Read Across America Experiences in the Music Room

Monday was mustache day and today we did our STOP-DROP-and -READ competition.  Our student council announces that in 60 seconds we will have STOP-DROP & READ. Then they say begin. Everyone has to have a book in hand. Music, PE and Art have their own books. I’ve been reading a couple of different choices. This one’s my favorite, “Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band” by Kwame Alexander, Illustrated by Tim Bowers.
At first I was a bit concerned about doing 2 things (Read Across America and March is Music Month), But it’s actually worked out to be a great thing to combine MUSIC IN OUR SCHOOLS and READ ACROSS AMERICA.
We do a lot of reading in the music room so it helps the kids understand the connection between Music and all subjects.
Tomorrow I’ll keep singing the songs with the kids and brainstorming about Why Music is important in our schools–which I’ll write about later this week.
Overall, it’s a good time to reaffirm why Music is important and one reason is that it get’s kids reading and tapping out rhythms, syllables and sounds.