Week 7 reading

Readings:

Literacy: 

Baleghizadeh, S., & Dargahi, Z. (2010). The effect of nursery rhymes on EFL children's reading ability. New England Reading Association Journal, 46(1), 71-75,109. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/755497915?accountid=1091

Numeracy:
Geist, K., Geist, E. A., & Kuznik, K. (2012). The patterns of music: Young children learning mathematics through beat, rhythm, and melody. YC Young Children, 67(1), 74-79. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/927664938?accountid=10910

Summary

The literacy reading by Sasan Baleghizadeh and Zeinab Dargahi (2010) focus on how nursery rhyme aids children who learn English as a foreign language and their reading skills. First and foremost, nursery rhymes are helpful as they are motivating and fun to the children, which in turn gives children the desire to learn the language and have a positive attitude towards reading and English in general (p.71). Nursery rhymes also help improve phonetic skills such as sounds and stresses. Baleghizadeh & Dargahi (2010, p.76) also quote Clay (2001, p.76) who explains that children develop an ability known as phonetic segmentation and become better readers when exposed to nursery rhymes as they learn how a language sounds, and 'think their way through a word, sound by sound in the order which they hear it'. This is further supported by Strickland & Schikedanz (2004, p.19 cited in Baleghizadeh & Dargahi 2010, p. 72) that the repetition of rhymes allow children to be familiar with unit of sound (phonemes) which helps children to think about the whole word in sequences, 'a skill that is crucial for learning to read'. Children are able to familiarise the sound pattern of words, which helps them in recognising and reading words in text through nursery rhymes. Ehri & Robbins (1992, cited in Baleghizadeh & Dargahi 2010, p.73) also explains that when exposed to nursery rhymes, 'Children know when words do or do not rhyme. They also know when words begin or end with the same sound. They recognise that a word like /c/ /a/ /t/ is composed of three sounds and can be blended into a word'. All these abilities will contribute to improving the reading skills of children. A study was then conduced with the participants divided into two groups. The control group was taught the sounds of an alphabet using traditional methods whereas the experimental group was taught the sound of alphabets through nursery rhymes. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the two groups and the experimental groups showed a better ability in reading and recognising words. In conclusion, it was noted that using nursery rhymes as a teaching method definitely produced positive results, especially for children who are learning English as a foreign language.

The numeracy reading by Kamile Geist, Eugene A. Geist and Kathleen Kuznik (2012) discussed the use of music in teaching mathematics to young children. The authors' main points were that music is a good way to introduce sequencing and patterning to children, music helped children to pay attention during lessons and that music itself contains mathematical elements. Geist, Geist & Kuznik (2012, p. 74) quotes 'Musical elements such as steady beat, rhythm, melody, and tempo possess inherent mathematical principles such as spatial properties, sequencing, counting, patterning, and one-to-one correspondence.' This quote itself describes how music is related to mathematics. Another study by Zentner & Eerola (2010 cited in Geist et al 2012, p.74) found that infants responded better to stimuli that was incorporated with rhythm (i.e. a drum beat) than stimuli that only comprised of speech. Zenter & Eerola (2010 cited in Geist et al 2012, p.74) also note that 'infants and toddlers can not only see patterns but hear them in music'. All these abilities will contribute to a child's foundation in mathematics or what we call 'emergent mathematics'. Geist et al (2012, p.76) explains how patterning skills in children help them to build connections, relationships and even number concepts. These patterning skills improve as children get older. Geist et al (2012, p.76) explain that the use of music in mathematics makes learning fun and helps children to concentrate more as they develop positive attitudes towards mathematics and are more engaged in the activities. A case study included in the article explained that children had trouble recalling concepts they had learnt when they participated in activities that did not contain any musical experiences. Geist et al (2012 p. 77) also acknowledges the fact that using songs and music in lessons provides opportunities to include mathematical concepts in songs. A given example was a song that can relate the number of quacks in the song to the number of ducklings being sung about. Geist et al. (2012, p.78) conclude the article with an emphasis that 'Music is children's first patterning experience and helps them engage in mathematics even when they don't recognise the activities as mathematical'. 

Implications

Both of these readings were chosen as I was interested to see how music can be used as a 'text' in teaching literacy and numeracy concepts to children. From these readings, it is clearly proven that music and nursery rhymes produce a very positive effect on children's learning. In my own personal experience, I have found that singing songs like 'Ten Little Indians' and reading out loud rhymes like 'Humpty Dumpty' definitely improve children's understanding of counting and tone. When singing 'Ten Little Indians', I have noted that most children also stick out the correct number of fingers as the song goes along. This indicates an understanding of numbers and counting even in infants! When reading 'Humpty Dumpty', I note that when the children try to imitate the words I read, they read the words in the exact tone that I used while reading. I believe that all children are naturally inclined towards music. They see music as something fun and each child usually can connect to the rhythm and beat of a song. Using the readings, I perhaps would like to try to make a lesson plan purely based on music and nursery rhymes. There are many resources on the internet and possibly in libraries that include accompanying music with readings or many songs that involve mathematical concepts.