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Joyce Bibzak, M.Ed., M.S.

Using Music and Movement toHelp Little Ones Develop Language

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Introduction

My background: School Counselor Graduate Degree in Early Childhood Special Education from Elmhurst College Currently a Developmental Therapist Working with Toddlers and Their Families Last But Not Least, a Mom and a Grandmother

Our topics will include: Part I: Effective (And Fun) Language Teaching = Singing and Moving. But

Why? Part II: The Ear/Brain/Body Connection that Makes It Work; and What Happens

If It Doesn’t Part III: How It All Comes Together for Young Children

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We know that movement and music seem to help children learn---especially language. WHY?

What is it about this particular combination of activities that fosters the development of language in young children?

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Finger Plays!

YOUR Favorites???

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What Do ALL Finger Plays

Have In Common?

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•Common Elements of Finger Plays Using Music and Movement:

•Rhythm

•Rhyme

•Often Melodic

•Movement of Body

•Usually Memorized

•Often Passed on Orally

So, how do all these elements come together to teach language?

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Listening to (and processing) music involves

discriminating timbre and pitch and recognizing familiar

melodies.

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Timbre: How we hear the differences between the

sounds of different instruments or voices

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Pitch: How we hear the tones move up or down

as we listen

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How we remember familiar songs and melodies

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Right Frontal Lobe = Timbre

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Brain Posterior=Pitch Perception

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Left Frontal Lobe=Recognition of Familiar Song or Melody

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When there are auditory/language processing problems they may present as:

•Child having difficulty following directions

•Difficulty rhyming words at an early age

•Comparatively underdeveloped vocabulary, grammar,

syntax and sentence structure

•Difficulty separating meaningful sounds (i.e. language)

from background noise

•Tendency to confuse similar sounding words

•Difficulty remembering and reproducing letter sounds

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Did you know?...

•Language-learning difficulties (both receptive and expressive) tend to run in families, especially among male family members

•Research has found that many children with auditory/languageprocessing delays also have a higher frequency

of sensorimotor difficulties

So…

Using multiple sensory channels and movement will be especially helpful in fostering their language development

as well as help in sensorimotor development.

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OK…

Now we know how our brain hears.

How does our brain move our fingers, arms and legs to music?

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Brain Synapses: Connections and exchangesof information from brain cell to brain cell

This is how the different parts of the brainwork together

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To move in a coordinated way, we need two main elements:

Vestibular (balance) skills

and

Propioceptive skills(awareness of where our bodies are

in the space around us)

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If all the systems work together

as designed,

this is what it looks and sounds like…

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Video of “Days of the Week” and/or “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and

Toes”

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Three Main Problems That Can Slow DownLanguage Acquisition Using Music and Movement

Activities :

•Vestibular (balance) problems

•Motor planning problems

•Auditory processing delay

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Physical Therapists can help children with balance andmotor planning difficulties.

Speech and Language Therapists and Learning Specialists can help withauditory processing delays

BUT…

WE can help children put all these pieces together tohelp them learn language.

HOW?

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By teaching them to use musicand movement

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In 1949, Dr. Donald Hebb determinedthat when many senses are used at the

same time to learn a skill, there are more synapses firing simultaneously in the brain.

The more synapses fired, the more brain connections are made and the more learning

is retained.

This is referred to as “associative learning”.

In other words,“Cells that fire together, wire together”.

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Remember the elements of a finger play?

Rhyme

Rhythm

Often Melodic

Movement of Body

Usually Memorized

Usually Passed on Orally

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Of all those elements,

which do you think

is the most important

to the learning of

LANGUAGE??

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IT’S…

RHYTHM!

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Dr. Jenny R. Saffra:

“Both music and language require the ability to trackconsistent patterns of sound and rhythm.”

Dr. Phyllis Weikart:

“Being able to keep a steady beat helps a person to feel the cadence (rhythm) of

theirparticular language.”

Dr. Weikart found that using rhythm sticks to tap outsyllables in words helped children develop language.

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What is it about rhythm sticks and kazoos?

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Phyllis Weirkart: Tapping and acknowledgingeach word’s syllable is one important part

of helping children develop language. The other part is the incorporation of the movement

of the child’s hands and arms.

Brewer and Campbell (1991): “Movement and rhythmstimulate the frontal lobes and enrich language and

motor development.”

That’s the rhythm sticks part… now for the kazoo!

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Factoid:One of the very best ways to facilitate rhythm and movement is to

stimulate the balance (vestibular) system.

One of the very best ways to stimulate the vestibular system isthe use of…

Children as young as 10 months can produce sound with a kazoo.

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Video of Small Children Playing

Kazoos

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Remember us?/

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The vestibular system is also crucial

to the development of language for

another reason…

It enables us to move from sideto side in a coordinated fashion

ANDalso to move our eyes from left to right in a functional

and coordinated way.

As in READING.

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Neurophysiologist Dr. Carla Hannaford states that,

“the vestibular (inner ear) system and the cerebellar (motor activity) areas are the first

sensory systems to mature. These systems interact,

conveying information back and forth from the cerebellum to the rest of the brain, including the

visual system and sensory cortex…This interaction helps us keep our balance, turn thinking

into actions, and coordinate moves.”

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Here’s an example of children usingassociative sounds, pictures, and body

movements tohelp them remember letter sounds.

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Video of Jolly PhonicsHere.

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And this method of helping little ones learn languageis not limited to English-

speaking countries…

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Video of Pakistani children and teacher

here

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Video of Asian children with music and movement here

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So, to pull it altogether…

We need to involve as many senses as possible to help the brain and itsinterrelated systems stimulate

language development in our smallestlearners.

As more parts of the brain are being used,more synapses are being fired, links are

being made, and senses, information andexperiences remembered.

This is learning.

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Human beings learn:

10% of what we read20% of what we hear

30% of what we observe50% of what we see and hear simultaneously

70% of what we discuss80% of what we experience

and 95% of what we’re taught using all channels.

Dr. Carla Hannaford, 1995

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References and Acknowledgements

Campbell, D. & Brewer, D. (1991). Rhythms of learning.Tucson, Arizona: Zephyr Press.

Hebb, Donald. (1949). Quoted in online article, Hebbian Theory. Biotiny.com, 2012.

Hannaford, C. (1995). Smart moves: Why learning is not all in the head. Arlington, VA: Great Oceans Publishing.

Saffran, J. (2003). Musical learning and language development. Annals, New York Academy of Sciences. NY.

Tallal, P. & Gaab, N. (2006). Dynamic auditory processing,musical experience and language development: Trends in Neuroscience (2006).

Weikart, P.S. (2009). The Movement Foundation for Music:A Brain/Body Connection. Presentation delivered toMissouri Music Educators Pre-Conference.

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Illustrations and Photographs

All illustrations and photographs used inthis presentation are available at

googleimages.com

All videos used as part of this presentationare available at googleimages.com or You Tube.

The Jolly Phonics video featuring Victoria Carrolton is available for viewing at You

Tube under the search heading, “Jolly Phonics”.