Music and Science

This chapter explores connections between music and science. It includes rationales for integrating music and science, common links between the two disciplines, and a discussion of the Next Generation Science Standards and the National Core Arts Standards. Tables clearly show the standards that are incorporated throughout the lessons and examples. The chapter contains six detailed, full-length lessons that integrate music and science. These include lessons that explore the Ebola epidemic in Liberia; the classification of animals with Saint-Saëns’s Carnival of the Animals; connections between steady beat, heartbeat, tempo, and rate; layering and preservation in the song “Pompeii” and the city of Pompeii; creating musical instruments; and the role of butterflies as indicators of climate change. The chapter ends with an inventory of ideas detailing seventeen additional lesson topics, specific teaching strategies, and recommended activities.

Music and Social Studies

This chapter explores connections between music and social studies. It includes rationales for integrating music and social studies, common links between the two disciplines, and a discussion of National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies, the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards, and the National Core Arts Standards for Music. Tables clearly show the standards that are incorporated throughout the lessons and examples. The chapter contains four detailed, full-length lessons that integrate music and social studies. These include a lesson that examines the importance of a classroom community; a two-part exploration of historical and musical aspects of the blues; and an introduction to the Holocaust through Górecki’s Symphony No. 3. The chapter ends with an inventory of ideas detailing nineteen additional lesson topics, specific teaching strategies, and recommended activities.

Overview of Music Integration in the Elementary Curriculum

This chapter serves as a brief introduction to music integration and includes definitions and a review of best practices. An overview of the 2015 National Core Arts Standards provides a foundation for the standards-based lessons that teachers will encounter throughout the remaining chapters of the book. There are growing calls to foster self-expression, critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity in school settings, and music integration is a path for developing these skills. The challenge for teachers involved in the integration process is to teach interdisciplinary lessons that make meaningful connections between disciplines and do not compromise the integrity of either discipline. The final section of the chapter focuses on strategies that allow teachers to create their own lessons that integrate music with other areas of the elementary curriculum.

Introduction

This introduction summarizes the content found in chapters 1 through 6. It includes details regarding specific subject areas, denotes which teachers will deliver instruction, discusses alignment with national standards, and provides a rationale for labeling lessons as primary, intermediate, or upper elementary. The introduction concludes with suggestions for implementing lessons and strategies in K–5 classrooms.

Music and Visual Arts

This chapter explores connections between music and visual arts. It includes rationales for integrating music and art, common links between the two disciplines, and a discussion of the National Core Arts Standards. A table clearly shows the standards that are incorporated throughout the lessons and examples. The chapter contains four detailed, full-length lessons that integrate music and visual arts. These include a student-focused arts analysis; exploring repetition, mood, context, and movement in Michael Torke’s “Bright Blue Music”; connecting artistic and music techniques through the painting of a pastiche collage; and delving into French Impressionism. The chapter ends with an inventory of ideas detailing nineteen additional lesson topics, specific teaching strategies, and recommended activities.

Music and Mathematics

This chapter explores connections between music and mathematics. It includes rationales for integrating music and math, common links between the two disciplines, and a discussion of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and the National Core Arts Standards. Tables clearly show the standards that are incorporated throughout the lessons and examples. The chapter contains four detailed, full-length lessons that integrate music and mathematics. These include lessons exploring part/whole relationships in music and math; analyzing structure and pattern, using the song “Wide Open Spaces” as a model; studying the Fibonacci sequence in math and music; and creating an amusement park ride with a theme song. The chapter ends with an inventory of ideas detailing fourteen additional lesson topics, specific teaching strategies, and recommended activities.

Music and Language Arts

This chapter explores connections between music and English language arts. It includes rationales for integrating music and language arts, common links between the two disciplines, and a discussion of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and the National Core Arts Standards. Tables clearly show the standards that are incorporated throughout the lessons and examples. The chapter contains five detailed, full-length lessons that integrate music and language arts. These include lessons comparing and contrasting three versions of Romeo and Juliet; creating a playlist and journaling; moving and storytelling inspired by Prokofiev’s “Troika”; exploring literal and nonliteral meanings in “America the Beautiful”; and experimenting with blackout poetry, word choice, and Sibelius’s “Finlandia.” The chapter ends with an inventory of ideas detailing twenty additional lesson topics, specific teaching strategies, and recommended activities.