| During a time of increasing pressure for schools to achieve high reading scores on standardized tests, teachers are being asked to incorporate literacy activities into all aspects of the curriculum. This is accomplished with varying levels of success through integration of the language arts into subject matter such as social studies, science, and the arts. Indeed, the arts have been integrated into other areas of the curriculum for several years, but now, general music teachers are being asked to open their curriculum to subjects outside of music in order to maximize the opportunities for literacy learning during the school day. One way of accomplishing this integration is through the use of children's literature in the general music curriculum.;The purpose of this study was to explore the use of children's literature in kindergarten to sixth grade general music classes in Illinois. A survey was distributed to general music teachers whose email addresses were available in the public domain. Participants were general music teachers whose experience ranged from one year to thirty-one years of general music instruction. The survey was designed to answer the following questions. Are general music teachers using children's literature as a part of their curriculum and what are their attitudes toward its use? What types of children's literature are they using, and what are their reasons for using it? How are general music teachers specifically using children's literature to teach music?;Results of the survey demonstrated that general music teachers use children's literature primarily with their first to third grade students. The main reason that those teachers used children's literature was to help their students understand the relationship between music, the arts, and disciplines outside the arts, as well as to help instruct students about how music relates to history and culture. The three types of children's literature most used by general music teachers were poetry and verse, followed by illustrated song texts, and then picture-book fiction. The teachers surveyed believed that incorporating children's literature into general music was not only a good use of instructional time, but it also helped improve students? literacy skills. |
