A New Idea: Using Music to Help Reading

For years teachers have been stressing the importance of teaching children to look for meaning in reading. Strategies such as: what would make sense, look at the picture have been standard focus points for helping children decode words as they read.

As a grade one teacher for many years I noticed the affect that music had on certain children as they read. Music seemed much more important back in the 1980’s when there was such popular music based programs as Sing Spell and Chime In .

I asked the question why don’t we use music to help children decode meaning when they read. Music uses the other side of the brain, so it could possible help certain children to read.

With the onset of the Internet this became possible.

I made a class web site and put together some picture books on the Internet. These were not normal picture books, instead they used music on each page to give the reader a feeling of what was just read. After all, is there anything that captures emotion and meaning at a personal level better than music. I also tried to use animated pictures to portray meaning of the page. The result was picture books where meaning of the words was portrayed to the reader by not just the meaning in the words or the pictures but by the music on the page as well.

I was shocked as millions of readers flocked to my stories. Today if one does a search for the words: kids stories in Google, my site comes up number 1 and 2.

I have been in a fortunate position to know computer programming but also to have worked as a music arranger, working for such companies as NBC TV, U-Lead Software plus many other top companies.

I have continued to develop music in other areas such a Media Literacy, phonemic processing and even math on my Room 108 web site. Please feel free to contact me below.

John Rickey ARCT, B.Ed. B.Sc. (Music Instrumental and Vocal Specialist)

Email: kingskid@netrover.com

http://www.netrover.com/~kingskid/108.html

http://www.netrover.com/~kingskid/teacherstore1.htm

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