Harrington Elementary School : Music

Music Curriculum and Standards

The music curriculum at Harrington Elementary is based upon the following Denver Public Schools Music Standards which correspond with the National Standards for Arts Education. For more information about the DPS music standards please click here.

Successful Music Students at Harrington will:

1. Sing, or play instruments of a varied repertoire, alone or with others.

2. Read and notate music.

3. Create music.

4. Listen to, analyze, evaluate, and describe music.

5. Relate music to historical and cultural traditions.

Información en español- Estándars Nacionales para Educación en las Artes

DID YOU KNOW?

Music in public schools is the Law!

"The No Child Left Behind Act’s definition of core academic subjects includes the arts. In this respect, the arts have equal billing with reading, math, science, and other disciplines. And this definition could lead to a huge improvement in national education policy. This means that whenever federal education programs (such as teacher training, school reform, and technology programs) are targeted to “core academic subjects,” the arts may be eligible to receive funds. " (from NO SUBJECT LEFT BEHIND: A guide toArts Education Opportunities in the 2001 NCLB Act)

Music increases intellegence!

Excerpts from research by MENC, a nationally recognized music education organization:

Young children who take music lessons show different brain development and improved memory over the course of a year, compared to children who do not receive musical training. The brains of musically trained children respond to music in a different way to those of untrained children, and that the musical training improves their memory. After one year the musically trained children performed better in a memory test that is correlated with general intelligence skills such as literacy, verbal memory, Visio spatial processing, mathematics and IQ. Dr. Laurel Trainor, Prof. of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour at McMaster University, Director of the McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind; Canada; published 9/20/06; http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060920093024.htm

Playing a musical instrument significantly enhances the brainstem’s sensitivity to speech sounds. This relates to encoding skills involved with music and language. Experience with music at a young age can “fine-tune” the brain’s auditory system. – from a study supported by Northwestern University, grants from the National Institutes of Health, and the National Science Foundation. Nina Kraus, director of NWU’s Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory and senior author of the study, which appeared in April 2007 Nature Neuroscience. Other contributing researchers/authors: Patrick Wong, primary author “Musical Experience Shapes Human Brainstem Encoding of Linguistic Pitch Patterns” Other researchers Erika Skoe, Nicole Russo, Tasha Dees; info from www.sciencedaily.com

A study of 31 children found that children who received keyboard instruction for two years beginning at age 3 continued to score higher on spatial-temporal and arithmetic tasks two years after the instruction was terminated (Rauscher & LeMieux, 2003). The age at which children begin instruction appears to affect the duration of extra-musical cognitive outcomes, and longitudinal research suggests that at least two years of music instruction are required for sustained enhancement of spatial abilities (Rauscher, 2002); ERIC Clearinghouse on Early Education and Parenting , Can Music Instruction Affect Children's Cognitive Development? ERIC Digest; Frances H. Rauscher; ERIC Identifier: ED480540, Publication Date: 09/2003. http://www.ericdigests.org/2004-3/cognitive.html

Music Instruction can help you succeed in your Career!

"An education rich in the arts and humanities develops skills that are increasingly crucial to the productivity and competitiveness of the nation’s workforce: the ability to think creatively, communicate effectively and work collaboratively, and to deal with ambiguity and complexity. Just as important, exposure to the arts and humanities fosters cultural literacy: the ability to understand and appreciate other cultures, perspectives and traditions; to read and understand music and literature; to craft a letter or essay; to design a Web site; and to discern the “hidden persuaders” in a political or commercial advertisement. Arts and humanities education also develops skills necessary to participate in one of the fastest-growing, economically significant set of occupations and industries in the American economy – the arts, cultural and intellectual property section. The “creative workforce” – which includes traditional artist categories (dancers, musicians, painters, actors, photographers, authors), as well as individuals employed in advertising, architecture, fashion design, film, video, music, publishing and software development – is growing at a rate more than double that for the rest of the nation’s workforces."-- Summary of paper by Prof. Ann M. Galligan, Northeastern University, in her paper “Creativity, Culture, Education and the Workforce”, Center for Arts and Culture, December 2001, www.culturalpolicy.org; summary provided/written by Suzanne Weiss, in the “Progress of Education Reform 2004: The Arts in Education”; vol. 5, no. 1, January 2004, Education Commission of the States; http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/49/91/4991.pdf

"To put it simply, we need to keep the arts in education because they instill in students the habits of mind that last a lifetime: critical analysis skills, the ability to deal with ambiguity and to solve problems, perseverance and a drive for excellence. Moreover, the creative skills children develop through the arts carry them toward new ideas, new experiences, and new challenges, not to mention personal satisfaction. This is the intrinsic value of the arts, and it cannot be overestimated." -- Education Week, Issue 20, vol. 24, pg. 40, 52; Jan 26, 2005, Rod Paige (former U.S. Secretary of Education), Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas, Education Commission of the States Chairman (www.ecs.org), Chairman’s Initiative on the Arts in Education

Meet the Music Teacher

Mrs. Johnston came to Harrington Elementary School in the Summer of 2005 as the General Music Specialist. She has been teaching in the Denver Public Schools for seven years. Mrs. J has taught all levels of music from ECE-12th grade including band, choir, technology, and general music. She is a Level I certified Orff-Schulwerk teacher and utilizes many diverse strategies in her classroom including singing, movement, instrument playing, literacy integration, and music technology. Mrs. J has a Bachelors Degree in Music Education from Northwest Missouri State University and a Masters in Music Education from CU-Boulder with a Minor in Music Technology. She is also a member of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association, MENC, and the Denver Classroom Teacher’s Association. In her "spare" time, Mrs. Johnston blogs and maintains 3 websites related to music education, and is the webmaster for the Harrington Elementary Homepage.

Mrs. Johnston lives in Westmister, CO with her husband, Shannon, six-year-old daughter Anna, and new 11-month old baby Heather. Her hobbies include digital and traditional scrapbooking, playing recorders, guitar, and piano, writing music and poetry, designing web pages, surfing the net, and learning more about music technology. Mrs. J also enjoys serving on the worship team at Grace Church of Arvada, watching her husband play hockey, off-roading and camping with her family in the summer, and home decorating.

Click to E-mail Mrs. Johnston.

Mrs. J's Favorite Quotes

“I dream of a day when every child in America will have in his or her hand a musical instrument, be it a clarinet, a drumstick or a guitar. And I dream of a day when there’s no state legislature that would even consider cutting funding for music and the arts because they realize that it’s a life skill that changes the lives of students and gives them not only better academic capability, but it makes them better people. We sometimes forget that many of us in this room, including this guy standing right in front of you, would not be where he is today if not for having music introduced in my life because it gave me the understanding of teamwork, discipline and focus.” -- Mike Huckabee, Former Arkansas Governor; NAMM University Breakfast Sessions 2007, NAMM Playback Magazine, Spring 2007, pg. 36; www.namm.com

“Music has a great power for bringing people together. With so many forces in this world acting to drive wedges between people, it’s important to preserve those things that help us experience our common humanity.” – Ted Turner, Turner Broadcasting System

“Music is one way for young people to connect with themselves, but it is also a bridge for connecting with others. Through music, we can introduce children to the richness and diversity of the human family and to the myriad rhythms of life.” – Daniel A. Carp, Eastman Kodak Company Chairman and CEO

“Casals says music fills him with the wonder of life and the ‘incredible marvel’ of being a human. Ives says it expands his mind and challenges him to be a true individual. Bernstein says it is enriching and ennobling. To me, that sounds like a good cause for making music and the arts an integral part of every child’s education. Studying music and the arts elevates children’s education, expands students’ horizons, and teaches them to appreciate the wonder of life.” – U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley, July 1999

“The life of the arts, far from being an interruption, a distraction, in the life of the nation, is close to the center of a nation's purpose - and is a test to the quality of a nation's civilization.” – John F. Kennedy

"I have made a career doing things that weren't even invented when I graduated from high school 40 years ago. It will be the same for today's graduates, only on a sharply accelerating timeline. Much of what I learned in the classroom is obsolete or, at best, only marginally useful. What has made a difference in my life has been the ability to learn as I go, to adapt to new ideas, to have the courage to take risks, and to feel confident I will be able to perform and successfully meet the challenges of new situations. These skills I learned through participation in band and drama." - Fred Behning retired from IBM Corporation after a 32-year career that included assignments in systems engineering, product development, management, and customer technology briefings, and is still an IBM consultant. A life-long musician, Fred plays oboe and English horn in the Williamson County Symphony Orchestra and the Austin Symphonic Band. http://www.supportmusic.com/drjohn/archive/2007-06-11.mhtml

"Without Music, Life would be a mistake." -Nietzsche