Music Just Right for English Language Learners

January 11, 2017

Last week, Matthew Lynch of the Edvocate published an article linking music instruction to higher student performance in English Language Learners.

Lynch interviewed Dr. Nancy Drescher, a professor at Minnesota State University in Mankato. Dr. Drescher’s work is characterized by her experience teaching children as well as ELLs.

Cantata Learning is proud to have partnered with Dr. Drescher, in an effort to be inclusive of multiple learning styles, and we especially loved these takeaways from her interview:

• Connecting music, language, and books makes language easier to remember. The repetitive nature of songs helps set linguistic expectations. An especially catchy song will remain in students’ heads long after the lesson has ended, enabling them to hold on to the information in an enjoyable format.

• The repetitive nature of songs helps set linguistic expectations. An especially catchy song will remain in students’ heads long after the lesson has ended, enabling them to hold on to the information in an enjoyable format.

• If we can bring in multiple ways for students to engage with the language we hope they will be able to use and the content we want them to learn without drilling and killing their love of books and learning, I think we will find the most success for all kids.

Read the original article here!