One of those dreaded education phrases: "Cross-Curricular". It brings to mind a classroom teacher throwing little jingles at you to help them with dental care or washing hands. And, of course, they give you these requests the day before. There are advantages, though, to working with the classroom teachers on across the board curriculum. After all, you reinforce their topics...they can reinforce yours!

Do you (and the classroom teacher!) realize how much of regular music already reinforces objectives taught in reading, math, science, and language arts? This idea really hit me in a big way today as I was working with first graders on ta's and ti-ti's. The students had to realize, as rhythms for chants were analyzed, how words are divided into syllables. I usually ask "How many parts does this word have? If it's two, are they fast or slow?" so the students can decide if the word fits the beat or the division of the beat. You can introduce the word "syllable"!

We already know that kindergarten teachers work on rhyming quite a bit. Music is a natural reinforcer for rhyming, especially if you can guide the students into making up their own lines. "Willougby-Wallaby" is such a fun song for rhyming, because it makes a play on the students' names.

Reading is also reinforced just by using word sheets, your series songbooks, and octavos. When I use the word sheets from Music K-8, for instance, I even use them with first graders and have the students read the words with me, or I read along with them. I point out words that might be causing difficulty, defining them if necessary. With the rhythm and flow of music, students seem to catch on more quickly to reading. Whether it's just the rhythm, or the fact that rhythm forces them to go ahead and not linger on certain words, I don't know. But, most students do fine!

The tie-ins with social studies, of course, are numerous. Correlate the lives of famous composers to what might be going on in the United States at the time. Emphasize the importance of Negro spirituals to the lives of slaves and in extension, the Civil War. Show the musical "Annie", and talk about the Great Depression. Work songs, pioneer game songs........the list is endless.

And, what about art? Mention the correlations of the musical elements with similar elements found in art. What is texture in art? What is texture in music? How are noise in art and music similar? Can you compare the art of a cultural artist to the music of the culture?

In P.E., you have dance units at your disposal. See what styles of dance and movement are utilized in P.E. class, then reinforce those in your class.

Offer to do the sound unit for your second, third, or fourth grade classroom teachers. You have so many tools at your disposal for the use of sound vibrations, even and uneven sounds, the difference between noise and music.....

But, turnabout's fair play! At the beginning of the year, I try to send out a questionnaire to the classroom teachers outlining the objectives for their classroom I can cover or reinforce for them. Then, I ask them what songs they would like to use in THEIR classroom to go with their units in social studies, literature, or whatever. There are resources you have that the teachers can use, and they don't have to sing a note. You don't have to teach ALL the dance units! You can just review dances learned in P.E. Don't feel like all the cross-curricular plans have to fall on your shoulders. The teachers can reinforce your objectives like they would like you to reinforce theirs.

Make sure your classroom teachers understand the time element you have. No law says you have to do the Latin American unit exactly when the sixth grade teacher is studying that culture. If you try to correlate exactly what the other teachers are doing at the same time, you'll go crazy. It would help, if, at the beginning of the year, you have your questionnaire ready at the first faculty meeting. Go over your objectives, ask the teachers how these meet theirs, and ask how these can be divided up among the classrooms. This isn't as far-fetched as it sounds. In a recent PDC meeting in my district, the fifth grade teachers and special area teachers were going over last year's P.E. Missouri state assessment grades and discussing what could be taught in P.E. and what could be reinforced in other areas to improve scores. Classroom teachers, for the most part, are more willing than you think to help out. They just need to know what to do and what resources are available to them.

Please share your cross-curricular ideas and lesson plans! Submit your ideas, and we'll post them on the site in a future update.