Overview:

Singing is one of the most natural vehicles for self-expression and communication in young students. Research indicates that is linked to neurological development in children and has benefits towards educational success later in life. In addition to building confidence, singing is also fun, helps students to become more calm and focused, and increases students’ sense of pitch.

Objectives:

Students will be able to:

Identify the strategies for teaching a song to young students,
Describe the strategies and the rationale for each,
Define the use of and rationale underlying solfège as a tool in teaching a song,
Identify and demonstrate best practices for using a song accompaniment,
Demonstrate the processes used to teach songs,
Identify the elements used to evaluate and select age-appropriate song literature,
Identify ways in which technology can assist in teaching a song to students, and
Evaluate and analyze a song being taught based on standards identified in the text.

What is Chunking?

Part of the process in teaching a song to young students is to break the music down into manageable smaller segments called “chunking.” This division of a song into teaching segments is usually done according to the song’s phrase structure. Sometimes the melodic structure dictates the division of the song and in other cases, the form might determine the segments to be taught. In each case, the teacher needs to decide before the teaching process begins as to how long each phrase or "chunk" should be. After the students have learned the phrases, the teacher must combine the small "chunks" into larger sections finally combining phrases that must be repeated until the entire piece of music is learned. This process is the most common method used by elementary music teachers for teaching a song.

These segments are taught by rote using an echo approach. Another term for teaching by rote is “lining out.” When teaching by rote, the teacher must:

Use appropriate gestures to indicate when the class should listen and when the class should sing
Maintain the correct pitch throughout the echo process

Why Shouldn’t I Sing Along with the Students?

It is important for the teacher to listen to the students sing. A teacher who sings along loudly cannot hear what the students are doing. Nor can a teacher listen to the students effectively using a recorded accompaniment that is played too loudly. A teacher who listens to the students can detect mistakes in the students’ singing.