If you ever want to start a fight in the staffroom then bring up the question of the use of music in the classroom. And if you want to settle that perennial dispute then this is the book to do it with. Nina's groundbreaking research has proven how music can be of direct benefit for learning and motivation in classrooms across the school and this book , simply and effectively, tells you what music to use, when and why. So, put away your whale song CD and your James Last box set and explore how real music can transform your classroom.

Divided into two parts, this book shows how human memory influences the organization of music. The first part presents ideas about memory and perception from cognitive psychology and the second part of the book shows how these concepts are exemplified in music.

Learning Begins, written by a teacher for teachers, translates current brain research into practical classroom strategies. Because students learn with their brains, it simply makes sense for teachers to explore educational psychology and neuroscience. And yet, information in these fields can be daunting and contradictory. Worse still, few researchers can clearly explain the specific classroom uses of their remarkable discoveries. Learning Begins both explains this research and makes it useful for teachers and administrators. Part I investigates the science of working memory: a cognitive capacity essential to all school work. When teachers recognize the many classroom perils that can overwhelm working memory, they can use research-aligned strategies to protect it, and thereby promote student learning. Part II reveals the complexities of student attention. By understanding the three neural sub-processes that create attention, teachers can structure their classrooms and their lessons to help students focus on and understand new material. Written in a lively and approachable voice, based on years of classroom experience and a decade of scientific study, Learning Begins makes educational psychology and neuroscience clear and useful in schools and classrooms.

What goes on in human beings when they make or listen to music? What is it about music, what gives it such peculiar power over us, power delectable and beneficent for the most part, but also capable of uncontrollable and sometimes destructive force? Music has no concepts, it lacks images; it has no power of representation, it has no relation to the world. And yet it is evident in all of us–we tap our feet, we keep time, hum, sing, conduct music, mirror the melodic contours and feelings of what we hear in our movements and expressions. In this book, Oliver Sacks explores the power music wields over us–a power that sometimes we control and at other times don’t. He explores, in his inimitable fashion, how it can provide access to otherwise unreachable emotional states, how it can revivify neurological avenues that have been frozen, evoke memories of earlier, lost events or states or bring those with neurological disorders back to a time when the world was much richer. This is a book that explores, like no other, the myriad dimensions of our experience of and with music.

Film has shaped modern society in part by changing its cultures of memory. Film, Music, Memory reveals that this change has rested in no small measure on the mnemonic powers of music. As films were consumed by growing American and European audiences, their soundtracks became an integral part of individual and collective memory. Berthold Hoeckner analyzes three critical processes through which music influenced this new culture of memory: storage, retrieval, and affect. Films store memory through an archive of cinematic scores. In turn, a few bars from a soundtrack instantly recall the image that accompanied them, and along with it, the affective experience of the movie. Hoeckner examines films that reflect directly on memory, whether by featuring an amnesic character, a traumatic event, or a surge of nostalgia. As the history of cinema unfolded, movies even began to recall their own history through quotations, remakes, and stories about how cinema contributed to the soundtrack of people’s lives. Ultimately, Film, Music, Memory demonstrates that music has transformed not only what we remember about the cinematic experience, but also how we relate to memory itself.

Integrating musical activities in the elementary school classroom can assist in effectively teaching and engaging students in Language Arts, Science, Math, and Social Studies, while also boosting mental, emotional and social development. However, many elementary education majors fear they lack the needed musical skills to use music successfully. Future elementary school teachers need usable, practical musical strategies to easily infuse into their curriculum. Written for both current and future teachers with little or no previous experience in music, Using Music to Enhance Student Learning, Second Edition offers strategies that are not heavily dependent on musical skills. While many textbooks are devoted to teaching music theory skills, this textbook is dedicated to pedagogy – the actual teaching of music – particularly in those schools without a separate music class in their curriculum. The ultimate goal is for future teachers to provide their elementary school classes with engaging learning experiences. These learning experiences are clearly presented to enable children to acquire knowledge in all subject areas within a joyful, creative environment rich with music activities. New to the second edition are the animated listening maps, more audio tracks, a new guitar unit, expanded coverage in the recorder unit, a connection with visual art and music, expanded activities in American history and math, and updated research and statistics. SPECIAL FEATURES Animated "Listening Maps" help listeners focus on music selections through clear visual representations of sound. Group Activities reinforce the social aspects of music-making, as well as the benefits of collaborative teaching and learning. A thorough integration of music in the curriculum establishes that music is essential in a child’s development, and that the incorporation of music will enhance all other subjects/activities in the classroom. Learning Aids include "Tantalizing Tidbits of Research," which provide the justifications for why these activities are important, as well as "Teaching Tips," and "Thinking It Through" activities. The Using Music Package Streamed listening selections from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary Periods Get America Singing... Again! Volume 1 (developed in association with the Music Educators National Conference, now NAFME, and other music organizations) with 43 songs that represent America’s varied music heritage of folk, traditional, and patriotic themes Appendices include a songbook with Hispanic folksongs, a recorder music songbook and a guitar unit Companion website hosts various teaching and learning resources ISBN 978-0-367-11067-3 Using Music, Second Edition set includes: ISBN 978-0-415-70936-1 Using Music, Second Edition textbook Get America Singing... Again! Volume 1 songbook ISBN 978-0-429-02487-0 Using Music, Second Edition eBook is the textbok only. The songbook is only available with the print textbook and is not sold separately.