http://www.ehow.com/about_6324908_music-relates-english-class.html

How Music Relates to English Class

X

Gregory Pavliv

Gregory Pavliv is a curriculum designer who has been writing professionally since 2005. His curriculum has been featured on the documentary, "Classroom Close-Up." He has a Bachelor of Music from Berklee College of Music and a Master of Arts in instructional and curriculum design from the University of Phoenix.

By Gregory Pavliv, eHow Contributor

Music and English are both forms of artistic expression.

Music relates to English class on many levels. With a push for teachers to teach multiple content areas within one lesson, both English and music teachers alike can benefit from the correlations between the two. Both subjects utilize rhythm, meter and spoken beats with accents and markings. They are also both forms of artistic expression.

1. Artistic Expressiono Music and English are both ways in which people can express themselves

through their own composition or interpretation of other works. Music can relate to English class as a vehicle of emotion. Someone creating music is taking his own personal experience and transferring it into song. In English class, students attach their emotions to a written piece of work or create their own composition of poetry or stories.

Poetry and Song

o In music, song is created. In English, the equivalent is poetry. English teachers can use music to help students make the transition from memorizing song lyrics to writing their own lyrics. When these lyrics are taken as their own body of work, the students become poets. A helpful assignment could consist of students listening to a piece of music for inspiration and then composing a piece of poetry that is based on what they heard.

Rhythm and Meter

o Music has a definitive beat, regardless of style or genre. The beat is what drives the song. In English class, the reading of poetry involves the use of beats that are embedded in the language made into a rhythm by the composer, or in this case the author. Taking it from the other direction, a piece of poetry written by one student can be turned into a song by another who is able to hear the beats of the words and turn them into a piece of music. When reading well written prose, the beat of the consonants against the vowels creates another style of beat that flows as easily as poetry.

Performance

o Music is performance-driven. The ultimate goal of learning a song is to perform it for others. While English does not exactly share this overall goal, English class offers opportunity for performance through readings, poetry recital and drama clubs. In performing, the student author or reader will have an experience similar to the student composer or musician who performs on stage for the school.

Conclusion

o Music not only relates to English class, it can be a valuable part of the class to complement current lessons, inspire additional projects or stand alone as a vehicle for poetry and prose. There are many opportunities for teachers of both subject areas to work together and create multi-sequence lessons that might span multiple class periods between both English and music. Discovering the relation between the two will inspire students and teachers alike.

References

ETeachers: Teacher Directory of Lesson Plans and Teaching Tips National Association for Music Education

National Writing Project: "Arkansas Professor Finds Place for Teens' Music in English Class;" December 2009

Read more: How Music Relates to English Class | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_6324908_music-relates-english-class.html#ixzz1jz7OzsNH