This document is comprised of the 30 issues of learning guides for parents and family members providing suggestions regarding activities for young children. Each learning guide is organized similarly and contains: (1) a message for family members who care for young children; (2) suggested fun-learning activities using items found at home to help…

Considers the ways in which the processes involved in learning to read are inherent in art and music experiences; discusses visual arts activities as catalysts for vocabulary development, sensory control, and close observation; and provides an overview of such music activities as folk singing as motivaters for reading. (JL)

This study examined videotaped teacher and performer behavior during several high school ensemble rehearsals to determine the predictability of off-task behavior from eight carrier variables. Results indicated a strong relationship between off-task behavior and individual teachers, nonperformance activity, and teacher eye contact. (Author/SJL)

Reviews studies on the etiology of monotonism, the monotone being that type of uncertain or inaccurate singer who cannot vocally match pitches and who has trouble accurately reproducing even a familiar song. Neurological factors (amusia, right brain abnormalities), age, and sex differences are considered. (Author/SJL)

Describes music as a mnemonic that adds variety and interest to the curriculum and is an important component of multisensory learning. Offers suggestions for creating/using story songs with young children, including the use of one musical phrase in an existing story and creating a melody for an entire story. Gives practical advice for using and…

Discusses how music teachers can begin a gospel choir at the middle school through university levels. Provides a historical background on gospel choirs and presents the benefits of having a gospel choir. Focuses on issues teachers should address, how to teach this type of choir, and common misconceptions. (CMK)

Describes medical conditions that musicians may contract. Addresses what experts believe may help avoid some conditions and what to do if injury is possible. Provides a bibliography of resources on performing arts medicine, including books and periodicals, and a list of associations for performing arts medicine. (CMK)

Describes a unit used with sixth-grade students focusing on jazz and blues that taught improvisation. Discusses the different levels of improvisation that were used, providing the beginning activities, and describes activities that focus on the third level of improvisation called product-oriented improvisation. (CMK)

Presents ways educators can make music an integral part of early childhood education and give every child a quality music experience. Discusses five ways children experience musical play: singing, rhymes and fingerplays, movement, listening, and instruments. Emphasizes the importance of musical goals rather than spatial-temporal reasoning or other…

Presents the results of a study that examined how children's melodic efforts resembled those of adults. Focuses on children, ages birth to seven (n=92), in Zimbabwe. Finds that the children's song acquisition was similar to children in other cultures, while these children were more accurate singers than their western counterparts. (CMK)

Describes how a 1913 Music Supervisors National Conference (MENC) committee identified 18 songs to be included in the curriculum and taught to all U.S. students. Reviews the expansion of the song list and its contribution to a common repertoire for U.S. community sings. (GG)

Discusses the role of Native American music, dance, and song in religious ceremonies, cultural preservation, social occasions, and entertainment. Describes traditional musical forms and instruments used by Hawaiians and various American Indian and Alaska Native groups, as well as innovations and European-based adaptations in musical styles and…

Language usage patterns of popular singers from different ethnic backgrounds were studied to identify possible linguistic conditioning regarding use of the Mizrahi dialect. The data suggest that there is an unconscious and hyperaccommodative, rather than hypercorrective, pull toward the dominant norm. Contains 74 references. (LB)

Recommends using Orff and Kodaly techniques to develop choral reading skills at the secondary level. Asserts that these techniques that are normally used with elementary level students may be extended through high school. Provides instructional materials to use as daily classroom exercises. Includes a chart of solfege dictation hand signs. (NL)

In this interview, Professor Harald Gaski, a Sami from Arctic Norway, notes similarities and differences in Sami and American-Indian cultures related to forced boarding schools for assimilation purposes, traditional education, religion, "yoiking" (singing) and music, connection to nature, and tribal schools. He advocates the…