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BUT TEACHER…. I CAN’T REMEMBER THAT!

The Rain In Spain Is Easy To Explain!

By Irene Light

Keeping children intellectually occupied isn't easy. With music, you always have a song or a musical trick up your sleeve. You can grab their attention, teach them something and even have some fun!

All right, class. Today we are studying geography and traveling to a different part of the world. Let's pick a location and sing about it.

Here we are in China. If we use the tune from "The Bear Went Over The Mountain" we can compose a song about the things that we see here. Just change the animal to a panda and the location to the Great Wall. Now you are ready to sing, "The panda went over the Great Wall." I can see it now!

So what do you do for older children? "She'll Be Coming 'Round The Mountain” works well. You have the location. Now what will she be driving...giant pandas! How silly! The kids will giggle and be ready to learn more about China. Keep going. You can sing this song to review material by encouraging the class to create the words with the facts that they know. You will be surprised how much they remember which proves that you're a great teacher. You're on a roll!

Last week, I helped a piano student prepare for a test about Virginia. By using the same song, we had the character “coming ‘round the Blue Ridge.” Then she crossed the Rappahannock. My student included food, the state capitol and states bordering Virginia. She really had fun composing and she left the lesson singing.

Now you have a new creative way of teaching geography. Can you teach other subjects through music?

To Be Continued...................................

Irene Light is a member of the MENC www.menc.org

and

NVMTA (Northern Virginia Music Teachers Association) www.nvmta.org

and

NFMC(National Federation of Music Clubs) www.nfmc-music.org

(C) Irene Light 2005

For some fantastic ideas about music and the curriculum,

READ IRENE

( Light, that is)

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