Mixing Music with ICT
Music session 2
In this session we asked to get into groups and think about the different ways that you can combine music and ICT skills together to support learning within the classroom. Music has been shown to play a key role in the EYFS framework according to Bance and the London Early Years Music Network (2012) suggest that music helps children communicate and develop their emotional understanding helping them to recognize patterns and use musical patterns. Because music is so beneficial for children’s development it should be integrated with everyday school life. To effectly do this as a teacher you need to be aware of the apps available to help support and integrate music into the curriculum. This is why within this session we looked at up to date computer programs, relevant web sites and apps that can be used to support and develop musical for both teachers and learners.
The link below explains the importance of music on all areas of children’s development and gives examples of how music can be supported within the classroom.
http://www.sound-connections.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012-06-EYFS-Framework-A-musical-overview.pdf
The Dfe also recognise the importance of music within education in their plan called ‘The Importance of Music, A National Plan for Music Education’ (Dfe, 2011).
“Most children will have their first experience of music at school. It is important that music education of high quality is available to as many of them as possible: it must not become the preserve of those children whose families can afford to pay for music tuition. While music touches the lives of all young people, the disadvantaged can benefit most.”
This illustrates just how important is to children and their development and is just another reason why i plan to try to incorporate music into as much of my teaching as possible.
At the start of the session we all joined in with a game of ‘follow the leader’ we got to see how inclusive and interactive this game when developing music interest. This was great fun and I could really see how children would want to join in this this. We discussed how this activity could be enhanced through the use of music encouraging children to try to follow a beat. Children could also record themselves using ipads to look back over and discuss their performances.
If you would like to look at the whole report follow the link below:
As a class we all listened to a train journey. We then in groups had to choose music instruments to do our own representation of the train using music interments. Here is my groups performance:
This is a great activity you could do with your class using different sounds to ensure children think about how they want to interpret using musical instruments. It made us think about: pace, loud and soft, timings and encouraged us to work as a team, communicating our ideas to each other .
In our session we were also introduced to apps such as:
- Garageband
- Simon Says
- SoundOscope
- Magic piano (I really enjoy this app)
These apps help children to follow musical patterns, think carefully, build confidence, be creative, express themselves, evaluate and improve their work.
While on placement I was able to teach a music lesson. The children were learning about Noah and the Art and so I based the lesson around the song ‘the animals went in two by two’ I used the link below to make the lesson more visual and to incorporate ICT. The children were fully engaged and enjoyed trying to play instrument along with the beat of the song. The use of ICT helped support the children reading skills and made the lesson more visually engaging.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/schoolradio/subjects/earlylearning/nurserysongs/A-E/animals_two_by_two
The animals went in two by two
I have Learnt a lot about apps I didn’t even know existed and will continue to practice using them in my spare time so I can confidently implement them into my teaching practice.
