Thursday, September 16, 2010
How can you create a more engaging classroom environment?
O'Mahony described the importance of creating a classroom environment that enhanced social studies instruction. In 100 words, explain to me how you can integrate song lyrics to create an environment that engages students in meaningful social studies instruction. Your task is to prove to me that you have digested a majority of our class discussions and assigned readings.
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I think what O’Mahony was trying to say was that we need to set up a classroom environment that makes students feel comfortable with diving deep into concepts. Music is something that the majority of students listen to on a daily basis so incorporating music into the classroom automatically makes the classroom environment a more familiar and comfortable place for the students. By finding songs that relate to what you are teaching in social studies, students will be more apt to give more meaningful contributions because it is something that they are familiar with and connects to their real life.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of the reason that students are uninterested in social studies is because they feel it is irrelevant to them. Our job as teachers is to make the content more relatable. To do this, we need to find things that our students are interested in to teach them the content. Music is one of those things because I think everyone relates to music in some way.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that a lot of students have in common is interest in music; almost everyone listens to some genre of music. Including music in social studies can really play in to your student’s interest and with music it can help students understand and recall things better. Many songs have political standpoints or have lyrics pertaining to certain events in history. If these songs were used in social studies and get students thinking about the connections to what they are studying they could be very beneficial. Students will be more interested and able to use the songs to remember events.
ReplyDeleteSince the article discusses how music can help to evoke deep personal meanings, teachers can use this idea as a jumping point. Music can also help teachers to connect to the world of their students. The acceptance of popular music as a valid teacher tool will let students know that the teacher respects the contribution of the youth. In the end this will involve and prompt students to become involved in civil and political matters.
ReplyDeleteIntegrating music into social studies is an interesting approach to getting students engaged in their learning. Music is universal and has the ability to bring people together. Every student (mostly) enjoys some type of music - by bringing this music into the classroom you will make the issues of the world today more relatable to students. If you had each student bring in a song they liked that referenced social studies in some way it would make them active participants in their own learning. It would ultimately make them feel connected.
ReplyDeleteAnything used in a classroom that is used in the outside world helps students to connect the information to their lives. So, in terms of music, if the lyrics of a well known song are changed to incorporate pertinent information, the students are more likely to remember the information. There are also songs that already have the pertinent information in it, and the students may have already heard it (hearing it in this setting may change the way they receive the information). This also helps to create a connection.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the idea of using current music is a great idea. It will draw the students into the disscussion and give them a personal investment in the lesson. The students can give a reaction to eachother's song selections and they can compare and contrast the different interpretations of the underlying message.
ReplyDeleteMany students that you will have in your classroom will have some kind of love for music, no matter the type of music. As a teacher I can find some kind music of a variety to be able to engage all of my students. Not only will I be able to engage them in the lesson but I will also give them a tool to help the better learn what is being taught. I might also at times have my class come up with their own song to go with the lesson to help bring the lesson alive as well as help them remember what is being taught.
ReplyDeleteThis article really talked about getting your student involved and apart of their own learning. One of my favorite parts of this article is when the students had to take part of what they were learning in the classroom and set it to the beat of a popular song that is on the radio today. I felt that when the students did this task it really had them look at the details of what is going on and putting that into a form of music that is exciting to them.
ReplyDeleteO'Mahoney emphasizes that children divulge information through a variety of means. Music is a way to incorporate auditory experience into the classroom. The purpose of Social Studies is not just to educate but to produce feelings and emotions in which students can bring value to their learning. Music ties lyrics, feelings, words, history, past, present and the future into one. Many songs can help you remember things about social studies because it produces feelings and you will always have a connection to the actual underlying meaning.
ReplyDeleteMusic is something that everyone can connect to and most students spend the majority of their free time listening to it. However, beyond elementary classrooms many teachers do not incorporate music into their teachings. It is interesting to note how much more engaged the students were in the classes where the teacher used music. You could have students individually bring in their favorite song lyrics and listen to it in class. Then you could have them brainstorm about what they think their song means. After this you could have students draw pictures or create a collage in association with their song. Underneath or on a separate page they could include what the lyrics as well as what they thought the song meant. As a culminating activity students could present what they created or even research the band or genre of music.
ReplyDeleteI feel that using music in thaty classroom can be helpfull on many levels. It can be great for using different teaching methods for students who may learn better by listening. It is also good because it gives students a different perspective. Using different types of media will keep students engaged and may help them to relate to subjects that they may have otherwise not had interest in.
ReplyDeleteLetting students choose songs that they enjoy and incorporating them into the classroom helps engage students. Getting students to analyze existing lyrics, what events in history inspired them, and how the lyrics effected people in our country can help them learn about our history. Also, having students replace the lyrics with information they are learning can help the information stick with them.
ReplyDeleteIn 100 words, explain to me how you can integrate song lyrics to create an environment that engages students in meaningful social studies instruction. Your task is to prove to me that you have digested a majority of our class discussions and assigned readings.
ReplyDeleteSongs cover a wide range of categories dealing with social issues such as ethnicity and equity, economics, technology, and gender issues. Incorporating songs in the classroom are ways that fears and biases can be channeled into positive outcome (Lintner). Including songs in the classroom creates an environment that is open to sharing opinions and having discussions. As stated in McCormack's and White's article, our role as teachers is to promote and involve students in civic affairs.
By using songs and lyrics that students hear everyday and connecting them to history can make social studies relatable and less intimidating. Also, when they hear the song later outside of class, review will take place because they will be connecting that song back to the content.
ReplyDeleteBecause it's sometimes hard for students to relate to social studies content, the use of music can help make connections between students lives and the classroom. Students will spend just as much time listening to music as they do in schools, so an effective strategy to teach social studies content would be to incorporate music that relates to the content that is being taught. When using music, students can analyze the lyrics and develop a better understanding of the content. Through the use of music, students will develop an appreciation for social studies and be enthusiastic to learn about social studies.
ReplyDeleteI think we can all agree that music is relatable. For students especially, they can really connect and relate to lyrics and emotions in music. Using music in the classroom allows students to use knowledge that they have learned and apply it to multiple senses, giving that information a much higher percentage of sticking with them forever. One way to actually use music in the classroom, would be by brainstorming as a class different song tunes that they would want to use and creating their own song- using that particular tune to remember what they are learning about. This way, it's a class effort so the teacher can monitor the material and make sure it is classroom appropriate and then together making a song that actually applies to the content. In the article we read, statistics said that students spend almost the same amount of time listening to music as they spend in the classroom. This is VITAL. If music is playing this much of a role in OUR students lives, as future educators, it is our job to try and connect the material that they need to learn in a way that makes it enjoyable and rememberable for them.
ReplyDeleteIntegrating music into the classroom for the use of teaching subjects such as social studies may definitley benefit musically inclined students. Music is an art form and can speak volumes through the rythmn, meter, lyrics, instruments, etc. As teachers we must be able to think outside the box and break free from the "norm" of teaching and try to relate to students on "their" level from their environment and levels of comfort.
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