The Effect of Using Instructional Songs in the Classroom

Danielle B. Segar
EDU 787 07
Dr. Judith Dellicolli
July 14, 2012

Introduction There are many instructional strategies to catch student’s attention. Over the years music has been a big influence in teacher’s classrooms. Music is a great way to engage students in fun learning. Teachers have even had great success creating songs of their own. Many teachers take popular songs and incorporate lyrics about their lessons. We all know that children love to sing, so what better way than to turn music into something educational. It has been a generally accepted fact that children pick up lyrics to a song quickly. So, coming up with the idea of applying music to lessons was logical. There are websites for teachers who are not musically talented. Those websites provide a variety of songs to be incorporated into lessons. Instructional songs are not the only resource for a student to retain information, because every child brain does not process the same. Instructional song helps to memorize the important facts to understand a lesson as a whole. Music is a tool that is used on a daily basis in preschool classrooms.

Review Of Literature Similar to natural language abilities, children are born with natural musical ability, which varies from child to child. Music is used in a variety of families with young children for multiple purposes (Custodero, 2006). When researchers study babies, the process of how music is used by parents and children is of great interest to both scholars and parents. Americans tend to view music as a pre-lingual skill, and risk valuing music only for its later beneficial effects on children’s literacy. It has been found that phonological processing and early reading ability are significantly correlated with music perception skills among preschoolers (Anvari, Trainor, Woodside, & Levy, 2002). Music is used as a natural bridge to integrate other subjects. Mathematical concepts can be explored with children through use of beat, meter, duration of sounds, rhythmic patterns and tempo and works so well because of children’s natural interest in and intuitive knowledge of musical patterns and rhythms (Shilling, 2002). Movement can be enhanced through the use of music. When preschoolers engaged in music and movement program that is developmentally appropriate, students jumping and dynamic balance improved more over the period of two months compared to those who participated in more traditional physical education program (Zachopoulou, Tsapakidou, and Derri, 2004). Music education in the preschool and school periods should not merely enable the child to experience and enjoy music, and to relax in it, but it should also help develop the child’s music abilities, skills, and knowledge. Music activities present an independent form of expressing oneself in music; they encourage a liking for sound, playing, movements. They develop general perception abilities and increase the span of attention, develop motor skills, verbal communication, and social behavior (Denac, 1998). The aesthetic subjects have always had a place in education for children in the early years. Teaching and learning for children in preschool, kindergarten, and primary school have relied upon the creative subjects. Although the concepts of the aesthetic subject as we know them found their way into the very first attempts to establish formal education for children in the pre and primary school age. Song, music, painting, modeling, rhyme, verse, play, and dance were as much part of the everyday routine. Traditionally, research on songs for children has dominated and this research mirrors the strong adult and influence on children’s musical activities in preschool (Jordan-Decarbo & Nelson 2002). Research on children’s musical cultures has, on the other hand, focused the ancient concept of music as an important factor, in which a broad approach of music is integrated with dance movements, arts, and play (Jordan-Decarbo & Nelson 2002). The starting point in children’s musical expressions and activities is also often assumed to be promoting their creativity. The concept of collaborative learning highlights the key impact that peer groups, family, teachers, and other children have upon a child’s interest in and knowledge of music. Several studies have highlighted the importance of parental support in children’s playing and musical activities (Cope 1990,2005; Cope & Smith 1997; Davidson, Howe, & Slobuda 1997) and how children develop their personal identity as musical. The dominating theoretical framework for studying children and music is cognitive psychology. The essence of the psychology of music has always been related to the development and acquisition of competencies of music (Colwell and Richardson 2002; Hargrecves 1986). All the theories connected to musical development involve not only psychological research on the individual’s behavior and learning peruse, but also the influence of contexts and social dimensions. In the well-known spiral model of musical development by Swanwich and Tillman (1986) musical thinking embraces the four layers of materials, expression, form and value for discussing children’s compositions. The major research on musical teaching and learning in early childhood is connected to contexts in which musical experts are involved. Moreover, there is a strong focus on a narrow musical approach. The aims and objectives involve capabilities strictly connected to musical skills and knowledge related mainly to performance. Music has been shown to have positive effects on learning domains other than the arts (Fiske, 1999), and specifically in reading and math (Lamont, 1998). These extra musical benefits of music rarely focus on pre-school aged children. The most notable exception is Rauscher and Zupan’s (2000) examination of group keyboard music instruction, which found this particular form of music enhanced preschoolers’ performance in spatial-temporal tasks. Standley’s (1996) meta-analysis of 98 studies of the effectiveness of music as behavioral reinforcement suggested that music can effectively reinforce learning and behavior changes in children and adults, both in and out of school.
Method
Purpose of Study The purpose of this study was to find out if instructional songs help 3 and 4 year old children’s learning and eagerness to learn. The study was conducted over a period of four weeks in a three-year- old private preschool class .This school is sponsored by a church and has been operating for over 50 years.

Participants Twenty two students participated in this research. All of the students were in a 3 year old classroom at a private school. There are nine girls and thirteen boys in the class. Two students have just been transitioned from a 2 & ½ years old class to a 3 year old classroom. Out of the 22 children seven of them have already turned 4 years old.
Materials
Instructional song about colors in Spanish will be used in the study. Color index cards with one side in Spanish and the other side in English will also be used..
Procedures
Two groups with 11 students in each group will be formed randomly. Group A will be learning by using only the instructional song. Group B will be learning by using only the color index cards. The teacher will work with each group of students twice a week for 15 minutes, for a month. The two groups will never be in the same room to avoid any crossover learning among groups.
Data Collection Techniques The data that is collected will be based upon two research questions. The first question is whether instructional music would help students to achieve more academically. The second question dealt with the use of music and students’ eagerness to learn? To collect data the students will be assessed at two weeks intervals to see their progress. Parents will be surveyed in person or by phone at the end of the study to see if the children have been using the words at home Anecdotal notes will also be used to observe students during learning and conversation for use of the Spanish color names.
Results

Table 1 and 2 shows the progress of Group A Music and Group B Flashcards growth over the 4 week process. Looking at Table 1 in week two all 11 students knew Rojo (red). The next color that most students knew was Azul (blue) with 7 out of 11 students. There were two colors that 4 out of 11 students knew. Those two colors are Blanco (white) and Café (brown). Surprisingly there were three colors that 3 out of 11 students knew. Those three colors were Verde (green), Amarillo (yellow), and Negro (black). At the end of the four week assessment the numbers did increase tremendously in both groups. All eleven of the students knew Rojo (red) and Azul (blue). Rojo (red) did not have a change, but Azul (blue) did have a change of four. Negro (black) and Blanco (white) had the most number of student change. Negro (black) had seven and Blanco (white) had six. So that means that ten out of 11 students knew those two colors. Café (brown) and Verde (green) had nine out of 11 students. Café (brown) had a change of four and Verde (green) had a change of 6. The color that fewest students knew was Amarillo (yellow) with eight out of 11 students. Amarillo (yellow) had a change of five students. Therefore at the end of this study, there were eight out of 11 students to know all seven colors from Group A Music. Table two shows the progress of Group b flash cards. Group b numbers were higher in week two than Group b. At week two Azul (blue) and Rojo (red) had ten out of 11 students to know these two colors. Verde (green) was the third highest color that the students knew, with seven out of 11 students. Negro (black) had six out of 11 students. Amarillo (yellow) and Blanco (white) both had five out of 11 students. Then you have Café (brown) with the least number of students, with four out of 11. In week four the numbers did increase. There are now three colors that ten out of 11 students knew. These three colors are Azul (blue), Rojo (red), and Verde (green). Azul (blue) and Rojo (red) did not have a change, but Verde (green) had a change of three. Nine out of 11 students knew banco (white) , with a change of four. Café (Brown) and Negro (Black) both were recognized by seven out of 11 students. Café (brown) had a change of three and Negro (black) had a change of one. Amarillo (yellow) was identified by six out of 11 students, with a change of one. Therefore at the end of this there were five out of 11 students to know all seven Spanish colors. Table three is based upon a parent survey. All 22 of the student’s parents were asked the same question. The question was based upon the use of Spanish colors being used at home. 16 parents said “yes” that their children were using Spanish color words at home. Only four parents said “no” that their child was not using Spanish color words at home. Discussion The results suggest that music does help students to achieve more academically. Both groups of students were expected to learn the same material, just with different methods. The data shows that the group with music did better than the students using the flash cards. The results could have been different, because doing the study there were an outbreak of illness and many students were home sick. Since both groups had children who missed sessions of the lesson. I do believe that this incident had a major part to play in the ending data. The researcher’s anecdotal notes also show that by using music makes student more eager to learn and grasp their attention. Doing our sessions the students using music showed a lot of interest in the lesson. Throughout the entire study they were focused on the music and the learning. On the other hand, my students that used the flash cards were less attentive. They became more fidgety and less focused throughout the study. There were also more behavioral problems in Group b, because of them becoming restless. The data it shows that more students from Group A, overall, knew more colors than Group B. One student in Group B does not talk, so she was unable to be properly assessed. She was the only student to not know any of the other the color words in Spanish. In conclusion, it is clear to see that music does have an effect on the way students learn. Music gets their attention and helps them to grasp the material. This study has been very helpful to me as a beginning teacher and I will look for other ways to incorporate music with future classes.

References
Anvari, S. T. (2002). Relations among musical skills, phonological processing, and early reading ability in preschool children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 111-130.
Bilhartz, T., Bruhn, R. A., & Olson, J. E. (2000). The effect of early music training on child cognitive development. Journal of Applied Development Psychology, 20(4), 615-636.
Bolduc, J. (2008). The effects of music instruction on emergent literacy capacities among preschool children. Early Childhood Research and Practice, 10(1), 254-271.
Campabello, N., De Carlo, M. J., ONeil, J., & Vacek, M. J. (2002). Music enhances learning.
Campbell, D. G. (2000). The Mozart effect for children. New York: HarperCollins.
Denac, O. (2008). A Case study of preschool children's musical interests at home and at school. Early Childhood Education Journal, 35, 439-444. doi:10.1007/s10643-007-0205-4 deVries, P. (2004). The extramusical effects of music lessons on preschoolers. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 29(2), 6.
Gillespie, C., & Glider, K. (2010). Preschool teachers use of music scaffold children's learning and behavior. Early Child Development and Care, 180(6), 799-808.
Wallace, W. T. (1994). Memory for music: effect of melody on recall of text. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 20(6), 1471-1485. www. BocaBeth.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from Youtube.

Table 1 Group A Week 2 and Week 4 Assessment Check Group A Taught With Music | Week 2 | Azul | Café | Rojo | Amarillo | Negro | Blanco | Verde | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | 7 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 8 | Week 4 | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | 11 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 2 | Change | 4 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 |

Table 2

Group B Week 2 and Week 4 Assessment Check

Group B Taught With Flashcards | Week 2 | Azul | Café | Rojo | Amarillo | Negro | Blanco | Verde | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | 10 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 4 | Week 4 | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | 10 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 10 | 1 | Change | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 |

Table 3

Parent Survey: Have your child been using Spanish words at home?

Yes | No | 16 | 4 |