Music Tip #74 Music and Writing Strategies

This year at school we set a goal to help boost writing scores by giving parents writing strategies they could do at home. We included them each month in our newsletter. Here's some ideas from my May newsletter:

The end of the school year and the beginning of summer are here and “what to do with the kids?” is an important question all parents ask.
Here are some writing ideas linked with music that might help keep your children in the learning zone:

1.Write new lyrics to familiar songs. Use folk songs as your starting point, then create new words to go with what you’re doing. If the chores need to get done, ask your child to write some cleaning up words to Mary Had a Little Lamb, or London Bridge. Here’s an example using the tune to Mary Had a Little Lamb:
My room looks so messy, Wow!
Messy, Wow! Messy, Wow!
My room looks so messy, Wow! I’d better clean it fast.

2.It’s really important for kindergarten-2nd grade age children to recognize rhyming words and be able to rhyme words themselves.
Start singing a song (again use folk or familiar songs) but only sing rhyming words, changing rhymes on each phrase. Encourage your child to join in. Here’s an example to the tune of 3 Blind Mice:
Sit, sit, sit,
Mit, mit, mit
Fit, fitfit, fit
Wit, witwit wit,
etc. (be prepared for silliness and laughing!) Then have your child write all the rhyming words you’ve sang.

3. Here’s a web site that teaches writing skills in the form of songs:
http://www.songsforteaching.com/writingstrategies.htm
4.I found this book on Amazon but it is not in stock. You can do the same thing at home. They have children practice their writing skills while listening to music. Easy—you can do the same thing. Everything is more fun with music in the background. http://www.amazon.com/Callirobics-Pre-Writing-Skills-Music-Callirobics/dp/B001AH3AL8
5.Here’s another site that teaches cursive writing and has songs to enhance the learning
http://www.kiboomu.com/2011/01/11/cursive-writing-practice-for-kids/