Sharing a musical experience between people helps to synchronize movement and brain activity between the individuals participating. Music often mimics dialogue, encourages eye contact, and encourages connectedness. Music also supports memorization and mood regulation. Music can be utilized in the classroom by familiarizing students with a song about a particular topic, such as cleaning up. This can become part of a shared routine that allows all participants to contribute meaningfully to a classroom expectation. Music can also serve as a playful reminder during moments of stress—for example, a familiar song about sharing may serve as an anchor for actually doing so.
Music can be used for any social or emotional learning objective. It is especially effective in supporting classroom routines and expectations. It can also be utilized for more specific and individualized objectives, such as making eye contact or responding to oral questions.
Whole Group: Anchor songs that are familiar to the whole group can be utilized to support shared learning and practice for whole groups of students.
One-on-One: Songs that are specific to individual student’s needs can be utilized in a one-on-one setting.
In the Moment: This is where using a music strategy is most valuable. In order to be most valuable, however, students should generally already know the anchor song used in the moment.
Classroom Routines: Music supports classroom routines such as transitions, and can also be used regularly at the same time of day to teach other concepts (i.e., singing a song about emotions every day while waiting to be dismissed from the cafeteria).
