The University of ToledoThe University of Toledo Digital Repository
Theses and Dissertations
2012
Music and compound wordsTheodora E. MiddletonThe University of Toledo
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Recommended CitationMiddleton, Theodora E., "Music and compound words" (2012). Theses and Dissertations. 378.http://utdr.utoledo.edu/theses-dissertations/378
iii
A Thesis
entitled
Music and Compound Words
by
Theodora E. Middleton
Submitted to the Graduate Faculty as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
Master’s Degree in Music Education
_________________________________________ Dr. Timothy Brakel, Committee Chair _________________________________________ Dr. Pamela Stover, Committee Member _________________________________________ Dr. David Jex, Committee Member _________________________________________
Dr. Patricia R. Komuniecki, Dean College of Graduate Studies
The University of Toledo
May 2012
iv
iii
An Abstract of
Music and Compound Words
by
Theodora E. Middleton
Submitted to the Graduate Faculty as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master’s Degree in Music Education
The University of Toledo
May 2012
With the advent of the Common Core Curriculum, teachers will be asked to
embed literacy into their lessons regardless of their content area. Fortunately for music
educators, research indicates that music promotes literacy. Music is also a useful tool for
regular classroom teachers.
Compound words are an area of difficulty for Emergent Readers, English
Language Learners (ELL) and students with learning disabilities. Jean Berko Gleason
(1958), a psycholinguist from Boston University, found children were not always aware
of the separate elements of compound words. While some children noticed the separate
elements, they often assigned meaning to these parts that were inaccurate or merely
personal. While many music and literacy researchers agree that music promotes literacy,
there is a gap between scholarly theory and useful classroom tools. This project focuses
on approaching this gap by creating new modules that are easy to use in the elementary
general classroom. Each module contains multiple compound words piggybacked onto
well-known melodies. In addition, a newly created index of high-quality folk songs
containing compound words is located in Appendix A.
iv
For Max and Grace
v
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to my professional colleagues and allies: Marion Jaeck, who brainstormed
with me on this project, gave advice and friendship; and DeLee Beadle, who is an
excellent sounding board and compassionate friend. Thank you to my professors: Dr.
Timothy Brakel, for helping me figure out how to complete course work while being a
working, single mother; and Dr. Pamela Stover, for all of her time and plentiful
resources. Thank you to Brent Coldiron for stress-reducing yoga and laughter. Thank you
to Dee Walker for child care.
My family has given me the courage to do anything I set my mind to: Matthew, Seth,
Tori, Stacie, LJ, James & Quinn, I am blessed to have you. This has definitely been a
group effort as my mother, Sheilah Grogan (Mimi) assisted in line editing and moral
support. My talented sister, Alexandra, helped with formatting. And almost everyone
took a turn babysitting. And a special thank you to my children, Max and Grace, who
sacrificed so much for the good of our little family. And lastly, for Rusty: thanks for
making me a fighter.
vi
Table of Contents
Abstract iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgements v
Table of Contents vi
List of Tables ix
List of Figures x
Chapter I. Introduction 1
Music and Literacy 1
Purpose and Questions 2
Music in the Classroom 2
Compound Words and Second Grade in the Common Core 3
Newly Created Materials 4
Procedures 5
Selection of Compound Words 5
Method of Research and Sources 8
Design 9
Chapter II. Literature Review—Past and Current Overviews 12 Common Core 12
Common Core Concerns 13
Literature Review on Music and Literacy 15
Phonological Awareness 15
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Phonemic Awareness 17
Orthographic Awareness 18
Music Experiences and Children 18
Recurrent Process 19
Compound Word Challenges 20
Compound Word Research 20
Decoding Difficulties 22
Chapter III. Available Resources 24
Songs for Teaching Compound Words 24
Songs Containing Compound Words 27
Chapter IV. Classroom Solutions 31
Nature Compound Words 31
Word Family –ay and Compound Words 35
Times of Day Compound Words 37
Sports –all Compound Words 39
Food Compound Words 42
Chapter V. Conclusions 45
Appendix Resources 45
Literacy Projects in the Music Classroom 46
Further Application 48
Conclusion 50
References 51
Appendices 56
viii
A. Folk Song Index 56
B. Resources for Educators 70
C. Compound Word List 72
ix
List of Tables
Table 1: Common Core Standards ...................................................................................3
Table 2: Hyphenated Compound Words ..........................................................................6
Table 3: Evolved Compound Words ................................................................................7
Table 4: Sample of Folk Song Index..............................................................................10
x
List of Figures
Figure 1.1 Nature compound words ..................................................................................31
Figure 1.2 ..........................................................................................................................32
Figure 1.3 ..........................................................................................................................32
Figure 1.4 ..........................................................................................................................32
Figure 1.5 ..........................................................................................................................33
Figure 1.6 ..........................................................................................................................33
Figure 1.7 ..........................................................................................................................33
Figure 1.8 ..........................................................................................................................34
Figure 1.9 ..........................................................................................................................34
Figure 2.1 -ay compound words ........................................................................................35
Figure 2.2 ..........................................................................................................................35
Figure 2.3 ..........................................................................................................................35
Figure 2.4 ..........................................................................................................................36
Figure 2.5 ..........................................................................................................................36
Figure 3.1 Times of day compound words ........................................................................37
Figure 3.2 ..........................................................................................................................37
Figure 3.3 ..........................................................................................................................37
Figure 3.4 ..........................................................................................................................38
Figure 3.5 ..........................................................................................................................38
Figure 3.6 ..........................................................................................................................38
Figure 3.7 ..........................................................................................................................39
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Figure 4.1 Sports –all compound words ...........................................................................39
Figure 4.2 ..........................................................................................................................40
Figure 4.3 ..........................................................................................................................40
Figure 4.4 ..........................................................................................................................40
Figure 4.5 ..........................................................................................................................41
Figure 4.6 ..........................................................................................................................41
Figure 4.7 ..........................................................................................................................41
Figure 5.1 Food compound words .....................................................................................42
Figure 5.2 ..........................................................................................................................42
Figure 5.3 ..........................................................................................................................43
Figure 5.4 ..........................................................................................................................43
Figure 5.5 ..........................................................................................................................43
Figure 5.6 ..........................................................................................................................44
Figure 5.7 ..........................................................................................................................44
Figure 6 Caps for sale .....................................................................................................48
Figure 7 Terrible rhythm ................................................................................................48
Figure 8 Australia ...........................................................................................................49
1
Chapter I
Introduction
Music and Literacy
Many educators find music is an effective instructional tool. Despite the lack of
comprehensive studies, significant research indicates music has a positive effect on
mood, memory, literacy and language acquisition for English Language Learners. Many
educators are aware of Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences that suggests
intelligence is a range of abilities or intelligences in specific domains. As many educators
know, one of the intelligences Gardner identifies is musical. Fleming's model identifies
three types of learning styles: visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Often referred to as VAK
or VARK where the R refers to read/write. The practice of considering all domains of
intelligence, as well as adapting lessons according to different learning styles is widely
used in education. Music has the capacity to represent all learning styles as outlined by
the Fleming's VAK/VARK model: visual (seeing notation), auditory (hearing pitch),
read/write (reading and composing notation), kinesthetic (moving to music). The authors
of Linking Music Learning to Reading Instruction make an argument for music;
“Discontinuing music programs could deprive students of kinesthetic, aural, oral, visual,
and emotional experienced that will ultimately bring written texts to life.” Hanson &
Bernstone (2002) identify six specific areas of literacy that are positively impacted by
music instruction: phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, sight identification,
orthographic awareness, cueing system awareness and fluency.
Literacy is thought to develop in a spiral manner, “The term recurrent is used here
to suggest a process of language and literacy acquisition that is not linear, but one that
2
loops back to earlier processes (listening, dialogue, reading/writing)…For a child to
become language-literate she must be immersed in language” (Burton & Taggart 2011)
It seems evident that since learners do not learn in the same manner, many students need
multiple representations and repeated exposure to components of literacy, and music is a
plausible form of reinforcement.
Purpose and Questions
The purpose of this thesis is to bridge the gap between scholarly research and
practical classroom application, using music to support literacy instruction concerning
compound words. These materials can be used by either the classroom teacher or the
music specialist.
Music in the Classroom While integrating music into the classroom is a
somewhat natural process for some teachers, others may find themselves too self-
conscious to sing in front of their students believing they “can’t sing”. Musically
confident teachers are utilizing music to not only assist students in and out of transitions,
but also to teach curriculum. Less confident teachers might avoid the use of music in the
classroom, therefore missing a potentially vital opportunity to help their students learn
and remember.
Finding a way to integrate music in the classroom, especially for teachers feeling
insecure with their musical abilities, is a useful and worthy endeavor. Since learners
respond to different modalities of learning, it is logical to assume that music will
eventually make the job of the teacher easier since the material is presented in a
memorable manner. In The Effects of Music, Rhymes and Singing in the Classroom,
(Ortis, 2006) Wolfe (2001) describes a melody familiar to most Americans, the ABC’s:
3
A five year old child can typically work with a mere two bits of information on a conscious level. But nearly all Kindergarten kids can recite the ABC song, which has 26 bits of information that have no natural relationship to one another, other than the musical accompaniment” (p.204) While many music and literacy researchers agree that music promotes literacy,
there is a gap between scholarly theory and useful classroom tools. This project focuses
on approaching this gap by creating new modules that are easy to use and take into
consideration the musically insecure classroom teacher.
Compound Words and Second Grade in the Common Core Conversations with teachers
reveal certain areas of concern for their students, one is compound words. Therefore, the
area of focus chosen for this project is compound words. While compound words are
currently a first-grade standard in the State of Ohio, they are being transitioned to second
grade with the Common Core as indicated in Table 1:
Table 1: Common Core Standards Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
L.2.4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 2 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies.
Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase. Determine the meaning of the new word formed when a known prefix is added to a known word (e.g., happy/unhappy, tell/retell). Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., addition, additional). Use knowledge of the meaning of individual words to predict the meaning of compound words (e.g., birdhouse, lighthouse, housefly; bookshelf, notebook, bookmark). Use glossaries and beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases.
Adapted from www.corestandards.org
Table 1 is a portion of the English Language Arts Standards for Grade 2. Listed
under Vocabulary Acquisition and Use, the fourth bullet under L.2.4 specifically
mentions compound words.
4
While this project is geared towards second grade, it has implications for all
elementary students of varying abilities: English Language Learners (ELL), typical
learners and children with special needs will benefit from reinforcement of compound
words in the form of short musical modules. As cited previously, researchers do not see
the process of language and literacy acquisition in a linear manner, but instead learners
build upon previous learning, therefore these compound word modules will be useful in
multiple grade levels and serve to loop and reinforce literacy.
Newly Created Materials
As a part of this thesis new teaching materials were created. Five compound word
modules are presented as five short PowerPoint Presentations. Each presentation
incorporates multiple compound words per presentation making the most of use out of
instructional time. Each presentation contains the new lyrics for students to read along.
The modules make use of piggyback songs. Piggyback songs are well-known melodies
(song in our cultural aural vernacular) set to new words. Well-known songs will be easier
for classroom teacher to use immediately since most educators in America know to
melody to songs such as Mary Had A Little Lamb.
In addition to compound word modules, this project also includes an index of folk
songs that contain compound words for music teachers or classroom teachers. It has long
been held that high-quality folk songs are one of the best tools music educators have
available in the general music classroom for primary grades. While classroom teachers
may find piggyback songs are more easily accessible to their musical abilities, the music
teacher and musically confident classroom teachers will have an opportunity to teach
cross-curricular lessons with folk songs containing compound words.
5
The Common Core states an expectation for all teachers in their respective
schools to share the responsibility of literacy, specifically: “These goals can be achieved
by ensuring that teachers in other disciplines are also focusing on reading and writing to
build knowledge within their subject areas.” Music educators are on firm ground to assist
classroom teachers with these Common Core goals in English Language Arts (ELL) since
research supports the idea that music promotes literacy. In reality, it only takes a few
minutes in the general music classroom to display the text of a traditional folk song and,
in this case, ask students to identify the compound word(s). This regular practice of
displaying and reading the text, increasing fluency and highlighting various aspects of
grammar, will certainly satisfy the new requirements of Common Core without
demeaning the integrity of musical study.
Procedures In creating and locating materials for Compound Words and Music, various
resources were consulted to select the compound words and to locate known songs that
already use compound words. This study focuses exclusively on closed compound words.
Selection of Compound Words There are three forms of compound words:
hyphenated, open and closed. A hyphenated compound is also sometimes called a unit
modifier. A succinct and understandable definition of hyphenated compound words is
found in The United States government’s Minerals Management Service Style Guide
(1995):
The hyphen is a mark of punctuation that not only unites but separates the component words; thus, it aids understanding and readability and ensures correct pronunciation. Words are hyphenated mainly to express the idea of a unit and to avoid ambiguity.
6
Many compound adjectives are regularly hyphenated (such as accident-prone) but
if the adjective uses the adverb well in its formation (well-behaved), the compound
adjective is only hyphenated if it follows the noun in a sentence (Oxford Dictionaries
Online, 2012) as illustrated in Table 2:
Table 2: Hyphenated Compound Words
Incorrect Correct He is a well known man He is a well-known man. (A compound
modifier before the noun) Their children are well-behaved. Their children are well behaved. (The
modifier follows the noun, no hyphen.) Adapted from http://oxforddictionaries.com
Table 2 contains sentences that illustrate correct and incorrect use of hyphenated
and non-hyphenated adjectives. In the first sentence well known is incorrect because it
comes before the noun man. In this case the sentence should read “…well-known man”.
In the second sentence, well-behaved is incorrect because it comes after the noun
children. This sentence should read “…children are well-behaved”.
Some compound words in the hyphenated form are constantly changing because
as usage increases the hyphen is dropped; such as key-board switching to keyboard.
Some of the regularly used compound words still have two acceptable forms such as
bumblebee and bumble bee. This tends to have the potential to confuse even the
individual who holds English as their first language, let alone either those learning
English as a second language or emergent readers and spellers. Indeed, The United States
government’s Minerals Management Service Style Guide (1995) states, “Compounding is
in such a state of flux that dictionaries do not always agree…”
An open compound is two words; such as ice and cream, spelled unconnected to
mean something new: ice cream. As stated earlier, some words in hyphenated or open
7
form, eventually evolve into the last type of compound: closed form. “The use of
compounding in our language is an evolving process. As expressions become more
popular or adopt special meanings, they follow a gradual evolution from two or more
separate or hyphenated words to single words.” United States Minerals Management
Service Style Guide (1995). Table 3 is an excerpt from The United States Minerals
Management Service Style Guide that outlines several compound word evolutions:
Table 3: Evolved Compound Words
audio visual audio-visual audiovisual
copy editor copy-editor copyeditor
wild life wildlife wildlife
Adapted from: United States Minerals Management Service Style Guide (1995)
As indicated above, many open compound words in American English have
emerged as closed compound words over time. The word audio visual, for example,
started as an open compound word and eventually morphed to a hyphenated compound
word and is now also acceptable as a closed compound word.
The solid or closed form of compound words are two words that are combined
into a single word usually having a separate meaning from he original root words such as
fire and fly combining to form firefly. Given the variable and confusing nature of open
and hyphenated compound words, this project has been delimitated to include only the
closed form of compound words in order to avoid confusion for the emergent reader.
Only compound words that are in the regular experience of a typical child in this
day and age were chosen. An emphasis on vocabulary related to real-life experience and
8
background knowledge is important since previous experience is one way children
scaffold learning:
Scaffolding must begin from what is near to the student's experience and build to what is further from their experience. Likewise, at the beginning of a new task, the scaffolding should be concrete, external, and visible. Vygotskian theory shows that learning proceeds from the concrete to the abstract. (Wilhelm, Baker, & Dube, 2001 as cited by www.myread.org/scaffolding.htm)
In the children’s rhyme Simple Simon the compound word pieman is present. However, a
student in 2012 probably does not have much experience with a pieman. In addition,
proper names that contain two root words, such as Redman were not included.
Method of Research and Sources
Using the master index from several music curricula, (Making Music, 1999, 2002;
Share the Music, 2000; and The Music Connection, 1999) a list of songs and speech
pieces for music and classroom teachers that contain compound words was compiled.
Other method and folksong books such as The Kodaly Method I (Choksy, 1999) were
combed for quality folk songs. Also used were resources from the personal collection of
Dr. Pamela Stover, Early Childhood Education expert at The University of Toledo.
Informal discussions of teaching compound words with a cross-section of Primary
teachers proved useful. One teacher in particular, Marion Jaeck of Holland Elementary
(Springfield School District of Northwest Ohio), was especially helpful in referring me to
the website www.learningdifferences.com for an extensive list of compound words listed
in Appendix C.
A variety of online resources such as the Utah State Office of Education (USOE)
were also helpful. The USOE website has a Fine Arts-Music section containing an
Elementary Songbook, PDF files of sheet music, as well as accompaniment tracks with or
9
without voices. Materials were also collected from The American Folksong Collection at
Holy Names University, an online resource of the Kodaly Center for Music Education in
Oakland, CA. The website www.YouTube.com also proved a useful avenue for finding
song material readily available for classroom teachers. Another rich resource of folk
songs is The Folk Song Index created by Oberlin college library and a non-profit
organization called Sing Out! This resource is worth noting as it is incredibly massive,
listing over 62,000 international and American folk songs. These resources are among
those listed in Appendix B, Resources for educators.
Design
Conversations with primary grade educators revealed a chronic lack of time to
cover all of the concepts they are required to teach. Given this, the estimated time the
educators agreed they could spend on compound words on a given day was less than
fifteen minutes. Often, the concept of compound words itself would be touched upon
only once or twice, and repeat exposure to these words would tend to occur naturally as
they experience reading different texts.
Another focus of concern within the design of this project is the musical ability
and confidence of the non-musical classroom teacher. Many teachers indicated that
they were much more likely to try a melody that is familiar. Piggyback songs offer this
familiarity. Piggyback songs are not always ideal in the eyes of some music education
professionals for valid reasons. There are concerns that students may think that the
piggyback song is the original version, however, it may prove better to build upon
classroom teachers’ areas of strength rather than dismiss small beginnings. Therefore,
five new piggyback songs containing compound words were created.
10
Since time constraints in the classroom are a factor, the new piggyback songs
contain more than one compound word. Compound words within each song are
organized by either a word family or theme. Each song has a short PowerPoint
presentation. The photographs were chosen for their engaging quality and visual appeal.
A strong color theme is evident as visual learners often respond positively to color.
Teachers looking for traditional songs will find an index of folk songs containing
compound words organized alphabetically in Appendix A. A sample of the folk song
index is shown in Table 4.
Table 4: Sample of Folk Songs Index
Song Title 120 SG
HNU HS
K.I MIP SA
A, B, C x Ah! The Pretty Butterflies
Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round
Alexander’s Ragtime and
All Around the Buttercup
x All Around the Brickyard x x x
120 SG: 120 Singing games and dances for elementary schools HNU: Website: The American Folksong Collection at Holy Names University HS: Heritage songster K.I: The Kodály method I: Comprehensive music education MIP: Music in preschool SA: Sail away: 155 American folk songs to sing, read and play
Note that each song in the folk song index has its own row. The columns have a
code corresponding to the various resources listed below, such as Heritage Songster or
Sail Away, where the song can be found.
11
Teachers will be able to utilize these songs in a way that best supports his or her
classroom. In using these song, it is recommended that quick and efficient procedures
such as simply displaying the text somewhere in the room, asking students to point out
the compound word in the sheet music, clap the rhythm of the compound word or even
creating a word wall of compound words in the classroom.
This introduction has laid the groundwork for this thesis. The next chapter
explores the research supporting the new teaching materials and song index.
12
Chapter 2
Literature Review—Past and Current Overviews
This chapter begins with an overview of the newly instated Common Core
Standards. It is followed by a traditional literature review on connections between
literacy and music: phonological, phonemic and orthographic awareness. This is followed
by a section on musical experiences and children and the recurrent nature of literacy.
The concluding section includes research on compound words and the challenges they
present.
Common Core Currently, the Common Core State Standards have been adopted by all
but five states in The United States (Texas, Alaska, Nebraska, Virginia and Minnesota).
By 2014, current state assessments will be replaced by a test based on the Common Core
Standards. The Mission Statement of Common Core:
“The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.” Mission Statement of Common Core State Initiative
Common Core also states all teachers in their respective school will become
somewhat responsible for the literacy of students in their respective schools: “These goals
can be achieved by ensuring that teachers in other disciplines are also focusing on reading
and writing to build knowledge within their subject areas.” Fortunately, music educators
are on firm ground, ready to assist classroom teachers with Common Core goals in ELA,
since research supports the idea that music promotes literacy.
13
A primary goal of Common Core is school consistency across all 50 states.
Children living in Pennsylvania will, ideally, get the same education as children living in
Nevada. This serves our mobile society, as well as allows states accurate comparisons of
student achievement. In addition to creating consistency, Common Core requires students
to learn topics with more depth. A further goal of the Common Core is to prepare
students for the rigors of college and work force. One aspect of this preparation is the
focus on informational text as opposed to fiction works such as classic novels or a
Shakespearean play. While it is a myth that all fictional literature will be eliminated,
certainly the balance of informational texts will increase heavily in all content areas,
while classic literature and other fictional texts will see a decline.
Common Core Concerns As educators know, not all students learn at the same
pace or in the same way. While the intentions of the Common Core seem laudable,
anecdotal information indicates the mood among many educators seems cautious.
Perspectives opposing Common Core raise important questions about differentiated
learning and the new de-emphasis of fictional literature. Susan Ohanian, a teacher and
author of the book One size fits few: The folly of educational standards (1999), opposes
No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top and the Common Core. On December 7th, 2011,
the blog site Learning Matters asked several respected educators to weigh in on the
question: “Are Common Core standards good or bad for education?” Ohanian’s statement
on Learning Matters vividly describes her perspective:
“Here’s a central problem: despite all the money and policing that goes into this, the poverty rate of children attending most urban and many rural schools exceeds 50 percent — and that remains the elephant in the room. The fact that so many of our children live in poverty, not teacher incompetence or a dearth of rigorous texts, is what should concern us. If the Standardistos weren’t so intent on downgrading the very idea that fiction teaches important lessons, they might heed
14
Alice Walker’s observation: The most important question in the world is, “Why is the child crying?”
Back during a different education crisis, I received an emergency credential to teach English in a New York City high school larger than my hometown. When one of my students refused to read the assigned text, I panicked and ran to my department chair. He gave me the best pedagogical advice I ever received: “Then find a book he will read.”
Later, when I taught 8th grade, 15-year-old Keith was astounded to read his first book ever. “I read it, Miz O. I really read it. Honest. Listen, I’ll read it again.” Keith’s reading of Hop on Pop is one of the triumphs of my career. Funny thing: My principal hadn’t understood my determination to subscribe to the Dr. Seuss book club. And today’s CCSS fundamentalists would term Keith’s experience as my failure to supply the “substantial supports and accommodations” to give him “access to rigorous academic content” such as Little Women, “Paul Revere’s Ride,” and Travels with Charley.”
While the Common Core explicitly explains fictional works are not eliminated but
they are merely shifted in a way to accommodate the emphasis on informational texts;
there is an unfortunate, perhaps unintentional backhanded refutation of the benefits of
fictional works. In reality, there is a strong possibility that many teachers will almost
completely abandon fictional works in favor of informational texts so students will
perform well on state tests.
As previously mentioned, the Common Core also states broad, far-reaching
expectation that all teachers in their respective schools will become somewhat
responsible for the literacy of all students: “These goals can be achieved by ensuring that
teachers in other disciplines are also focusing on reading and writing to build knowledge
within their subject areas.” Fortunately, music represents another modality for learning
concepts introduced in the regular classroom. Since some form of music is experienced
by almost all students despite abilities, race and socioeconomic status, music has the
ability to “reach” students where they are. “A cross-over curriculum helps bridge the gap
15
between the familiar and the unfamiliar in the minds of struggling students, as well as
multicultural students, who need to be able to anchor their thoughts and ideas on familiar
objects.” (Peter-Fiorito, 2008) With some planning, music teachers will easily find
opportunities to reach the Common Core goals in English Language Arts especially since
research supports the idea that music promotes literacy.
Literature Review on Music and Literacy
Research has found connections between music instruction and literacy. Since the
goal to improve test scores are so important, it is significant to note that music training
alone actually boosted reading test scores in the study Nonmusical effects of the Kodály
music curriculum in primary grade children. In this study researchers tested a hypothesis
on the relationship between musical training focused on sequencing tasks and academic
performance on reading tests. At the conclusion of this study, students who received
Kodály training increased academic performance in reading. (Hurwitz, Wolff, Bortnick &
Kokas, 1975). A more recent study focused on word recognition. Fetzer (1994) tested the
effects of a music program on word recognition in Kindergarteners. One group received
music instruction concentrated on learning traditional songs, while the second group
received no musical instruction. After 20 weeks, test results showed students with music
instruction scored higher on tests measuring early reading ability. (Bolduc, 2008).
Phonological awareness is the ability to distinguish all units of sound. An
example of this is the ability children develop to rhyme words and to break words into
syllables. Phonological awareness is enhanced in the music classroom when children
echo rhythmic and sound patterns. (Hansen & Bernstore, 2002)
16
Victoria Williamson is a Music Psychologist from the UK. Williamson has
studied the fascinating topic related to music and the brain such as the effects of
background music on video game performance, amusia (problems with music processing,
either acquired or congenital) and earworms (a piece of music that get’s stuck in one’s
brain and seems to repeat). Dr. Williamson believes music training is a viable
intervention for poor readers; “…it seems music training strengthens a basic brain
mechanism that may contribute to the understanding of language” (Williamson, 2011)
Williamson cites the work of Nina Kraus and explains research on activity in the
brainstem:
Professor Kraus is a world expert in the study of activity in the brainstem, the ‘gateway to the brain’. She has carved out a niche studying auditory brain stem responses (ABRs) to speech and non-speech (including musical) sounds.
What is an ABR? When presented with sound the brain stem responds by producing an electrical signal that maintains the characteristics of the stimulus sound wave. In Nina’s words:
“Timing, pitch and timbre are the basic information-bearing elements in music and speech. The auditory brainstem response represents a faithful reconstruction of these features and can be recorded in a non-invasive manner in human participants”
In measuring the ABR (which you can do even if people are sleeping!), Professor Kraus’ research group have shown systematic, reliable differences between two populations compared to the normal listener: 1) Trained musicians (who are still active and play at least 2-3 times a week) and 2) Children with language difficulties (including dyslexia, SLI and, by extension, APD).
Musicians show enhanced neural coding of sound waves as measured by ABR, reproducing a larger and more accurate representation than normal listeners. They even show a kind of hyper specialisation, with new findings soon to be published showing that a musician’s most faithful ABR comes when they hear their own instrument. In addition, we know that musicians often demonstrate better cognitive skills that relate to reading such as phonemic awareness and auditory working memory.
17
Poor readers by contrast, who typically have lower phonemic awareness and auditory working memory, show slower ABR responses. Their ABRs have good representation of the basic attributes of sound waves (i.e. the fundamental frequency) but poor representation of the more complex elements (i.e. the harmonics). These complex parts of the wave are more important for disambiguating sounds like consonants in spoken language.
So, if you put the two together, it seems music training strengthens a basic brain mechanism that may contribute to the understanding of language (it being impaired in those with poor reading/language skills).
These findings will pave the way for music interventions to be developed that will hopefully help poor readers develop their skills – and provide another reason why music education should not be lost from the National Curriculum. (Williamson, 2011)
Phonemic awareness is another decoding tool essential for beginning readers.
Phonemic awareness differs from phonological awareness in that the units of sound are
smaller. Skill is achieved in this arena when the reader has the ability to manipulate these
sounds. It is the ability to “sound out” a word, breaking it apart into the smallest possible
units; saying dog in three distinct sounds (or phonemes) /d/- /o/- /g/. (Hansen &
Bernstore, 2002) Gromko (2005) studied the question if music instruction, specifically
analyzing song structure, would lead to the pattern recognition, word segmentation and
phonemic awareness. In this study four kindergarten classes participated in weekly 30-
minute music classes, while four other kindergarten classes received no music
instruction. Test results indicated participants in Gromko’s music treatment showed
significant gains in phonemic awareness compared to the group with no music
instruction. Gromko also concluded that the music instruction developed auditory
abilities in participants. The developed auditory skills helped student distinguish
phonemes. (Bolduc, 2008) It seems reasonable to assert that music can, in the case of
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compound words, help parse out the parts of the word by increasing phonological and
phonemic awareness.
Orthographic awareness is the knowledge that symbols represent the spoken
language. It is the ability to recognize certain patterns, including spelling patterns and
familiar parts of words. Music also has its own written language, with patterns and rules
as well. Working in both areas fosters the knowledge that symbols have meaning:
A child who can hear and see patterns in words and sounds (sound-symbol relationship) in music or in the language arts is able to interpret the message that is being communicated. Both language arts and art education can use the modalities of listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing, and visually representing for instruction. (Peter-Fiorito, 2008)
Orthographic Awareness also involves the knowledge of sound letter relationships and
determines how we handle new words. Realizing that sounds can be manipulated, within
certain guidelines is applicable to spelling and musical compositions. (Hansen &
Bernstore, 2002)
Musical experiences and children
In addition to increasing the potential for retention, many educators would agree
with the assertion that music in the classroom increases enjoyment. Educational
psychology frequently refers to Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of development
states that we learn through “social interactions and language, embedded within a cultural
context” (Eggen & Kauchak, 2009). Additionally, cognitive views on learning echo that
learners construct knowledge based on their experiences (Eggen, et al. 2009). Piaget
believed children constructed their own knowledge, often through play. Musical
experiences and musical play appear in a variety of ways during the life of a child. Music
is used in an affective manner, as part of routine, as entertainment, and often music is
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used during play. Harnessing what is already present in the life of a child; educators have
the opportunity to build upon previous learning.
Teachers should be serious about integrating music into their language curricula because of its potential to activate children’s prior knowledge and promote thinking. When children are exposed to music and its connections with language and literacy early in life, teachers can identify or create their ZDP and scaffold their listening, oral and written language. (Salmon, 2010) Research does support, in many instances, that exposure to music and music
instruction boosts intellectual performance. Once relegated to a “right brain” endeavor,
now it is believed that “Music is both a right-[sic] and left-brain function.” (Choksy,
1991). While some studies indicate the immediate effects of music instruction are
temporary, many elementary and secondary classroom teachers continue to use music in
the classroom. This is a good thing since, as Salmon states; “Music is a meta-cognitive
tool that scaffolds children’s language and literacy development.’ (Salmon, 2010)
Recurrent Process Music and musical play can also reinforce content by
repetition. Song picture books “support emergent literacy by: ...providing repetition and
predictability, expanding vocabulary…fostering creative expression and language play.”
(Jalongo & Ribblett, 1997, p. 15-22)
Suzanne Burton did a study where she used the literacy model for promoting
music literacy. Burton did a three-year case study on one student, Joey, from her early
childhood music class. In this study Burton “acted from a social constructivist (Vygotsky,
1978) orientation, taking the role of facilitator and guide” (Burton & Taggart 2011).
Burton found that Joey developed musically in a recurrent manner; “…for Joey, music
literacy development was a recurrent process, much like language literacy.” (Burton &
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Taggart 2011). The transferability of these findings is an intriguing possibility and
worthy of study.
Many teachers in various content areas use music to increase memory—almost as
a mnemonic device at times. As stated earlier, the ABC song is an example of a melody
ingrained in many elementary students memory as a method of recalling “26 bits of
information that have no natural relationship to one another”. (Wolfe, 2001; Ortis 2006).
Educators and parents can do an internet search and unearth a multitude of resources for
learning content for many subjects. For example, on www.YouTube.com one can find
videos of the song Fifty Nifty States. The website www.songsforteaching.com contains
songs and raps about everything from math facts to character development. Research
infers and anecdotal experiences seem to confirm that students who experience repetition
in an enjoyable format remember and learn content.
Compound Word Challenges
As previously stated, there are three forms of compound words: hyphenated, open
and closed. Open compound words do not present the same issues for decoding that
closed compound words do. The space in between the words allow students to easily see
the two words, while the closed form can look like an endless “big word” to beginning
readers. Given the confusion and disagreement of the correct spelling of a number of
hyphenated words, they were not included in the project. Aside from visual and spelling
logistics, comprehension is also a concern when it comes to compound words.
Compound Word Research There are relatively few studies on first grade
students and compound words. One of the most well-known studies is one done in 1958
by Jean Berko Gleason, a psycholinguist from Boston University. The focus of her study
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centered on the way children acquire grammatical comprehension. In linguistics, the term
morphology refers to the study of word structure. Gleason’s study is famous for “The
Wug Test”. Gleason showed a cartoon like drawing of a bird to children and called it a
“Wug”. She then showed them two of the creatures and said, “Now there are two___”.
The test asked the child to respond with the plural of “Wug”. With this test and other
measures, she discovered that children learn language by identifying patterns, not simply
imitation.
Gleason also addressed compound words in her study. She questioned a small
sample of adults, and a large sample of children ages four to seven and a half. She asked
participants why they thought the following words were named the way they were:
afternoon, airplane, birthday, breakfast, blackboard, fireplace, football, handkerchief,
holiday, merry-go-round, newspaper, sunshine, Thanksgiving and Friday. No pictures
were used during compound word questioning. The central question Gleason (1958)
wanted answered was whether or not children were “aware of the separate morphemes in
compound words”. Gleason reports the subjects responded in one of four
ways: Identity—“a blackboard is called a blackboard because it is a blackboard”,
Function or feature—“a blackboard is called a blackboard because you write on it”,
Feature coinciding with name—“a blackboard is called a blackboard because it is black”,
and Etymological explanation (given mainly by adults)—“takes into account both parts
of the word, and is not necessarily connected with some salient or functional feature
Thanksgiving is called Thanksgiving because the pilgrims gave thanks.” (Gleason, 1958).
Although a few children did give etymological explanations, most of the children had
what she called “private meanings” for many of the compound words. She states, “These
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meanings may be unrelated to the word’s history, and unshared by other speakers…
Examples of this…‘An airplane is called airplane because it is a plain thing that goes in
the air.’ ” (Gleason, 1958) This portion of Gleason’s study revealed children were not
always aware of the separate elements of compound words. While some children did
notice the separate elements, they often assigned meaning to these parts that were more
personal and often inaccurate. While being interviewed, several adults admitted assigning
personal meaning to some of the morphemes as children, however these meaning evolved
later in life. (Gleason, 1958)
Decoding Difficulties While identifying compound words is difficult for
beginning readers, identification and decoding compound words is also a difficult task for
more experienced readers with learning disabilities. In A Synthesis of Morphology
Interventions and Effects on Reading Outcomes for Students in Grades K–12 Reed (2008)
describes decoding and inflection issues associated with compound words:
Knowledge of compound words also tends to develop earlier for most children (Anglin et al., 1993). As with inflections, students who struggle with reading continue to have difficulties identifying compound words into the midelementary grades (Nagy et al., 2003). This is particularly true with low-frequency compounds or those that involve phonological shifts. (Reed, 2008)
Individuals learning English as a second language also have a difficult time
learning how to decode compound words. It takes experience and multiple exposures to
compound words in order to understand common patterns. Experience can include
musical experiences. In fact, In Processing English Compounds in the First and Second
Language: The Influence of the Middle Morpheme the author confirms experience is what
makes the difference “…the key is learning about these different patterns, which takes
time.” (Murphy, V. A., & Hayes, J., 2010) Aside from decoding issues, the flexible and
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ever-changing nature of compound words is a potential source of confusion for ELL
students. “The complexity of compounds lies in their remarkable flexibility, which allows
for the free creation of new combinations out of two existing words.” (Jullian, 2002)
Additionally, ELL students may possibly not have a comparable device in their mother
tongue:
Compounds are capable of condensing large messages in few words by fusing two items into just one lexical unit, as in: ice-box = a box which keeps the ice (without melting);… the fact that many languages do not make use of this word-saving process often creates a major problem for EFL learners who are unfamiliar with this device in their L1. (Jullian, 2002) Chapter two gave an overview of the current climate with the institution of the
Common Core Standards and provided a traditional literature review on connections
between literacy and music, musical experiences of children, compound word research
and challenges. The following chapter explores resources currently available for
classroom teachers.
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Chapter 3
Available Resources
This chapter discusses songs dealing with compound words. These songs are
readily available for educators to utilize. The first category is songs composed to teach
about compound words. The second category is high-quality folk songs that contain
compound words.
Songs for Teaching Compound Words
There are a multitude of worksheets and activities aimed at giving children
practice with compound words. However, only a few resources use music. The quality of
these materials varies. Some may find the music trite, however, it may be easily
accessible for busy teachers. Dr. Jean Feldman is an Early Childhood Educator with an
extensive background spanning forty years. One area of expertise is creating piggyback
songs to teach content in various subjects. For compound words, Dr. Jean created a
piggyback song called the Compound Boogie:
The Compound Boogie (Tune: Ballin’ the Jack) Take the word “rain” and the word “coat”. Put them together and get “raincoat”. Take the word “dog” and the word “house”. Put them together and get “doghouse”… The compound boogie is easy to do. You make one word out of two! And now you can join in the fun. I'll say two words and you make them one.
This song has an accompanying video on www.YouTube.com. In addition,
several teachers have shared online their PowerPoint presentations they have created to
accompany this Dr. Jean song.
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The website www.songsforteaching.com has a several songs for teaching
compound words. One is called The Compound Word Whiz with Miss Jenny:
I’m the Compound word whiz. Listen to what I’ve heard. Put two words together to make a compound word. Sun and shine make sunshine, Rain and bow make rainbow, Sun and flower make sunflower. Two words together make a compound word…
This website also has a compound word song called Have You Heard About Compound
Words? by Jack Hartmann. This song is in the style of a rap song:
Take two words and make them one, what do you get?–a compound word Take two words and make them one, what do you get?–a compound word Take the word base and take the word ball–put them together And what do you get?–You get: baseball Take the word sun and take the word shine–put them together And what do you get?–You get: sunshine Take the word play and take the word ground–put them together And what do you get?–You get: playground Take the word fire and take the word house–put them together And what do you get?—firehouse Take the word snow and take the word man–put them together And what do you get?—You get: snowman Take the word sail and take the word boat–put them together And what do you get?–You get: sailboat Take the word foot and take the word ball–put them together And what do you get?–You get: football Take the word barn and take the word yard–put them together And what do you get?—You get: barnyard
Also available on this website are these two songs from the CD Little Ears: 27 Songs For
Reading Readiness. The two songs are The Syllable Song and Starfish by Fran Avni:
The Syllable Song Put two parts together, Get a word that's new. Let's put together syllables To see what we can do.
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Milk and shake make milkshake What a tasty treat. Cup and cakes make cupcakes. They're such fun to eat. Cakes are baking; milk is shaking Cup is filling; milk is spilling. Corn and flakes make cornflakes Cocoa’s in the cup Pan and cakes make pancakes, Breakfast coming up. Pancakes frying, pancakes flipping, Pancakes flying, syrup dripping. Starfish
There’s a starfish hidden under my bed, Starfish (clap, clap) starfish (clap, clap) Someone took the star, what's left instead? Someone took the star, what's left instead? It’s just a fish (clap, clap), a fish (clap, clap).
There’s a cowboy hidden under my bed Cowboy (clap, clap) cowboy (clap, clap) Someone took the boy, what's left instead? Someone took the boy, what's left instead? It’s just a cow, (clap, clap) a cow.
There’s a toothbrush hidden under my bed... Someone took the tooth, what's left instead? Someone took the tooth, what's left instead? It’s just a brush, (clap, clap) a brush.
There’s a football hidden under my bed... Someone took the foot, what’s left instead? Someone took the foot, what’s left instead? It’s just a ball, (clap, clap) a ball.
There’s a doorbell hidden under my bed... Someone took the door, what's left instead? Someone took the door, what's left instead? It’s just a _______, a _______.
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While these offerings are serviceable, they are not particularly diverse. Many
compound words are covered repeatedly by these songs. Also, these songs are not
classified into themes or word families for ease of teaching compound words. While
these offerings may be useful in the general classroom, the music educator may find the
selections musically thin.
Songs containing Compound Words
The possible solution for the music educator wanting more than newly composed
songs to teach compound words is a list of quality folk songs and chants with embedded
compound words. These songs and chants are classic, pedagogically sound and part of
our cultural heritage. One chant easily adaptable for a lesson on compound words is the
clapping game Double, double this this:
Double double this this, Double double that that, Double this, double that, Double double this that.
With this chant, teachers can insert the compound words they want to teach. Also,
students can take turns adding their own compound words to the chant creating new
verses. One example is the word doghouse:
Double double dog dog Double double house house, Double dog, double house,
Music teachers have access to a large number of folk songs containing compound
words. Starlight Star Bright is one example:
Starlight, Star Bright First star I see tonight, Wish I may, wish I might, Have the wish I wish tonight.
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Starlight, Star Bright is an appropriate song for younger students working on sol-mi
melodies. Displaying the lyrics in the classroom, teachers can point out the compound
words starlight and tonight as well as discuss rhyming root words light, bright, night, and
might. Tapping the rhythm of the multi-syllabic words will also help students identify
rhyming and compound words.
There is more than one version to the song Skip to my Lou and each version
contains several compound words:
First Version:
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou, Skip, skip, skip to my Lou, Skip, skip, skip to my Lou, Skip to my Lou, my darlin’. Fly’s in the buttermilk, Shoo, fly, shoo, Fly’s in the buttermilk, Shoo, fly, shoo, Fly’s in the buttermilk, Shoo, fly, shoo, Skip to my Lou, my darlin’. Skip, skip, skip to my Lou, Skip, skip, skip to my Lou, Skip, skip, skip to my Lou, Skip to my Lou, my darlin’. Cows in the cornfield, what’ll I do? Cows in the cornfield, what’ll I do? Cows in the cornfield, what’ll I do? Skip to my Lou, my darlin’. Skip, skip, skip to my Lou, Skip, skip, skip to my Lou, Skip, skip, skip to my Lou, Skip to my Lou, my darlin’. There's a little red wagon, Paint it blue
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There's a little red wagon, Paint it blue There's a little red wagon, Paint it blue. Skip to my Lou, my darlin’. Skip, skip, skip to my Lou, Skip, skip, skip to my Lou, Skip, skip, skip to my Lou, Skip to my Lou, my darlin’.
Second Version:
Lost my partner, what’ll I do? Lost my partner, what’ll I do? Lost my partner, what’ll I do? Skip to my Lou, my darlin’.
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou, Skip, skip, skip to my Lou, Skip, skip, skip to my Lou, Skip to my Lou, my darlin’.
I’ll get another one Prettier than you, I’ll get another one Prettier than you, I’ll get another one Prettier than you, Skip to my Lou, my darlin’
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou, Skip, skip, skip to my Lou, Skip, skip, skip to my Lou, Skip to my Lou, my darlin’.
Can’t get a red bird, Jaybird’ll do, Can't get a red bird, Jaybird’ll do, Can't get a red bird, Jaybird’ll do, Skip to my Lou, my darlin’.
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou, Skip, skip, skip to my Lou,
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Skip, skip, skip to my Lou, Skip to my Lou, my darlin’.
Aside from identifying compound words, another activity conducive to this song
is the composition of new verses. Teachers could potentially have elementary students
add new compound words to verses of the song such as: “Birds in the Birdhouse, Skip to
My Lou” or “Going to the railroad, Skip to my Lou”. Creatively playing with Skip to My
Lou and other folk songs activate a higher order of thinking and can invite playfulness
and creativity into the classroom.
Finding a list of folk songs with compound words is not readily available on the
internet or in print sources. However, during the compilation of this index the research
yielded a large number of songs using compound words. The task was time consuming
but not insurmountable. Methodically collected from multiple sources, the index in
Appendix A has 282 folk songs and speech pieces with compound words. These pieces
are high quality and easily accessible for educators since most of them are classics. These
pieces are also malleable to the needs of the classroom, usually covering more than one
aspect of literacy and musical skill.
This chapter explored resources that are already available to educators. There are
two types of song options for teaching compound words—songs designed specifically to
teach compound words and high-quality folk songs compound words embedded. For the
music educator, folk songs are an especially rich resource for grammar and musical
integrity. The next chapter shares newly created materials for the classroom.
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Chapter Four
Classroom Solutions
As previously stated, conversations with primary grade educators revealed the
estimated time they believed they could spend on compound words is less than fifteen
minutes per day. Since many classroom teachers are more likely to attempt a piggyback
song, these modules are based on well-known melodies. While creating lyrics, care was
taken to avoid long confusing melissmas. In singing, a melissma is two or more notes
sung on a single syllable or monosyllabic word. Young students and inexperienced
singers perform better with one note per monosyllabic word or syllable. In addition,
natural word stress was taken into consideration. Multiple compound words are grouped
in a word family, such as –ay, or a theme familiar to primary students. Photographs and
bold color schemes were chosen for visual learners.
Nature Compound Words This module is set to the tune of London Bridge is
Falling Down and the theme is nature:
Figure 1.1:
Nature Compound Words
To the tune of “London Bridge is Falling Down”
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Figure 1.2:
Butterfly and firefly,
Figure 1.3:
Like to go, in the sky.
Figure 1.4:
Bluefish, whitefish, starfish
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Figure 1.5:
At the seashore.
Figure 1.6:
Grasshoppers and rattlesnakes
Figure 1.7:
Do not play patty cake!
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Figure 1.8:
Sunlight finds a small rainstorm
Figure 1.9:
And I get rainbows!
Word Family -ay Compound Words Grouping words into word families is a
common practice of elementary educators. The –ay word family has a variety of
compound words, such as bluejay and birthday. This module uses –ay words and is set to
the tune of Mary Had A Little Lamb:
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Figure 2.1:
-ay compound wordsTo the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”
Figure 2.2:
Bluejay, bluejay everyday
Figure 2.3:
Thataway, your pathway,
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Figure 2.4:
Their birthday is not today, but
Figure 2.5:
You should fly back home
Times of Day Compound Words This lesson is set to the tune of Frere Jacques.
The times of day PowerPoint has a total of eight compound words, including sunshine,
sunflower, and moonbeam.
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Figure 3.1:
Times of day compound words
To the tune of “Frere Jacques”
Figure 3.2:
Daylight, sunshine
Figure 3.3:
Sunset, moonbeam
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Figure 3.4:
Good, goodnight! Sunflower!
Figure 3.5:
Bumblebees will greet you,
Figure 3.6:
When the daybreak happens
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Figure 3.7:
I will too! I will too!
Sports –all Compound Words This module is based on the –all word family and
has a sports theme. Boys and girls alike relate to sports and the words used are basketball,
dodgeball and football. The lyrics are set to the tune of Three Blind Mice:
Figure 4.1:
Sports –all compound words
To the tune of “Three Blind Mice”
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Figure 4.2:
I will play basketball,
Figure 4.3:
Softball games, football too
Figure 4.4:
I will even try dodgeball,
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Figure 4.5:
In a very big snowfall,
Figure 4.6:
But I won’t do a cannonball
Figure 4.7:
At the North Pole!
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Food Compound Words This module is set to the tune of Baa, Baa Black Sheep
and could easily be incorporated into a health and wellness unit. Many foods are
compound words, such as strawberry, blueberry and honeydew:
Figure 5.1:
Food compound words
To the tune of “Baa, Baa Black Sheep”
Figure 5.2:
Supermarket, Supermarket, have you any food?
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Figure 5.3:
Pancake, cupcake, popcorn too
Figure 5.4:
I like cheeseburgers, honeydew
Figure 5.5:
Blackberry, blueberry, strawberry too
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Figure 5.6:
Hurry to my tabletop this afternoon,
Figure 5.7:
I will share my cheesecake with you!
In this chapter original PowerPoint presentations were created for quick and
effective presentation of compound words using familiar tunes. The next chapter will
highlight further resources available including the new index of folk songs containing
compound words. In addition, further areas worthy of study and addition classroom
application different content areas are addressed.
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Chapter 5
Conclusions
In conclusion, there many resources and applications available to classroom and
music teachers to teach not only compound word, but to promote literacy across the
curriculum. Teachers will find an index of folk songs and speech pieces, internet
resources and lists of compound words in the Appendices. This chapter concludes with
ideas for further application of using music to teach across the curriculum to support the
goals of the Common Core.
Appendix Resources
The Appendix A contains an index of folk songs and speech pieces embedded
with compound words. For music specialists, the use of high-quality folk songs is
imperative to maintaining music content integrity while simultaneously reinforcing
literacy. Fourteen different sources including master indexes of several popular
elementary general music curriculums were examined for lyrics containing compound
words. In the end, 282 folk songs and speech pieces appropriate for the music classroom
were discovered. Many of the songs appeared in multiple resources. Since usefulness is
the most important aspect of this information, it was necessary to create a table indicated
what source each song appears.
Appendix B lists further resources available for educators. These sources are
applicable for any elementary teacher and include the websites used and discovered over
the course of this project. The internet is obviously tremendously useful, and this
generation is inundated with more information than one can possibly need. However, the
one caveat is that one must make an effort to find quality information and material. A few
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quality sources are highlighted here. A new website exploding on the scene during the
writing of this project is Pinterest.com. This website is dedicated to creating virtual
bulletin boards of varies personal interests such as Hollywood celebrities to home
decorating. Pinterest.com is starting to become a wealth of information for educators.
Classroom organization, behavior plans and art projects are plentiful. The culture of
education is that teachers share ideas that work and those shared ideas become adapted by
new teachers. The possibilities for music education and interdisciplinary lessons are
exciting and this is an area to watch.
Another resource for music educators is www.YouTube.com. While some school
districts block www.YouTube.com, in the hands of skilled and responsible teachers, this
website provides visual and aural examples in many content areas. Many great music
performances are preserved on film, such as The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show or
Judy Garland and a young Barbara Streisand singing the duet Happy Days Are Here
Again/Get Happy from the early 1960’s. Many of these performances are not something
one can talk about, they have to be seen. Finally, the website
www.learningdifferences.com has a comprehensive list of compound words that is
included as Appendix C.
Literacy Projects in the Music Classroom to support the Common Core
Music teachers need to look for opportunities in folk song literature to not only
highlight one specific area of grammar, but also literacy in a broad sense as required by
the Common Core. A very effective program available for use with K-6 students is a
program called Mallet Madness by Artie Almeida (2007). In one Mallet Madness lesson,
the teacher reads a well-known children’s book, Caps for sale to the class. This lesson is
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effective with third through fifth graders. After the reading the story aloud, everyone
learns a four-measure song. After singing the short song and analyzing the music
displayed on the SmartBoard, students transfer their knowledge of the musical staff to the
classroom xylophones that have the note names on the bars.
For another layer of story telling, some students are chosen to play characters in
the story by accompanying the narrative with hand percussion instruments. The elements
of story telling and musical skill blend together in this lesson from Mallet Madness.
Figure 6: Caps for sale
Another enjoyable lesson from Mallet Madness is based upon the book
Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. This lesson works well with
Kindergarten through third grade since the student participation is a repeated rhythm
pattern accompanying the story. Before reading the story, students repeat the words
under the rhythm displayed on the Smart Board. The rhythm pattern is set to the words in
a natural way and even Kindergarteners could tap the rhythm on their laps along with the
phrase: “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day!”:
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Figure 7: Terrible rhythm
Students also learn about crescendo and decrescendo in this lesson. Students use their
voices to play with dynamics as they say the word Australia:
Figure 8: Australia
Further Applications
In the classroom, many teachers, even those who proclaim they are not
musically inclined, will sometimes sing a little tune to get student’s attention. One
teacher shared that she was so exasperated with her students not lining up that she stated
to quietly sing to the tune of Frere Jacques spontaneously: “I am waiting, I am waiting,
for my class...” As if on cue, the children immediately stopped and sang “for my class”.
She continued “please pay attention” and they echoed, “please pay attention”. Finally she
49
sang “look at me…” and they echoed, “Look at me”. The classroom became silent. She
surprised them, got them listening and changed the mood in the room. This teacher
excitedly discussed how this little song she created quite spontaneously is now one of her
teacher staples.
As far as specific goals in grammar, song modules could be created for
contractions and possessives since this is another difficult area for beginning readers and
ELL students. Using books based on songs, such as There was an old lady who
swallowed a fly, is an easy way to transition literacy into the music class and conversely
music into the regular classroom. Displaying song lyrics on the SmartBoard and having
students highlight the words that rhyme is a valid activity for younger students.
Aside from Language Arts, music lends itself to other content areas. Piggyback
songs and content driven mnemonic devices in the form of rap tunes are already being
utilized in content areas such as math and social studies. Websites such as
www.Flocabulary.com and www.rocknlearn.com are suited for older students, while
websites such as www.drjean.org are suited for younger audiences.
Music appears to affect mood and may actually motivate certain students that in
turn promotes learning. Elementary students could participate by sharing their
background knowledge of social studies when the music class sings Native American
songs.
Math is also another area music teachers could explore. While discussing a
famous singer with a three-octave range, music teachers could ask what an octave is,
(eight notes) and then say, “Three octaves is how many notes? How many notes can this
singer sing?” The music teacher, covertly, is asking students to solve a math equation.
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Note values are easy to manipulate in a measure of music as the note values must add up
to the time signature. Note values work somewhat like fractions, and this correlation is
worth exploring.
Acoustics are part of the science curriculum for upper elementary grades. Music
class is an intriguing place students could explore acoustics and give hands on
experiences to solidify concepts learned in science lessons.
Songs focused on character, holidays and community citizenship are available
on the website for Music K-8: www.musick8.com and www.songsforteaching.com. While
test scores are the main focus at this time, educators should be mindful of the student as a
human being and nurture their development is this area as well.
Conclusion
In reality there are teachable cross-curricular moments every day in both the
music and regular classrooms. While sometimes these teachable moments are
spontaneous, it is more powerful if the cross-curricular connections are well planned.
Teachers can use the resources in this study to launch their lesson planning. In support of
the Common Core, music educators will continue to play an important role in literacy
development. Classroom teachers need to capitalize on the notion that music promotes
learning through another learning modality that increases memory. Proactive teachers
will find the materials in this study not only useful in teaching compound words but for
enhancing literacy skills in support of the Common Core.
51
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55
Appendix A
Index of Folk Songs and Speech Pieces Using Compound Words
120 SG: 120 Singing games and dances for elementary schools HNU: Website: The American Folksong Collection at Holy Names University HS: Heritage songster K.I: The Kodály method I: Comprehensive music education MIP: Music in preschool SA: Sail away: 155 American folk songs to sing, read and play SB.99: The Music connection: Master index and correlation, Silver Burdett SB.02: Silver Burdett Making music: Master index and correlation SGLO: Songs and games for little ones SOM: Spotlight on music STM: Share the music USOE: Website: Utah State Office of Education Song Title 120
SG HNU HS
K.I MIP SA SB.99 SB.02 SGLO SOM STM USOE
A, B, C x Ah! The Pretty Butterflies
x Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round
x
Alexander’s Ragtime and
x x All Around the Buttercup
x x x x All Around the Brickyard x x x x All Around the Maypole
x x All Around the Race-Track
x All God's Children Got Wings
x
All Work Together
x Ballad of the Bedbugs and the Beetles, The
x
Ballad of the Underground Railroad, The
Bandstand Boogie
x Barnyard Song x Bathtime x Bear and the Wildcat
x Bee, Bee, Bumblebee
x Before Mealtime
x Birthday x
56
Song Title 120 SG
HNU HS
K.I MIP SA SB.99 SB.02 SGLO SOM STM USOE
Birthday Bells x Blacksmith, The x x Bluebells x x x x x Bluebells, Cockle Shells
x Bluebird, Bluebird
x x x x Bluebird, The x Bluebirds x x Bluebirds Through My Window
x
Bonefish, Bluebird
x Buckeye Jim x Butterfly, The x x x x Butterfly, Come Play with Me
x Butterfly, Flutter By
x By the Firelight x Cairo x Chopstick x Come, Firefly x x Cornfields, The x x Cornstalk Fiddle and a Shoestring Bow
x
Cotton Eyed Joe x Cowboy, The x Cowherd and the Weaving Maid, The
x
Cowpoke, The x x Crow-fish Man x Daddy Shot a Bear
x x Dance Together x Dewdrops x Dewy Dells of Yarrow
x Doggie, Doggie, Where's Your Bone?
x x
Down by the Bay x x x Down by the Riverside x x x x Downtown x Elfin Knight, The x Everybody Has Music Inside
x Everybody Loves Saturday Night
x x
57
Song Title 120 SG
HNU HS
K.I MIP SA SB.99 SB.02 SGLO SOM STM USOE
Everybody Oughta Know
x Everybody Rejoice
x x Everybody Says
x Everything Grows
x Everything is Beautiful
x Farewell x Farewell to Nova Scotia
x Farewell to Tarwathie
x Farewell to the Warriors
x x Firefly x Five Little Snowmen
x Fly and the Bumblebee
x Football Team Chant
x Four Cornfields x x Frog's Courtship, The x Frosty, the Snowman x Garden Hoedown, The x Go Tell it on the Mountain
x Going to Boston
x Goodbye, Julie x Goodbye, My Friends x Goodbye, My Lover, Goodbye
x
Goodnight x Goodnight to You All
x Goodnight, Ladies
x x Gospel Train, The
x x Groundhog Blues, The
x Grandma Grunts
x x x Grandma's Feather Bed
x Grasshopper Grasshopper and the Ants
x
58
Song Title 120 SG
HNU HS
K.I MIP SA SB.99 SB.02 SGLO SOM STM USOE
Grasshoppers Three
x Great Outdoors x Gypsy in the Moonlight x Handsome Molly x x Hangman's Tree x Happy Birthday x x x Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday
x
Head for the Canfields
x Here Comes a Bluebird x x x x x Here is the Beehive
x Hey, Ho, Anybody Home
x x Hickety, Tickety, Bumblebee
x
Hide a Handkerchief
x Honeybee Song x Horseman, The x Housekeeping x How Many Miles to Babylon?
x x x
How Much Wood…Chuck?
x Hummingbird, The
x I am the Starlight x x I Can See a Rainbow x I Got Rhythm x I Hear the Windmill x I Heard a Mockingbird
x I Planted Watermelons
x If All the Raindrops
x In the Moonlight x Inchworm x I've Been Everywhere
x I've Been Working on the Railroad
x x x x x
Jamaica Farewell
x Johnny Appleseed
x
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Song Title 120
SG HNU HS
K.I MIP SA SB.99 SB.02 SGLO SOM STM USOE
Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier
x
Kelligrew's Soiree
x Kentucky Babe x Key in the Highway
x Ladybug's Picnic
x Lemonade x x x x x x Let Us Sing Together x Let's Sing, Everyone x Little Butterfly x Little Snowball Bash x Lonesome Valley
x x Lonesome Dove
x Love Somebody
x x x x x Lullaby x Make a Rainbow
x Mary Was a Redbird
x Mockingbird, The
x Moonlight Lullaby
x Music Goes with Anything
x x My Landlord x My Last Farewell to Stirling
x
Nobody Knows the Trouble I See, Lord!
x
Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen
x x x x
Nobody's Business
x Nothing I Do I Own
x Old Betty Larkin
x
Old Dan Tucker x x On the Darkened Hillside
x
Outshine the Sun x Over the Rainbow
x x x
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Song Title 120 SG
HNU HS
K.I MIP SA SB.99 SB.02 SGLO SOM STM USOE
Over the River and Through the Wood
x x
Party Tonight x Pat Works on the Railway x x Peppermint Twist
x x Playground at the Park
Please, Mr. Postman
x Popcorn Popping
x Rabbit Footprints
x x Ragtime x Railroad Corral x Rainbow Connection
x Rainbow Song, The
x x Rainbow, The x x Rattlesnake x x Rattlesnake Skipping Song x Ready for the Weekend x Red River Valley x Redbird x River Overflowing
x Round of Goodbyes
x Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer
x x x x
Said I Wasn't Gonn' Tell Nobody
x
Sailboat in the Sky
x x Sally Go 'Round the Sunshine
x
Sandman x Seesaw x x Seesaw, Margery Daw
x x Shoo, Fly, Don't Bother Me
x x
Skip to My Lou
x x x x x x x Sleep, Baby, Sleep
x x Snowflakes x Snowman, The x
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Song Title 120 SG
HNU HS
K.I MIP SA SB.99 SB.02 SGLO SOM STM USOE
Somebody Come and Play
x Somebody Loves Me x Somebody Waiting x Somebody's Knockin' at Your Door
x x x
Someday Very Soon x Someone Who Believes in You
x x
Something for Me, Something for You
x
Something Funny Outside
x x Something to Sing About x Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
x x
Somewhere Out There
x x Song of the Snowflakes
x x Song on Courtship
x Springtime x x Springtime Has Come
x x Starlight, Star Bright
x Streets of Laredo
x x x Summertime x Sunrise, Sunset x x Sunset x Susie, Little Susie x Take Me Out to the Ballgame
x x
Thanksgiving x Thanksgiving Calypso x x Thanksgiving is Near
x Thanksgiving Song
x That's How I'd Be Without You
x
The Merry Golden Tree
x The More We Get Together
x The Toyman's Shop
x
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Song Title 120 SG
HNU HS
K.I MIP SA SB.99 SB.02 SGLO SOM STM USOE
Theme from New York, New York
x
There's Just Something About a Song
x
To Work Upon the Railway
x Today is Your Birthday
x Together in Unity
x Traveling Together
x Tugboat x Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree
x
Up on the Housetop x x x Wabash Cannon, The x Wabash Cannonball
x x Walk Together, Children
x Way Down Yonder in the Schoolyard
x x
We Gather Together x x We Go Together
x x We Shall Overcome
x x Weave Me the Sunshine
x Weigenlied (Lullaby)
x x We're Making Popcorn
x When We're Playing Together
x
Who's Got the Fishpole ?
x Willowbee x x Windmill, The x Winter Wonderland
Woodchuck x Woodpecker, The
x Working Together
x You Are My Sunshine
x x x
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Chants and Rhymes
This collection of nursery rhymes, chant and poems has been collected by Dr. Pamela Stover for use in music methods classes or teacher workshops and inservices. Most rhymes or chants are in the public domain, and many authors are unknown. Every effort has been made to locate authors and where authors are known, they are given. This packet is for class or workshop use only, and all included material falls under the fair use for scholarly endeavors under the US copyright law. (Pamela Stover, 2005) Bluebells, cockleshells Bluebells, cockle shells, Evie ivy, over; I like coffee, I like tea. I like the boys and the boys like me. Yes, no, maybe so.....
Bluebells, cockleshells Bluebells, cockle shells, Eevie ivy, over; Ma went to market to buy some meat; Baby's in the cradle fast asleep. The clock on the mantle says one, two, three Nobody here except you and me.
Bonefish, bluebird (Ruth Hamm and Isabel McNeill Carley) Bonefish, Bluebird, sheep and flea, Chickadee, doodle bug, robins in a tree. Fly in the cream jar. Frog in the pool. Clap for all the children here at school. Buttercups and daisies Buttercups and daisies, Oh what pretty flowers Coming in the springtime to tell of sunny hours. While the trees are leafless, While the fields are bare, Buttercups and daisies spring up everywhere. The cock's on the housetop The cock's on the housetop blowing his horn; The bull's in the barn a-threshing of corn; The maids in the meadows are making of hay; The ducks in the river are swimming away.
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The firefly The firefly is a funny bug, He hasn't any mind; He blunders all the way through life With his headlight on behind. There's a cross-eyed woman in our town, She's cross-eyed, that's a fact; And every time the lady cries, The tears roll down her back. Four little Grasshoppers (Grandma Anna) Four little grasshoppers one fine day, Hopped onto the lawn to play croquet We can't choose mallets and balls we said. But we'll have a game of our own instead. So hippity-hoppity they went around Through all the wickets on the ground Out came Johnny and Ben to play And the four little grasshoppers jumped away. Here is a Beehive Here is the beehive, there are the bees? Hidden away were nobody sees Watch and you will see them come out of their hives, One, two, three, four, five, Buzz, Buzz, Buzz
Lullaby and Goodnight Lullaby and good night, Put your head down and sleep tight, Lay down now and rest, May your slumber be blessed. Mississauga Rattlesnakes (Dennis Lee) Mississauga rattlesnakes eat brown bread. Mississauga rattlesnakes fall down dead. If you catch a caterpillar, feed him apple juice; But if you catch a rattlesnake, turn him loose! My old granddad made a shoe. My old granddad made a shoe. How many nails did he put through? One, two, three, four, five....
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A peanut sat on a railroad track A peanut sat on a railroad track, His heart was all a-flutter, Here comes the train, It's 10:15, Toot, toot, peanut butter.
Policeman do your duty Policeman, policeman do your duty; Here comes Miss American Beauty. She can do the tango; She can do the splits; And she can waer dresses way up to her hips. Yes, no Maybe so Postman, postman Postman, postman, do your duty. Send this letter to an American beauty. Don't you stop and don't delay. Get it to her right away.
Rattlesnake R-A-T---T-L-E--- S-N-A-K-E Spells Rattlesnake! Round and Round Round and round the cornfield, Looking for a hare, Where can we find one? Way up there!
Seesaw, Margery Daw Seesaw, Margery Daw, Sold her bed and lay upon straw. Seesaw, Margery Daw (Lucy Coats) Seesaw, Margery Daw, Which one of us can go faster? Whee! up and down, Big bump on the ground, And Johnny's knee needs a big plaster. Seven Blackbirds (England) Seven Blackbirds in a tree, Count them, and see what they be: One for sorrow, two for joy; Three for a girl, four for a boy, Five for silver, six for gold; Seven for a story that's never been told.
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Shimmy, shimmy Coco-pop! Shimmy, shimmy, coco-pop! Shimmy shimmy, pop. Wheeee Shimmy, shimmy, coco-pop! Shimmy, shimmy pop. Wheeee Grandma, grandma-ma sick in bed. Called the doctor and the doctor said: Let's get the motion of the head: ding, dong. Let's get the motion of the hands: clap, clap. Let's get the motion of the feet: stomp, stomp. Let's get the motion of the hot dog, Let's get the motion of the hot dog. Shimmy, shimmy, coco-pop! Shimmy shimmy, pop. Wheeee Shimmy, shimmy, coco-pop! Shimmy, shimmy pop. Wheeee
A shoemaker makes shoes without leather A shoemaker makes shoes without leather, With four elements all together, Fire, Water, Earth, Air, And every customer takes two pair.
Skyscraper, skyscraper (Dennis Lee) Skyscraper, skyscraper scrape me some sky. Tickle the sun while the stars go by. Tickle the stars while the sun's climbing high, Then skyscraper, skyscraper scrape me some sky. Starlight Starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight, Wish I may, wish I might, Have the wish I wish tonight. Strawberry shortcake Strawberry shortcake, Huckleberry Finn When I call your birthday, Please jump in! January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December Strawberry shortcake, Huckleberry Finn, When I call your birthday, Please jump out! January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
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Strawberry, apple, my jam tart. Strawberry, apple, my jam tart. Tell me the name of your sweetheart. A, B, C, D Strawberry shortcake Strawberry shortcake, cream on top. Tell me the name of my sweetheart. A, B, C, D... A sunshiny shower A sunshiny shower won't last half an hour.
These are Grandma's spectacles These are Grandma's spectacles, This is Grandma's hat. This is the way she folds her hands, And lays them in her lap.
Two little blackbirds Two little blackbirds sitting on a wall, One named Peter the other named Paul, Fly away Peter, Fly away, Paul. Come back, Peter, Come back Paul.
Three Little Nickels Three little nickels in a pocketbook new, One bought a peppermint, and then there were two, Two Little nickels before the day was done, One bought an ice cream cone, and then there was one One little nickel I heard it plainly say, “I’m going into the piggy bank for a rainy day!” When a game (The butterflies lawn tennis) R. André When a game at lawn tennis the butterflies sought. “I,” said the snail, "I will mark out the court." “I,” said the bee, "for a racquet will bring Some lazy old drone's cast off gossamer wing." “For your balls,” said the fuchsia, “I've dewdrops in store.” “As for me,” said the fly, "let me buzz out the score.” “I,” said the spider, "will spin you a net.” So the bright butterflies made up a set.
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Which is the way to Somewhere Town? (Kate Greenaway) Which is the way to Somewhere Town? Oh, up in the morning early; Over the tiles and the chimney pots, That is the way, quite clearly. And which is the door to Somewhere Town? Oh, up in the morning early; The round red sun is the door to go through, That is the way, quite clearly.
I went upstairs I went upstairs to make my bed. I made a mistake and bumped my head. I went downstairs to milk my cow. I made a mistake and milked the sow. I went in the kitchen to bake a pie. I made a mistake and baked a fly.
When does the wristwatch When does the wristwatch strap shop shut? Does the wristwatch strap shop shut soon? Which wristwatch straps are Swiss wristwatch straps? When we went out with Grandmamma (Kate Greenaway) When we went out with Grandmamma— Mamma said for a treat— Oh, dear, how stiff we had to walk as we went down the street. One on each side we had to go, and never laugh or loll; I carried Prim, her Spaniard dog, and Tom—her parasol. Who's that ringing at my doorbell? Who's that ringing at my doorbell? A little kitty cat that isn't very well. Rub its little nose with a little mutton fat, That's the best cure for a little kitty cat.
Uptown, downtown Uptown, downtown, wrong side too, Goodness me what a hullabaloo! Upstairs, downstairs, roundabout! Backwards forwards, inside OUT
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Appendix B
Resources for Educators
Online Resources
The American Folksong Collection at Holy Names University (http://kodaly.hnu.edu/home.cfm) which is an online resource of the Kodaly Center for Music Education in Oakland, CA. Compound Boogie by Dr. Jean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0X7xMDXmc8 Compound Word Lists: www.rickwalton.com/curricul/compound.htm
Compound Word Whiz With Miss Jenny: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoX9ojwca8M&feature=related http://www.drjean.org Piggyback songs for young elementary grades The Folk Song Index created by Oberlin college library and a non-profit organization called Sing Out! (http://www.oberlin.edu/library/con/singout_intro.html). This site contains 62181 entries for international and American Folk songs. http://flocabulary.com Rap songs for learning various content areas Jack Hartmann Have You Heard About Compound Words? This song is available on Jack Hartmann's Hip-Hop AlphaBop or at http://www.songsforteaching.com www.janbrett.com/piggybacks/compound.htm Compound words - Jan Brett- list and activity by children’s author Jan Brettt www.learningdifferences.com List of Compound words arranged on numbered lists: Mallet madness: a collection of engaging units for using mallet instruments and drums in the music classroom. Almeida, A. (2007). Dayton, OH: Heritage Music Press. Phonics Time with Miss Jenny : Compound Word Wiz -Song for Teaching Compound Words by Jennifer Fixman (This song is available on Jennifer Fixman's Phonics Time with Miss Jenny or http://www.songsforteaching.com
70
http://pinterest.com Virtual bulletin boards and sharing community http://www.rocknlearn.com Songs for learning math facts www.songsforteaching.com Songs for the classroom teacher, multiple content areas including character and community songs Utah Department of Education, Fine Arts, Music, Elementary Songbook (http://www.schools.utah.gov/CURR/fineart/Elementary/Songbook/Music.aspx), www.YouTube.com proved a useful avenue for finding song and visual material readily available for classroom teachers. Shopping www.amazon.com http://store.kidslearningdepot.com www.westmusic.com http://shop.scholastic.com http://www.themusicstand.com http://www.musick8.com http://www.lakeshorelearning.com
71
Appendix C
List of Compound Words from www.learning differences.com
Compound Word List # 1 lifetime elsewhere upside grandmother cannot baseball fireworks passport together become became sunflower crosswalk basketball sweetmeat superstructure moonlight football railroad rattlesnake anybody weatherman throwback skateboard meantime earthquake everything herein sometimes also backward schoolhouse butterflies upstream nowhere bypass fireflies because somewhere spearmint something another somewhat airport anyone today himself grasshopper inside themselves playthings footprints therefore uplift supergiant homemade without backbone scapegoat peppermint
Compound Word List # 2 eyeballs longhouse forget afternoon southwest northeast alongside meanwhile keyboard whatever blacksmith diskdrive herself nobody seashore nearby silversmith watchmaker subway horseback itself headquarters sandstone limestone underground glassmaking riverbanks touchdown honeymoon bootstrap toothpick toothpaste dishwasher household township shadyside popcorn airplane pickup housekeeper bookcase babysitter saucepan lukewarm bluefish hamburger honeydew raincheck thunderstorm spokesperson widespread weekend hometown commonplace moreover pacemaker
72
Compound Word List # 3
supermarket supermen supernatural superpower somebody someday somehow someone anymore anyplace anytime anyway backhand watchdog backlog backpack backstage waterfall backtrack noisemaker underage underbelly underbid undercharge bookworm bookstore bookshelf bookend superscript supersonic superstar supersensitive bookkeeper bookmark bookmobile forgive forklift format fortnight honeycomb honeysuckle honeybee keyhole keynote keyway keyword lifeblood lifeboat lifeguard lifelike lifeline lifelong forefinger forefather forehand forehead
Compound Word List # 4
onetime supercargo supercharge overabundance backside backslap backspace backspin undercut underdevelop underdog underestimate superstrong supertanker superweapon superwoman underexpose underfoot however eyesight airfield sidekick crossover sunbathe anywhere anyhow backache backbite backbreaker backdrop backfire background textbook underachieve underact underarm keypad keypunch keystone keystroke upstairs softball uptight upstate supercool superego superfine superhero foreleg foreman foresee oneself
73
Compound Word List # 5
washroom blackbird blackboard blackberries upend blacktop whitecap whitefish whitewall whitewash friendship pancake daytime upbringing upbeat upcoming repairman firefighter standby bedroom blackjack blacklist blackmail blackout uphill waterline upkeep upland firehouse teenager carpool bellbottom ballroom brainchild pinstripe bodywork upward upwind upturn storerooms deadline rainbow watermelon waterway daybreak daybook daydream daylight update upgrade upheaval upheld
Compound Word List # 6
upload washstand upon upperclassman lifesaver forearm forbearer forbid carhop carload carport carpetbagger wastepaper upshot uplink upstage newspaper grandchild grandparent grandchildren fishpond fishtail hookup eyecatching taxicab taxpayer teacup teamwork uppercut uppercase uppermost uprising newsreel newsstand newsworthy granddaughter grandfather grandmaster grandaunt grandnephew upright uproar uproot upstart grandnieces grandson grandstand granduncle boldface bankbook bankroll dishcloth dishpan dishwater cardboard carefree
74
Compound Word List # 7
caretaker carsick carfare cargo uptake upthrust newsroom uptime carryall cartwheel wheelbase wheelbarrow washcloth fishlike waterproof fishnet newsdealer watershed newsman snowdrift intake courtyard overflow cornmeal underclothes overcoat undercover undercurrent takeover talebearer taleteller tapeworm superhuman wasteland superman superhighways afterlife setback overland highway mainland caveman drawbridge lifework firebomb someplace passbook passkey airtime firecracker sidewalk fireball allover notebook throwaway fireproof buttermilk footnote moonbeam Sunday
Compound Word List # 8
handmade candlelight firearm airline crossbow sideshow software sunfish moonstruck rattletrap weatherproof earthworm schoolboy sweetheart butternut hereafter playback foothill eyelid southeast horseplay headache blueprint raindrop weekday hammerhead foreclose foreclosure slowdown skyscraper motherhood fatherland forecast highball forebear mainline slumlord snowball snakeskin soundproof firebreak aircraft crosscut railway earthward buttercup allspice noteworthy playboy footlocker handgun horsepower rainstorm bluegrass cheeseburger weeknight headlight bedrock standoff commonwealth
75
Compound Word List # 9
cancan fireboat airlift Passover crossbreed sideburns sunbaked moonshine schoolbook hereby playhouse butterfingers footlights handbook backslide eyelash steamship headline spillway houseboat longhand horsehair standpipe whatsoever foresight soybean bookseller blueberry cheesecake raincoat thunderbolt standpoint bedroll cardsharp bellboy brainwash bodyguard pinhole ponytail newsboy careworn duckpin duckbill hookworm courthouse afterimage highchair mothball sixfold skintight skylight slapstick snowbank standout handout eyeglasses footrest stepson stockroom stonewall
Compound Word List # 10
sailboat watchword timesaving timeshare salesclerk showoff sharecropper sheepskin candlestick newsbreak newscaster newsprint butterscotch turnabout turnaround turnbuckle eyewitness starfish stagehand spacewalk shoemaker turndown turnkey turnoff horsefly comedown comeback cabdriver bluebird tablespoon tabletop tableware stoplight sunlit sandlot snowbird bluebell wheelhouse fishhook fishbowl stronghold tailgate taillight taillike pinup tailspin takeoff takeout bellhop taproot target taskmaster steamboat dairymaid teaspoon daisywheel pinwheel telltale tenderfoot tenfold
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Compound Word List # 11
timekeeper watchword timesaving timeshare shoelace showoff sharecropper sheepskin newfound newsbreak newscaster newsprint timetable turnabout turnaround turnbuckle sharpshooter starfish stagehand spacewalk turncoat turndown turnkey turnoff aboveboard comedown comeback cabdriver tablecloth tablespoon tabletop tableware sundial sunlit sandlot snowbird wheelchair wheelhouse fishhook fishbowl tagalong tailgate taillight taillike tailpiece tailspin takeoff takeout taproom taproot target taskmaster teammate dairymaid teaspoon daisywheel showplace telltale tenderfoot tenfold
Compound Word List # 12 shortbread teapot timesaving timeshare firewater airmen sharecropper sheepskin moonscape schoolwork newscaster newsprint hereupon weathercock turnaround turnbuckle handcuff headdress stagehand spacewalk housetop forever turnkey turnoff tailcoat bedclothes comeback cabdriver upstanding fisheye tabletop tableware afterglow highland sandlot snowbird sisterhood skylark fishhook fishbowl waistline walkways taillight taillike walleyed wallpaper takeoff takeout wardroom warehouse target taskmaster warlike warmblooded teaspoon daisywheel warpath telltale tenderfoot tenfold
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Compound Word List # 13
around washbowl fisherman schoolbus ashtray washboard beachcomb washout blackball upmarket washtub wastebasket sunroof sundown snowshovel sunup upset wastewater superimpose watchband jailbait jetliner dogwood downbeat atchcase backlash watchman below jetport boardwalk jackpot ballpark watchtower timepieces watercolor watercooler gumball goodbye nevermore coffeemaker watercraft backstroke waterfront waterlog moonwalk woodshop jellyfish waterfowl uphold watermark fishmonger waterpower shipbottom goodnight nutcracker racquetball waterscape newsletter waterside waterspout
Compound Word List # 14
scarecrow toolbox gearshift tailbone watertight waterworks waterwheel wavelength thunderbird bugspray overshoes paycheck wavelike warfare waxwork waybill bowtie crewcut typewriter jumpshot wayfarer waylaid wayward wayside deadend eardrum postcard fruitcup overboard jellybean centercut rubberband sunray clockwise downunder earache turntable driveway matchbox motorcycle nightfall graveyard carrack doorstop tadpole eggshell stopwatch limelight ironwork cattail nursemaid sunglasses wipeout egghead eardrop earthbound daybed earring housework haircut
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Compound Word List New
blowgun forethought upscale duckweed forewarn upstroke bowlegs foreknowledge uptown forebrain foregone washhouse forefeet foreshadow washrag forefoot foretold forego foreword foreground grassland butterball horseman forecastle horseradish foremost moonlit forepaws catwalk cardstock newborn foredoom newsperson forestall rainwater