Music and Memory

By Alicia Bachorik, Brunson Elementary

Recently I noticed once again how well music sticks in our memory when other things slip away. A couple of weeks ago, we introduced a class of first graders to short song that went along with a story that was being told.

We sang through the song with the kids a couple of times, and then each time it appeared in the story, everyone sang it together. Last week, we continued the exercise by telling the story once again in a different way. To my surprise, when the song came up, several of the children started singing along, although we hadn't reviewed the song with them, and it had been two weeks (over spring break) since they had last heard it. Some of these kids are still struggling with remembering rules of pronunciation and sight words, but they easily recalled a song they had sung just a few times. It was a great reminder once again of why music is such a powerful tool for learning and remembering other ideas.

April 24, 2017