A cognitive empowerment strategy utilizing music, movement and rhythm to teach children how they think and learn.

How do children learn music? And how can music teachers help children to become independent and self-sufficient musical thinkers? Author Eric Bluestine sheds light on these issues in music education.

Unlike their colleagues in music theory and music education, teachers of music history have tended not to commit their pedagogical ideas to print. This collection of essays seeks to help redress the balance, providing advice and guidance to those who teach a college-level music history or music appreciation course, be they a graduate student setting out on their teaching career, or a seasoned professor having to teach outside his or her speciality. Divided into four sections, the book covers the basic music history survey usually taken by music majors; music appreciation and introductory courses aimed at non-majors; special topic courses such as women and music, music for film and American music; and more general issues such as writing, using anthologies, and approaches to teaching in various situations. In addition to these specific areas, broader themes emerge across the essays. These include how to integrate social history and cultural context into music history teaching; the shift away from the 'classical canon'; and how to organize a course taking into consideration time constraints and the need to appeal to students from a diverse range of backgrounds. With contributions from both teachers approaching retirement and those at the start of their careers, this volume provides a spectrum of experience which will prove valuable to all teachers of music history.

The long-awaited follow-up to Making Thinking Visible, provides new thinking routines, original research, and unique global case studies Visible Thinking—a research-based approach developed at Harvard’s Project Zero – prompts and promotes students’ thinking. This approach has been shown to positively impact student engagement, learning, and development as thinkers. Visible Thinking involves using thinking routines, documentation, and effective questioning and listening techniques to enhance learning and collaboration in any learning environment. The Power of Making Thinking Visible explains how educators can effectively use thinking routines and other tools to engage and empower students as learners and transform classrooms into places of deep learning. Building on the success of the bestselling Making Thinking Visible, this highly-anticipated new book expands the work of the original by providing 18 new thinking routines based on new research and work with teachers and students around the world. Original content explains how to use thinking routines to maximum effect in the classroom, engage students exploration of big ideas, link thinking routines to formative assessment, and more. Providing new research, new global case studies, and new practices, this book: Focuses on the power that thinking routines can bring to learning Provides practical insights on using thinking routines to facilitate student engagement Highlights the most effective techniques for using thinking routines in the classroom Identifies the skillsets and mindsets needed to truly make thinking visible Features actionable classroom strategies that can be applied across grade levels and content areas Written by researchers from Harvard’s Project Zero, The Power of Making Thinking Visible: Using Routines to Engage and Empower Learners is an indispensable resource for K-12 educators and curriculum designers, higher education instructional designers and educators, and professional learning course developers.

"This is a book that ALL modern parents need to read."—Bless Their Hearts Mom A must-read for parents and educators, Teaching Kids to Think offers insight into the social, emotional, and neurological challenges unique to this generation of instant gratification kids. By identifying the five parent traps that adults fall into to fuel their child's need for instant gratification, this parenting book provides practical tips and easy-to-implement solutions to raise children who are confident, independent, and most importantly, able to think for themselves. Today's kids can easily: Google the answer to any question at lightning speed Text mom or dad to drop off any homework they've forgotten Find immediate solutions to problems and avoid opportunities to make mistakes and learn from them! However, this must-have child development resource will give valuable insight and guidance to parents looking to raise kids who can solve problems, flourish independently, and create their own success!

This book is based on a simple series of psychological concepts. While ability to think has always been important, the knowledge economy significantly increases the demand for higher order thinking and problem-solving abilities. Parents should take a much more active role in teaching their children to think. Early preschool years are critical because long-term attitudes and early strategies are learned then. Approaches and perspectives on learning to think can be clearly communicated to parents in ways which will make it possible for them to use the correct strategies to stimulate their students to think more clearly and critically. There are five elements involved in good, logical, critical, and creative thinking: 1. The skills involved in effective, efficient, and lasting learning, or commonly referred to as cognitive processing strategies 2. The mastery of logic and structure of what is being learned 3. Awareness of what one knows and does not know, and how one knows and how one thinks 4. The standards or guidelines for the validity and reliability of what one knows, called intellectual standards 5. The knowledge and skills involved in critical thinking and solving problems in different subjects or domains

Children are inherently musical. They respond to music and learn through music. Music expresses children's identity and heritage, teaches them to belong to a culture, and develops their cognitive well-being and inner self worth. As professional instructors, childcare workers, or students looking forward to a career working with children, we should continuously search for ways to tap into children's natural reservoir of enthusiasm for singing, moving and experimenting with instruments. But how, you might ask? What music is appropriate for the children I'm working with? How can music help inspire a well-rounded child? How do I reach and teach children musically? Most importantly perhaps, how can I incorporate music into a curriculum that marginalizes the arts?This book explores a holistic, artistic, and integrated approach to understanding the developmental connections between music and children. This book guides professionals to work through music, harnessing the processes that underlie music learning, and outlining developmentally appropriate methods to understand the role of music in children's lives through play, games, creativity, and movement. Additionally, the book explores ways of applying music-making to benefit the whole child, i.e., socially, emotionally, physically, cognitively, and linguistically.

(Meredith Music Resource). This valuable collection of deeply insightful strategies is like finding expert trade secrets all placed together in one easy, quick-to-read source. Contributors to the book were even eager to get a look at each other's ideas! With outstanding records of performance, workshops, recordings, research, composition, leadership, and teaching, the 57 authors provide their favorite "recipes" that range from overviews of successful programs to specific topics that will inspire all levels and types of ensembles and performers.

Engaging methods for teaching 21st-century skills Today′s students must be more than good test takers. They must be able to collaborate, innovate, and think critically to solve real-world problems. As content demands increase, how can teachers make time to teach these advanced skills? Sparking Student Synapses, Grades 9-12 describes how master teacher Nigel Scozzi used Rich Allen′s Green Light strategies to teach content in a memorable and efficient way. Backed by research, this practical guide provides secondary teachers with tried and trusted lesson plans, in multiple subject that: Engage students Accelerate learning Encourage critical thinking Improve test results When you apply the book′s effective strategies, your students will learn to make appropriate judgments based on the evidence available, understand relationships between ideas, evaluate content validity, and reflect upon their values. Changing the way you teach may be daunting, but the results are worth it--improved student engagement and behavior, better test results, and a rewarding reminder of why you became a teacher!

In Music Teachers' Values and Beliefs, Dwyer investigates the relationships between teachers, learners and music in music classrooms. Using Bourdieu's concepts of habitus and doxa as an interpretive lens, the book explores the values and beliefs of four music teachers, depicted in richly detailed narratives. The narratives are contextualised through the examination of traditions of music and contemporary approaches. In the past, music education has been shaped by elitist tendencies regarding the types of music worthy of study, the ways in which music should be learnt, and the purpose of such learning. Contemporary approaches to music education have enacted significant change in some regions and systems, while others have been slower to leave behind deeply entrenched values, beliefs and practices. These approaches have been blamed for low rates of participation and engagement in school music education, despite the fact that the majority of young people listen to and enjoy music outside of school. This innovative book provides music education researchers and practitioners with a new understanding of the impact of teachers' personal values, beliefs and experiences of music and music education on classroom practice, and the impact this has on students' experiences of music education.