While music in early childhood classrooms lays the foundation for literacy development (nursery rhymes, good morning songs), singing and songwriting can also be used to create an inclusive, multicultural classroom. Music has the ability to reflect the identities of the students in the classroom in a meaningful way.
Introduce children to different kinds of music from a variety of cultures and traditions. Give choice to your learners when its time to listen to or sing a song. This is a great stage to introduced the learners to music of various kinds.
Incorporate other languages into class songs. Many teachers greet their students with songs in the morning, and these songs might easily be altered to include phrases in various languages. The ritual of singing these songs every morning helps to instill the welcome, inclusive message in the class culture.
Involve families. Hearing something familiar can help break down boundaries and make children feel more at ease. Partner with families to translate a song into another language, such as a clean-up or line-up song, or urge families to bring songs into the classroom. Invite parents or children to assist in teaching the song to the class.
Having a music collection with a theme — such as shapes, colors, or modes of transportation — might aid learning. Make sure to include music about these issues in various languages. This not only includes English language learners who may be unfamiliar with academic jargon around a topic, but it may also stimulate intriguing vocabulary word discussions as youngsters see parallels and contrasts between languages.
Let students create music and musical instruments. Writing their own music or lyrics, or creating their own rhythms and sounds, helps children develop a strong sense of self. Allow time for the kids to share their songs and learn about what they’ve made.
Children can try their hand at making their own instruments. Building a guitar out of a cardboard box and rubber bands, for example, or tapping on water bottles and noticing how the pitch changes as the glass empties is not only entertaining, but also provides a short lesson in basic physics.
All icons are sourced from flaticon.com
