Learning Through Music
Michael Bitz, an adjunct assistant professor at Columbia University, recently won a national competition with his idea of helping students learn academic subjects while creating their own record labels. Mr. Bitz will now attempt to bring his ideas to schools across the country as the first recipient of the fellowship awarded by Mind Trust, an Indianapolis non-profit organization. His story is featured in an article in USA Today.
The basis of Mr. Bitz’s idea is simple: allow the children to write songs, create digital tracks, design their own cover art, and market their CDs. The article states that elementary students have recorded tracks about civil rights heroes and favorite holidays, while middle school students have delved into edgier subjects such as crime and love.
How does this fit into a school’s core curriculum? It does teach the students math skills by getting them involved in marketing and business plans. And, according to one student, by writing songs, it focused on English skills, helping to focus on similes, metaphors, and personification.
There were over 150 applicants in the Mind Trust competition, all with ideas on how to encourage hands-on student engagement at school. Mr. Bitz believes that bringing music-making into schools is a sure way to get kids involved:
“There’s just something about music that helps kids connect to themselves and the world at large,” he said. “I’m trying to capitalize on that in some way.”
Happy learning!