Music is an effective way to help students remember concepts and a great way to make lessons fun. Majority of the kids I work with loves music. I encourage them to make things into their own tune to help them understand and remember things they have difficulty in. For example: not all my students remember sight words taught to them by remembering the mnuenomic (memory trigger in form of a sentence).
When you let the student make up their own tune and lyrics it makes it more meaningful and creates a sense of accomplishment. This will surely boost their self esteem and confidence. These are the keys to successful learning.
Here is an example of a recent 6 X tables song that my grade 2 student created to help her with the times tables. I made sure she understood the concept of the 6 times tables before asking her to create the song. If she didn't understand the concept, she'll be solely memorizing numbers not the concept. Help them understand why we need to learn how to skip count by 6s and multiply by 6s. For example, muffins, cupcakes, eggs, donuts -- comes in 6s (half of dozen) or 12s (a dozen). You might have a party for 24 of your friends. How many half of dozen or group of 6s cupcakes you need for the party?
I provided her with visuals (blocks) and asked her while she sings the song to build the amount. This is how I incorporated the kinesthetic aspect to the lesson. By using as many senses -touching, speaking, seeing, hearing - to help child understand and memorize the concept.
When you let the student make up their own tune and lyrics it makes it more meaningful and creates a sense of accomplishment. This will surely boost their self esteem and confidence. These are the keys to successful learning.
Here is an example of a recent 6 X tables song that my grade 2 student created to help her with the times tables. I made sure she understood the concept of the 6 times tables before asking her to create the song. If she didn't understand the concept, she'll be solely memorizing numbers not the concept. Help them understand why we need to learn how to skip count by 6s and multiply by 6s. For example, muffins, cupcakes, eggs, donuts -- comes in 6s (half of dozen) or 12s (a dozen). You might have a party for 24 of your friends. How many half of dozen or group of 6s cupcakes you need for the party?
I provided her with visuals (blocks) and asked her while she sings the song to build the amount. This is how I incorporated the kinesthetic aspect to the lesson. By using as many senses -touching, speaking, seeing, hearing - to help child understand and memorize the concept.