Background Music

There was always one time of year you could walk into my classroom and hear music...Christmas!  Christmas music seems to be the one genre that everyone can agree on, at least for a time.

I was reflecting on this as I was going through notes from Linda Hoyt's workshop this summer (Can you tell what I've been reading from the last couple of posts?).  Linda shared a picture book with us while music played in the background.  Afterward, she talked about the benefits of adding music to stories and the brain's ability to retain details and memories when more than one sense is engaged.  I made a note to try this with Christmas music and an anchor story I had written for students that shows the different structures of nonfiction text.  So many of my Christmas songs are without lyrics and...well...I have so many to choose from.

Try adding music to one of your read-alouds, and if you do, let me know how the kids respond!

Angie