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So far this month has been jam-packed with insightful education, Booklists, Activities and Resources for Kids and parents interested in raising global citizens.  I would like to share them this weekend as my Weekend Links Round-up. Enjoy!

Marie’s Pastiche ALWAYS has amazing information for cultivating global citizens and this one caught my eye:”We really enjoyed getting a glimpse into Ashanti royalty and customs from Ghana – have you ever seen anything like it?”

Using and Creating Art to Explore World Cultures at Art Curator for Kids

Episode 41: A Bilingual Avenue-Strategies to help you navigate multicultural and multi-ethnic family relationships with Harriet Cannon | Bilingual Avenue

Randomly Reading: The Red Bicycle: The Extraordinary Story of One Ordinary Bicycle

Spring is in the air! Let’s get outside and MOVE! Outdoor Games, Crafts & Nature Activities for Kids at KCEdventures.

Third Culture Mama has a wonderful list of Beautiful Multicultural Books for Children.

Read Aloud to Ignite a World of Possibility  via @blackvoices

How are you celebrating Music In Our Schools month? Free E-book here for MIOSM during March from the amazing Daria Music.

Have you seen the “Cultural Iceberg”…Fascinating! {Thanks to Languages Around the Globe for sharing on Facebook)

Sign up to receive your Free copy of Read Your World Multicultural Books Activities for Kids! downloadable eBook.  It’s my free gift to YOU. Click here for more details.

The post Weekend Links appeared first on Jump Into A Book.

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I’m Out and About, presenting poetry workshops at West Middleton Elementary School in Middleton, Wisconsin, but I can’t resist posting a quick comment on the important topic of Music in Our Schools Month.

When I was in grade school, we sat at our desks and sang along with the radio program “Let’s Sing!” (Anyone else remember that? “Let’s sing! Let’s make the rafters ring!”) I thought long and hard to remember one song we sang, and now I can’t get it out of my head. “Toreador, be on your guard . . . .”

One of the nuns at school gave voice lessons. She taught my sisters and me to sing “Welcome, Sweet Springtime” and “Ave Maria.” I remember climbing up a narrow stairway to the top floor of the school and practicing in a tiny room with a piano. I remember the music to both of those songs but not all the words, especially the Latin ones.

My older sister Peggy was in the high school choir. She used to learn all three parts of the songs the choir sang in three-part harmony and teach them to the rest of us. (Yes, we still sing them.) When she was a senior and Judy and I were juniors, the three of us performed as the Andrews Sisters in the high school musical, a version of “South Pacific” that someone adapted to include a USO tour with a trio of musical guests.

Does music reinforce my memory of these events, or do I remember them because music is important to me?

Our kids enjoyed musical opportunities throughout elementary, middle, and high school. One son played saxophone in the elementary and middle school bands; the other one sang in the middle school and high school choirs. The one who played saxophone gave it up when he started high school. The one who sang (and still sings) hung out in the choir room before, during, and after school. I have no doubt that music helped him survive high school.

My husband and I saw in our own kids how reading music reinforces math skills and promotes self-confidence. According to MENC: The National Association for Music Education, an education in music can also improve communication, cooperation, problem solving, memory, discipline, language, and perseverance.

With the current threat of drastic school budget cuts, I hope that decision makers remember their own musical experiences and those of their families. I hope they come up with some creative problem-solving strategies that enable kids to go on creating their own musical memories in schools.

Otherwise, what will happen to the choir kids? The band kids? The orchestra kids? How will they survive?

JoAnn Early Macken

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In honor of National Music in Schools Week, I'm supposed to be rhapsodizing about the power of music in our lives.  Given that I met my husband in my church choir, given that my husband's fondest dream would be to produce first-chair trumpet-playing heirs, I was feeling quite enthusiastic about this topic until I sat down to write and my three-year-old began singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" in full voice.   

Give my kids (most kids) a song, and they will sing it -- over and over and over again.  My daughter came home from school the other day, excited about a coin-sorting ditty set to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."  Sadly, I have to say I that we all found this to be an improvement over full score of "Annie," which we've enjoyed in an endless feedback loop since I took her to see her first musical two months ago.  In desperation, my husband tried introducting her to "Guys and Dolls," which has resulted in many questions such as, "Mommy, is it illegal to play craps in the United States?"  Ah, teachable moments.   

Kate is also fond of making up her own lyrics.  Here's a gem from last week:
"I am cleaning up, cleaning up...  Why do Patrick and I have to do all the work around here?" 

She told me the other day, "I wish I could write down the notes to "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" on a piece of paper."  Unfortunately, she has yet to learn to read music, let alone write it.  And I realized, as I was explaining to her why we had to wait for her daddy to get home and help her, that precious few of us -- even those who do read music -- know how to scribble out a few bars. 

I was reminded of those bumper stickers that say, "If you can read this [musical score], thank a music teacher."  While most of us have great appreciation for music, our literacy is often sadly lacking.  My daughter baked brownies yesterday and then sat down to draw a picture and write a story about the experience.  Unfortunately, she couldn't (physically) write a song if she wanted to.  It is my determination (and hers) that someday she will have the skills she needs to write anything she wants!

When I ask my college students whether anyone writes in his/her spare time, typically I hear disgruntled murmurs.  But when I ask whether anyone writes music, I always have at least two or three enthusiastic respondents. Lyrics = poetry, and one of the most refined and difficult forms, at that.  Someday soon, I will try a songwriting exercise, which I think will be a great hit.

Check out this post and terrific exercises from the National Writing Project.  (And please support the NWP, which is facing a dire financial crisis.)

The tune of the moment is now, "If You're Happy and You Know It."  Wishing everyone a happy Monday and a terrific week! -- Jeanne Marrie

 

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Music in Our Schools Month logo

In honor of this being Music in our Schools Month here in the U.S., we TeachingAuthors are doing a series on the connections between music and writing/reading. If you're a teacher, check out the Writing Workout below for links to lesson plans on creating playlists for classroom literature. And for more information about Music in our Schools Month 2011, see the official website.

Reading Mary Ann's post kicking off the series on Monday, I could definitely relate to what she said about writing with music playing in the background. At this moment, Pachelbel's Canon in D Major is playing on my computer. I first started writing with music years ago to drown out the television and other sounds coming from my family. When I'm actively writing, the music has to be instrumental--lyrics distract me from the words forming in my head. I used to load my CD player with a collection of classical albums that included Music for the Mozart Effect and Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Nowadays, I play the music directly on my computer via the "radio stations" I've set up at Pandora.com. (Pandora is a convenient way to create a quick playlist that "matches" a specific song or type of music.) Like Mary Ann, when working on historical fiction, I listen to music from the era in which my story is set. That means that lately I've been hearing lots of 17th and 18th century pieces featuring the harpsichord and violins. Such music is especially appropriate as the main character of my young adult novel-in-progress plays the harpsichord and her love interest is a violinist.

I've noticed that some authors are now sharing their personal playlists with their readers. For example, on Kathryn Erskine's website, you can click on the titles of the songs she listened to while writing Mockingbird, winner of the 2010 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. Young adult author Rachel Cohn has even created iMixes of her playlists on the iTunes Music Store. These playlists can be a great way to connect with young readers, especially teens. Teen (and adult) readers can also find playlists on sites like Novel Novice, which often includes playlists for the young adult novels highlighted there, such as Elizabeth Eulberg's Prom and Prejudice.

I know that l

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