Teacher-to-Teacher


Our theme for this issue is Music: Face the Music How do you include culture and history in your classroom?


Jessica Riis K-5 General Music Truman Elementary Green River


Music lends itself well to


including culture and history. For my first several years of teaching, I thought that by teaching music that is old or from other countries I was


including history and culture. However, I have come to realize that we as music teachers have to be very deliberate about ensuring that our students are understanding what they are singing about. One of the most effective ways I teach culture and history


in my classroom is by using children’s books. There are amazing books on holidays like Hanukkah and Chinese New Year that really give students a thorough understanding while using language and stories they can relate to. I have also found many children’s books on music history, especially jazz. Music history is a broad term, and I have found it helpful to focus on music from one composer at a time. Last year, I implemented a Composer of the Month in my classroom. I chose grade-level appropriate activities for all of my students from junior kindergarten and up. There are so many listening and movement activities that can make music very memorable to children. Even my youngest students gained a basic understanding of the history of western music. Plus, it is an amazing feeling when students start to request music from Beethoven!


text. Study of the text can be a useful resource for explaining and discussing the culture from which the piece originates. The text can also help to explain the history of a piece. I will often look at the history class curriculum calendar and try to select music that corresponds with what the students are learning during that part of their day. The piece may not ultimately become a concert selection, but I can usually locate some type of short relatable warm-up or work to help increase cross- curricular learning.


Including culture in the classroom also means creating a positive culture within the environment that students can relate to their personal social life and interests. One way I do this is by getting to know my students and having them teach me about what music they enjoy outside of the choir room. I feel that this motivates the students to take ownership in the class, while also engaging them in what is being taught. It is then my job to take to this enthusiasm and expand their preferences to include some of the pieces we work on throughout the year.


Justin Smith 6-12 Vocal Music Educator Newcastle


It is always difficult to have enough time to get everything into a “normal” class period. Scales, rhythms, music for the concerts, and all the meetings that have so much information to help you in the music classroom.


Eric Sieger Choir


Laramie Middle School


I include culture and history in my classroom in a variety of ways. I primarily accomplish this through the literature I choose for our performances. In the choir classroom, we have an advantage


over other performing ensembles because our pieces include 34


Right out of college, I had my plan for all the things that I was going to teach my students. Of course, the first thing that suffered was the history component. I felt as if I wasn’t giving my students the complete education that they deserved. A few years ago, I changed my approach to teaching culture and history to my students. Instead of the making whole units, I moved to trivia. I myself love doing trivia, and it started simply enough. When I made the switch, some students started coming to me with trivis they found when they went to fact check me. Then they started to try and find facts that they found interesting and brought it to me to show off what they knew. This doesn’t work on all kids, but it has made history a lot more popular within my classroom.


Wyoming Windsong


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64