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usic !elates to "nglish #lass

Gregory Pavliv Gregory Pavliv is a curriculum designer who has been writing professionally since 2005. His curriculum has been featured on the documentary, !lassroom !lose"#p. He has a $achelor of %usic from $er&lee !ollege of %usic and a %aster of 'rts in instructional and curriculum design from the #niversity of Phoeni(. $y Gregory Pavliv, eHow !ontributor

%usic and )nglish are both forms of artistic e(pression. %usic relates to )nglish class on many levels. *ith a push for teachers to teach multiple content areas within one lesson, both )nglish and music teachers ali&e can benefit from the correlations between the two. $oth sub+ects utili,e rhythm, meter and spo&en beats with accents and mar&ings. -hey are also both forms of artistic e(pression.

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%usic and )nglish are both ways in which people can e(press themselves through their own composition or interpretation of other wor&s. %usic can relate to )nglish class as a vehicle of emotion. .omeone creating music is ta&ing his own personal e(perience and transferring it into song. /n )nglish class, students attach their emotions to a written piece of wor& or create their own composition of poetry or stories.

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/n music, song is created. /n )nglish, the e0uivalent is poetry. )nglish teachers can use music to help students ma&e the transition from memori,ing song lyrics to writing their own lyrics. *hen these lyrics are ta&en as their own body of wor&, the students become poets. ' helpful assignment could consist of students listening to a piece of music for inspiration and then composing a piece of poetry that is based on what they heard. eter

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%usic has a definitive beat, regardless of style or genre. -he beat is what drives the song. /n )nglish class, the reading of poetry involves the use of beats that are embedded in the language made into a rhythm by the composer, or in this case the author. -a&ing it from the other direction, a piece of poetry written by one student can be turned into a song by another who is able to hear the beats of the words and turn them into a piece of music. *hen reading well written prose, the beat of the consonants against the vowels creates another style of beat that flows as easily as poetry.

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%usic is performance"driven. -he ultimate goal of learning a song is to perform it for others. *hile )nglish does not e(actly share this overall goal, )nglish class offers opportunity for performance through readings, poetry recital and drama clubs. /n performing, the student author or reader will have an e(perience similar to the student composer or musician who performs on stage for the school.

#onclusion
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%usic not only relates to )nglish class, it can be a valuable part of the class to complement current lessons, inspire additional pro+ects or stand alone as a vehicle for poetry and prose. -here are many opportunities for teachers of both sub+ect areas to wor& together and create multi"se0uence lessons that might span multiple class periods between both )nglish and music. 1iscovering the relation between the two will inspire students and

teachers ali&e. !e+erences

ETeachers: Teacher Directory of Lesson Plans and Teaching Tips National Association for Music Education National Writing Project: "Arkansas Professor inds Place for Teens! Music in English "lass#" Dece$%er &''(

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