Five Books and Five Recordings

¶ … Sound Recordings

Five Books for Children

Bernstein, Margery. (1999) Stop that noise! New York: Millbrook Press.

Best suited for young children, this book underlines how music is not something one should be intimidated when 'making' -- rather music is just wonderful noise, with rhythm, melody, and in sync with the noise of others. It tells the story of three children named Mark, Sara, and Tom who are noisy kids, not because they are bad, but because they love music. Mark plays drums. Sara sings. And Tom makes music with everything. Students can be encouraged to imitate this characters -- playing with a rubber band like Mark, singing along with Sarah, and even making their own 'drums' on their bodies, like Mark, or with drumsticks. (7)

Campbell, Don G. (2000) The Mozart effect for children: awakening your child's mind, health, and creativity with music. New York: Morrow.

This is a book intended for the parents of very young children. It attempts to persuade parents of the value of music in children's lives. It suggests that a quality music education fosters a more generalized sense of intelligence in children. (Thus, it might be helpful to a teacher when persuading parents on 'parent's night' that music matters to a child's further education!) But it also contains helpful suggestions for teachers in terms of introducing young school age children to classical music, through creative movement and rhythms, and simply playing music inside the classroom. (8)

Nespeca, Sue McCleaf. (2003) Picture books plus: 100 extension activities in art, drama, music, math, and science. New York: ALC Press.

This book is very ambitious and exciting, making use of the idea of literature extension and incorporating music and English literature for young children though the use of hands-on projects to expand on literary works. Although not all lesson plans are suitable, the ones that do incorporate music suggest excellent ways to tie in music to the rest of classroom activities. (6)

Rogovin, Anne. (1998) 1001 activities for children: simple games to help a child explore the wonders of nature, the imagination, the senses, art, crafts, music, and much more. New York: Grammercy Books.

This book attempts to stimulate the sense of children by creating hands-on projects to introduce children to the world of learning and music. By creating children's toys, such as their own musical instruments, children can gain a sense of enjoyment, musical empowerment, and also a better sense of rhythm and how music is produced. (8)

Storms, Gerald. (2000) 101 more music games for children: new fun and learning with rhythm and song. New York: Hunter House.

For practical suggestions in music lesson planning this text is ideal. Along with charts, This collection offers parents, teachers, and anyone else who works with kids a wide array of ingenious sound and dance activities from a variety of cultures to get kids singing, dancing, listening, interacting, and involved. (9)

Five Sound Recordings

Gill, Jim. (1993) "Jim Gill sings 'The sneezing song and other contagious tunes'." Sound recording CD.

Although not academic in its content, through the use mainly of simple melodies, this wonderful collection of energizing songs involves children in making music by using songs with subjects all children can relate to, such as having a cold, or feeling itchy. It could provide a springboard for students to write their own songs about how it is not fun to be sick. (6)

Jenkins, Ella. (1989)"We are America's Children." Sound Recording CD.

This is a bright, cheerful catalogue of patriotic songs with a strong multicultural emphasis. The music is not complex, but the words of the songs included, rather than the instrumentation itself is at the focus of the CD. It would be an excellent sing-along CD for younger grades, especially for a multicultural learning unit or in a diverse classroom. (7)

"Peace is the World Smiling: A Sound Recording for Families." (1993) Sound Recording CD.

This CD would be most suitable for very young grades. Again, words rather than instrumentation is the focus, so this might be better incorporated into a social studies unit for children age eight or below. It tries to reinforce the importance of tolerance and peace in all households. (4)