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Running Head: MUSIC IN THE CLASSROOM 1

How Music Is Implemented in Elementary Curriculum

Kathryn Liskey, Karrah Nelson, Liz Hefner, & Rachel Kachuriner

James Madison University

MUSIC IN THE CLASSROOM 2

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to investigate the various strategies used to implement

music in the classroom and the resulting effects that it had on students.. We strove to answer the

questions: “What are the strategies that teachers can use to implement music in the classroom

and how do the students respond to music in the classroom?” Five themes emerged from our

investigation of these questions: levels of student engagement, developmentally appropriate

student responses, teacher time constraints, teacher resources, and various instructional strategies

for implementing music. These findings are supported by our literature review and other

research. In addition they left us with further questions about how music affects students with

special needs and how length of songs affect student engagement levels. Through this project we

have realized the importance of music and are encouraged to use it in our future classrooms.


How Music Is Implemented in Elementary Curriculum

Have you ever tried reciting the alphabet without the tune we all learned as young

children? This task may not be as easy as it seems because our automatic response is to sing or

hum the tune that accompanies the sequence of letters. This is one example among many where

music has been successfully integrated with learning. Music can be integrated in all academic

content areas throughout the school day. However, music is often separated from instructional

time. There are several reasons why teachers may not use music, such as not recognizing its

value, the pressures of standardized testing, discomfort from lack of experience, and time

constraints. We want to bridge the gap between music and learning core content. With the

appropriate tools and planning, music can be integrated into every discipline. The purpose of this

project is to explore how teachers can incorporate music in the classroom.

As future teachers, we all strive to have a classroom that will be engaging and purposeful.

We believe that learning content can be made more memorable and more exciting through the

use of music. We want to learn how to use music with ease and confidence. Looking back on

what we have experienced in grade school, the content that was easiest to recall was taught with

music. As a result of our positive experiences with music, our goal is to find strategies and learn

how to plan for using music.

Effective teachers must have a variety of instructional strategies in order to reach all

students. Music is one of these strategies that teachers can use to teach content because it can

relate to every subject. However, we have seen an underutilization of music in our practicum

settings. We have observed that teachers tend to rely on music to create a certain atmosphere

when students are working on assignments at their desks. We believe that using music as a


strategy to teach content will help not only ourselves, but also other elementary teachers and

future students.

Due to the time restraints of this project, our group will focus on music incorporated into

academic content. We will look at the integration of music with specific subject areas such as

math, reading, science, and social studies. The questions we seek to answer are, “What are the

strategies teachers can use to incorporate music into their lessons and how do the students react

to using music in lessons?

Literature Review

Our literature review will first look at the benefits of using music in the classroom. We will

investigate one specific strategy for implementing music in the classroom that has been

supported by previous research. We will also look at how students react to music in the

classroom based on prior studies.

Benefits of Music

Current research gives a broad overview of our questions and strategies that we can use

in our future practicum settings. Through numerous research studies, we have seen that music

embedded in academic content has several positive effects on students.

Students are affected by music starting at a young age. From birth to the first years of

life, music is used to stimulate brain development. Harris (2008) states that, “music can be used

to stimulate the development of nerve connections between brain cells necessary for optimal

cognitive development” (p.24). Furthermore, one of the main cognitive benefits of using music is

to enhance recall. Songs can be used as a mnemonic device to help aid in memory. The brain

uses music to encode, rehearse, and retrieve information (Calvert & Tart, 1993). Children who


listen to music during academic instruction are able to retain and recall information more

accurately (Rikard, Vasquez, Murphy, Gill, & Toukhsati, 2010). In addition, students who are

exposed to these songs often score higher on tests than students who are not (Smolinski, 2011).

Using music in academic content helps students by acting as a mnemonic device and aiding in

development of cognitive skills.

Music not only enhances memory but also provides a heightened level of student

engagement and motivation. Music is enjoyable for children because it appeals to the mind, the

body, and the emotions (Moore, 2007). Music creates a level of excitement by enriching the

learning environment for children because it is pleasurable, promotes fun learning, and allows

each student to be an active participant (Geist, Geist, & Kuznik, 2012). Students are more

motivated to learn when they are having fun and are actively engaged in the lesson.

Music can be made accessible to all students. Connecting content to music levels the

playing field in a classroom because it invites children on different learning levels to participate

(Harrington & Berke, 2005, p. 14). Music reaches all students because they have the capacity to

respond to and participate in the music of the environment (Hayes, 2009, p. 15). Rubin (2012)

states that, “Music is universal. Listening to music can soothe the soul, excite the emotions, and

provide a sense of cultural identity” (p. 74). Music can relate to what the students are

experiencing in our culture today. By making connections between students’ cultural experiences

and learning in the classroom, lessons become more meaningful. Music provides an alternative

avenue for students who may have difficulty learning through traditional methods.


Strategies to Integrate Music

Although there are multiple strategies that teachers can use to implement music in the

classroom, we will focus our project on one strategy: using music to teach content. This strategy

can be easily adapted for any academic subject.

Using music to teach content has proven to be a useful and efficient strategy in all

disciplines. Teachers have been using this strategy for many years through a variety of ways.

Song lyrics can be used to prepare students for a lesson. One teacher uses music as an

introduction to the class by playing a song that is related in some way to the topic for the day

(Soper, 2010). The author found that this strategy makes the students more actively engaged and

more interested in learning the topic for that day (Soper, 2010).

Teachers can also use songs to formulate single lessons or an entire unit. For example,

one teacher used students’ favorite song lyrics as a basis for her entire reading program (Hines,

2010). In this case study, the teacher used songs to focus on specific sight words that were

embedded in the lyrics. The student started out looking at the song lyrics and then looked at the

sight words in a different context. The lyrics helped her to recognize the words and learn them.

Through this strategy, the student “gained confidence in her decoding, learned a sizeable number

of words she could recognize automatically, and used her knowledge of rime patterns to identify

unknown words,” (Hines, 2010, p.19). Song lyrics can also help students to process content. In

one study, a team of third grade teachers designed a rap song to introduce the path of blood

through the body (Williams, McCauley, & Grumble, 2013). By creating this rap, there was an

increase in comprehension of the process of blood flow. The authors state that at the end of the

unit, “the answers were quick, enthusiastic, and accurate” (Williams, McCauley, & Grumble,

2013, p.72).


Song lyrics can also be used to juxtapose viewpoints and analyze historical events. This

strategy provides a less threatening way to teach about controversial topics, such as prejudice,

discrimination, and the treatment of racial, ethnic, and religious groups. Allowing the students to

compare and contrast songs from opposing viewpoints opens their eyes to the controversy behind

the events without telling them any one view is correct (Moore, 2007). One way to teach social

studies through music is studying the development of national anthems. This analysis of the

anthems allowed students to see the connections between the arts, propaganda, and patriotism, as

well as foster unity and support for military campaigns (Moore, 2007). These are just a few of

the countless ways teachers use music to teach content. All of these examples incorporate music

as a cross-curricular tool.

Student Reactions to Music in the Classroom

It is evident that the use of music makes the students excited to learn. For example,

researchers found that the students were enthusiastic about the information they learned and

wanted to practice their rap song repeatedly (Williams, McCauky, & Grumble, 2013). The

students learned their content and were able to answer questions quickly, enthusiastically, and

accurately in every situation. By incorporating music students showed a positive attitude and

found activities to be pleasurable (Edelson & Johnson, 2003). Edelson & Johnson also found

that the use of music not only enhances children’s enjoyment, but also helps with understanding

of difficult concepts and skills. Rubin conducted a study in which his students analyzed and

compared the lyrics of a rock album to a classic novel. The students were asked to reflect on the

experience. The general consensus was that the students enjoyed the project and had a deeper

understanding of the material. One student expressed, “I feel like I can connect to music better

than any other type of learning. Reading confuses me, and writing messes with my actual


thoughts. Listening to music has a great academic value for me” (Rubin, 2011, p. 77). We hope

to collect more data on student reactions throughout our own inquiry project to see if we find

similar reactions or conflicting reactions.

In conclusion, music in the classroom has several benefits and can be integrated into the

curriculum through the use of several strategies and planning tools. We hope to find answers to

the questions, “What are the strategies teachers can use to incorporate music into their lessons,

and how do the students react to using music in lessons?”

Methods

Context

Our practicum placements were in three different elementary schools throughout the

Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. We were in practicum from September through December of

2013 on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the entire school day. We were in practicum for twenty-five

school days from approximately 7:45am to 3:30pm. This means that on average, we arrive 15

minutes before the students arrive, and stay 15 minutes after the students leave. For the purposes

of this inquiry, the letters of each Inquirer correspond with each Classroom letter (Inquirer A is

in Classroom A, etc.).

Wayside School is located in a rural area with 550 students currently attending. The

school was built in 1966 and was first used as a middle school. There are 30 teachers serving

preschool through fifth grade. There are twenty-nine classroom teachers and multiple assistants,

faculty, and staff. The majority of the students that attend the school are Caucasian. There is a

small percentage of African American and Hispanic students. There are two classrooms in this

school that are being observed for our inquiry. Classroom A consists of 19 students in first

grade. There are nine girls and ten boys. The majority of the students are Caucasian. One student


is Hispanic, and she is enrolled in the school's English Language Learner (ELL) program. She

speaks conversational English fluently, but needs help with academic content. One student has

an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). This is her second year in first grade and she has some

emotional difficulties on a regular basis that affect her performance in the classroom. One

student has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and is also in the school's child

study program because of behavior problems in the classroom. In addition, three students in the

class get extra help with reading because of low scores on Phonological Awareness Literacy

Screening (PALS) testing. One of these three students repeated kindergarten twice. He is also

having some problems at home that the school has begun to investigate.

There are four first grade classes at this school. The students are with the practicum

teacher all day except for specials. On Tuesdays and Thursdays when Inquirer A is in practicum,

the students are in physical education and computer lab. Also, once a week, the class switches

with another first grade teacher for science, while the cooperating teacher does social studies for

one period. The students are grouped by level for reading groups, but are not grouped by level

for math groups yet. There are four leveled reading groups. One of the groups is reading well

above a first grade reading level, two are at grade level, and one is below grade level. The

cooperating teacher manages the classroom by giving each student some free choice, but mostly

there is structured instructional time. The students are required to finish all of their work before

being allowed to have recess or other free time. She mainly uses a teaching style that is lecture

based followed by student practice. Every period of the day is planned out with some activity or

instruction. However, there is sometimes some wiggle room where the students can read, draw,

or finish up work.


Classroom B at Wayside Elementary is a second grade classroom consisting of twenty-

one students. There are eight girls and thirteen boys in this class. The majority of the students

are Caucasian, along with two African American students. There are two ELL students whose

first language is Russian. One student is currently in child study to determine if she has a

learning disability. There are two students who stay after school once a week for about an hour

for extra tutoring because they are struggling with reading. There are also two mainstreamed

autistic students in my class with their own IEPs and aides. One of these students is only in the

classroom for read-aloud, lunch, specials, and recess. The other autistic student is a part of our

classroom for most of the day, depending on his behavior.

The rest of the students stay with the cooperating teacher for the entire day except for

specials. On Tuesdays the class goes to the library for specials time and on Thursdays they go to

physical education. During reading and math, the students usually work in leveled groups. The

majority of the class is on grade level or above, with the exception of about five students. The

cooperating teacher mainly acts as a facilitator by equipping students with the necessary

resources and guidance that allows the students to construct their own knowledge. There is a

heavy emphasis on hands-on exploration and cooperative learning in this classroom. The

students are provided with opportunities to explore using manipulatives and practice applying

concepts to real-world situations. The cooperating teacher is flexible with the daily schedule and

planned activities. The students are encouraged to pursue topics of interest. The cooperating

teacher often uses students’ specific interests as a driving force for the curriculum and

instructional strategies.

Rock Hill Elementary School just recently celebrated its fifty year anniversary. It is

located in an urban school district with a very diverse student body of about 500 students. The


school consists of 26 classroom teachers serving preschool through fourth grade. There are also

many resource personnel and staff. The student population is a mix of African Americans,

Asians, Caucasians, Hispanics, and Middle Easterners. There are students from many regions of

the world ranging from South and Central America to Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

Within Rock Hill Elementary, our inquiry took place in a second grade classroom, Classroom C.

This classroom consists of 17 students; 10 girls and 7 boys. Ten of these students are ELL and

two have behavior plans. All of the ELL students are from Spanish-speaking homes. They speak

conversational English fluently, but receive services in math and reading. The students on

behavior plans regularly act out in class, which affects their and the other students’ behavior in

the classroom. Therefore, these two students have special incentives to stay focused in the

classroom. In addition, one student is pulled out for reading due to low scores on the PALS test.

There are six second grade classrooms at Rock Hill. The majority of the students remain

with the classroom teacher throughout the day except for specials. Their specials rotate each

week between physical education, Spanish, art, music, library, and guidance. Five students leave

the classroom for small group reading for about 45 minutes each day. The students are divided

into three groups for math and reading based upon ability level. One group is above grade level,

one is on grade level, and the last one is below grade level. The cooperating teacher manages the

classroom by having whole and small group structured instruction. The students are required to

finish all of their work from the day before being allowed to have free time. The cooperating

teacher uses both lecture and hands-on activities. The students also have both whole class and

individual incentives to stay on track and do their best throughout the day.

Robertson School was built in 1977 in a rural area and has a student population of over

1,200 students. The school staff consists of fifty-two class teachers, and multiple resource


teachers. The student population is a mix of mainly Caucasian and Hispanic students with a

small number of African American students. Within this school, our inquiry study took place in a

kindergarten classroom, Classroom D, consisting of twenty-two students: thirteen boys and nine

girls. The class consists of 17 Caucasian students and five Hispanic students. Of the five

Hispanic students, two are enrolled in ELL programs. For the majority of the day, the students

remain with the classroom teacher, only leaving the classroom for specials and differentiated

reading groups once a day for 45 minutes. Their specials rotate every week so Inquirer D saw a

variation of art, music, physical education, computer lab, library, and guidance. While the

students remain in the classroom with the cooperating teacher they learned through fine motor

skill activities, structured group work, centers, and interactions with the eSmartboard. On a daily

basis the students had a whole class introductory lesson and then were broken into groups for

centers, while one group remained at their desks to work independently. The activities that the

students worked on were mostly to promote fine motor skills, which required them to cut, glue,

and color. During group work for math and reading the students were broken into small groups

based on their ability.

Data Collection

Prior to beginning our data collection, we provided our teachers with a summary of our

project proposal. This letter informed the teacher of our various data collection methods that we

planned on using, a general time frame of our project, and the support we wanted from our

cooperating teacher. Before beginning any data collection, we distributed and collected consent

forms from parents to ensure that we had permission for each student’s participation in our

project. Any student who did not return his or her permission form still participated in the

lessons and activities; however, they were not included in our data collection. Data was


continuously collected twice a week on the days we were in our practicum. After the permission

slips were collected, we began collecting data on the week of September 16th, 2013 and

continued through the week of November 11th, 2013.

Our study was qualitative, which means that it consisted of rich description of data and

field focused observations (Eisner, 1991). The purpose of a qualitative project is to “form deep

understandings, to interpret and contextualize experiences” (Falk & Blumenreich, 2005, p. 97).

To guarantee conclusions are drawn on adequate support, a triangulation matrix was used. “A

triangulation matrix is a simple grid that shows the various data sources that will be used to

answer each research question” (Mills, 2000, p. 56). This ensures that we had a variety of data

collection tools and did not rely on any single source of data.

Observations with field notes are one form of data collection where the observer records

what he or she sees in the classroom. “When descriptions in this vein accumulate, they paint a

rich picture that can help to get the details of the answers to your questions” (Falk &

Blumenreich, 2005, p. 94). Because qualitative work depends on rich description, observations

with field notes were a useful tool to use. We separated our notes into two columns, our

observations and our reflections. We recorded observations with field notes throughout the

duration of our time in practicum. More specifically, we used observations with field notes to

record when and how our practicum teachers used music in a lesson and how we saw student

reactions to music in lessons.

We conducted an interview with our cooperating practicum teachers to gain better insight

as to how they use music in their lessons. This helped answer our sub-question, “What are the

strategies that teachers can use to implement music in the classroom?” Interviews allow us to see

a particular participant’s perspective and find out more in-depth information (Falk &


Blumenreich, 2005, p. 97). We used a standard, open-ended style interview. All members of the

group had a standardized script of questions to ask in the interview.

We each kept our own professional journal throughout our time in practicum. “A

professional journal is a journal in which you record your thoughts, ideas, questions or

frustrations” (Falk & Blumenreich, 2005, p. 91). This helped us reflect on our own experiences

as we planned and executed our lessons. Using professional journals are beneficial “to keep your

memories of significant moments fresh” (Falk & Blumenreich, 2005, p.91). By keeping track of

our reflections in this journal, we were able to investigate how teachers plan and implement

music in the classroom.

Student work samples were collected when music was used in lessons. In particular, we

used writing prompts to look at students’ thoughts and feelings about music in the classroom.

Work samples can “be used to gather evidence that chronicle progress, uncover the nuances of

how student approach their learning, and reveal students’ strengths and recurring interests” (Falk

& Blumenreich, 2005, p.102). These samples gave us insight into what the students could do,

what they understood from the lesson, and what they needed extra practice with.

Videos were used to capture student reactions to music in lessons. This included both lessons

that we taught and that our cooperating teachers taught. Videos help teachers understand “how

people interact, how they use body language, what is happening in conversations between

multiple participants or focus groups, or how a particular strategy actually works in the

classroom” (Falk & Blumenreich, 2005, p.108). By looking at video recordings, we got a better

sense of how the students were reacting to the lessons. Video recording allowed us to reflect on

content, skills, and attitudes demonstrated by the students during our lessons and activities


(Mills, 2000). Videos were an important tool because they allowed us to capture the students’

reactions while we taught.

Because we planned on investigating one specific strategy of implementation, we each

planned lessons that incorporated music as a cross-curricular tool. We prepared lessons that used

music to teach content and aimed to incorporate this strategy across all core subject areas.

Data Analysis

Every Sunday, beginning after the first week of data collection, our group met to discuss

and analyze our findings. Falk and Blumenreich (2005) state that data analysis “is an ongoing

process that begins as soon as you start collecting it” (p.115). We used these meetings to

continually read our data and search for common themes. Continually reading our data and

testing assertions guarded us against bias and helped us to be more precise and consistent in our

analysis (Corbin & Strauss, 1990). Reviewing our data every time we met ensured that our

themes were appropriate and our analysis was accurate.

In order to keep our data collection organized, we used color-coding with our

observations and field notes, professional journals, and interviews. Color-coding is one of the

most effective ways to sort data into themes (Falk & Blumenreich, 2005, p.119). Our color-

coding system was adapted as our themes emerged and developed. According to Corbin &

Strauss (1990), coding our data will enable us to avoid subjectivity and bias, as well as locate

errors in our data by means of constant, systematic comparisons (p.13). For us, this meant

comparisons that were well organized and allowed us to easily locate the information that we

were looking for.

In order to ensure accurate data collection from interviews, we used member checks. A

member check involves sharing your working findings with the participants involved and


checking for accurate depiction. These member checks “are necessary to ensure that the voices

and perspectives of the participants are represented” (Falk & Blumenreich, 2005, p. 144). In

addition to member checks, we continually peer edited each other’s findings in order to prevent

bias. Peer checks are when other classmates look over our data and make suggestions.

We also analyzed our videos during these group meetings in order to see how the

relationship between content and music was developed in the classroom. Analyzing the videos

allowed us to more accurately reflect upon our lessons and examine how closely they followed

our original plans. In addition, viewing the videos multiple times allowed us to observe the

engagement levels and behavior of the students throughout the lessons. We made note of

common themes that we noticed throughout our videos and compared them to other themes from

our data.

Analyzing our data allowed us to see similar patterns and emerging themes throughout

our project. In our group meetings we reflected upon these themes and how they related to the

various ways in which music is implemented into the classroom and how the students reacted to

it. The continual analysis of our data allowed us to see any bias and outlying factors that could

have taken the focus of our data collection in a different direction. Our group meetings helped us

to work through these and allowed us to plan for our next steps.

Validity, Reliability, and Generalizability

In order to ensure that our work met ethical standards, we used validity, reliability, and

generalizability as described by Mills (2000). Validity is defined as “how we know that the data

we collect accurately gauges what we are trying to measure” (Mills, 2000, p. 84). We followed

Wolcott’s strategies to ensure the validity of our research. Wolcott suggests using the following


strategies; talk little and listen a lot, record accurately, begin writing early, let readers “see” for

themselves, report fully, be candid, seek feedback, and write accurately (as cited in Mills, 2000,

p. 95). During our interviews, we let the interviewee do most of the talking while we actively

listened, recorded, and took notes. We used recording devices, notes, and videos to accurately

record data. We met with our group regularly to review data as we collected it and drafted our

findings. We used thick description without interpretation in order for the readers to make their

own conclusions. All data included in our project and all perspectives, including outliers, were

accounted for. Our group used peer checks to eliminate bias. Conferences were set up with our

professor and cooperating teachers to receive continuous feedback. Peer editing was also used as

a form of feedback. Finally, numerous drafts were written and revisions were made according to

the feedback received.

Reliability is “the degree to which a test consistently measures whatever it measures”

(Mills, 2000, 94). We used rich description in order to accurately depict each specific scenario.

By meeting each week to analyze data, we maintained consistency. Additionally, all group

members used the same methods for collecting data. If any discrepancies were found in the data,

we worked through them as a group.

Generalizability is defined as “a term that refers to the applicability of findings to settings

and context different from the one in which they were obtained” (Mills, 2000, p. 96). We

established generalizability through rich description so that readers can determine if our project

is applicable to them. Each of us was placed in a different academic setting. The grade levels,

schools, and demographics of our classes were each unique. Although generalizability is not

guaranteed because of the qualitative nature of our project, we still aimed to provide information


that could be applied to various elementary school classrooms through the use of thick

description.

In order to collect data in an ethical manner, we received consent from the parents and

guardians of our students before including them in our project. Additionally, all participants and

schools remained anonymous through the use of pseudonyms. After the presentation of our

project, all data will be destroyed to ensure confidentiality.

By identifying common themes that arose throughout our data analysis we hoped to

answer the questions: “What are the strategies teachers can use to incorporate music into their

lessons and how do the students react to using music in lessons?”

Findings

While reviewing our data, we reflected on our questions: what are the strategies that

teachers can use to implement music in the classroom and how do students respond to music in

the classroom. Once we collaborated and analyzed our data as a group, we found five

overarching themes: levels of student engagement, developmentally appropriate student

responses, teacher time constraints, teacher resources, and ways to use music in the classroom.

Two of these themes related to student reactions, and three of these themes related to how

teachers implement music in the classroom.

Levels of Student Engagement

Our most prevalent theme was the students’ levels of engagement while music was being

used in the classroom. We saw two different types of engagement. One type of engagement was

observed when students were singing the songs with their classmates, smiling, moving their

bodies, clapping, and doing hand motions. Inquirer B noted that one student incorporated skip


counting lyrics with his dance moves (October 24, 2013). He paired each number in the skip

count with a Macarena dance move while smiling and bobbing his head. He was able to keep in

unison with the beat and the number pattern by putting emphasis on each number and dance

move. In another observation recorded by Inquirer D, the whole class was singing letter sounds

and making movements to go with each letter sound they sang. For example, the students sang,

“f is for f-f-fish, f-f-fish” while having their hands together swimming like a fish (October 1,

2013). After a calendar song at morning meeting time, Inquirer A noted a student saying, “We

should do it again!” as he smiled and clapped at the end of the song. The other students said,

“Yeah! Can we?” (October 8, 2013) These were three examples among many where levels of

positive engagement were observed.

Another type of engagement was observed when the students’ attention was focused

elsewhere. Sometimes the students were distracted themselves, while other times they created a

distraction for their peers. When the students were exhibiting a distraction of either type, they

were looking around the room, making silly noises, focusing on dance moves, playing hand

games, bumping into others, and talking to a peer. Inquirer A observed that while students were

singing a skip counting song during calendar time in the morning, two students were seated and

bopping around, but were not singing (October 1, 2013). This affected the students sitting next to

them, who started laughing and stopped singing the song as well. One of these students stood up

and walked over to the cooperating teacher, asking, “Can we all stand up and dance?” This

action distracted most of the students around him, which was evident by them looking at the

student and teacher rather than singing. Inquirer B also witnessed another example of this type

of engagement. Numerous students were showing their classmates their dance moves rather than

concentrating on the lyrics of the song. Their dance moves became a distraction for other


students when they started bumping into their peers. The students that were bumped into stopped

singing and instead starting laughing and looking at the dancing students. During the song,

Inquirer B gave several reminders to the students to participate in the sing-along rather than

solely showing off their dance moves (September 26, 2013). In this example, distracted

individuals became a disruption for other students. In conclusion, levels of engagement were

seen in a variety of ways.

Students Respond in Developmentally Appropriate Ways

Another theme we found was that students often responded to music according to what

one would expect to be developmentally appropriate. One specific example of this was when

Inquirer A conducted a writing task with her class where the students were prompted, “Tell me

what you think about listening to music in your classroom” (September 26, 2013). The majority

of the students responded to this by simply saying “I like it” or “I love it” rather than elaborating.

In addition, some of the longer sentences were written phonetically and were difficult to decode.

Students also verbally responded in similar ways. For example, Inquirer D asked the students

how music makes them feel (October 10, 2012). One student responded, “I like music. I can

dance and sing to it. It makes me feel happy. I want more music.” These examples reflected

expected responses because students in early elementary grades have not fully developed their

language or writing skills.

In addition to language, we also observed that students displayed actions that were

representative of the concrete to abstract stage of development. For example, Inquirer A

observed students using their fingers to count as they sang along with a skip counting song. One

student held up one finger for each group of five that the song sang. In this example, the student


used his fingers as a manipulative to guide his counting and pacing (October 29, 2013). We also

noticed that students’ attention spans were limited during longer songs. Inquirer D recorded in an

informal conversation with one student who said, “I don’t like music when it’s too long, like the

Super Kids songs” (October 10, 2013). These songs are approximately two minutes long. All of

these examples illustrated that students responded in developmentally appropriate ways to music

in the classroom.

Teacher Time Constraints

Another common theme we found was that planning and using music in the classroom

was challenging due to time constraints. These constraints included spending time finding

valuable songs, having time to sing them in class, and spending time regrouping the students

after the songs are over. Inquirer D’s cooperating teacher explicitly stated that, “time is the

number one reason that I do not use music very often in the classroom” (October 26, 2013) .

Inquirer A had similar findings during an interview with her cooperating teacher. Inquirer A

asked, “Do you think that it is easy or difficult to tie music in with content?” The teacher

responded by saying, “It is easy if you know exactly how to do it and if you have the time to sit

down and search for a song that you need...but things come up after school and things prevent

you from doing it” (October 20, 2013).

In addition to teachers not having time to find quality songs, they are also pressed for time

throughout the school day for the students to sing them. It was found that content time ran out

before the teachers and inquirers were able to play the songs that they had planned. Inquirer B

planned on playing a song at the end of her map skills lesson during the social studies block at

the end of the day. However, the math block of the day was right before social studies and the

math lesson the cooperating teacher taught exceeded the time allotted for math and consequently


took some time out of social studies. As a result, Inquirer B noted, “I ran out of time at the end

of the day to play the song that I had planned on incorporating into my map skills lesson”

(October 3, 2013). She expressed her frustrations with spending time finding a valuable song

and then not having time to play it for the students when she noted, “I felt a little defeated when I

didn’t get to play the song I had planned. It took time and planning to find a valuable song to go

along with my lesson, so running out of time to incorporate it in my lesson was sort of a let

down” (October 3, 2013). Even when songs are implemented, the time allotted was sometimes

exceeded due to regrouping the students once the song is over. Inquirer B played a skip counting

song as a closing to morning calendar time. The cooperating teacher was occupied setting up an

activity in the hallway. Once the skip-counting song came to an end, Inquirer B noted that, It

took several minutes to move onto reading time after the skip counting song today. The students

continued to dance, laugh and sing while I was trying to redirect their attention to the activities I

had planned for reading time. I had to ask the students several times to ‘switch their brains over

to reading’ instead of dancing” (professional journal, November 7, 2013). During an interview

with Inquirer B’s cooperating teacher, the teacher expressed the cons that she sees with using

music in the classroom. She said, “Well a lot of people I think steer away from it because they

feel like the class will get out of hand and because if it’s an exciting song, it will take too much

time to bring their class back” (November 5, 2013). Overall, we found that time was an issue

when finding resources, having time to implement the songs, and spending time regrouping the

students at the end of a song.


Teacher Resources

Through teacher interviews, we found that there are a variety of tools, such as CDs,

websites, colleagues, practicum students, and books that teachers can use to find classroom

songs. Inquirer A’s teacher stated, “I have some different CD’s that have some different songs on

them that every now and then I will pull out. Other teachers share things too that go along with

what we are teaching” (October 20, 2013). Inquirer A’s teacher also said to the class, “I am so

glad Miss K. is finding these songs for our class because I am going to save them and use them

next year too!” (Professional Journal, October 17, 2013). Inquirer D’s cooperating teacher

relied mainly on resources provided by the school. This was evident when she stated, “we’re in

the process of purchasing rights to a sight called Heidi Songs that teach skills through music

while being reinforced with a visual” (October 26, 2013). On the other hand, Inquirer C’s

cooperating teacher stated, “I often take common songs and rewrite the lyrics” (October 24,

2013).

We also found that accessing certain resources could be a difficult task. Inquirer B

expressed a challenge that she encountered while planning for using music in a lesson when she

wrote, “I’ve had a hard time finding a song that shows the lyrics on the screen so that students

can follow along. This might require a lot of extra work if I have to listen to the song multiple

times and type up the lyrics” (Professional Journal, September 26, 2013). Through our inquiry,

we have found that there are multiple resources available to teachers. However, locating these

resources provided a challenge for some teachers and practicum students.


Ways to Use Music in the Classroom

Our final theme consisted of the different ways in which we saw music being used in our

practicum classrooms. The most common strategy that we all witnessed in our classrooms were

sing-a-longs tied in with content. In Inquirer A’s classroom, songs were predominantly used

during calendar time. For example, a months of the year sing-a-long was used mostly on the

Tuesdays and Thursdays that she was in practicum. In the morning, students sat on the rug and

did an eSmartboard calendar activity. At the end of the last slide, the teacher pulled up the

YouTube songs that the students were going to sing on the eSmartboard. The students were able

to sing one or two songs with the remaining calendar time. The students typically sang a months

of the year song and a skip counting song. In Inquirer C’s classroom, songs were observed

mainly during social studies. The students sang songs about the geography of our country and the

different continents. In the morning, at the beginning of content time, the teacher would review

what the students did the previous day. Then, they would sing the geography song together and

the teacher would put emphasis on the lyrics that included the topic of the lesson that day. For

example, one Tuesday the students were learning about the James River. The song that they sang

had one lyric listing that the James River was in Virginia. When the song got to this line, the

teacher stopped singing and played a video about the James River. Once the video was over, the

teacher went back to the song, sang it again, and then had the students go to their seats to work

on labeling the James River on their U.S. map. When they returned to their seats, the teacher

asked the students to locate the James River. The students looked at the lyrics on the

eSmartboard to say that it is in Virginia. This song was sung each day when the students learned

a new river or mountain range in the U.S.


Teachers also used music to check for understanding. A check for understanding is when

the students have been taught the content and are indicating that they understand the content

when they are singing. For example, in Inquirer A’s classroom, students practiced songs in

different languages to sing at International Night at the school. The students pointed to the

different parts of the body that they were singing about to help them remember that word. A

head, shoulders, knees and toes song was sung in an African language, and the students pointed

to that part of the body as they sang (October 15, 2013). Inquirer B described an observation in

which her cooperating teacher used a days of the week song to check for understanding. The

cooperating teacher asked the students to lift up their arms when they sang a particular day of the

week. For example, one instruction she gave was for the students to lift their arms when they

sang the third day of the week. Another instruction was to raise their arms when they sang the

day of the week that they had a field trip. These simple body movements allowed the teacher to

quickly see which students understood the content (September 26, 2013). In another example, a

check for understanding involved using the tune of the song as a guide while filling in the blanks

with missing lyrics. Inquirer B observed her cooperating teacher using a “Doubles Rap” song in

a lesson with the class that asked them to fill in the blank by answering a math question. If

correctly answered, the lyrics followed the tune and rhyme. For example, the lyrics said

“9+9=_____, Jelly Bean!” If the students correctly filled in the answer 18, the song followed the

rhyme pattern of “9+9=18, Jelly Bean!” This format was followed for each doubles fact through

10. This particular instructional strategy used the song as a guide for students to check their

answers as they helped construct the lyrics. Through multiple observations, we saw various

instructional strategies used to implement music.


Discussion

When incorporating music into the classroom, we noticed that some of our emerging

themes aligned with what we had found in our literature review. Prior to implementing our

inquiry project, we found that research regarding student engagement showed that when

incorporating music students showed a positive attitude and found activities to be pleasurable

(Edelson & Johnson, 2003). We saw this to be true in our own project when our students

responded to the songs by smiling, clapping, and singing along. In addition, researchers found

that students were enthusiastic about the information they learned and wanted to practice their

songs repeatedly (Williams, McCauky, & Grumble, 2013). This was also seen in our classrooms

when students would ask to play the songs again when they were over.

Another one of our emerging themes was that children responded to music in ways that

were expected for their development. This theme also aligns with previous research. One

example that we saw was students using their fingers to count while singing a song. According to

Copple & Bredekamp (2009), “While children can use symbols such as words and numerals to

represent objects and relations, they still need concrete reference points” (p.272). This student

was representing Piaget’s concrete operational stage. According to Bums & Silbey (2000),

"hands-on experiences and multiple ways of representing a mathematical solution can be ways of

fostering the development of this cognitive stage" (p. 55). Therefore, the students counting on

their fingers transformed the song into a hands-on learning experience. Developmentally

appropriate student responses were also observed when the students would start to lose focus

during a song. While playing music in the classroom, we saw that students could not retain

attention for longer than approximately two minutes. According to Copple & Bredekamp (2009),

“kindergarteners tend to have a limited attention span” (p. 204). This was evident in our own


findings when Inquirer D’s kindergarten students expressed that the song played in class was too

long. We also found that when a writing sample was conducted, the students responded in ways

that were expected for first graders. Copple & Bredekamp (2009) state, “they use invented

spelling as necessary…they want to spell words correctly and use basic conventional punctuation

and capitalization” (p.283). The work samples that were turned in showed that the students made

up the letters for words they did not know how to spell, as well as forgot to add punctuation at

the end of their sentences.

Previous research by Yinger (1980), found that “Teachers spend the largest portion of

their planning time on content (subject matter) to be taught. After subject matter, teachers

concentrated their planning on instructional processes (strategies and activities)” (p. 109-110).

This research echoes the struggles that our cooperating teachers and we have had when trying to

find time to plan for using music.

Throughout our project we also found that there are many ways that teachers implement

music in the classroom. This theme is also supported by previous research from Williams,

McCauley, & Grumble (2013), Moore (2007), Hines (2010), and Soper (2010). Each of these

researchers listed in our literature review discussed a different way for using music from creating

rap songs to using lyrics to analyze historical events. In our own classrooms, we saw music being

used as sing-a-longs to learn and reinforce content and as a way for teachers to check for student

understanding.

Our last theme, teacher resources, was one that we could not find research to support.

Most of the literature that we have found provides teachers with lists of resources such as songs,

websites, and books. However, they do not talk about the difficulties that we faced when

searching for valuable resources. Overall, most of our themes were supported by previous


research. Our students responded to music in expected ways and our struggles with planning and

implementing music were not out of the ordinary.

Conclusion

This inquiry project showed the different strategies that can be used in implementing

music in the classroom, student involvement, and the challenges teachers have when

incorporating music with content. Through implementing this inquiry, our group learned several

valuable tools that we can take with us in our future classrooms. First, we learned the importance

of planning ahead. We need to do this to find resources and to make sure ahead of time that CDs,

websites, and other resources are ready to be played when we need them to. Also, we need to

plan ahead by finding songs that would tie in with content that the students would be learning

one to two weeks in advance. We also learned to be more aware of how we use it in terms of

both length and the content of the song. In our classrooms we will work to find songs that are

developmentally appropriate and will connect to all disciplines. In addition, we learned about

many new resources available to teachers. Finally, we learned different instructional strategies

that we are excited to use in our future classrooms.

If we could continue to study this topic, we would focus more on implementing music

across all content areas and include music throughout the day. We would also pay explicit

attention to how length affects the students’ engagement levels. Thus, one of the questions we

are left with is “How does the length of songs affect student engagement levels?” Through

collecting our data, we also found an interest in the question, “How does music in the classroom

affect students with special needs?” If given more time, this would be another area of focus for

our group.


Our group was interested in seeing how teachers use music in the classroom tied in with

content, as well as student reactions to music in the classroom. We came up with two questions

to investigate based on these interests: “What are the strategies teachers can use to incorporate

music into their lessons and how do the students react to using music in lessons?” In order to

answer these questions, we crafted a triangulation matrix to be sure that we were collecting

valuable and qualitative data. From our interviews, observations with field notes, professional

journal, work samples, and videos, we found that there were five emerging themes: levels of

student engagement, developmentally appropriate student responses, teacher time constraints,

teacher resources, and various instructional strategies for implementing music. Through these

emerging themes, we inferred that implementing music in the classroom takes preparation and

the necessary knowledge of resources to be able to use it effectively. We now feel better

prepared to integrate music with content in our future classrooms.


References

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Bums, M., & Silbey, R. (2000). So you have to teach math? Sound advice for K-6 teachers.

Sausalito, CA: Math Solutions Publications.

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short-term verbatim recall. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 14, 245-260.

Retrieved from http://www.journals.elsevier.com

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programs: Serving children from birth through age 8. Washington, D.C.: National

Association for the Education of Young Children.

Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. (1990). Grounded theory research: Procedures, canons, and evaluative

criteria. Qualitative Sociology, 13(1), 3-20. Retrieved from http://www.springerlink.com

Edelson, J., & Johnson, G. (2003). Music makes math meaningful. Childhood Education, 80, 65-

70. doi: 10.1080/00094056.2004.10521259

Eisner, E. (1991). The enlightened eye: Qualitative inquiry and the enhancement of educational

practice. New York, NY: MacMillan.

Falk, B., & Blumenreich, M. (2005). The power of questions: A guide to teacher and student

research. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Geist, K., Geist, E. A., & Kuznik, K. (2012). The patterns of music: Young children learning

mathematics through beat, rhythm, and melody. Young Children, 67(1), 74-79. Retrieved

from http://www.naeyc.org

Harrington, J., & Berke, M. (2005). Sing me a story: Incorporating music into story time. Book

Links, 14(6), 14-16. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org


Harris, M. (2008). The effects of music instruction on learning in the Montessori classroom.

Montessori Life: A Publication of the American Montessori Society, 20(3), 24-31.

Retrieved from http://www.amshq.org

Hayes, O. (2009). The use of melodic and rhythmic mnemonics to improve memory and recall in

elementary students in the content areas. (master's thesis), Retrieved from ERIC.

(ED504997)

Hines, S. (2010). Name that word: Using song lyrics to improve the decoding skills of

adolescents with learning disabilities. Teaching Exceptional Children, 43(1), 16-21.

Retrieved from http://journals.cec.sped.org

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NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Moore, J. (2007). Popular music helps students focus on important social issues. Middle School

Journal, 38(4), 21-29. Retrieved from http://www.nmsa.org

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Retrieved from http://www.recsam.edu.my

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classroom based instrumental music program on verbal memory of primary school

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Appendix A

Dear Parent or Guardian,

As the graduate student in your child’s classroom from September to December, I will be completing a required project that is part of the elementary teacher education program at James Madison University. The purpose of my project is to explore implementing music in the classroom with academic content. I will be teaching lessons that incorporate music to teach different subject areas and collecting data through these experiences.

Recording or filming myself in the classroom is a valuable tool in studying the effectiveness of my own teaching. In addition, videos and student work will allow me to see how the students respond and react throughout the lesson. I am asking for your consent to videotape, audio record, and collect work samples of your child along with others in the class. The identities of your child, the teacher and school will remain confidential. Not providing consent will not impair your child’s opportunities to participate in the project activities. Should you change your mind, you can rescind or activate this permission at any time.

A summary of my project, possibly including pictures and/or video, will be shared with my professors and other graduate students. If you are interested in our groups’ findings, we can provide you with a summary as well. Once the original recordings have been studied, they will be destroyed. If you have any questions, you may contact me or [insert teacher’s name] at school or by email at [insert contact information here]. My JMU instructor is Michelle Hughes of ELED 632 and she would be happy to answer any questions you may have. She can be reached by email, [email protected], or by phone, (540) 568-3862.

Please complete the portion below and return it to [insert teacher’s name here] or me by [September 17].

Thank you,

Your name, your teacher’s name& name of school


24 de septiembre 2013

Estimado padre o tutor de familia:

Como estudiante licenciado en el aula de su hijo(a) desde septiembre 3, 2013 hasta diciembre 6, 2013, estaré completando un proyecto requerido del programa de Educación de Primera Infancia /Escuelas Primarias de la Universidad James Madison (JMU). El objetivo de mi proyecto es de explorar los diferentes métodos y estrategias para involucrar a los estudiantes en la alfabetización.

Poder grabar o filmarme en el aula es una herramienta valiosa para evaluar la eficacia de mi propia enseñanza. Yo estoy pidiendo su consentimiento para filmar y grabar a su hijo(a) junto con otros miembros de esta clase. También me gustaría su consentimiento para copiar unas muestras del trabajo de su hijo(a) con su nombre omitido. La identidad de su hijo(a), la maestra y la escuela se mantendrá confidencial. No dar el consentimiento, no afectará las oportunidades de su hijo(a) a participar en las actividades del proyecto. Si usted cambia de opinión, puede anular o activar este permiso en cualquier momento.

Mi proyecto, posiblemente incluyendo fotos y / o video, será compartida con mis profesores, otros candidatos de maestros y profesores. Una vez que las grabaciones originales se han estudiado, se van a destruir.

Si usted tiene alguna pregunta, puede ponerse en contacto conmigo o la Sra. Payne en la escuela o por correo electrónico a [e-mail]. Mi instructor en JMU es la Dra. Michelle Hughes, y ella puede ser alcanzado en [email protected].

Por favor complete la parte de abajo y devuélvala a mí o la [maestra] el primero de octubre de 2013.

Gracias,

Estudiante LicenciadoMaestraEscuela


Appendix B

Parental Consent Form

Please return to [teacher’s name] at [school name] by [September 17]

I, _________________________________, give consent for___________________________, (Parent/Guardian’s Name) (Child’s Name)to be ( ) Audio recorded, ( ) Videotaped, ( ) Photographed.

( ) I also consent for samples of my child’s work to be copied for purposes of this project.

I understand that all recordings and copies will be used for educational purposes only. Names of students, teachers and schools will be kept strictly confidential.

_________________________________________ _________________________ (Parent/Guardian Signature) (Date)

( ) I am interested in receiving a summary of the project.

Thank you very much!


Formulario de Consentimiento de los Padres

Por favor regrese a la [maestra] el primero de octubre 2013

Yo, _________________________________, doy mi consentimiento para que mi hijo(a) (Nombre de los Padres )___________________________, sea ( ) audio grabado, ( ) grabado en vídeo, o,

(Nombre del niño) ( ) fotografiado.

( ) También doy mi consentimiento para que muestras de trabajo de mi hijo(a) sean copiados para este proyecto.

Entiendo que todas las grabaciones y copias serán utilizados solamente para propósitos educativos. Los nombres de los estudiantes, los profesores y las escuelas se mantendrán estrictamente confidencial.

__________________________________ _________ (Firma del padre / tutor) (Fecha)

( ) Estoy interesado en recibir un resumen del proyecto.

¡Muchas gracias!


Appendix C

Teacher Summary

Dear Cooperating Teacher,

Over the course of the semester, I will be conducting an inquiry project with three other JMU graduate students. The project focuses on implementing music with academic content. In summary of the research that we have found, there are countless benefits of using music in student learning. We will be investigating the questions: What are the strategies teachers can use to incorporate music into their lessons, how do teachers plan for using music, and how do the students react to using music in lessons?

We would like to teach content with music and have the children show learning through music. I plan on using several different data collection tools throughout my time in practicum. These include collecting student work samples, observations in the classroom, videos of the lessons that I will be teaching, surveys of teachers in the school, and more. Before beginning the project, I will be passing out parent consent forms that ask permission for their child to participate.

I will be asking for your cooperation, feedback, and insight along the way. With your cooperation, I will be teaching lessons that incorporate music into academic content. I am interested in interviewing you about your views of using music in lessons. I will provide further details once we have more solidified plans. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to let me know. After the project is complete, I will give you a summary of our findings. Sincerely,


Appendix D

Triangulation Matrix

How can teachers incorporate music in the classroom?

Research Questions Data Source #1 Data Source #2

Data Source #3

1. What are the strategies that teachers can use to implement music in the classroom?

Observations with Field Notes (when teachers use music)

Professional Journal

Interview

2. How do the students respond to music in the classroom?

Observations with Field Notes

Work Samples Videos


Appendix E

Dear Parent/Guardian,

As you already know, over the past few weeks I conducted an inquiry project with three other JMU graduate students. In your child’s classroom, I incorporated music into the curriculum on a weekly basis. Our group chose to investigate this topic because of our own personal experiences with music in the classroom when we were elementary students. The purpose of this project was to investigate the various strategies used to implement music in the classroom and the resulting effects that it had on students. We strove to answer the questions: “What are the strategies that teachers can use to implement music in the classroom and how do the students respond to music in the classroom?” The students participated in singing various songs that were meant to aid them with learning the content. With your consent, I was able to conduct work samples, film videos, and collect observations that helped me with this project.

Through this project I have realized the importance of music and am encouraged to use it in my future classrooms. I have learned that I will need to do advanced planning and be very organized to use music in my classroom. In addition, I have learned various instructional strategies for incorporating music that I am excited to use in my future classrooms. Thank you for allowing your student to participate in our project, without your support the enhancement of my teaching abilities would not have been possible. I appreciate your interest in our findings.

Thank you,


Querido padre de familia /guardian,

Como usted ya sabe, las últimas dos semanas yo implementé un proyecto de consulta con tres estudiantes de postgrado de JMU. En la clase de su hijo, incorporé música en el curriculum semanalmente. Nuestro grupo escogió investigar este tema debido a nuestra experiencia personal con música en el salón de clase cuando éramos estudiantes de elemental. El objetivo de este proyecto es investigar las distintas estrategias usadas para implementar música en la clase, y los resultados que ésta tiene en los estudiantes. Nos esforzamos en contestar las siguientes preguntas: “¿Cuáles son las estrategias que los maestros pueden usar para incorporar música en el salón de clase y cómo responden los estudiantes a estas estrategias?” Los estudiantes participaron cantando canciones enfocadas a ayudarles a aprender el contenido. Con su consentimiento, pude ejecutar muestras de trabajo, grabar videos, y recoger observaciones que me ayudaron con el proyecto.

A través de este proyecto, me he dado cuenta de la importancia de la música y estoy motivada a usarla en mis futuras clases. He aprendido que voy a necesitar planear con anticipación y ser muy organizada para poder usar música en el salón de clase. Así mismo, he aprendido varias estrategias de instrucción para incorporar la música que estoy emocionada por usar en mis clases futuras. Gracias por permitirle a su hijo participar en nuestro proyecto. Sin su apoyo, el mejora de mis habilidades de enseñanza no hubiera sido posible. Le agradezco mucho su interés en nuestros resultados.

Gracias,


Appendix G

Below are the questions that we asked our cooperating practicum teachers.

1. How often do you use music in your classroom?Inquirer D

2. What do you believe are pros and/or cons to using music in the classroom?Inquirer B, C, and D

3. What do you see as the role of music in a content classroom? Why do you see it that way?Inquirer B, C, and D

4. How do you see your students react to music in the classroom?Inquirer A, B, C, and D

5. How/where do you find educational songs that are appropriate for the students? Inquirer A, B, D

6. Do you think that it is easy or difficult to tie music in with the content you are teaching? Why?Inquirer A, B, C, and D

7. Do you see a difference in their understanding of content due to the songs? How can you tell? Inquirer B and D

8. What advice/tips would you give to teachers that are interested in using songs to teach content?

Inquirer A, B, and D

9. How do you plan for using music in the classroom?Inquirer B and C

*In addition to the above questions: Inquirer A asked, “Do you think that finding songs takes too much time?”

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