TSLB 3052 Arts in Education

By: Yan Lin & Zi Xi

Using musical instruments in the classroom is a kind of active learning

method that can be used by 21st centurys teachers successfully. This approach is
useful in either a preschool classroom or primary school classroom. A wide variety of
ideas are presented to help teachers incorporate musical instruments into their
teaching. Teaching using musical instruments bring many advantages to the teaching
and learning session, not only to make the learning process fun, but also build
students interest in certain subject and to ease students understanding towards the
subject.

Singing songs is a powerful way for students to practise language. When

students sing, they practise pronouncing words and putting together sentences.
Learning the lyrics is also an effective way to remember information and understand
simple grammar through the lyrics. Teachers may use simple musical instruments
such as ukulele and guitar to play the background music when they students are
singing.

Besides that, while teachers are doing writing with the students, teachers may
set a situation for the students before teaching them to writhe the composition. For
example, the teacher is going to teach about Picnic at the Beach. So he may divide
the students in groups, ask them to present their composition by acting and give
them musical instruments such as maracas, shakers and triangle to match with the
situation. Maracas and shakers can be used if the students are going to describe a
windy day.

Furthermore, music is always related to the emotion. When teachers are

teaching poem or short story, they may use keyboard to produce some background
music that related to the scenario of the poems or stories. So that, the students may
feel the poems well besides understand better about the poems or stories. Learning
the components of literature is never easy, therefore, making the students feel what
the authors feel is very important.

Music can be used to help control a classroom environment or to support the

content within that class. It can be used to signal different transitions within the class
as well as to serve as a writing prompt itself. Music is also a way to build community
and build creativity among the students. Reciprocal learning in a classroom, whether
to build subject matter competency or community, is key in pulling out the best
academic results from those students.