Sing With Your Students!

Yes, you read that correctly.

Sing with your students! 

Oh, there are so many reasons! 

Music, as well as most of the creative arts, activate both sides of the brain, enhancing learning! There are many, many studies that prove this, in many ways. Singing is a great way to "wake up" the brain and start the day!
 

There are many links between music instruction and academic achievement. I'm not expecting you to take over the music teacher's job by any means, but including music in your classroom will help make that connection! (Of course, the music teacher is a great resource for including music in the classroom!)

 

Singing strengthens learning and memory. I'll bet there are certain commercials you've been known to sing along with, yet at no point did you make the effort to learn those words! My generation can sing the whole Brady Bunch theme song or the Gilligan's Island theme songs without even thinking about it! Imagine if those words were important learning concepts! (Remember Schoolhouse Rock?)

 

Music lowers stress and increases happiness! Music brings out feelings, doesn't it? Are there certain songs you hear that bring out those happy feelings, just by hearing them? As the happy feelings rise, the stressed feelings go away!

 

Humans connect with music! Think about some of those happy times in your life with other people. I'm willing to bet, there was music in the background! Parties just aren't fun without good music!

 

Singing as a group increases social interaction! I've actually read that when people sing together as a group, their hearts start to beat as one. I've sung with many choruses, (as well as many students) and I'm pretty sure that really happens! Music makes a connection!

Singing increases vocabulary! Don't be afraid to encourage children to sing certain songs because they won't understand the vocabulary. After a couple of times through, they'll figure it out, won't they? (Of course, monitor what they sing, as we all know there are some words we DON'T want in their vocabulary!)

 

Music Sources for the Classroom: What to sing with your students? Here are a few ideas:

• Songs for the Class Team For Morning Meeting, Team, and Community Building (I specifically created these songs to be sung at Morning Meetings while building community.)
• Youtube! There are plenty of child-friendly songs for whatever you might be teaching! (Yes, Schoolhouse Rock is there!) Just google what you're teaching!
• Feel Good Songs: Music for the Classroom Teacher's Playlist  This is a list of songs that will make them feel good just by walking into the classroom!
•  Your music teacher! They know their stuff!
• Your students! They know what appeals to them!

 

Let them make up their own songs! We all know they are more likely to want to sing it if it's theirs!  Some hints:

• Have them stick to a simple tune that everyone knows, such as Happy Birthday or Row, Row, Row Your Boat.
• Discuss the important information that needs to be in the song. 
• Encourage them to make up gestures to go with their song!

But I can't sing!  I have two suggestions:

• Use recorded music. (See Youtube!)
• Sing anyway! Seriously, it's not really about you or about the quality of the music. It's about the group experience. Let them see you having fun, and they'll have fun, too! (Plus, you might have some budding vocalists in your class, and you're giving them an opportunity to shine!) Seriously, it's not about you!

One last hint: children's voices are higher than most adults. You may want to sing in your range, but it's about the kids. Most children's voices land on the treble staff. (Between "middle C" and the second space from the top.) Stay out of the "basement" for the sake of the kids!

Did You Know...? Writing vs Typing

Did you know... there are big differences that happen in the brain while writing as opposed to typing on a keyboard?

There have been studies on what goes on in the brain while writing by hand as opposed to typing, and the differences are amazing!

Writing something down actually helps you remember it! Students who take notes by hand are more likely to remember what they're learning as opposed to typing notes. The actual formation of letters activates parts of the brain that typing just doesn't activate!

Writing becomes more holistic when writing by hand. It involves several different movements in the hands, touching different parts of the brain, rather than just pressing a button on a keyboard. 

 

 

Most people can type almost as fast as they can talk. That means if they're taking notes, they'll be typing pretty much everything they hear. If they're taking notes by hand, they can't write down everything, so they need to think about what the key information is, and how to quickly paraphrase what they're hearing. This causes more thinking, engaging the brain rather than just typing whatever they hear!

 

Seriously, the physical act of writing activates parts of the frontal lobe, which is responsible for expressive language and for managing higher level executive functions. It should be an active part of the students' day, shouldn't it?

Various studies have shown that children who learn to write by hand also learn to read faster and show more creativity. Writing by hand not only increases focus, but encourages writers to use more interesting vocabulary and write more adventurous stories.

 

 

This doesn't mean give up all the electronics! They clearly have their place in the classroom and in the workplace!

 

Despite the advantages of writing by hand, working on a keyboard is also a skill that needs to be developed and strengthened. They still need to be able to type efficiently and compose at the computer. It's not going away!

 

This skill won't go away either. Plus, the kiddos absolutely LOVE learning cursive writing! Even though many districts are phasing out instruction in cursive, they can learn it on their own using this self-directed collection:  

Cursive Writing: A Self-Directed Instructional Guide Complete Bundle

Here are links to a couple of articles for more information:

16 Powerful Benefits of Writing by Hand

12 Reasons Why Handwriting is Important 

Handwritten Notes or Laptop Notes: A Skeptic Converted?

 

Plus here's one of my own that might interest you!

7 Benefits of Teaching Handwriting 

 

  The brain is a fascinating thing, isn't it?

 

Brain myths: Fact or Fiction?

What do you know about the brain. Or better yet, what do you THINK you know?

There are a lot of things people seem to think are facts about the brain, yet Science has proven them to be NOT true. 

Yet, there are other things that teachers should know to be fact about the brain. 

Let's have some fun with Brain Myths. Which of these are fact, and which are fiction?

We only use 10% of our brain: Fact or fiction? I've heard this one for years! What do you think? Do you think 90% of our brains are unused?

We all use all the parts of our brain! Sorry, Science says that's a myth.

Here's another one:

Men and Women Learn Differently: Fact or Fiction? Many feel that men are better at math and women are better at language. What does Science have to say about this?

Sorry, that's a myth! Men and women are capable of learning both, and any differences you might notice have nothing to do with the development of the brain!

Let's try this one:

Some people are left-brained, and some people are right-brained: Fact or Fiction? What does Science say?

All people use both sides of their brain! I know a few  people who will fight this one, but sorry, Science says no!

What about doing puzzles? Does that help the brain?

Doing crossword puzzles improves the memory: Fact or Fiction? There are people out there selling all sorts of games, puzzles, and challenges for the sake of improving the memory. Is it true?

Nope, don't waste your money! Science says puzzles and crosswords just won't do it!

Now, about the development of the brain:

 

The brain is fully mature at birth: Fact or Fiction?  What does Science have to say?

Oh, heavens, no! The brain isn't fully developed until a person is about 25. Think of your thought process when you were a teenager, or better yet, other teenagers you know. They still have some developing to do, don't they?

What about the size of the brain?

The size of your brain determines how smart you are: Fact or fiction? That age old question: Does size really matter?

Science says no to this one as well! If bigger brains made us smarter, wouldn't elephants be smarter than us? I'd really like to see an elephant doing scientific research!

How well does the brain work under pressure?

The Brain works better under pressure: Fact or fiction? Remember when you had that big project due? Didn't that motivate you to work harder?

 

 

 

Despite waiting until the last minute until getting that project done, Science has proved that stress is NOT good for the brain! Seriously, had you budgeted your time, you probably would have been a better job.

Ok, now how about this one?

Playing classical music makes infants smarter: Fact or fiction?
Did you play classical music for your children when they were babies?

  

Science says there is no evidence to back this up! But I'm sure they enjoyed the music anyway!

Well, how about this one. Do your memories get stored in files, like a computer?

 

 

The brain stores memories like a computer: Fact or fiction? What do you think?

 

 

Sorry, the brain is far more complex than a computer. In fact, many memories are far from accurate! (Judges, lawyers and eye witnesses need to explore this!)

We were always taught that a person's IQ was constant. Is this true?

Your IQ will always stay the same: Fact or fiction? I always believed this to be true! Was I right?

 

Well, Science has disproved this theory as well! A person's IQ will fluctuate throughout his or her whole life!

As teachers, we know that everyone has their own preferred learning style, right?

Everyone has a preferred learning style: Fact or fiction? As teachers, don't we know this to be the case?

Sorry, Science has proved this one to be incorrect as well. It's true that including visuals, sound, or hands-on activities WILL help a person learn, but no one person has one preferred style.

Here are links to some articles that back up this information:

12 Popular Facts About the Brain That Aren’t Actually True

7 Myths About Your Brain

 50 Surprising Things About Your Brain We Bet You Didn’t Know

10 Brain Myths Busted

Top Ten Myths About the Brain

Debunking 10 Brain MythsD

Debunking 10 Brain Myths

10 Surprising Facts About Your Brain

 

So, you want to know some TRUE facts about the brain? Try some of these posts:

• Ten Brain Based Learning Strategies
  

• The Brain, Baseball, and Geography 

• Ten Key Points About the Brain
  

• Seven Brain Based Learning Principles
  

•  Twelve Strategies to Get From Working Memory to Long Term Memory

• Brain Facts

• Seven Benefits of Teaching Handwriting
  

• Predictability and Novelty
  

• 5 Tricks to Help Them Remember Sight Words
  

• The Brain, Memory, Emotions, and Hurricanes

• Routine and Novelty: How Can We Keep a Balance?

• Five Hints to Help Avoid False Praise and Give Valuable Feedback 
  

• Seven Ways to Brain Fitness for Kids! 

• Categorical Thinking 

• The Importance of Failure
  

What facts do you know to be true about the brain?

The Bulgaria Game: A Team Building Game for Imaginative Children

 Brain research tells us that getting students engaged physically will help learning happen!

This game is a great "filler" that will get the kiddos thinking about communication without words.

The game's title only works well if you don't have anyone in your group that speaks Bulgarian. If you do have someone who speaks Bulgarian, you'll have to change the name of the game to some language that no one knows, since the game depends on broken lines of communication.

Here's the scenario: you happen to be traveling through Bulgaria. You need something, so you pull over into a convenience store.

Unfortunately, the people working in the store only speak Bulgarian, which you don't speak. 

Therefore, you have to "act out" what you'll need!

There are a couple of ways to proceed once they know the story:

1. Let individuals think of things to act out.

2. Let groups think of things to act out.

3. Have slips written up with things to act out.

Of course, #3 can be done with individuals or teams.

If you go with #3, you can find ways to use content vocabulary and make it count as academic! 

Yes, it's not very likely that they'll have to pull into a convenience store in Bulgaria for landforms or geometric shapes, but they are usually having so much fun acting out vocabulary words, they don't mind!

 A word of caution: some children are VERY competitive, and try to make it difficult for others to guess their word. Or, they're disappointed if their audience figures it out right away. 

I have to remind them that the goal of the game is to communicate enough information so that their audience understands what they're acting out. If the audience gets it right away, they have communicated successfully!

I know, it's kind of a silly scenario just to get children to act things out, but it's a fun story, and the children enjoy it!

Looking for more team-building games? Try these: 

60 Team Building Games and Activities to Promote Classroom Community

After all, if it motivates the students to engage, it's successful!