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"Elemental Music is never just music. It is bound up with movement, dance and speech, and so it is a form
of music in which one must participate, in which one is involved not as a listener but as a co-performer." ~Carl Orff
The repetitive and rhythmic nature of songs reinforces the learning of grammatical structures that may be difficult for learners.
As children develop their audiation skills, they may engage in music imitation as they learn rhythm chants, songs, rhythm patterns, and tonal patterns, but they also engage in music comprehension as they compare the music they are hearing or performing to music they have heard or music they are predicting they will hear. Gordon (2007b) states, audiation is, “hearing and comprehending in one’s mind the sound of music that is not, or may never have been, physically present. It is not imitation or memorization,” (p. 399). That is, audiation is music thinking, and music thinking may be expressed in several ways that may involve, but go beyond, mere imitation. (Valerio, W. The Gordon Approach: Music Learning Theory)
As children develop their audiation skills, they may engage in music imitation as they learn rhythm chants, songs, rhythm patterns, and tonal patterns, but they also engage in music comprehension as they compare the music they are hearing or performing to music they have heard or music they are predicting they will hear. Gordon (2007b) states, audiation is, “hearing and comprehending in one’s mind the sound of music that is not, or may never have been, physically present. It is not imitation or memorization,” (p. 399). That is, audiation is music thinking, and music thinking may be expressed in several ways that may involve, but go beyond, mere imitation. (Valerio, W. The Gordon Approach: Music Learning Theory)
"To perform music is human nature...Learning to play a musical instrument even alters the structure of the brain...Music is closely linked to language in mental development." E.O. Wilson in The Social Conquest of Earth
Music is the Hotspot of our brain (sulcus crevice), according to Music educator, researcher and Music Together coauthor Lili Levinowitz.
Vivian Gussin Paley argues that the loss of creative free time, particularly storytelling and role-playing, can harm children emotionally and intellectually. Paley, a longtime kindergarten teacher at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, writes: "The children themselves continually reminded us that play was still their most usable context. It was not the monsters they invented that frightened them in kindergarten; it was being told to sit still and pay attention for long periods of time."—Tom Bartlett
Secret Language of Babies (Priscilla Dunstan)
How Music Works (Dr. Collins)
Alfie Kohn on Advantages of Play
What's Lost when we rush Children through Childhood
Peter Gray on the Decline of Play
Course Description
Course Description
MUSC 2410 Music in the Elem Classroom (3 credits)
MUSC 2410 Music in the Elem Classroom (3 credits)
An introductory or refresher course for elementary classroom or future teachers. The course is designed for the student with little or no musical background. Students will explore the elements of music and a variety of musical educational experiences at the elementary K-8 level through singing, reading music, writing music, and playing melodic and non-melodic instruments. Focus of this course is a focus of using the elements of music in learning language and Language Arts as future classroom teachers.
Prerequisites: Completion of ENGL-099
Offered: Fall & Spring
OPTIONAL Text
OPTIONAL Text
Do It! Recorder, Book& CD Set (GIA Publication). Available at SJC Bookstore Book
Also available from GIA Publications, Inc. 1.800.GIA.1358 or 708.496.3800 Available
Recorder music will be provided by instructor during course
Course Requirements
Course Requirements
Upon successful completion of the course, the student will be able to make connections between the elements of music t
hat extend to language learning development in the teaching of Language Arts in an elementary classroom.
Course Objectives:
Course Objectives follow the National Standards for Arts Education-Music K-8
Ø Standard 1: Singing alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music
Ø Standard 2: Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music
Ø Standard 3: Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments
Ø Standard 4: Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines
Ø Standard 5: Reading and notating music
Ø Standard 6: Listening to, analyzing, and describing music
Ø Standard 7: Evaluating music and music performances
Ø Standard 8: Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts
Ø Standard 9: Understanding music in relation to history and culture
Ø Standard 10: Moving, alone and with others, to a varied repertoire of music
Examples of engaging students through movement/singing in learning activities.
Student Evaluation Comment (Spring 2019):
This class was not at all what I anticipated and at first I was a little put off by what we were asked to do. I particularly struggled with the creative drama assignment as "performing" in front of others makes me very uncomfortable, and I was unable to originally see how this assignment connected to my understanding of the importance of music in the elementary classroom. I eventually came to understand that Professor Vitali was teaching us in the same way that she believes children should be taught - through play. And while I may have been much more comfortable hearing that children learn better through play in a lecture or through the presentation of classroom studies, etc., her methods of making her students learn through "play" and movement has certainly left a lasting impression.
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