gr8 post. Thanks for checking out my WS. Alway looking for way to help make learning fun, and what is better than a song. :D
DeleteDawn