Increase Positive Experiences in the Early Years
Contents
Expand Programs for Kids who are not Reading at Grade Level
Struggling readers need alternative forms of instruction that will enable their brains for language and reading, however, these are rarely found in reading curricula. Neuroscientific studies have found that speaking in rhythm, singing, and music-making have a significant impact on brain development that aids language acquisition and reading achievement. Specifically, music-making develops auditory processing, phonological awareness, long-term memory, and beat synchronization (see Sources below).
Background
Neuroscientific research has found that early music-making is highly correlated with reading achievement. Babies whose parents sing to them have more precise neural encoding of speech and better auditory processing leading to early language development and enhanced communication. Babies who are rocked and bounced to the beat of songs and rhymes develop the ability to physically keep a steady beat (synchronization) and become better readers. Conversely, children who cannot keep a steady beat very often struggle with reading.
Reading, unlike language and music, is not naturally “wired into” the brain—it must be explicitly taught. To be ready, a child’s brain must have well-developed auditory processing. Singing songs, keeping the beat, and clapping rhythms of words enable auditory processing and phonological perception. Both rhythm and letter-sound perception happen in the same area of the brain having to do with phonological processing. Children with better pitch awareness have better letter-sound awareness. When children learn phonics—matching letters with the sounds they represent—their brains have to actually grow new neural pathways between visual andphonological areas. Singing fosters this growth while motivating children to practice, thus enabling the brain to retain the learning in long-term memory.
Tools and Resources
Readers Who Struggle: Why Many Struggle and a Modest Proposal for Improving Their Reading.Dr. Timothy V. Rasinski. The Reading Teacher, Vol. 70, No. 5. March/April 2017.
https://timrasinski.com/presentations/rasinski-2017-rt-readers_who_struggle.pdf
Free resources: http://www.timrasinski.com/resources.html
Turn on the Subtitles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-zISnJ-oao&t=34s
https://turnonthesubtitles.org/
Center for Lifelong Music Making
https://www.lifelongmusicmaking.org/home.html
Promising Practices and Case Studies
Brainvolts
Research findings, Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory at Northwestern University, Illinois
https://brainvolts.northwestern.edu/
The Rock ‘n’ Read Project
The Minnesota Legislature funded the 501c3 nonprofit organization Rock 'n' Read Project to conduct a five-year pilot investigating the use of a singing-based software, Tune into Reading. 2nd-5th grade students sang songs repeatedly and were rewarded for how well they sang in rhythm and pitch. During 2016-2021, it was implemented with 2500 students in 25 schools. In the year of largest participation, 1/3 of the 4th and 5th graders at nine schools who used the program for at least 13.5 hours went up a level—from Does Not Meet to Partly Meets—in reading proficiency on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA). In contrast, the 4th and 5th graders at those schools who did not use the program did not make significant gains overall in MCA levels. Lowest-scoring students made the greatest gains. Students gain one year (avg.) after 13.5 hours of usage usually spread out over a 12-week time period. The Minnesota data affirms existing controlled research studies about the software. (https://www.tuneintoreading.com/research-aa/)
Affirming Parallel Concepts
Affirming Parallel Concepts among Reading, Mathematics, and Music through Kodály Music Instruction.Elizabeth K Beery Olson, Ph.D. dissertation, 2003.
Singing folk songs and playing singing games to practice reading skills raises reading achievement.
https://doi.org/10.17077/etd.005640
PlanetRead
PlanetRead is a not-for-profit with the vision built around its core innovation, Same Language Subtitling (SLS), where lyrics on videos of musicals light up exactly when they are sung (such as, Disney’s singalong videos—follow the bouncing ball).
Research indicates that students make rapid and dramatic gains in reading.
https://www.planetread.org/slsgroup
Scorecard Building
Actions to Take
The Minnesota Musical Fitness Program
The Rock ‘n’ Read Project is proposing a statewide initiative to address its profound and persistent reading problem with singing and music-making. 64% of students are not proficient in reading (National Assessment of Educational Progress 2019).
Contact: Ann Kay, Co-Founder and Education Coordinator, The Rock ‘n’ Read Projectann@rnrproject.org
Music for A World Class Education.
With the goal of becoming the best education system in Australia, the state of South Australia is implementing a 10-year music education program 2019-2029 with funding for innovative practices.
https://www.education.sa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-2029-music-education-strategy.pdf
Sources
Music for Every Child: A Special Report for Parents, Educators, Community Organizers, Policy-Makers and Citizens of the World(2020). San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation.
A summary of neuroscience research about music-making and the benefits for brain development and achievement.
https://sfcm.edu/sites/default/files/SFCM-Music_for_Every_Child.pdf
