Singing into Literacy
The use of singing books intrigued me when introduced in our class. In my final practicum I was interested in finding out how effective the use of singing books was in a primary classroom. It was the end of the day and the students were rowdy and unresponsive to instructions. Most of the students were on the carpet, ready to listen to the story, while a few were walking around the classroom. When I first introduced the The Cat Came Back to my grade two students, they were doubtful of why I was going to read them a “baby” book. Once I started singing the book the students were beginning to be interested. Some students wanted to know why I was singing when I was supposed to be reading, others were completely transfixed and they were already humming to the tune. When the book was over, the students were eager to look at the melody at the back of the book and wanted me to sing the book again. Moreover, my Associate Teacher was interested in purchasing the book for herself.
The use of singing books brought forth possibilities of connecting music to literacy. It can be a form of storytelling that some students may find more accessible than the traditional story writing. The melody and the descriptions used in songs can reveal a lot about the visuals, mood, characters, and plot of the story. Especially in a picture book, these can be combined to form a multi-modal literacy experience.
The singing books can extend to poetry and rap. Within these texts, there is an internal rhythm and flow that can be shown and celebrated in the classroom. Furthermore, folk songs depicts a events or a story that is significant to a culture. The integration of different forms in music and literacy supports culturally sustaining practices into the classroom. It also highlights how communication and expression can be achieved in multiple ways through music, writing found , and musical styles.
As I begin my teaching career I am definitely going to include singing books as part of my music and overall teaching approach in my classroom. I found them to be a great tool in classroom management, and introduce students to other ways to communicate and share their stories in and outside of the classroom.
