Thursday, 6 October 2016

Music curriculum aims to nurture preschoolers’ language skills



Music curriculum aims to nurture preschoolers’ language skills

A Researchers Maria Runfola and Elisabeth Etopio want to show how music can help preschoolers learn language with an actual curriculum they will bring to 350 children from the ages of 1 to 5 in the city of Buffalo.
B Preschool children are not getting music instruction that could make a real difference in improving overall development, particularly their reading readiness, according to the researchers. This is especially true of children labeled “at-risk.” “This project has the potential for setting a national model on how music can benefit overall development of children in preschool and help classroom teachers guide music activities in preschool,” Runfola, associate professor of music education in the Department of Learning and Instruction says.
C Their work comes at a time when many school programs are cutting music from the curriculum. Losing the opportunity for exposure to music at such a formative age is bad enough, the two researchers say. But the deck is stacked against preschool children even more because Runfola and Etopio’s research has shown how music can make young children more ready to benefit from classroom instruction and become better readers.
D Runfola and Etopio conducted a study of 165 preschoolers who participated in music activities taught by 11 teachers with intensive training in musicianship skill and teaching strategies for guiding young children’s music development. Now they will practice it in broad range. Children and teachers will experience the “magic of music in weekly music/movement sessions guided by “music teaching artists.” The content of the curriculum includes songs and chants that enhance rhythm and rhyme; opportunities for aural discrimination — listening skills — that strengthen neural pathways for language learning; tonal-pattern and rhythm-pattern dialogue for improvised musical conversations; movement emphasizing flow, weight, space and time; playing and exploring simple instruments.”
E “This project not only guides children’s music learning,” Runfola says, “but also the professional development of their teachers so that future classes of children will benefit from something so powerful and universal — music— something that students can learn to appreciate and cultivate their whole lives.”
Adjusted to (1)
the deck is stacked – karta se obrací proti
enhance – zdůraznit

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.
1 The project educates also teachers
2 Children in Buffalo will experience a music project
3 Music supports children’s development
4 Contents of music curriculum
5 Many schools are cutting music out of their curriculum

2) Read the article and answer the questions.
1 What does Runfola say about influence of music education on learning abilities?
2 What is the situation concerning music in the US like?
3 What kind of project did Runfola and Etopio start? Who are they?
4 What skills will be practiced?
5 How will teachers benefit from this project?

3) Explain the following words and phrases.
1 curriculum
2 reading readiness
3 rhythm and rhyme
4 exploring simple instruments
5 professional development

4) Answer the following questions.
What are benefits of music education? How does music influence children’s learning? Describe how to teach music to preschoolers. What equipment might be used?

Video:

Tips, sources of information:

Source:
(1)
ANZALONE, Charles. Music curriculum aims to nurture preschoolers' language skills. News Center University at Buffalo [online]. 2014 [cit. 2015-09-21]. Available at: http://www.buffalo.edu/ news/releases/2014/07/041.html

No comments:

Post a Comment