“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.”
Plato
With the New Year upon us and resolutions abounding, resolve to add a little something special to your class lessons this year. Music is a universal constant that resonates with everyone, no matter the language they speak. Music reaches into souls and helps people connect. According to an article from BBC Teach written by composer, musical director, and educator, Andy Smith, there are at least five reasons why we should have music in our lives everyday:
- Music brings people together.
- Music improves health and wellbeing.
- Music can improve confidence and resilience.
- Music is creative and cathartic.
- Music is fun!
All this said, we’re not just talking about playing music while students work, but rather making the music part of the lesson.
Introducing TeachRock (reviewed here), your source for all things musical and educational. TeachRock is a free, standards-aligned resource for teachers that houses a multitude of musically based lessons you can add to your classroom playlist immediately. TeachRock was founded in 2002 by Stevie Van Zandt (guitarist for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band) with the mission to improve “students’ lives by bringing the sound, stories, and science of music to all classrooms.” Their Founders Board includes musical legends Bono, Jackson Browne, Martin Scorsese, and Bruce Springsteen. TeachRock has full units and individual lessons for all K-12 subject areas. Here are a few TeachRock resources that you may want to tune into!
Harmony Student Wellness is a year-long program for schools that is aligned with the five key competencies of the Collaborative for Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL). The goal of the Harmony Wellness program is to bring schools together into a united community by sharing daily 20-minute lessons that turn homerooms into safe, collaborative spaces. Since all classes have the same lesson and goal for the day, teachers and staff are able to reference it throughout the day to make learning more tangible and to establish an enduring sense of community.
TeachRock Core Lessons are essentially a history of American Rock ‘n’ Roll all in one spot. The units or “books” connect popular music to the cultural history it grew out of. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the volume of material, Book 5: Music Across Classrooms is a great starting point. It highlights several subject areas and includes multiple lessons that fit with each subject’s curriculum.
Math and Science Lessons
Often resources like this lean more towards ELA and Social Studies classes and ignore the hard sciences, but TeachRock embraces the math and science fields with fantastic lessons about the science of sound and the mathematics of the music industry. What student wouldn’t want to have a lesson on using data to analyze an artist’s success or learning with The Grateful Dead about the “Wall of Sound”? TeachRock is constantly creating new lessons, so there are plenty more to come.
The benefits of TeachRock are immeasurable. You can adapt the lessons to your needs, you can teach an entire class on American Rock ‘n’ Roll with this single resource, and you can engage your students in any content area with the universal connection of music. TeachRock has so much more to offer than what we’ve mentioned here, so I hope you make it your teacher’s resolution to join the musical educational revolution.