Music Education Council:
One Voice for Music Education
The Music Education Council (MEC) acts as a medium for bringing together in a working relationship those organisations and institutions in the United Kingdom involved in music education and music education training, thereby creating a common meeting ground and opportunities for the exchange of information and the promotion of joint or connected activities.
As the umbrella body for organisations connected with music education in the United Kingdom and the UK’s representative body for ISME and other international organisations, MEC is uniquely placed to represent the music education sector. MEC’s strength is its capacity to unite all those who wish to make a difference to the lives of children and adults through the power of music.
What we Believe
All children should have the opportunity to learn to play an instrument and sing in school
- Music must remain integral to the national educational strategy and remain part of the national curriculum.
- Music supports attainment in numeracy and literacy and MEC will ensure that Head Teachers and community leaders understand its importance in living a well balanced and enriching life.
Government and ring-fenced funding for music education must remain in place
- Music education is a front line service and funding must be maintained, targeted and sustained for long-term results.
- Ring-fenced funding must be available for local authorities to deliver a wide range of inclusive, high quality learning opportunities.
- We must not return to the 1990s when the partial devolution of funding away from local authorities led to the shrinkage of music provision.
We must develop the workforce for the future
- We need a skilled workforce to provide music in every school and community so that people of all ages have access to the best music education possible, whether formal or informal.
Personal statement by Richard Hallam, Chair of MEC
I believe that the Music Education Council (MEC) has the capacity to bring together in a working relationship all those organisations and institutions in the United Kingdom involved in music education and music education training. MEC can facilitate a common meeting ground and opportunities for the exchange of information and the promotion of joint or connected activities.
During my period as chair, it is my intention to continue to improve communications, ensuring we have a strong evidence base for everything MEC says on behalf of music education. There is more that unites than divides us and, by working together, we can unite all those who wish to make a difference to the lives of children and adults through the power of music.
As ISME’s National Affiliate for the UK, MEC also brings a unique international perspective to all we do, as well as the opportunity to learn from best practice all over the world.
It is my intention to ensure MEC is
But, above all,
Through facilitating discussion and debate MEC will enable the sector to be better informed about the views different parts of the sector hold, including understanding why those differences exist. MEC will help to find common ground where possible and, following consultation with its members, the MEC executive will determine how best to move forward where there is disagreement.
MEC 2013 to 2016 will be addressing:
- The school music curriculum
- Funding for music education in and out of school 2015 to 2016
- Funding and policy development for music education 2015 to 2020 and beyond
I hope everyone who reads this will wish to engage and help us to take charge of the future direction of music education for all ages and to be part of the solution to the problems that, together, we need to address.


Note: To protect the privacy of our members, e-mail addresses have been removed from the archived messages. As a result, some links may be broken.
> I believe that teaching
>of art fundamentals is critical. I believe that DBAE has offered a
>theory of structure which is beneficial to art instruction at all
> I have shared how to mix color. I have shared how
>to talk about art work. I have shared concepts to stimulate thinking
>of what is art and what is not.
Something came to me as I read the above words - I think half of us are
talking about one thing and half of us are talking about another. At the
different levels of education, the emphasis in the art room is different.
In college, the students in the art department are either honing their
skills to become artists or learning how to teach skills to other people in
an educational setting... people who will perhaps become artists. At the
High School level, students who are in the art department may be taking an
"easy credit" or they may be thinking of art as a career... some of them
will be consumers of art and are getting background for that. At the
Middle School and Elementary level, art is like a survey course- we are
teaching kids to appreciate art as well as how to produce it. ALL students
in our elementary and middle schools take art at least once a week and
sometimes art is taught as is history - an overview of what has happened
and who has done what. Art is also taught by introducing various
production techniques - ie.. this is how you create ceramic pottery, this
is how you get different colors, this is how you make volume appear on a
two dimensional surface, etc.. But it should be remembered that part of
the beauty of having a classroom full of 4th graders in an art class, is
that you have the opportunity to introduce them to the beauty of the world
and to show them things that they would not otherwise be exposed to.
Seeing that beauty and wonder will do what art has done for centuries... it
will enrich their lives and open their minds to creating their own beauty.
It will also tell them something about the people and cultures that have
gone before them in time.
Not many of our elementary age students will end up in a career in the
field of art, so to focus primarily - at that age level - on art training,
would be to miss the chance to open their eyes to the world around them. I
can remember teaching my 2nd graders about mummification in Egypt, which
led to learning about pyramids (architecture) used as tombs, which led to
telling them how the organs of the mummies would be put in canopic jars,
which finally led to teaching the techniques of clay construction as they
each made their own jar (after about 3-4 class periods of practice). In
that one project, they learned pinchpot , coil pot, and modelling as they
made their jar lid adorned with the head of an animal, to guard the
treasure inside. The next week, the class came in buzzing and two of the
children were holding books .. - "Ms G., look!! It talks about mummies in
this book!" ... "Ms. G. - I was reading a Goosebumps book and they were
talking about canopic jars!!"
Can you see the point I am trying to make (or have I managed to obscure
it)? At the elementary level, I feel I am teaching my students about the
world as well as teaching them about how to make works of art - how to
manipulate the materials and elements to come up with art of their own. I
don't see that the state of art education at my level is in terrible
condition - rather, it is enjoying a resurrection from the days of
decorated clorox bottles and trace-your-turkeys and is heading towards a
rounded exposure to what art has been and what it is to each student


French Rococo-Style Prints On View at Worcester Art Museum
(WORCESTER, Mass., Dec. 15, 2004) - Delicate ornamental images combined with astounding craftsmanship are the focus of a new Worcester Art Museum exhibition, Rococo: French 18th-Century Prints, on view Dec. 18, 2004-March 20, 2005.
The Worcester Art Museum draws from its exceptional print collection to exhibit examples of the Rococo style by leading artists of the time- François Boucher, Jean Honoré Fragonard, Jean-Antoine Watteau, and many others.
The Rococo period, which corresponded roughly with the reign of Louis XV, was the acme of intaglio printmaking technology, when artisans combined etching, engraving, aquatint, and mezzotint in lavish color prints. Arabesque lines characterize the style, along with asymmetrical, shell-like shapes that became progressively more delicate. Rococo takes its name from rocaille, meaning rock or shell-grotto, and baroco, the Italian for Baroque.
When King Louis XIV died in 1715, his 6-year-old great-grandson became his successor, Louis XV. Until the boy's majority in 1723, the country was governed by his uncle Philippe, the Duke of Orleans. Thereafter, the young king was assisted by his chief minister Cardinal de Fleury, who served until his death in 1743. They all struggled vainly to control the nation's financial and political decline.
Though France lost its international supremacy during the 18th century, its cultural domination continued through the ascendancy of the Rococo style, said David Acton, curator of prints, drawings and photographs.
The rich colors favored by Charles Le Brun's Academy in Louis XIV's reign were replaced by soft, pastel hues. Artists like Watteau painted fanciful, courtly subjects with curvaceous delicacy, replacing the preceding reign's weighty symbols of power. When the Marquise de Pompadour became Louis XV's mistress in 1745, her exquisite taste for the Rococo set the fashion. As administrator of the royal residences, her brother, the Marquis de Marigny, favored Rococo artists like Boucher and Fragonard. There was great demand for printed replicas of famous images by these versatile artists, who worked as printmakers themselves.
To engage the buying public, other artisans perfected color intaglio techniques to replicate the look of a colored chalk, pastel, or watercolor drawing. This visual and technical refinement ran parallel to developments in science and philosophy.
Voltaire's appointment as royal historiographer in 1745 marked the widespread interest in thought and inquiry that characterized the Age of Enlightenment. The monarchy eroded in the reign of King Louis XVI. In 1789, the French Revolution replaced the finesse of the Rococo with a classical revival. In the last years of the century, the triumphs of Napoleon's empire were reflected in Neoclassical images by artists who once worked in the Rococo style.
This exhibition was made possible by the generous support of Robert and Barbara Wheaton and The Ruth VS. Lauer Trust, and the Worcester Telegram and Gazette.
About the Worcester Art Museum
The Worcester Art Museum, which opened to the public in 1898, is world-renowned for its 35,000-piece collection of paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, photography, prints, drawings and new media. The works span 5,000 years of art and culture, ranging from ancient Roman mosaics to Colonial silver, Impressionist paintings and contemporary art. Dedicated to the promotion of art and art education, the Museum offers a year-round studio art and art appreciation program that enrolls over 6,000 adult and youth students each year. Public tours are offered Saturdays at 11 AM and Sundays at 1 PM, September through May. Audio tours are also available in English and Spanish.
Museum hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 11 AM-5 PM, Thursday, 11 AM-8 PM (evening hours sponsored by Commerce Bank), and Saturday, 10 AM-5 PM Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and full-time college students with current ID, and FREE for Members and all youth 17 and under. Admission is also FREE for everyone on Saturday mornings, 10 AM-noon (sponsored by The TJX Companies, Inc. and Massachusetts Electric, a National Grid Company). The Museum is located at 55 Salisbury St., Worcester, Mass., easily accessible from the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90), Route 290 and Route 9. Free parking is available near entrances on Salisbury, Lancaster and Tuckerman streets. For more information, call (508) 799-4406.


ERIC Number: ED481438
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 2003
Reference Count: N/A
Best Practices in Literacy Instruction. Second Edition.
Morrow, Lesley Mandel, Ed.; Gambrell, Linda B., Ed.; Pressley, Michael, Ed.
Now revised and updated, this book's second edition aims to guide teachers in providing effective, engaging literacy instruction that meets the challenges of today's legislative mandates. Identified in the book are principles of best practice that reflect cutting-edge scientific research as well as decades of hands-on classroom experience. Following an Introduction by the editors, articles under Part I--Perspectives on Exemplary Practices in Literacy--are: (1) "Principles of Best Practice: Finding the Common Ground" (Susan Anders Mazzoni and Linda B. Gambrell); and (2) "Toward a More Complex View of Balance in the Literacy Curriculum" (P. David Pearson and Taffy E. Raphael). Articles under Part II--Strategies for Learning and Teaching--are: (3) "Current Practices in Early Literacy Development" (Lesley Mandel Morrow and Elizabeth Asbury); (4) "What Research Says about Teaching Phonics" (Patricia M. Cunningham); (5) "Best Practices in Vocabulary Instruction: What Effective Teachers Do" (Camille L.Z. Blachowicz and Peter J. Fisher); (6) "Best Practices in Comprehension Instruction" (Cathy Collins Block and Michael Pressley); (7) "Fluency in the Classroom: Strategies for Whole-Class and Group Work" (Melanie R. Kuhn); (8) "Building a Sound Writing Program" (Karen Bromley); (9) "Material Matters: Using Children's Literature to Charm Readers (or Why Harry Potter' and the 'Princess Diaries' Matter)" (Douglas Fisher; James Flood; Diane Lapp); (10) "Adolescent Literacy" (Lisa Patel Stevens and Thomas W. Bean); and (11) "Best Practices in Literacy Assessment" (Peter Winograd; Leila Flores-Duenas; Harriette Arrington). Under Part III--Special Issues--are these articles: (12) "Organizing Effective Literacy Instruction: Grouping Strategies and Instructional Routines" (D. Ray Reutzel); (13) "See It Change: A Primer on the Basal Reader" (Nancy L. Roser; James V. Hoffman; Norma J. Carr); (14) "Strategies for Literacy Development for Students with Disabilities" (Kim Baker and Richard L. Allington); (15) "Effective Use of Technology in Literacy Instruction" (Michael C. McKenna; Linda D. Labbo; David Reinking); and (16) "Achieving Best Practices in Literacy Instruction" (James W. Cunningham and Kimberly H. Creamer). (NKA)
Descriptors: Classroom Techniques, Educational Practices, Elementary Secondary Education, Instructional Effectiveness, Language Arts, Literacy, Reading Comprehension, Reading Instruction, Reading Research
Guilford Publications, Inc., Dept. 3R, 72 Spring St., New York, NY 10012 (Catalog no. 0875, $28). Tel: 800-365-7006 (Toll Free); Fax: 212-966-6708; e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.org; Web site: http://www.guilford.com.
Publication Type: Books; Collected Works - General; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Practitioners; Teachers
Authoring Institution: N/A
Note: Foreword by Dorothy S. Strickland.


A Mom Congress and National PTA report:
You know one of the surest ways to help your kids succeed in school is to be an involved parent. But not every mom and dad has the chance or support to be as engaged as they'd like. In fact, each year 37 percent of incoming kindergartners are not prepared to succeed in school. While some kids enter school with an understanding of more than 20,000 words, others understand fewer than 3,000, says Carol Rasco, executive director of Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), the nation's largest family literacy organization. Why the huge gap? "The richness of the language a child hears before kindergarten is a huge element," she says. Some kids are simply spoken to more, and hear more words per day, than others.
"Most Americans get that early literacy is important, but sixty-one percent believe that most kids will catch up in a year. They don't realize that the gap they enter school with is usually the gap they leave with," says Kim Davenport, senior vice president of education and programs for the nonprofit literacy organization Jumpstart. In fact, this gap is a better indication of the importance of early learning, she says, than anything else.
That's where you come in. "When we look at children's scores before our volunteers' literacy intervention and after, we can see that we are making gains of twenty to thirty percent in language and literacy development during the year," says Davenport. "We can tell our volunteers that they are making an impact."
And, say literacy experts, the ways in which volunteers in preschools and grade schools can drive such success are simple. "Parents often think that teaching literacy has to be a formal activity," says Elanna Yalow, Ph.D., executive vice president of Knowledge Universe, the parent company of KinderCare, a private provider of early care and education. "But it's the accumulation of the little things that parents already do naturally that makes the difference: singing songs and telling stories." Talk to your teacher or principal about the ideas below and learn how you can best get involved.
At school, volunteer to come in for story-time. You may share several books a night with your child, but not all families have the luxury of time to do so, says Davenport. In fact, fewer than half of families with kindergarten-age children read to them on a daily basis, which makes reading at school that much more important. And when you are at home, National PTA recommends reading with your child for 30 minutes every day. As he gets older and begins to read more on his own, continue to bond over books by asking him questions about his latest fave.
Talk It Up
Prefer to make up your own tales rather than read from the page? Great! Telling children stories about travel or a cultural tradition automatically exposes them to different words and concepts. So arrange a time when you can come to the class to talk about your job, where you come from, a trip you just took?anything. It's helpful to bring a prop to help spark discussion and focus the kids' attention, says Rasco. But don't feel pressured to make your presentation fancy. Simply listening to and conversing with a new grown-up is beneficial for kids.
A recent report commissioned by RIF indicates that increasing children's access to books significantly increases their literacy skills and reading performance. Make a list of your family's favorite books and encourage other parents in the class to do the same. You can share lists and then start an informal book swap.
National PTA recommends dedicating a section at your school's book fair to new and gently used books donated by parents and available at no cost (one or two per family, depending on supply).
Liven up the Library
If you notice that the media selection at the school library doesn't match the diversity of the school or community, hold a fund-raiser to drum up money for new titles. You might also work with your PTA to hold a book drive to build the school's collection or to share with local families. For more ideas, Rif.org has great book lists, reading games, and activities.


Ang, Minni K. and Yeoh, Miranda P. (2001) Music Preferences of Malaysian Students and KBSM Curriculum Implications. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 10 (1). pp. 43-51. ISSN 0128-7702
Preferences were investigated of a sample of teenage students for ethnic-based and non ethnicrelated Malaysian music, and the effects of selected listener characteristics: familiarity and musical training. Ten excerpts of ethnic-based Malaysian music and twenty excerpts of non ethnic-related music comprising ten popular music excerpts and ten Western art music excerpts were utilised. Ratings of preferences, familiarity, and musical training were gathered from 139 randomly selected teenage students of two public schools in Serdang. The results showed that the teenage students had a strong preference for non ethnic-related music especially popular music. Familiarity proved to be a significant determinant of preferences for both ethnic-based Malaysian music and non ethnic-related music. Implications of these findings include the proposal of new strategies in teaching approaches and preparation of learning materials for the music subject of the Malaysian Integrated Secondary School Curriculum or KBSM.
|Keyword:||Music preference, music education, pedagogy, Malaysian music, teen culture, listener characteristics, music familiarity|
|Publisher:||Universiti Putra Malaysia Press|
|Deposited By:||Nur Izyan Mohd Zaki|
|Deposited On:||25 Nov 2009 07:05|
|Last Modified:||27 May 2013 07:07|
Repository Staff Only: item control page
Document Download Statistics
This item has been downloaded for since 25 Nov 2009 07:05.


American Sign Language WorkshopInstructor: Ann Blainski
Learn how to sign the alphabet, basic words, and phrases in American sign language!
American Sign Language is one of the most widely used languages in the United States and Canada. This workshop offers a sneak peek into deaf culture and sign language. Through interactive and “hands on” activities you will gain a better understanding of what it is like to be deaf in America.
About the Instructor
Ann Blainski is a certified American sign language teacher. She has degrees in sign language interpreting, teaching American sign language, special education and elementary education. She earned a Master’s degree in the art of education from Marian University. Ann has been interpreting for the deaf community for more than twenty years. She has worked for the Green Bay Public School District in a variety of positions since 1992. She currently teaches American sign language at Southwest High School.


|By Age||By Brands|
|6-9 Months||Toot-Toot Drivers|
|9-12 Months||Toot-Toot Animals|
|12-18 Months||Switch & Go Dinos|
|18-24 Months||Bath Toys|
|3 Years||VTech Baby|
|6 Years||Electronic Learning|
|7 Years||Little Love|
|8-9 Years||More Ways to Shop|
Fun and interesting sound effects draw baby’s attention to play.
Develops counting and number identification.
Rewards baby as they learn that their actions have reactions
Stimulates critical thinking through memory and logic games.
Encourages social skills like sharing and teamwork
Use imagination in a variety of ways and contexts to communicate ideas
Heightens curiosity and encourages exploration.
Learn about the different areas of the world and their characteristics......
Aiming and concentrating on a target improves hand/eye coordination.
Imagination and exploration through interaction with characters.
Copying observed action encourages social and emotional skills.
Games and voice prompts allow children to control the pace.
Introduces the alphabet, letter sounds and vocabulary.
Teaches letters and their sounds, the building blocks of reading.
Encourages fine motor skill development.
Enhances musical skills with music and sound activities.
Develops logic skills and strategic thinking through memory.
Expand understanding of writing and gather information from text.
Improve speed, fluency and expression when reading.
Develops imagination and encourages cooperation, listening and turn-ta......
Exploration of various environments & associated vocabulary.
A variety of textures, visuals and sounds stimulate sensory developmen......
Mixture of different textures provide stimulation for baby.
Engaging graphics & visualisation activities develop memory.
Expands Vocabulary through age appropriate words.


When working with young children, toddlers and twos specifically, one must have a back –pocket of quick, upbeat, rhyming, action songs for children. This is often used as a distraction during those times when teachers and staff are working on self-help and hygiene skills. In elementary education they are called “time fillers” those short games that are played to keep the learning momentum active and fun.
There is no doubt about it – children love music. Singing to and with children never fails when the schedule is getting overwhelming. One song that is an “old favorite” to most adults is a new song to tots – One, Two, Buckle My Shoe. Children love it. It is quick, catchy and they really do learn to count using this rhyme. You can even switch up the words, 1,2 Velcro your shoe. 3,4 shut the door. 5, 6 popsicle sticks. 7,8 stand up straight. 9,10 sing it again. Anything you can think of will work.
A great resource is One, Two, Buckle My Shoe and Other Learning Songs illustrated by Maggie Swanson. This includes six learning songs I Had a Rooster, The Alphabet Song, Today is Monday, Mary Wore Her Red Dress and There Were Ten in the Bed. You have numbers, animals, letters, days of the week, colors, and numbers (subtraction & addition).
Hopefully, will get teachers through those rough patches in the day and keep the learning active and happy.
Teaching children One, Two, Buckle My Shoe and more.


Classroom Instruction: Questions and Answers
This Question and Answer (Q&A) document is meant to provide guidance on important aspects of instruction in TWI classrooms, such as language and literacy development, working with special student populations, and teacher preparation and support. To generate the questions, we visited two new TWI programs (a 50/50 program on the East Coast and a 90/10 program on the West Coast) and brainstormed questions with teachers in those programs.
We then grouped the questions into sections by theme: Language Development, Literacy Instruction, Cross-Cultural Competence, Assessment, Supporting Special Student Populations, and Teacher Supports. Next, we solicited responses for each thematic chunk from experts in the field. The experts (who are listed as contributors in the acknowledgments section of this document) have varying experiences in dual language education, as teachers, administrators, parents, teacher trainers, and researchers; many, in fact, have had multiple roles. In an effort to ensure that each answer represents consensus in the field on a given topic rather than the personal beliefs of an individual respondent, we solicited responses from two to five experts for each question. Finally, we synthesized the multiple responses into a single, unified answer to each question. Where possible, links to supporting documents referenced in the answers (such as guidelines for the identification of students with special needs) are provided as well.
When reading through the Q&A responses, it is important to keep a few things in mind. First, while we attempted to ensure consensus in the field by soliciting input from multiple experts for each question, it is certainly possible that there are other equally valid answers that are not included here, or that some answers provided here are not appropriate in certain contexts. Second, to the extent possible, the research base in support of the responses is provided; however, in some cases, no research exists to provide guidance. In those cases, the responses are based on the expertsí accumulated experiential knowledge and anecdotal evidence with regard to best practices. For both of these reasons, the reader should not think of the answers as definitive responses that will always apply in every situation. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of each reader to consider his or her context and determine the extent to which these answers apply in that setting.
Finally, while these are questions posed by TWI teachers, in many cases the question and its answer could also apply to other language learning situations, such as transitional bilingual or English as a second language (ESL) education. This is not overly surprising, as most educational settings for second language learners share important characteristics and face similar challenges. However, to the extent possible, we provide responses specific to two-way immersion as well as vignettes from TWI programs to help clarify how the issue would play out in a TWI setting.
To begin, select a section in the table of contents at left, or view a list of questions in all categories.


The above chart is for California and whilst it may look impressive at first glance the proportion of readers at 3rd grade who are considered to be proficient in the reading test is only 44%. However, this is still not a true reflection of reading ability as the county results vary considerably :
This exciting new website is designed to encourage younger readers and is packed with features such as quizzes, inspiration sections and downloadable content and reading comprehensions. There are some great tips for both teachers and parents and interesting activities for young children. You can also buy the Read it Yourself books direct from the Ladybird website.
The six book challenge is a new and exciting initiative sponsored by the reading agency. The idea is to support less confident readers and offer them incentives to improve their skills. Participants are asked to keep a diary of six books and then enter these for certificates and chances to win prizes. I think this is an excellent, well supported idea – for example - Mike Gayle will be publishing a story called Men at Work for World Book Day in support of the scheme.
Whilst I may not agree with many of the new Government’s policies there is one I am a strong supporter of – more focus on literacy and in particular reading and even more in a particular literacy assessment. I remember being a child in primary school and pretty much the whole day was taken up with the 3 Rs – Reading, Riting and Rithmatic ! I can still remember the excitement when were able to do something just a little bit different such as history. I think this has been a failing of consecutive Governments – the focus SHOULD be on reading and writing in the early years because without these basic skills how else is a child meant to access the rest of the curriculum. The concept of a test for all 6 year olds is sound – it gives all teachers a standardised assessment of where a child is. A group test – as suggested by the Government also provides an insight into how well groups of pupils are performing in relation to their peers across the country. The output data from these literacy assessments is hugely useful in identifying which pupils need additional support and the effectiveness of literacy intervention strategies being used.
Scientific Learning did some research on tracking literacy development and found that regular testing and intervention with suitable strategies is important. Checkout their video about what they found :
This reading series have had great success in the USA and have been put together by teachers with pupils who do consistently well on standardised assessments. However, there is always a danger that the pupils are being taught to the test and so any standardised data that come from tests that can be seen in advance by teachers should be treated with caution.
Here is a short clip from the Rock and Learn series – maybe you can decide for yourself about their standardised tests.
Mr Andrews has also proposed a literacy and numeracy test for teachers but it is not yet clear if this is for current practising teachers or teacher trainees. The WAG decision is no real surprise as Wales lagged terribly behind many stated in the recent Pisa tests. Interestingly enough, the day after the outrage expressed by WAG about the Pisa results the BBC disclosed a funding gap of over £600 per pupil in Wales compared with England.
So it seems that a new reading test for Wales is on the way – it will be interesting to see how WAG will deal with the bilingual nature of the country in the assessment.
Lindsay Paterson who is professor of educational policy at the University of Edinburgh, said that as things stood, teacher training courses were “simply not intellectually challenging enough”. It is currently understood that the teachers will have to pass literacy tests and writing tests when they apply for teacher training courses.


You are hereHome ›
Now showing results 1-4 of 4
In this activity, students engage in an ongoing investigation to find patterns of sunlight and shadow in a classroom (or any room that gets sunlight) at different times of the day and different times of the year. Students look for repeating... (View More) patterns, keep a log to describe and sketch observations of when and where certain easily recognized patters appear and turn the room into a solar calendar that may survive into the future for other classes to use. Part 1 of this activity requires occasional note-taking and casual observation over the course of a day. Part 2 requires 30-60 minutes to create the calendar record, then casual observation and note-taking throughout the school year. The lesson plan includes a math extension activity and background information about the Sun Dagger at Chaco Canyon. This activity is the third lesson in the Ancient Eyes Look to the Skies curriculum guide. (View Less)
This lesson is about data collection. Learners will investigate different methods of sampling in a simulated cleanroom environment. Includes a teacher's guide and students handouts. This lesson 7 of 10 from the Dynamic Design: The Cleanroom module.
This is a lesson about Saturn. Learners will listen to a read-aloud of the history of Saturn discoveries. Next, they learn two reading comprehension strategies (visualizing and wondering) that they can use to become more powerful readers of... (View More) nonfiction text. Finally, students share their work with partners and the class. This is lesson 3 of 12 in the Mission to Saturn Educators Guide, Reading Writing Rings, for grades 3-4. (View Less)
This is a lesson about distances in space. Learners will create an outdoor, to-scale model of the distances between the Sun, Earth, and Saturn. Next you will conduct a guided walk to Saturn - which gives students an understanding of how far away... (View More) Saturn is from Earth and the Sun. Like enthusiastic travelers everywhere, students will write a “postcard home” to share their exciting trip. This is lesson 4 of 10 in "Reading, Writing & Rings!" for grades 1-2. (View Less)


The Life Cycle of a Butterfly : The Life Cycle of a Butterfly By: Sarah Summey Quit Slide 2: Key Term: Metamorphosis (definition)
Life Cycle Picture
Egg / Ova
Larva / Caterpillar
Pupa / Chrysalis
About the Author
Resources Quit Key Term: Metamorphosis : Key Term: Metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process used to develop after birth into an adult that has a significantly different physiology (body shape)!
EXAMPLE:Butterflies do this! Quit The Life Cycle : The Life Cycle Egg or Ova
2. Caterpillar or larva
3. Pupa or Chrysalis
4. Adult or Butterfly Quit The Egg/Ova : The Egg/Ova Female butterflies lay as many eggs as possible so that even just a few may survive.
The eggs a laid in a protected area (on stems, leaves etc) near food for the future caterpillar.
The egg is usually a tiny, round, oval, or cylindrical object. Quit The Larva/Caterpillar : The Larva/Caterpillar This is the long, worm-like stage of the butterfly.
The caterpillar often has patterns of stripes or patches.
This is the feeding and growth stage.
As it grows, it sheds its skin four or more times so its rapidly growing body will fit, because it is almost always eating. Quit The Pupa/Chrysalis : The Pupa/Chrysalis The chrysalis (or pupa) is the transformation stage.
The caterpillar tissues are broken down and the adult insect's structures are formed.
Many species overwinter in this stage.
Meaning they stay in there until spring.
This is where Metamorphosis takes place. Quit The Butterfly : The Butterfly The adult is colorful butterfly.
It is the reproductive and mobile stage for the species.
The adults undergo courtship, mating, and egg-laying.
The adult butterfly is also the stage that migrates or colonizes new habitats. Quit Slide 9: On this website we will watch the animated video on the life cycle of a butterfly.
Click on the picture.
It is at the top of the website. Just click play. Quit Here is a Video on the (Monarch) Butterfly Life Cycle : Here is a Video on the (Monarch) Butterfly Life Cycle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vXmF5W_Wkc&feature=related Quit About the Author : About the Author My name is Sarah Summey. I’m from Sturgis, Michigan. I am attending Grand Valley State University to obtain my bachelors degree in Elementary Education as Language Arts major.
Some day I hope to teach any grades K-3 in a very diverse setting. I have even considered teaching abroad…how fun would that be!
If you have any questions or comments please email me. Quit Resources : Resources Images, video and information


New Book from Responsive Classroom, The Language of Learning, Provides Practical Strategies for Teaching Students Thinking, Listening, & Speaking Skills
TURNERS FALLS, Mass., March 4, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Northeast Foundation for Children, Inc. (NEFC), developer of the Responsive Classroom® approach to elementary teaching, has just published The Language of Learning: Teaching Students Core Thinking, Listening, & Speaking Skills by veteran educator Margaret Berry Wilson. The book focuses on proven, practical strategies for teaching children the communication skills critical to high-level learning and success at school. The skills addressed in the book are explicitly named as keys to college and career readiness in the Common Core State Standards at every grade level.
Achieving fluency in the language of learning does not automatically happen for most children. This book gives educators the practical tools and resources needed to move students toward fluency in five core competencies:
- Listening Essentials (focusing attention, showing interest, sustaining attention, developing comprehension)
- Speaking Essentials (taking turns, speaking confidently, staying on topic, speaking with clarity)
- Asking and Answering Questions (distinguishing between a statement and a question, formulating purposeful questions, asking questions respectfully, giving high-quality answers)
- Crafting an Argument (speaking in an organized way, distinguishing facts from opinions, presenting evidence, persuading others)
- The Art of Agreeing and Disagreeing (agreeing thoughtfully, disagreeing respectfully, agreeing partially, responding to disagreements)
Lynn McKay, Teacher Effectiveness Coach for the Denver Public schools, says "Helping children learn to use purposeful talk in communication is the unifying theme of this valuable resource. It is an excellent resource for moving children into thoughtful, robust discussions."
Carol Ann Tomlinson, Professor at the Curry School of Education, University of Virginia says of The Language of Learning, "Here's the guidebook for educators . . . to help students develop and hone those foundational skills that are precursors to accessing virtually all learning opportunities in school—and in life."
Among the features that make The Language of Learning highly practical for teachers:
- Teaching techniques integrate seamlessly into any existing curriculum as part of daily teaching; no need for separate lessons on listening, speaking, etc.
- Abundant sample language shows teachers speaking to students and students speaking to one another as they're learning the skills and when they reach mastery.
- Common Core correlation tables connect each chapter to specific speaking and listening standards.
NEFC executive director Lora Hodges says, "Children have always needed these competencies in order to be highly engaged, self-motivated thinkers, doers, creators, and learners. The content, strategies, and resources presented in this book are just what teachers need to help them teach, coach, and encourage students in developing and demonstrating these competencies."
The Language of Learning: Teaching Students Core Thinking, Listening, & Speaking Skills
Margaret Berry Wilson, with Foreword by Lora M. Hodges, EdD
Grades covered: K–6
Paperback, 216 pages, $24
Copyright 2014, Northeast Foundation for Children, Inc.
About Margaret Berry Wilson
Margaret Berry Wilson began presenting Responsive Classroom workshops and coaching educators throughout the country in 2004. She is the author of Teasing, Tattling, Defiance and More and several other books published by Northeast Foundation for Children. Margaret currently serves as an assistant head of school in Riverside, California.
About Northeast Foundation for Children, Inc., and the Responsive Classroom® Approach
Northeast Foundation for Children, Inc., a not-for-profit educational organization, is the developer of Responsive Classroom, a research-based approach to elementary education that leads to greater teacher effectiveness, higher student achievement, and improved school climate. Responsive Classroom practices help educators develop competencies in three interrelated domains: engaging academics, positive community, and effective management. The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) has recognized the Responsive Classroom approach as one of a select group of "well-designed, evidence-based social and emotional learning programs with potential for broad dissemination to schools across the United States."
For more information, visit www.responsiveclassroom.org.
SOURCE Northeast Foundation for Children, Inc.


Print the complete Handwriting & Keyboarding Standards PDF document.
Both handwriting and keyboarding are skills students need to master in order to produce effective written work. These two skills work together in the classroom to create an engaged, balanced, and successful learning environment.
The Common Core State Standards and other state standards have increased requirements for student writing throughout the elementary years. These standards also have varying standards for fluent handwriting and keyboarding. This leaves schools trying to determine what is appropriate by grade level in terms of both writing production skills.
These standards can help guide your instruction to make sure that children are learning to write and type in a developmental order that promotes success. The standards were developed by a team of occupational therapists, teachers, and field experts based on current research about handwriting, keyboarding, and technology use in early education classrooms.
In this document, you will find handwriting and keyboarding standards for each grade level from kindergarten through grade 4+.
The standards provide:
- Expectations for student handwriting and keyboarding performance
- Standards for pre-writing and pre-keyboarding skills
- A framework for evaluating classroom instruction approaches
- Tools for educating others about handwriting standards for elementary education


You know the phrase well: we can’t see the forest for the trees.
There is a strong sentiment that America’s children are over-scheduled and need to spend more time in relatively unstructured settings such as unsupervised outdoor play. Richard Louv, the San Diego journalist who coined the phrase “nature deficit disorder,” makes a compelling case that children need more time in nature in his 2005 book Last Child in the Woods. In a recent Slate blog post, Emily Bazelon begins:
“In their new book, The App Generation, education professors Howard Gardner and Katie Davis argue that kids today are becoming more risk averse: ‘Rather than wanting to explore, to try things out by themselves, young people are always pushing to find out exactly what is wanted, when it is wanted, how it will be evaluated, what comes next and where we end up’ they said in a recent Q-and-A.”
Ms. Bazelon contrasted this description of American children’s difficulty with feeling lost, with a Swiss “forest kindergarten” in which young children go to school outdoors every day in all weather.
It’s easy (for me, anyway) to be swept up by the fantastic idea of sending children off to a forest kindergarten. It’s interesting to imagine such schools springing up in the US and how well adjusted our children would then be. That’s the forest part. It certainly makes for a happy fantasy. But we know that not many schools or districts will convert their programs any time soon to be like the forest kindergarten as described.
Now for the trees. I personally would be happy if we just look for simpler, less dramatic—certainly less so than forest kindergartens!—solutions to this problem. Why not begin by providing even a little more time and space for the less-structured, yet engaging and challenging experiences in settings where we currently find our children? We seem to be attracted to the dramatic, impractical ideas, while simply adding more time for hands-on investigation in which we challenge children to think for themselves appears impossible. It’s as if we cannot make the time for children to engage in such pursuits even when we know how valuable they are. Somehow this seems frivolous, while we emphasize the structured, “serious” experiences that lead to more prescribed, “certain” results.
For that matter, what about the rest of us– the adults? A recent experience I had as a co-instructor of a science teaching course for early childhood educators raises the question of why we see this as something only children need. I was facilitating experiences having to do with sinking and floating, a topic often explored in the early years. The adults were chattering away, engaged in thinking about various factors that affect whether something sinks or floats in water. But at a certain point the educators insisted I provide an explanation for why we were seeing what we were. I dutifully explained a bit about density and how objects that are more dense than water will sink, etc, all in what I thought were reasonably simple terms. Most of the teachers pretty much stopped the excited discussions they were having before this explanation and looked stunned. Several then expressed frustration with not understanding. I explained that the concept is not simple, and that it was fine if they did not understand, and that science is exciting because there is so much that is not yet understood. I was struck at how they were so uncomfortable with the lack of certainty brought on by not understanding, as if they were incapable of doing a little work to try to understand it better. They really just wanted to be told. And we wonder why children are having difficulty.
Jeff Winokur is an early childhood and elementary science specialist. He is an Instructor of Elementary Education at Wheelock College, and currently working with the Aspire Institute and Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care on new, state-wide Science, Technology, and Engineering standards for preschools.
Photos courtesy of Ullakko, Thelouse, and Anguskirk and used under Creative Commons License.


READY TO LEARN
World of Words
World of Words Home
The World of Words (WOW) curriculum integrates multiple sources of information and technology to stimulate children's literacy development in content areas aligned with national pre-kindergarten standards. In collaboration with the creators of Sesame Street®, WOW uses child-friendly media to support children's learning as they encounter new words and concepts in science, mathematics, social studies, and health. Throughout the WOW curriculum, teachers guide children through developmentally appropriate exercises to increase literacy skills while developing their knowledge and vocabulary in academic content areas.
Information is now available about the World of Words curriculum. Click here to download a PDF power point presentation (WOW_Curriculum.pdf 1.2M).


Submit your links! If you feel we’ve missed a good resource for music education please contact us!
Resources on Programs that We Currently Offer
- Music for Little Mozarts – Read up on this award-winning popular method for young piano students
- Time Invested In Practicing Pays Off For Young Musicians, Research Shows – Find out what gives children who take music lessons the edge in education. Read this extensive Harvard-based study from 2008.
- Review of Alfred’s Classroom Music for Little Mozarts- Parent’s Choice Review of Alfred’s Classroom Music for Little Mozarts
Resources on Current Trends in Group Teaching and Digital Piano Technology
- Pianonet Resouces – A comprehensive guide to everything about pianos
- The Impact of Group Piano and Technology – Massive document (in Adobe Acrobat, download free reader here) from our friends at Roland U.S. on group teaching
- Roland KR-105 – Information about the pianos that we use in our academy
- Resources for Group Teaching- Bibliography on group-teaching ideas, methods, technologies and concepts
- MTNA (Music Teachers Nat’l Assoc.)- The MTNA is a national association dedicated to the advancement of music education. Our academy takes part in their events and uses many of their resources.
Organizations Committed to Music Edication in Young Children
- The Mozart Effect Resource Center
- American Music Conference
- Music-For-All Foundation
- National Association for Music Education
- Nat’l Assoc for the Education of Young Children
- Early Childhood Resources
- Music in Schools Today


A Guide to Victorian & Edwardian Portraits
Peter Funnell and Jan Marsh
Published in association with the National Trust
An introduction to Victorian and Edwardian portraits selected by the National Portrait Gallery and the National Trust. From the revolutionary ideas of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in the mid-nineteenth century to outstanding society portraits of the early twentieth century, this guide encompasses the invention of photography, large narrative paintings and popular prints depicting events, royalty, statesmen, soldiers, scientists, actors and writers.
The Victorians and Edwardians believed passionately in the historical importance of their age and wanted to record the great figures of their time. During Queen Victoria’s reign (1837–1901) Britain became the world’s first industrialised commercial power. This wealth, combined with the prestige of the British empire, created an extraordinary source of patronage for portraiture, and a legacy that includes the world’s first dedicated gallery of portraits – the National Portrait Gallery, London.
This informative and accessible guide reveals an astonishing range of styles, techniques and subjects from the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Illustrations and engaging commentaries on sitters, from Charles Darwin to Virginia Woolf, shed light on the various ways in which people chose to be presented – wherever possible using the actual words of the artists, photographers and their subjects themselves.
Although Edward VII’s reign lasted for less than a decade (1901–10), he oversaw not only the growth of a more democratic state, but also the development of art education and training for women artists. The Edwardian sitters featured in this book reveal the changing society that came to influence twentieth-century British portraiture.
Peter Funnell is Curator of Nineteenth-Century Portraits and Head of Research Programmes at the National Portrait Gallery, London
Jan Marsh is a writer specialising in biographies of artists and authors.
Pub. date: 7th April 2011
ISBN: 978 1 85514 435 4
Format: 240 x 180mm
Extent: 64 pages
Illustrations: 60 full colour
Category: History / Biography / Reference
Word count: 12,000
This product is supplied by the National Portrait Gallery Company Limited. For more information on the Company, click here. Every purchase supports the National Portrait Gallery.


Contact: Science Press Package
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Birds on treadmills
Guinea fowl are domesticated birds that are good for studying the science of walking and running.
[Image courtesy of Richard L. Marsh]
Click here for a high resolution photograph.
The roadrunner cartoon (Beep, Beep!) never seems to get tired, but real animals do get tired when they run. A new study investigates what movements in walking and running use up energy. This is a long-standing mystery of exercise science.
After studying helmeted guinea fowl -- pheasant-sized birds -- running on treadmills, the authors report that leg swinging (when the foot is in the air) consumes one quarter of the total energy burned in leg and hip muscles.
These results do not fully agree with past research projects that predicted that legs use almost all the energy when the foot is on the ground.
To estimate the amount of energy the active leg and hip muscles consumed during leg swinging, Richard Marsh from Northeastern University in Boston, MA and his colleagues tracked the amount of blood going to particular muscles during guinea fowl walks and runs. The harder a muscle is working, the more oxygen it uses.
With more research, scientists hope to understand the exact job all the working muscles perform when animals, including humans, run.
The study appears in the 02 January, 2004 issue of the journal Science.
Back to Science for kids
Science is published by AAAS, the non-profit science society.


Do you want preschool music resources?
Welcome to our instantly downloadable complete preschool music curriculum. We’ve done all the hard work of long-range planning for the years of early childhood. You can choose from our selection of:
These preschool music education resources are written by Carol Biddiss M.Ed and published by Musical Child, Early Learning through Music.
“This is the very best music program for preschoolers in the country!”
Dr Jula Szuster M.A.C.E.—Visiting research Fellow
Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide
Do you want preschool music help?
You will find free expert advice on how to program and present preschool music and toddler music activities in our blog Music Lesson Ideas. These practical tips are incredibly useful for educators, even if you don’t consider yourself to be highly-trained in music. Browse the categories on the right or look through the recent posts. We welcome your questions and feedback on our contact page.
Used with confidence by teachers, child-carers, parents and grandparents.
Here’s a comment from one of the many satisfied educators who have purchased our Lesson Plans.
“I’m from Spain, I run my own business, a Nursery School where we teach English through Music and movement. I love your Lessons Plans because they are easy to follow and they organise my time!! I usually teach vocabulary with your songs, we are about to start In My Boat but up to now, children have learnt a lot! Thanks for your Lessons!!”
Maria Prieto Martin – Causeway Academy, Cantabria, Spain www.facebook.com/causewayAcademy
Our two Musical Child music programs, Bounce and Sing and Sing and Play are perfect for use with young children from baby, toddler, through preschool, kindergarten and right up into their early years at elementary or primary school.
You can start by trying one preschool music activity such as a body percussion. Build up groups of activities to make a whole lesson plan. Follow our colour-coded term blocks of lesson plans for 1-3 or 3-5 year-old and that will give you enough lessons to make a complete preschool music program.
These resources are completely flexible and give you the freedom to create your own preschool music program.
Follow the blog for advice about designing and running your own preschool music program.


A Practical Guide to Teaching Music in the Secondary School
Edited by Julie Evans, Chris Philpott
Routledge – 2009 – 108 pages
Series: Routledge Teaching Guides
A Practical Guide to Teaching Music in the Secondary School provides valuable support, guidance and creative ideas for student teachers, mentors and practising teachers who want to develop their music teaching. Written to accompany the successful textbook Learning to Teach Music in the Secondary School, it will help you understand important current developments and explore new possibilities for teaching and learning.
Focusing on teaching music musically, the book explores musical learning through placing pupils at the centre of a musical experience. Considering the revised KS3 curriculum and the 14--19 agenda in music, it also seeks to broaden the perspectives of music teachers through engaging with collaborative practice, transitions and cross-curricular work. Key issues explored include:
Using practical examples and tasks, this book will help you critically examine the way in which children learn music. It is an invaluable resource for those involved in teaching music who are seeking to develop their practical and theoretical understanding.
Contributors Series editors’ preface Introduction Julie Evans and Chris Philpott Part 1 Musical learning 1. Personalising learning in music education Chris Philpott 2. Musical teaching and learning in 14-19 education Keith Evans Part 2 Developing musical pedagogy 3. Cultural understanding John Finney 4. Teaching and learning for critical thinking and understanding Gary Spruce 5. Teaching creatively Ian Shirley 6. The integration of ICT in the music classroom Duncan Mackrill 7. Assessment for learning in music Martin Fautley Part 3 Broadening your perspectives 8. Continuing pupils’ experience of singing and instrumental learning from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3 Julie Evans 9. Musical collaborations with other adults Katherine Zeserson 10. The integration of music with other subject disciplines, particularly other art forms Jonathan Barnes Bibliography Index
Julie Evans is Senior Lecturer in Music Education at Canterbury Christ Church University. She has been a music teacher and head of music in five secondary schools as well as an instrumental teacher of violin and piano.
Chris Philpott is Head of the Department of Secondary Education at the University of Greenwich and has been responsible for Secondary PGCE music programmes in two universities.


MUSIC EDUCATION IS NOT RESTRICTED TO K - 12
Having said this, music education is still a very broad term. In the last decade-and-a-half, it has become synonymous with the teaching and learning of music for K - 12 students in the (mostly public) schools. However, music education - and funding for music education - should not be restricted to K - 12 classrooms. Music education, by definition, should encompass imparting knowledge of both broad and specific skills about music, as well as of how this imparting should be done. A conservatory education is also a part of the field, as is professional training and workshops for young musicians to acquire tools to engage audiences in various settings and ways. Furthermore, the nurturing and teaching that these workshop leaders/moderators do is an indispensible component of music education.
For a musician, playing the repertoire, discussing it, teaching it to a fellow musician, analyzing it, are interrelated yet individualized skills. All must be taught and learned. All are indispensible components of being a professional musician. Also, we must not forget that what music means and its relevance to one's life are critical awarenesses necessary for a healthy dynamic within the profession and to enable us to advocate fully for the art form.
What is a comprehensive music education for non-professional musicians? What are the necessary steps to take to be artistically cultured and educated? What does it mean to be artistically educated?
The answers to these questions are always in the process of evolving. Education, and particularly mandatory education, is an effective agent in the formation of an individual's tastes, preferences, value systems. As societal preferences and standards of living are re-formulated and re-defined, so should be the goals/definition of music education. What was sufficient in the past is no longer so in current times and what suffices today will be outdated in the future. For example, providing an opportunity for a group of children to audit a special concert was at the forefront of progressive music education a decade ago. Now, we have moved into sequential learning, prolonged impact, and multiple exposure. The tri-partite music education in the schools, which includes appreciation, performance, and theoretical skills, is currently the way to go. In this sense, more and more emphasis is being placed on the details of the art form than ever before. To "know" Mozart meant something significantly different for a 10-year old in the 1980s in underserved areas than it does today.
My point here is that thinking about music education is not so simple. In fact, it takes a myriad of players to achieve a successful music education program in a school. How well are we servicing/enabling the providers of these programs? How are we doing in terms of supporting the mechanisms (teachers, programs, internship opportunities) that can make the K-12 classroom education function better, both today and in the future?
Sam Hope, executive director, The National Office for Arts Accreditation (NOAA);
Jack Lew, Global University Relations Manager for Art Talent at EA;
Laura Zakaras, RAND;
James Cuno, Director, Art Institute of Chicago;
Richard Kessler, Executive Director, Center for Arts Education;
Eric Booth, Actor;
Bau Graves, Executive director, Old Town School of Folk Music;
Kiff Gallagher, Founder & CEO of the Music National Service Initiative and MusicianCorps
Bennett Reimer, Founder of the Center for the Study of Education and the Musical Experience, author of A Philosophy of Music Education;
Edward Pauly, the director of research and evaluation at The Wallace Foundation;
Moy Eng, Program Director of the Performing Arts Program at The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation;
John Rockwell, critic;
Susan Sclafani, Managing Director, Chartwell Education Group;
Jane Remer, Author, Educator, Researcher
Michael Hinojosa, General Superintendent, Dallas Independent School District
Peter Sellars, director
Contact us Click here to send us an email... more
Peter Sellars on Creativity & the Voice more


Composition in Music Education (MUED3603)
UNIT OF STUDY
This unit of study will examine the teaching and learning of composition in schools. Through the completion of small-scale composition exercises using recent Australian compositions as a model, students will develop strategies to successfully integrate composition into their teaching and experience ways in which composition can be seen as a site of music learning. Students will survey sampling, sequencing and notation software, develop skills in software evaluation suitable for composition, and discuss how technology can enhance the teaching and learning of composition. Strategies for assessing composition work will be considered.
Our courses that offer this unit of study
- Bachelor of Music (Composition)
- Bachelor of Music (Music Education)
- Bachelor of Music (Musicology)
- Bachelor of Music (Performance)
- Bachelor of Music (Performance) (Jazz Studies)
- Bachelor of Music Studies
- Bachelor of Music Studies and Bachelor of Arts
- Bachelor of Music Studies and Doctor of Medicine
- Diploma of Music
Further unit of study information
2 hour workshop/week
Composition (50%), design of composition task (50%).
Faculty/department permission required?
Unit of study rules
Prerequisites and assumed knowledge
MUED1002 or MUED4002
Study this unit outside a degree
If you wish to undertake one or more units of study (subjects) for your own interest but not towards a degree, you may enrol in single units as a non-award student.Find a non-award course for this unit of study
If you are from another Australian tertiary institution you may be permitted to underake cross-institutional study in one or more units of study at the University of Sydney.Find a cross-institutional course for this unit of study


<< -- 2 -- Gordon Rumson MUSIC MATTERS
From these simple starting points ('music matters' and 'what am I hearing?')
Mellers proceeds to investigate connections and ideas with a breadth of
knowledge that is startling.
There is however, one stumbling block to a wider appreciation of Mellers'
contribution: his explanations require a basic understanding of music theory.
At the simplest level this is knowing what an oboe sounds like and why it
is associated with pastoral music. Further along it requires the reader
to understand the cycle of fifths and key relationships such as the mediant
and a knowledge of some of the structures of music, whether sonata-allegro
or the raga.
This should not be a problem, but it is. Literate people should have
a working knowledge of the parts of speech, the idea of rhyming in poetry,
perhaps even an idea of the sonnet. But most people do not have the foggiest
notion of the musical equivalents of these simple ideas. This, in spite
of 'music education' so called.
There is also one interesting facet of Mellers' discussion of music and
that is his frequent appeal to the emotional, even psychological and spiritual
character of a tonality: F minor is lugubrious, D major ceremonial, or B
flat major in Schubert heavenly. At one time such comments were the norm
and Mellers is merely continuing a long-standing tradition.
Because, at one time, not that long ago, the character of the keys was not
a pretense, it was a verifiable fact. Tuners prior to about 1850 did not
aim for equal temperament at all and according to Owen Jorgensen's massive
book Tuning, tuners could not have effectively achieved equal temperament
until around 1900. Therefore, before that they tuned some kind of well-temperament
where, by definition, the keys have slightly different characters based
on the purity or impurity of the intervals. Now, Mellers was born in 1914.
Tuners trained before 1900 or so were probably tuning well-temperament for
many years past Mellers' birth.
As such, Mellers probably heard unequal temperaments in his youth and
never overcame his faith that each tonality had a different character and
that this character means something. Thus, in his detailed analysis of compositions,
Mellers regularly derives philosophic meaning from such information.
Copyright © 28 November 2002
Gordon Rumson, Calgary, Alberta, Canada


Music Resources for Teachers
Midwest Marching is the central resource for all that’s marching band in and around the central states. You can find a listing of various upcoming marching band competitions, as well as past competition results.
The International Foundation for Music Research (IFMR) was founded in 1997 to support scientific research to explore the relationship between music and physical and emotional wellness, with particular attention to the elderly population, the impact of music making on at-risk youth, and music education and the effect of music and music making. IFMR also convenes scientists, educators and others around critical issues in music research and disseminates research through its publication, IFMR News, and various on-line research referral services and archives.
SupportMusic.com is a public service initiative that intends to critically impact, resolve, and support music education in local communities around the United States. SupportMusic.com is an advocacy effort that unites various national and regional organizations with parents and community leaders to improve access and opportunity in music and arts learning. Go to SupportMusic.com for tools and resources for saving music programs in your local community.
VH1’s Save The Music Foundation is a non-profit initiative with two primary missions: To restore music education programs in America’s public schools AND to raise awareness of the positive impact music participation has on students. To see benefiting schools, programs, news and events, visit Save The Music Foundation.
The Music Achievement Council is a non-profit organization of music industry leaders dedicated to developing and retaining instrumental music students and teachers. For tools, tips and resources on how to recruit and retain music instructors visit Music Achievement Council.
www.allmusic.com is a comprehensive and in-depth resource for finding out more about the albums, bands, musicians and songs you love.
On www.allclassical.net you can search on classical composers, periods and genres. This directory houses a great deal of information on classical musicians and classical music over time.


Doctors and parents understand that reading promotes language and literacy development and prepares young children to succeed in school. But some books can also help develop strong bodies and prevent childhood obesity by educating young children about the importance of healthy eating.
Children like to model characters and behaviors they read about in their favorite stories. So, with the right book, your child may get the encouragement he needs to give vegetables a try, become a less fussy eater, or spend more time outside moving his body. Books can help you reinforce your own parenting lessons in a way that’s fun and engaging for your child.
Books about healthy foods can also help your child with learning colors, shapes, textures, and counting. And these lessons can extend beyond the book! Use bright and colorful fruits and vegetables as the focal points of your conversations at home or at the market. (“ How many bananas are in the bowl?
” or “ What color are the apples in the cart?
If you’re trying to encourage your child to try new, healthy foods or become more active, books can help you create positive situations where you do these things together. As you sit down to a healthy snack with your child or spend time on the playground, you can remind her that you’re doing the very same things you’ve read about in books! Because you’re also modeling the same behavior, your child will be excited to join you!
Beyond nutrition and exercise, books can also help you plant the seed with your child about other healthy habits, such as the importance of brushing her teeth, visiting the doctor, and getting enough sleep.
Establishing healthy habits early is critical for your child’s long-term health and well-being. And with the help of books, teaching these lessons can be fun – and allow you opportunities for more bonding with your child!
Here are some doctor-recommended children’s books about nutritious foods and eating right from Reach Out and Read’s pediatricians. Check them out at your local library, bookstore, or online:
- Eating the Rainbow (Star Bright Books, 2009)
- Good Enough to Eat by Lizzy Rockwell (HarperCollins, 2009)
- Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert (HMH Books, 1996)
- Growing the Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert (Sandpiper, 1990)
- The Vegetables We Eat by Gail Gibbons (Holiday House, 2008)
For additional children’s titles about healthy eating, click here.
For reading tips and information on the importance of reading aloud, click here.


ShonaArticle Free Pass
Shona, group of culturally similar Bantu-speaking peoples living chiefly in the eastern half of Zimbabwe, north of the Lundi River. The main groupings are the Zezuru, Karanga, Manyika, Tonga-Korekore, and Ndau.
The Shona are farmers of millet, sorghum, and corn (maize), the last being the primary staple, and a variety of other crops such as rice, beans, peanuts (groundnuts), and sweet potatoes. Cattle are kept by most groups, but, although useful for their milk, they are mainly for prestige, as a store of value, and for bride-price payments. Villages consist of clustered mud and wattle huts, granaries, and common cattle kraals (pens) and typically accommodate one or more interrelated families. Personal and political relations are largely governed by a kinship system characterized by exogamous clans and localized patrilineages. Descent, succession, and inheritance, with the exception of a few groups in the north that are matrilineal, follow the male line. Chiefdoms, wards, and villages are administered by hereditary leaders.
Shona traditional culture, now fast declining, was noted for its excellent ironwork, good pottery, and expert musicianship. There is belief in a creator-god, Mwari, and a concern to propitiate ancestral and other spirits to ensure good health, rain, and success in enterprise. Elementary education, Christian missions, and partial urbanization have weakened traditional institutions and leadership. However, magic and witchcraft continue as important means of social control and explanations for disasters.
What made you want to look up Shona?


It has been brought to my attention that many area schools are looking at cutting art education and I would like to address to the public why that is such a bad idea and why art education is crucial for our kids.
First off, some kids are lucky. They are born into creative families that promote artistic endeavors and provide meaningful and consistent experiences which foster a love of the arts. Many others, however, are not so lucky. They are born into families that may not have the time, resources, or desire to expose their children to such experiences. This leaves educators with important questions to address, such as: are the arts important, how can schools make sure students get exposure to the arts, and why is it important to do so?
The arts are important because they teach us fundamental abilities that are taught almost exclusively in art programs. Two books I have read recently highlight the importance of the skills necessary for students to be innovators and competitors in the the 21st century workforce. One is called "The Global Achievement Gap" by Tony Wagner. In this book, Wagner looks at the evidence which shows that Americans are not leading the world in success on standardized tests. He agreed with that fact, but brought up some excellent research which shows that isn't so bad. He pointed out how students that are doing well on standardized tests are lacking in the survival skills that they will need, but which have sadly been forgotten.
These "survival" skills are adaptability, initiative, effective communication, analysis, curiosity, and imagination. The last two are taught almost exclusively in art classes. Wagner further emphasized that standardized testing and rigid curriculums which are aimed for students to do well on the tests do nothing to help students gain skills they will need to survive in the future. If art education is cut, the one place where students can develop these skills will be cut as well, and our society - the future of our great nation - would pay the ultimate price.
The other book was "A Whole New Mind" by Daniel Pink. This book discussed the importance of shifting our priorities away from linear thinking, to what the author refers to as high concept and high touch. He wrote that, "high concept involves the capacity to detect patterns and opportunities, to create artistic and emotional beauty... to combine unrelated ideas into something new." High touch involves the ability to empathize, have meaningful relationships, realize one's potential, and find purpose and meaning. Both of these skills are currently undervalued, yet must be present in those students who want to thrive in the emerging world they will inhabit. These skills cannot be tested on a bubble sheet and their importance is immeasurable.
Schools need to allow students more exposure, not less, to the arts because if we fail to so, we are cheating our students of the chance to develop the skills that they will need for their future success. Some may argue that teachers could integrate art into their lesson plans, but the truth is many don't unless they themselves are an artist or have a deep understanding of the creative process. There is also so much information that needs to be taught each year that it is impossible for teachers to fit it into their lessons.
Art education programs are just too important to be cut and schools owe it to their students to avoid knowingly and strategically short-changing them. Schools are an integral part of the larger community and must give students the opportunity to be competitive in the 21st century. Art education does just that.


Table of Contents
PART I: Introduction to Social Studies Education
Chapter 1: Social Studies Education: What and Why
Chapter 2: Teaching Diverse Children
PART II: The Social Studies Curriculum
Chapter 3: Democratic Citizenship Education
Chapter 4: History, Geography, and the Social Sciences
Chapter 5: Powerful Tools: Maps, Globes, Charts, and Graphics
Chapter 6: Current Events and Public Issues
PART III: Planning and Teaching Social Studies
Chapter 7: Assessing Student Learning
Chapter 8: Planning Units, Lessons, and Activities
Chapter 9: Five Great Teaching Strategies
Chapter 10: The Literacy—Social Studies Connection
Chapter 11: Social Studies as the Integrating Core
Chapter 12: Four Great Resources
Purchase Info ?
With CourseSmart eTextbooks and eResources, you save up to 60% off the price of new print textbooks, and can switch between studying online or offline to suit your needs.
Once you have purchased your eTextbooks and added them to your CourseSmart bookshelf, you can access them anytime, anywhere.
Social Studies in Elementary Education, CourseSmart eTextbook, 14th Edition
Format: Safari Book
$61.99 | ISBN-13: 978-0-13-703426-0


The history of modern-art education, i.e., the attempt to train artists and designers for a distinctly modern world without the unnecessary trappings of tradition, begins with Walter Gropius and the amazing faculty he assembled in 1919 at the Bauhaus in Weimar, Germany. Many of the artists who taught there are legendary: Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Gerhard Marcks. And there was a very strong Chicago connection, as its third director, Mies van der Rohe, would eventually run the architecture school at IIT and a Bauhaus instructor, László Moholy-Nagy, would found the New Bauhaus, still open as the IIT Institute of Design. So it seems appropriate to bring together the heirs of those institutions, in both Weimar and Chicago, to “explore the contemporary application of the Bauhaus legacy and ideals.”
But those ideals have widely been rejected by educational institutions of the postmodern era, as exemplified by the pieces in this exhibit, most of which were made by recent MFA graduates from either the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar or the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Whereas Marcel Breuer (1902-1981) is remembered for elegant furniture designs that continue to be manufactured, William FitzPatrick has hand crafted a post-apocalyptic chair and table ensemble, apparently from the wood and concrete of recycled rubble. Postmodernism has a rather dim view of our future. Whereas Anni Albers (1899-1994) designed textiles with geometric patterns that compete with the liveliest work of any ancient civilization, Samantha Bittman has woven textiles as “an exploration of the relationship between image, structure, pattern, and perception.” Postmodernism is more concerned with theory than aesthetics. Whereas the early Bauhaus continued the mission of the Deutscher Werkbund to join artistic excellence with mass production, Mark Porter has cobbled together machines that intermittently smear the gallery wall with a dripping pink fluid, to deface, rather than enhance our modern environment. And whereas the original Bauhaus faculty was concerned with visual excellence, Warholian postmodernism is more concerned with fame, so the “Bauhaus Modulators” have sampled the ambient noise of the places where Kandinsky and Moholy-Nagy used to live, and Laura Strasser has created a porcelain “Gropigroupy fan set.”
Following a conspicuously posted quote from Josef Albers, it was not the ambition of these “Bauhaus Now” artists “to fill museums,” but instead to gather experience. But if the results of that experience aren’t worth looking at, why bring them to an art gallery, especially to UIMA which has, until now, been so consistently dedicated to the ideals of early modernism. (Chris Miller)
Through December 4 at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, 2320 West Chicago
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.


Dillard University was chartered in 1930, combining two private institutions, Straight College and New Orleans University. The two schools joined forces to form a school affiliated with the United Methodist Church and the United Church of Christ that would serve a coeducational and predominantly black student body.
Loading Photo Gallery
Organizers broke ground on the Gentilly Boulevard campus in 1930, and Dillard University welcomed its first students to classes in 1935.
Dillard University was named after James Hardy Dillard, an educator who dedicated his life to teaching African-American students. Local philanthropists Edith and Edgar B. Stern provided much of the money to get the school started.
When Dillard University opened, it offered a variety of academic programming, including a nursing school that was run through Flint-Goodridge Hospital. The hospital was operated by Dillard from 1932 through 1983.
In March 1960, about 150 Dillard students staged marches on campus to protest discrimination. After the marches, four men were charged with placing anti-desegregation signs and burning a cross on campus. Martin Luther King Jr. visited Dillard in 1955 and 1959, at the invitation of Dr. Albert Dent, president of Dillard from 1941 to 1969. Numerous African American leaders of the era, forbidden to stay at local hotels, enjoyed the hospitality of the Dent home.
Dillard University is the alma mater of several local celebrities and Louisiana public figures. Among the school’s most famous alumni is Ellis Marsalis, who graduated from the university in 1955 with a bachelor of arts in music education. Dillard University has also awarded honorary degrees to quite a few distinguished figures through the years. Recipients of honorary degrees from Dillard include Coretta Scott King, Spike Lee and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Dillard University’s 55-acre campus, with its white buildings and landscaped lawns, was touted as one of the most beautiful in the nation. Much of the campus was heavily damaged during Hurricane Katrina, and Dillard has undergone extensive renovations since 2005. Closed for the fall 2005 semester,
Dillard resumed classes in spring 2006 in temporary classrooms at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside and the World Trade Center of New Orleans. Dillard students returned to campus in the fall of 2006.
Tomorrow, 1931: The Bonnet Carre Spillway opens.


App DescriptionCome watch your childâ€™s understanding of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division grow with their very own pets! Pet Bingo is a playful game for Kindergarten through Fourth Grade, that is aligned with Common Core State Standards for Math.
Kids will visually learn and practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division! Pet Bingo includes unique educational hints that teachers have developed to help kids understand different math concepts. Play the mixed math mode that adapts to each kid's level to make sure that they're understanding the concepts while still having fun. If you're learning multiplication, you can choose different times tables to practice. Pet Bingo includes a Report Card section where parents and teachers can monitor progress and find additional skill-building activities.
PLAY CATEGORY: Early Learning/Curriculum
DEVELOPED WITH EDUCATORS:
- Developed in conjunction with Stanford University Educator, Jennifer DiBrienza, PhD in -
Early Elementary Education and former NYC public school teacher (K-Grade 2)
Kids will learn the following math skills based on Kindergarten through Fourth Grade Common Core State Standards and much more:
ADDITION & SUBTRACTION:
- Add and subtract up to 10, 20, 100, 1000 and more
- Add up to four digit numbers
- Add and subtract multi-digit whole numbers
MULTIPLICATION & DIVISION:
- Practice times tables 1 to 12
- Multiply and divide by 100
- Multiply whole numbers by 10
- Represent whole numbers on an equally spaced numberline
- Understand concepts of area and relation to multiplication and addition
PARENT REPORTING: Includes a Report Card section where parents and teachers can monitor progress and learn about new skill-building activities.
COMMON CORE STANDARDS: K.OA, 1.OA.6, 1.NBT.4-5, 2.OA.2-3, 2.NBT.5-6, 2.NBT.8, 2.MD.6, 3.OA.7, 3.NBT.2-3, 3.MD.5, 4.NBT.4-5
Duck Duck Moose, an award-winning creator of educational apps for children, was founded in 2008 by three parents who share a passion for children, education, music, design and play. To date, we have created 18 top-selling titles and have won 16 Parentsâ€™ Choice awards, 16 Childrenâ€™s Technology Review Editorâ€™s Choice Awards and a KAPi award for the â€śBest Childrenâ€™s Appâ€ť at the International Consumer Electronics Show. We work with educators and play-test with children to ensure our apps are frustration-free for little fingers and full of whimsy, wonder and educational content for all to enjoy.
Visit us: www.duckduckmoose.com
Email us: email@example.com
Like us: www.facebook.com/duckduckmoose
Watch us: www.youtube.com/duckduckmoosedesign
November 13, 2013 New version 1.0.1
November 02, 2013 Price Decrease: $1.99 -> $0.99
October 31, 2013 Initial Release


System Of Education In PolandPresentation Transcript
System of education in Poland.
Pre-primary education This educational level is regarded as the first level of the school system. It concerns children from 3 to 6 years of age. Six-year-old children are obliged to complete a year of preparation forprimary education (under municipal responsibility) called “0 grade”. The classes are attached either to kindergartens or primary-schools. Both private and public schools can be fee-paying, however in the latter case the conditions specified in the legislation apply.
Education in Poland starts at the age of seven in primary school. Next there is the lower secondary level consisting of three years in school called gymnasium starting at the age of 13, and ending with an exam. This is followed by the upper secondary level, which has several alternatives. The most common is a three-year liceum or a four-year technikum. They both end with a maturity examination (matura, roughly equivalent to Britisch A-level examination). We used to have the system of marks from 2 to5 which was extended by adding a plus or a minus.
In the early 1990 the system was extended by adding new marks, 1 and 6. Now we have marks from 1 to 6. 1 (is insufficient)2 (is poor)3 (is sufficient)4 (is good)5 (is very good)6 (is excellent)In the new system, 1 is the failing grade, and 6 means that the student exceeded the expectations. In the first stages of primary school (I – III classes) there are no marks. The teachers write descriptionsof their pupils’ abilities.
A primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. In Poland children attend primary school from the age of7 to 12.
A gymnasiumis a type of school providing lower secondary education.In Poland pupils attend gymnasium at the age of 13 –16 and after passing the final exam they go to liceum.
Liceum is an upper secondary school where young people stay for 3 years. The school prepares the students to enter a university. At the end of school pupils pass the exam called matura (3 compulsory subjects and from 1 to 3 optionalsubjects). Some pupils after gymnasium attend four-year technical schools called technikum . Except the subjects of science, languages and Polish literaturethey can study technical subjects like electronics,mechanics, automation, computer technologies.
Technikum trains low-level industrial managers (foremen, technical supervisors etc.) or specializes in occupations that require more advanced skills. Some pupils may attend vocational schools preparing them to some physical jobs. Those students can’t continue their education in universities and collages.
Jagiellonian UniversityThe oldest university in Poland.
High schools may be followed by several forms of upper education: colleges, universities and polytechnics leading to licencjat (Polish equivalents of Bachleor’s degree), magister (Polish equivalent of Master’s degree) The most ambitious students may continue the education and award the Ph.D. degree or even the title of professor.


Music Matters:There is a mystery about music. On one hand, music making and music listening have occupied a prominent place in every culture since the dawn of recorded history and people everywhere continue to engage in a variety of musical experiences as part of their daily lives. Yet questions about the nature and value of music and its importance as a subject of education remain perplexing to many thinkers and are still hotly debated, even today. As a result, while music has been part of the school curriculum since antiquity, its profound contribution to general education has never been harnessed--until now. What is music? Does music deserve a place in general education? If so, why? Music Matters builds new answers to these basic questions through a wide-ranging examination of music as a diverse human practice. The result is a ground-breaking philosophy of music education that provides critically reasoned perspectives on the nature and significance of performing, listening, musicianship, multiculturalism, creativity, consciousness, curriculum development, and more. Indeed, Music Matters is exceptional for the attention it pays to many aspects of music and education that previous music education doctrine either misses or ignores altogether. Following an incisive critique of past thinking, this important text develops a multidimensional concept of music that explains why music making and listening are unique forms of thinking and unique sources of the most important kinds of knowing that human beings can gain. In a richly detailed narrative that examines a wealth of recent philosophical and psychological research, the author constructs a compelling philosophical foundation that allows teachers to affirm to themselves and others that music deserves a central place in the education of all people. Among the many working ideas of this new philosophy is a distinctive concept of "curriculum-as-practicum" that explains how music educators can fulfill their educational mandate. Invaluable as a core text for courses on foundations of music education or philosophy of music education at both the undergraduate and graduate level, Music Matters provides educators with critically reasoned perspectives on the "why, what, and how" of music teaching and learning, arguing convincingly that music is one of the most vital, dynamic, and practical pursuits in the human repertoire and, therefore, fundamental to the full development of the individual and collective self.
Back to top
Rent Music Matters 1st edition today, or search our site for David J. textbooks. Every textbook comes with a 21-day "Any Reason" guarantee. Published by Oxford University Press.


Music Lessons for Interactive Whiteboards
Posted on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Times have changed since NAfME member Karin Nolan wrote about using interactive whiteboards (IWBs).* They’re a much more common sight.
Nolan notes that today’s students
- prefer visual communication over speech or text alone;
- tend to scan large quantities of text, rather than focusing on a single text;
- expect to quickly find the answer to any question online, often without evaluating the credibility or accuracy of the source; and
- place a high value on interactivity and active learning and are comfortable with self-teaching.
- Let the students use the whiteboards and technology; try not to always be the “driver.”
- Ask your technology department to allow access to YouTube and other streaming media sites, as well as to image searches. Expect to justify your request.
- Use fully IWB touch-screen capabilities and functions. An IWB is a lot more than a projector. Explore its functionality, and let students go to the screen and become the mouse and cursor.
Tips and Techniques for Music Lessons
• Connect the screen to a video game console or computer/online games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. They draw students in while teaching music concepts like beat awareness, hand-eye coordination, rhythms, and patterning.
• Compare and contrast different versions of the same piece of music. Open two different YouTube videos/versions of a piece of music. Beneath the video, open up a blank window for writing. Play each piece; ask students to write descriptions. Students can then perform the piece in these different “styles.”
• Analyze a piece of music (and/or lyrics) displayed on the screen. Students use different colored markers to mark the form (ABA or verse/chorus/verse/chorus) over appropriate parts, write note names, underline rhyming words, and circle rhythmic patterns. For divided parts, students can highlight group A (for example) in one color, group B in another, and the entire class in a third.
• Teach instrument names. Divide the screen in half with a marker or the line tool. On one half, list instrument names. (Make sure they’re separate text boxes so that they can be clicked and dragged separately.) On the other half, place instrument pictures. Students match the name of the instrument with the picture. Add a sound file so students can hear the instrument or have a play list open with sound files of each instrument.
• Categorize instruments by strings, percussion, woodwind, and brass. Divide the screen into fourths and label each category. Have students name different types of instruments, search for images on the Internet, copy the photos to the blank grid, and drag each picture to the correct category.
• Put song lyrics in order. Students can sort lyrics either before or after learning the song. Try it before, save the file, and then do it again after learning the song to compare the two versions.
- Type all lyric phrases as separate text boxes and jumble them up. Students must read all of the lines and put the song in order, reinforcing reading comprehension standards and chronological order.
- Ask one student at a time to drag one of the lines from the song and decide where it should go. If each line is a separate text box, the lines can be moved around as often as needed.
- Once completed, students read the lyrics in their new order and guess what type of music would fit the character of the story.
- Play the song, and then teach it.
• Record the class performing a piece of music or a dance. Show the recording at least twice (the first time, just let them enjoy it; the second time, analyze it), ask students to evaluate it for ways to improve, and note the incredible things that may have occurred. Record the final performance for a running video log to assess progress. More advanced students may enjoy creating music videos of pieces the class is studying.
“With these boards,” Nolan says, “I have found students are more involved in the lesson and focused, and I can get through standards faster, because students are accustomed to the quick nature of today’s technological world. I believe that I have become a better teacher because I am adjusting my lessons to fit the needs of today’s students.”
They also help her address 21st century skills (including critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration, creativity, and innovation) and emphasize hands-on learning, including inquiry-based and problem-based activities.
*“SMARTer Music Teaching: Interactive Whiteboard Use in Music Classrooms,” General Music Today, January 2009
—Linda C. Brown, June 8, 2011, © National Association for Music Education (nafme.org)


Chapter 3 Reflection
I think it's interesting how our voices reflect us...who we are and where we come from. It's also very interesting how you can listen to people around you, family members and friends and you all have some kind of vocal connection. The section on personal voice perceptions reminded me of reading something similar to the personal perception when you play an instrument. The sound I hear coming out of my horn from up close is much different that what it sounds like out in the hall or farther away. I'm beginning to realize more connections that I thought with singing and playing an instrument.
I'm excited to be in voice class. I'm not really sure what to expect but I'm trying to go into it with an open mind. It's a required component to the instrumental music education degree. That is the main reason I'm in the class. I think it will be a good opportunity to learn some new things relating to music that will make me a better teacher someday, and probably even a better horn player. I know one of my issues with horn playing is phrasing, and I've been told that I should listen to some opera singers because they are the best at phrasing and using air to create it. I don't exactly expect to go that deep into singing during my first semester of voice class though, but I'm sure it won't hurt!
Singing better myself will help me immediately in teaching private horn lessons. I always sing parts and have the kids sing their music and I'm sure that having a better sound coming out of my mouth will only help them as well.


This report is based on a review of the literature on the importance of early childhood learning, the nature of Indigenous learning needs, and the role of educational television programs in improving learning outcomes for preschool-aged children. The report is intended to provide an evidence base for a proposal to develop an educational television program aimed primarily at Indigenous children from three to six years. (In this report the term ‘Indigenous’ refers to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.) There is an extensive body of research that shows the critical importance of early childhood in children’s learning and development, including for long-term educational outcomes. Based on this research and contemporary theories about child pedagogy, Australia now has a national Early Years Learning Framework to guide educators in developing a foundation for future success in learning. One of the underpinning principles of the Framework is to respect diversity of cultural and linguistic traditions. This means recognising the importance of prior learning, and the role of family and community, in preparing Indigenous children for school. In addition, there are several dimensions that are generally recognised as being fundamental to school readiness, regardless of ethnicity, race or culture. These include physical wellbeing and motor development, social and emotional development, approaches to learning, language development, cognition and general knowledge. An additional dimension for Indigenous students is connectedness to community.
Recommended CitationLonsdale, Michele, "Using television to improve learning opportunities for Indigenous Children" (2010).