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10 Ways to Incorporate Music into Your Classroom

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10 Ways to Incorporate Music into Your Classroom

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November 21, 2016

A teacher librarian shares her best practices for tuneful teaching

By Shannon McClintock Miller

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." ~Plato

One of the most important gifts we can give to our young children is a healthy foundation for lifelong learning. We want to capture their excitement, bottle their enthusiasm, and give life to their imagination. As educators, we look for resources that support and enhance these magical learning experiences. As shown in the Learning With Music infographic, music stimulates and connects the different areas of the brain. For our youngest learners who are at a crucial time of development, this is an essential building block for their future.

In the article Music and Learning: Integrating Music in the Classroom from John Hopkins School of Education, Chris Boyd Brewer touts the benefits of using music throughout the day. "The intentional use of music in the classroom will set the scene and learning atmosphere to enhance our teaching and learning activities," he writes. "Plus, using music for learning makes the process much more fun and interesting."

Let's look at 10 ways to incorporate music into your classroom, instruction, and library collection.

1. Bookend your day with music. Music promotes listening and focus as we get started with our morning and as we end activities in the afternoon. This is also important with focusing children at home. At school or at home, songs can remind kids to wash their hands for snacks or clean toys up at the end of the day.

2. Use music to establish a positive learning space. The right music creates the atmosphere you want for a given lesson, contributes to the community of the classroom, and builds rapport. The new series School Time Songs from Cantata Learning sets a fun tone for everything you do. Cantata's books combine stories, illustrations, and songs to captivate young learners, build literacy skills, and instill a lifelong love of reading. In the back of each book there is a CD that contains the song. You can also find all of the music online by scanning a QR code included three places within each book.

3. Inspire your students to release energy and tension throughout the day. Whether for one student or a gym full of kids, brain breaks fueled by music motivate kids to get some healthy exercise and help them refocus on learning.

4. When you kick off a new topic or lesson, really hook your students with music. Music will reinforce new information. It can be paired with other resources, such as non-fiction and research, to provide guiding questions and bring new concepts to life.

5. Use music to enhance imagination. We all know that kids love to dream about who they might be someday. With the new STEM series from Cantata Learning, they can do just that by taking a closer look into science, technology, engineering, and math information, careers and interests.

6. Engage students' brains to learn and memorize. Kelly Benge, who is a 5th-grade special education teacher in Iowa, uses the Read, Sing, Learn...Songs About the Part of Speech series to teach her class to identify the parts of speech. Benge said, "The music engages the brain to learn and memorize in ways nothing else can. The songs draw in the interest of students, especially those who get easily distracted."

7. Teach students to be more receptive and sensitive to understanding things differently. The Mad Monkey, from the Songs About Emotions series, takes a look at the social emotional aspect of children. It will help them understand others' emotional perspectives, too.

8. Use music as a collaborative tool among teachers. One of my favorite new series is Fairy Tale Tunes. Just think how perfect these are for a "fractured fairy tale" unit! This is an important piece of the curriculum which holds lots of potential for collaboration among teachers within the classroom, art, music, and library.

9. Facilitate a multisensory learning experience in a musical makerspace. Heather Fox, who is a teacher librarian in Iowa, set up a musical makerspace in her library by placing Cantata Learning book covers in a display and having students use iPads to scan the QR codes to listen, read, and sing. As part of the multisensory learning experience, they could also create musical instruments in a station she set up out of recycled goods.

10. Bring fun to learning! Karyn Lewis, who is a teacher librarian in Texas, wrote, "I invited the pre-K and kindergarten English language learner students to the library once a week to work on vocabulary using several of the Cantata Learning ebooks and songs. We couldn't help but sing, clap, and dance along to the books we read together! They requested to play the song again and again."

Music will bring noise to classrooms and libraries, but ultimately it creates lifelong learners through stories, movement, curiosity, collaboration, rhythm, and fun!

Shannon McClintock Miller is a teacher librarian, international speaker, consultant, and author. She is a recipient of the 2014 Library Journal Mover & Shaker Award and the 2016 ISTE Make It Happen Award. Follow her on Twitter at @shannonmmiller.

Originally published by The Edvocate.

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10 Ways to Incorporate Music into Your Classroom

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November 21, 2016 By Shannon McClintock Miller "Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." ~Plato One of the most important gifts we can give to our young children is a healthy foundation for lifelong learning.

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3 Series that Support Self-Regulation with Music

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3 Series that Support Self-Regulation with Music

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3 Series that Support Self-Regulation with Music - Cantata

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As we head toward winter break, utilize your Cantata Learning stories and songs during regular story times, transition times, or play times to help kids develop their emotional intelligence in a fun, engaging way. Here are three series we think will wonderfully enhance these learning opportunities:

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Winter Around the World: Harmony Project Spotlight

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Winter Around the World: Harmony Project Spotlight

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Winter Around the World: Harmony Project Spotlight - Cantata

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It's a digital world! At the Dubai American Academy, Ms. Erin Williams integrated technology into her first graders' artistic explorations of winter. The students created Google Drawings to express their thoughts on what winter is like in Dubai, and how they like to enjoy this season.

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Ready to Use Lesson Plans Involving Music

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Ready to Use Lesson Plans Involving Music

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Ready to Use Lesson Plans Involving Music - Cantata

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Music Just Right for English Language Learners

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Music Just Right for English Language Learners

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Music Just Right for English Language Learners - Cantata

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Last week, Matthew Lynch of the Edvocate published an article linking music instruction to higher student performance in English Language Learners.

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3 Ways Music Brings Libraries to Life - Cantata

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8 Ways To Use Music In The Language Arts Classroom, "Music opens up neurons, opens doors in your brain that create a kind of loft space receptive to learning." This is exactly what is happening in this classroom as the science concepts come to life with music.

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Press Release: Updated Website with New Features and Functionalities

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Press Release: Updated Website with New Features and Functionalities

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January 19, 2017 Cantata Learning Unveils Updated Website with New Features and Functionalities Website updates include new blog, additional teaching resources, the ability to stream and download music, and enhanced search capabilities

(Mankato, MN) January 11, 2017 - Cantata Learning, an educational publisher of preK-3 curriculum content and music, is proud to announce the launch of their updated website. The new website now includes many new features and resources that will aid school librarians in finding relevant curriculum and finding ways to implement it in their libraries.

Additional resources on the website include specially built lesson plans centered around Cantata Learning stories and songs. Website users will also find research articles about literacy and the use of music and movement to teach children, as well as presentations on best practices for implementing this teaching method. Cantata Learning has made all of their songs available free to stream or download from their website, including instrumental-only audio and sheet music.

"We believe these upgrades to our website will enrich the library experience for both adults and students with Cantata Learning books and songs," said General Manager Katherine Coughlan Hobson. "The additional lesson plans and research give librarians a better understanding of how these resources will improve student learning, and the advanced search features make it easier than ever to find lessons relevant to required curriculum."

Teachers and librarians will find that the search capabilities on the new website have also been improved. Users can now search for lessons by subject, grade, reading level, and music genre. There is also the option to search for a complete series of books, such as "Taking Care of Myself," "Jokes and Jingles," and "Science Biographies."

"Music is such a powerful tool to teach children and engage them with the curriculum," said Coughlan Hobson. "Cantata Learning is proud to be able to offer teachers these new website features so that they can more easily bring this tool into their classrooms."
About Cantata Learning
Cantata Learning combines engaging stories, delightful illustrations, and fun songs for a complete multi-sensory learning experience that engages every type of learner. Cantata Learning content supports the entire curriculum from language arts and social studies to STEAM. Cantata Learning books are ideal for reading levels preK-3 in the school and library markets. For more information, visit CantataLearning.com.
About Capstone
Capstone is a leading publisher of children's books, digital solutions and services, literacy programs, and K-12 professional development resources. Capstone creates content in a variety of print, digital and media formats for school libraries, classrooms, and at-home reading. For more information, visit www.myCapstone.com.
Media Contact
Sue Hanson
PR with Panache!
Sue@prwithpanache.com

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Press Release: Updated Website with New Features and Functionalities

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January 19, 2017 Cantata Learning Unveils Updated Website with New Features and Functionalities Website updates include new blog, additional teaching resources, the ability to stream and download music, and enhanced search capabilities (Mankato, MN) January 11, 2017 - Cantata Learning , an educational publisher of preK-3 curriculum content and music, is proud to announce the launch of their updated website.

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3 Ways Your Community Can Bolster Your Book Budget

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3 Ways Your Community Can Bolster Your Book Budget

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Future Ready Librarians shoulder the responsibility of aligning their library's resources to their school's objectives in order to create a learning hub that meets the needs of students as well as staff. When broken down into actionable items, the to do list can be a bit daunting: improving collections and providing engaging learning materials, expanding the library's digital resources, and helping students develop responsible digital citizenship, to name a few.

This is admittedly a lot for anyone to accomplish, especially when one has to contend with limited financial means, as has been reality for many schools for many years. But because of their training, access to resources, and teaching spaces, librarians are uniquely positioned to help lead their schools toward a Future Ready learning model. Part of that leadership and implementation is firmly tied to budget management. Whether it's stretching the budget further or finding additional funds, sometimes skillful management means getting pretty creative.

One of the ten initiatives set forth for Future Ready Librarians is to cultivate community partnerships. At Cantata Learning we've really enjoyed getting to know some fantastic educators through our Harmony Project campaigns. One such educator is our Community Harmony Project winner Michelle Griffith, an elementary school lead media specialist for Brazosport ISD in Texas. We've been impressed by Griffith's smart budgeting tricks, and so in the name of cultivating community, we wanted to share a few of them with you today.

Griffith's Tips for Finding More Funds

Tip 1: The beginning of the calendar year can be tough, but now is a good time to look at Federal dollars that perhaps have not been spent. The ESSA allows for Federal money to be spent in libraries. So reach out to your Federal program folks and find out if you can get a portion of what is not earmarked!

Tip 2: I also look into local as well as national grants. Many companies offer incentives for employees who volunteer. For instance, Dow Chemical will make a $500 donation to a school on behalf of a community volunteer who is employed by Dow.

Tip 3: We host book fairs twice each year. I have also found great success with having a fundraiser dinner one night during book fair. We offer a meal (entree, cookie, and a drink) for $5.00 a plate. We get local businesses and Brannen parents to donate the items for the dinner, so all the money we earn is pure profit. We generally earn about $1,000. Attendees always go to the book fair as well, so we earn money there too!

Paying It Forward

Griffith also participated in Cantata Learning's Give a Shout Out to Your Community Harmony Project. Students took part by reading our books and attending our live streaming Community Meet & Greets with several speakers including an author, eye doctor, singer, and bike mechanic.

By submitting to and winning the project, she won 25 free books for her school as well as 25 free books for Texas Children's Hospital. Her school already collects toys for the B.I.G. Love Cancer Care drive at the hospital each year. The toys (and the books!) go to children undergoing treatment in the cancer ward there.

Congratulations again Michelle, we're so proud of you and the work you do!

Get Involved with Us

We're always looking to grow new relationships with librarians, whether its through Harmony Projects, lesson plan submissions, or reviewing books. Interested in talking with us more or becoming a reviewer? We invite you to reach out to us by emailing info@cantatalearning.com. We look forward to hearing from you!
This post is the first in a series of Future Ready budget-friendly ideas. Stay tuned for more!
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3 Ways Your Community Can Bolster Your Book Budget

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Future Ready Librarians shoulder the responsibility of aligning their library's resources to their school's objectives in order to create a learning hub that meets the needs of students as well as staff.

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By Shannon McClintock Miller

One of best things about being a teacher librarian is the collaboration that takes place with the teachers and leaders within our school community every day. It is a time to connect and build relationships with colleagues, share thoughts, and provide support to one another. We also build collaborative relationships with our parents and community members, as this is a big part of our library program too.

As we look for ways to promote and support collaboration, let's take a look at five ways music can be used throughout the year in making these collaborative times meaningful and fun!

World Read Aloud Day

You can use music as a special way to celebrate in the library or in connection with another library through Skype. World Read Aloud Day Children will love celebrating this day (2.16.17) by singing, reading, and dancing together to any of the Cantata Learning titles. One that brings in the world is Make Everyday Earth Day...Caring For Our Planet . This is a perfect choice as it will evoke a global conversation with students about how we all have a part in caring for the world.

Cantata Learning's Harmony Projects

Special projects that tie in music and stories are a terrific way to enhance collaboration between the library and various parts of the curriculum. As the site states, Cantata Learning Harmony Projects connect your students to the global community, encourage creativity and collaboration, and provide students with a hands-on learning experience. If it's collaborating with the music teacher in writing a song with your students or having a dance off with friends online, these projects have something for everyone. You will find the Harmony Projects .

Summer Reading

There are lots of different ways to listen to the Cantata Learning stories and songs, in and outside of the library. You will find all of the titles are available online to stream, download, or listen to on YouTube. There is also a CD included in the back of each book. This provides an easy way to enhance learning by giving students and parents a collaborative way to engage with the stories and music all summer long.

Public Library Connections

One of the most important relationships we can foster within our community is the one between the school and public librarians. Consider a series like Sing Along Math Songs , which combines math concepts with fun and catchy tunes. By including curriculum-based titles like these, public libraries can help their local schools support essential skills through music too.

Classroom Connections

One of the gears within the Future Ready Librarians framework is Builds Instructional Partnerships in which teacher librarians partner with teachers to design and implement curriculum and assessment that integrate elements of deeper learning, critical thinking, information literacy, digital citizenship, creativity, innovation, and the active use of technology. The songs found within every Cantata Learning title will support instructional partnerships by connecting to the curricular areas and essential skills that need to be taught and supported. The includes six titles that support skills such as sharing, cooperating, and lining up. School Time Songs set, for example,

As you can see there are many ways that music makes collaboration fun. It doesn't have to be a special occasion or anything out of the ordinary; music can be used every day to bring your library, classroom, and home to life. And Cantata Learning stories and songs are the perfect fit!
References
Future Ready Librarians Framework (2016). Alliance of Educational Excellence.

School Time Songs Set . (2017). Cantata Learning.

Sing Along Math Songs . (2017). Cantata Learning.

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By Shannon McClintock Miller One of best things about being a teacher librarian is the collaboration that takes place with the teachers and leaders within our school community every day. It is a time to connect and build relationships with colleagues, share thoughts, and provide support to one another.

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3 Ways Music Can Support Future Ready Librarians

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3 Ways Music Can Support Future Ready Librarians

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February 21, 2017

by Shannon McClintock Miller

There is a buzz in the air and it is that of Future Ready Librarians. This amazing group is part of Future Ready Schools, supported by the Alliance for Excellence in Education, showcasing the leadership of teacher librarians within schools, libraries, and education globally everyday. Future Ready Librarians lift up these positions to lead the physical and digital transformation of learning and libraries, which we all know will make a difference within the lives of our students and throughout education.

As Future Ready Librarians, we look for tools and resources to support this initiative and transformation. It is our job to bring engaging experiences and amazing products to our libraries that will support the learning that we want to take place. Music is one of these tools, with the ability to bring so many special experiences and celebrations to our libraries.

Let's look at three ways music can support Future Ready Librarians and the communities that we serve by tying it into the wedges of the Future Ready Librarians Framework .

Music builds instructional partnerships

Future Ready Librarians partner with educators to integrate and develop experiences which promote deeper learning. Music can do just that! By tying in songs and stories that teach essential literacy concepts, such as those in the Sing, Read, Learn series from Cantata Learning , teacher librarians are supporting students and teachers as they build reading fluency. These instructional partnerships are essential in supporting students and language arts standards.

Music cultivates community partnerships

Future Ready Librarians cultivate partnerships within the school and throughout the community to support and cultivate lifelong learners. Music can bring these partnerships to life! For example, by presenting books in the Cantata Learning series Me, My Friends, My Community: Caring for our Planet , students will be engaged and get excited about concepts such as recycling, Earth Day, and planting trees. Music is a fun way to tie all of the pieces of a community together through a common song and theme when making a difference in these larger community concepts and causes.

Music supports collaborative spaces

Future Ready Librarians create and support flexible spaces which support creativity, promote inquiry and collaboration, and foster a sense of community that contributes to all learners. Music can be part of this collaborative space! It will generate a community which sings, celebrates, moves, and creates together. Music gives all students a voice and a chance to learn in a unique and special way. By bringing in books such as those found in the Fairy Tales Tunes series from Cantata Learning, students can sing and give new life to classic fairy tale characters and stories. What a wonderful way to celebrate these classics and support an important part of the language arts standards and early learning.

As Future Ready Librarians, we have the power to make a difference. One key way we can partner in making this difference come to life is through the mode of music. We can't wait to see how you will use music to support your Future Ready Library too!
References
Fairy Tales Tunes . (2017). Cantata Learning.

Future Ready Librarians Framework . (2016). Alliance of Educational Excellence.

Me, My Friends, My Community: Caring for our Planet . (2017). Cantata Learning.

Sing, Read, Learn . (2017). Cantata Learning.

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3 Ways Music Can Support Future Ready Librarians

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February 21, 2017 by Shannon McClintock Miller There is a buzz in the air and it is that of Future Ready Librarians. This amazing group is part of Future Ready Schools, supported by the Alliance for Excellence in Education, showcasing the leadership of teacher librarians within schools, libraries, and education globally everyday.

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March 1, 2017

It goes without saying that for us, a day to build community and foster a love of reading among students is just about the BEST THING EVER. We LOVE the opportunity that World Read Aloud Day provides to collaborate, learn out loud, and share ideas!
artwork by Tim Palin
This year for #WRAD17, we joined together as #CantataTeam with several of our wonderfully talented contributors to celebrate with classrooms across the country. Let's take a look at what happened.

In Washington State, musician Mark Oblinger orchestrated a special Skype session with Craig Seasholes' students at Dearborn Park International School. The group sang (and marched) The Ants Go Marching. They also enjoyed Little Red Riding Hood, as well as spent some time exploring The First Lady of Civil Rights: Rosa Parks. The class had a blast with Mark and the way his music really brought each of these unique stories to life!

In Iowa, illustrator Luke Flowers Skyped with the 2nd graders at VanMeter Elementary. They had a great time exploring our all-new Read, Sing, Learn series about Magic E, as well as some old favorites.

And in Connecticut, author Blake Hoena Skyped with the 2nd graders at Jennings Elementary. They read Technology Is All Around You and sang Shoo, Fly, Don't Bother Me. We are so happy to have helped bring this pairing to fruition-the students at Jennings Elementary are true Blake Hoena and Cantata Learning fans!

Meanwhile, General Manager Katherine Coughlan-Hobson Skyped with students at Franklin Elementary in North Carolina. They had so much fun singing and learning the signs to Happy Birthday. They even spent some time exploring their own creativity by making homemade instruments!

Cantata Learning's Publisher Patricia Stockland started her day off with a Skype session with Carole Stubeck's first grade students in New Jersey. They read and sang a couple of Fairy Tale Tunes together: Little Red Riding Hood and The Gingerbread Man. If only every day could start out with so much joy and #LoudLibraries fun!

Shannon McClintock Miller also participated on #CantataTeam at VanMeter, sharing with the students there what it was like to become an author for the first time. Her Cantata Learning books will be available this fall!

We had SO MUCH FUN celebrating reading with each of these wonderful school communities! We want to say a huge THANK YOU to each of them, as well as to our amazing authors, illustrators, and musicians who participated.

Above meeting so many engaged school communities, it was so inspiring to witness the power of music and its ability to ignite learning on so many levels. We look forward to the opportunity to collaborate again! Make sure you register your school for #WRAD2018. If you'd like to partner with us for a different event in your school or library, we'd love to hear from you!

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March 1, 2017 It goes without saying that for us, a day to build community and foster a love of reading among students is just about the BEST THING EVER. We LOVE the opportunity that World Read Aloud Day provides to collaborate, learn out loud, and share ideas!

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Music’s Role in Supporting Social Emotional Learning In Children

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Music’s Role in Supporting Social Emotional Learning In Children

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By Shannon McClintock Miller

When I was little, my mom would put me and my sister to bed by singing, " M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E, Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse. " Heather and I would happily march upstairs when we heard her start to sing, almost every night, and sometimes even with our batons in tow. Our mom was a kindergarten teacher and she used that song, and many others she had up her sleeve, to help us develop our Social and Emotional Learning, or SEL.

In the article " Social and Emotional Learning in the Performing Arts Classroom," Wendy Hart Higdon states, According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, Social and Emotional Learning is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions."

SEL is a very important topic in education and within our libraries, classrooms, and school communities. Our children need to learn these skills in order to be successful in school and throughout life. We hear it often and need to equip ourselves with the knowledge and tools to support all of our students in their Social and Emotional Learning.

One of my favorite ways to teach and foster SEL is by using music, stories, and songs, just as my mom did with me. We can use these tools to help children embrace the five competencies of SEL-which include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship management, and responsible decision making -in a variety of ways.

Tying In Music

The music, stories, and songs from Cantata Learning do just that! Let's take a look at how they are perfect for supporting the competencies of Social and Emotional Learning.

Children will learn how to cope with their emotions by singing along to the stories in the Me, My Friends, My Community series. The The Songs About Emotions set includes The Scared Elephant, The Sad Squirrel, The Mad Monkey, and The Happy Moose. show children how to be a positive part of a community through positive, upbeat songs and fun illustrations. These titles will guide students in learning ways to cope with their feelings, how to be friends and being kind to one another. The animals characters make these topics even more approachable and fun for children to talk about. Caring for our Planet set

The support classroom and leadership skills such as lining up, cooperating, sharing, listening and cleaning up. School Time Songs series These skills are essential in being part of a group, getting along with others, and making friends. I love how the playful illustrations support these essential skills, along with the beautiful diversity of characters throughout each book.

Eldonna Skahill, the elementary guidance counselor at Van Meter Community School in Van Meter, Iowa, uses both of these series with her students and teachers. Here's what she has to say:

I use music so often in my elementary guidance classes. Catchy little tunes have helped us learn the Seven Habits of Happy Kids and have encouraged us to "Stop and Think" before making decisions. The students readily respond to music, they retain the information better, and the actions that go along with the songs engage them physically. Using music is a way to appeal to different learning styles. I've had parents tell me about hearing the songs at home, being "taught" the songs by their child, and then singing them together!

That really says it all!

Looking Ahead

Because Social and Emotional Learning is such an important and essential topic in education, Cantata Learning and Capstone are hosting a webinar in the fall where we will take a deeper look at how stories, songs, music, and movement work together to support our children in the library, at school, and at home. They have created wonderful resources to support our students in their SEL development and so many other parts of their lives and learning. As we kick of a new school year, this will be perfect timing for taking a look at all these great resources and tying them in to our teaching practices.

Until then, remember this catchy Cantata tune as you work with your students this week...
When you're mad, and you want to scream and shout,
take deep breaths and breath it all out.
Find a quiet place. Count to ten.
You'll be a happy Monkey again. References
It's an easy little reminder and something that could stay with them forever, just as M-I-C-K-E-Y has stayed with me too.

Me, My Friends, My Community: Caring for our Planet set. (2017). By Vita Jimenez. Illustrated by George Ermos. Music by Mark Oblinger. Cantata Learning.

Me, My Friends, My Community: Songs about Emotions set. (2016). By Jenna Laffin. Illustrated by Brian Hartley. Music Arranged & Produced by Erik Koskinen and recorded at Real Phonic Studios. Cantata Learning.

School Time Songs set. (2016). By Jonathan Peale. Illustrated by Tom Heard. Music Arranged & Produced by Musical Youth Productions. Cantata Learning.

Social and Emotional Learning in the Performing Arts Classroom. National Association for Music Education (NAfME) . N.p., 24 Jan. 2017. Web. 25 Feb. 2017.

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Music's Role in Supporting Social Emotional Learning In Children

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By Shannon McClintock Miller When I was little, my mom would put me and my sister to bed by singing, " M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E, Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse. " Heather and I would happily march upstairs when we heard her start to sing, almost every night, and sometimes even with our batons in tow.

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How Teaching with Music Benefits Student Learning

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How Teaching with Music Benefits Student Learning

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March 9, 2017

Contributed by Elizabeth Draper, Music Director for Cantata Learning

Instead of asking ourselves "why should we have music in our classrooms," wouldn't it be better to ask ourselves "why not?" Why wouldn't music be an active part of a student's learning experience? Music benefits learning in many different ways. Throughout human history and in most cultures, music and learning have gone hand in hand. Music is an effective way to engage and manage a classroom, promote listening skills, and encourage creativity and self-expression. It promotes social development and an emotional bond with those you are creating music with. Creating and listening to music causes the release of dopamine in our brains. Learning through music is an effective way to bridge subjects and comprehend larger concepts.

So, why not sing our lessons? Why wouldn't we use music as a learning tool in our classrooms and libraries?

When learning a subject through music and song, our brains are using both of its hemispheres. This creates holistic comprehension as well as easier long-term memorization and recall. An integration of lyrics and melody in song is achieved through the combined action of two discreet systems for auditory-tonal and auditory-verbal working memory, based on a bilateral activation of the temporal and frontal cortex and of the supplementary motor area (Graham F. Welch http://www.imerc.org/papers/voxed/oup05.pdf).

I'm sure I'm not alone, but I've found songs to be the most effective mnemonic device. Can you imagine learning your ABC's or all 50 states and capitals without the handy tool of song? Why not use melody, rhythm, and rhyme to learn other even more complicated concepts such as odd numbers, letter blends, or even coding?

In my experience, I also find that using songs as a way to introduce a new idea or topic is an effective way to engage kids. It's almost a way of "tricking" them into becoming excited about something they otherwise may have dismissed as something they had no interest in. They are more apt to keep an open mind.

Cantata Learning has an amazing assortment of songs and books to aid in teaching and learning about a wide range of subjects through song. Chocolate Chimpanzees, which teaches about the "ch" letter blend, is one of my favorites. This book fuses global rhythms and a clever story filled with characters all focused around the "ch" sound. There's even a "c harango playing cheetah." The charango, of course, being a string instrument from Peru. Not only can you cover the "ch" letter blend, but this book can also open doors to further discussion about South America, string instruments, and other cultures.

Another example, Cantata Learning's She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain, is a really lovely version of a timeless classic. This recording features the 5-string banjo. The banjo itself can open a whole discussion involving a variety of subject areas.

Geography - the banjo is originally an African instrument. This can open doors to any discussion about Africa.

American history - it was introduced to America by slaves and then found it's way into American folk music as well as early jazz.

Science and STEM - What is it made of? How does it create sound? Can we create our own string instruments? How is it similar to and different from the violin, which is also in this song?

See what I mean? The possibilities for critical thinking, discussion, and activities are truly endless when you incorporate song and music!

So, why wouldn't you want to offer students the opportunity to learn through music?

RETURN TO MAIN BLOG

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How Teaching with Music Benefits Student Learning

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March 9, 2017 Contributed by Elizabeth Draper, Music Director for Cantata Learning Instead of asking ourselves "why should we have music in our classrooms," wouldn't it be better to ask ourselves "why not?" Why wouldn't music be an active part of a student's learning experience? Music benefits learning in many different ways.

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One of my favorite things to do is to read aloud, especially with my own children.

My mom read to me everyday so it was always a special activity that was very important for me to do with my family too.

In fact, my oldest Brianna is now 21 and I still read aloud to her.

She lives in Belgium and when working on her book club Books Without Boarders a few weeks ago, she picked The Day the Crayons Quit for one of the books. It was such great fun reading one of my favorite picture books to Brianna and watching her little face light up when I did. We had such a wonderful conversation and lots of laughs during the book....She even asked me to read The Day the Crayons Came Home when we finished the first one. You can read about Brianna and I's read aloud and her book club in this post on her blog, Living Light and Breezy.

Even though she is an adult now, there is nothing like a parent reading aloud to you. It is something special I will share with them forever.

And with Hagan being only 10, we do tons of reading aloud....chapter books, the ESPN website, and lots and lots of picture books. He is the one I have sit down with me as I pour over all of the new picture books I buy every week.

The beautiful books from Cantata Learning have been new favorite book to share in our home during the last year.

These are PERFECT for sharing at home. When you can bring reading, singing, and moving into the mix...that is the perfect combination for a whole lot of fun.

Last week my friend Kellie shared this sweet video with me.

I gave her a couple of the Cantata Learning books when I visited her at school and she brought them home to read and sing with her daughter Hadley.

I love seeing the interaction between of them. You can see the importance of reading and singing at home with your children. Not only was Hadley learning, singing, and reading, she was also interacting with her mom in such a loving and meaningful way. Kellie enjoyed it just as much as Hadley.

Hadley learned the song and hand movements to Miss Mary Mack, along with I'm Bringing Home My Baby Bumblebee, which were two classics that we sang when we were little.

Kellie and Hadley found the music on the CD in the back of the book. They are in every book from Cantata, so they are very easy to tie in music and singing at home with parents and families.

Also, children can use these CD's by themselves and play the music while following along in the book.

Every song is also located online at www.cantatalearning.com.

The songs can be listened to or downloaded for free.

Cantata has made it especially easy for our youngest learners (and parents) by putting a QR code on the back and on one of the first pages of every book.

All you have to do is scan this QR code with any free QR Code Reader app ( like this one) and the song will pop up from the website to play. It is that easy.

The book experience at home can be enriched by a couple of additions located towards the back of each book.

There is a Glossary and Guided Reading Activities which will be helpful in conversations as reading the books and afterwards in extending the reading and singing experiences too.

You will find the sheet music and lyrics. Children love seeing the music and following the words with their finger or the music with an instrument.

If you don't have real instruments, you can make instruments from just about anything you have at home.

One of our favorites ways is to take plastic eggs and fill them with materials that make noise.

Here is a picture of my friend Ella who is singing and playing her egg instruments as she listens to our 2nd grade friends at Van Meter sing their new library song yesterday.

On the back of the books, you will find this infographic that shows how Cantata Learning Songs and Books Reinforce The Development of Early Learning Skills.
The books and songs that Cantata has created for all of us are definitely part of these developmental milestones essential to physical, cognitive and social & emotional learning, growth and success.

We have created this helpful handout to share with parents and families to show the importance of reading and singing at home.

There are also 5 tips for using Cantata Learning books and songs during daily storytime.

This one-page handout can be found on the Cantata Learning blog.

You can download this as a printable PDF from the Cantata Learning website here.

The Cantata Learning books are also available as eBooks on Capstone Interactive.

These have the audio and song built in, which is great for any age.

One more place to share is the Cantata Learning YouTube Channel where you will find every Cantata Learning song. It is another place children will enjoy going to listen to the songs.

As you can see, Cantata Learning can bring reading and singing to our homes and schools in many different and wonderful ways. This is important to the development of our children and is such a special experience for families to share together.

And even when they are 21, living away from you, they will still love reading and singing together.

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One of my favorite things to do is to read aloud, especially with my own children. My mom read to me everyday so it was always a special activity that was very important for me to do with my family too. In fact, my oldest Brianna is now 21 and I still read aloud to her.

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Build Literacy Skills With 4 AWESOME New Books & Songs From Cantata Learning!

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Build Literacy Skills With 4 AWESOME New Books & Songs From Cantata Learning!

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With the new Spring 2017 Cantata Learning books here, I am very excited to share so many of them!

One series that I am especially excited about is the Read, Sing, Learn Set , written by Blake Hoena, illustrated by Luke Flowers, and music arranged and produced by Mark Oblinger.

As the Cantata Learning site states,

Through songs filled with alliteration, rhyme and repetition, students are introduced to literacy concepts. The books in this series help build reading fluency and support language arts standards.

Let's take a peak inside one from this series, Rob The Mole and the Sneaky Gnome!

In this book, Pre-readers build important literacy skills in this illustrated book that pairs music with learning. The delightful Wizard Magic E changes words, like cod to code, with a wave of his wand, teaching kids about the long O sound as they laugh and sing along as stated on that page.

Not only is the story and lesson meaningful and perfect for our young readers, the illustrations are amazing and make it all come together in such a fun way.

Like at Cantata Learning titles, the music is included on a CD in the back of the book and...

online to stream or download. All of the music for Cantata Learning is free.

There are also these helpful QR codes available on the back of the book and inside to make it very simple to get to the music.

Just scan the QR code with a free QR code reader and it takes you there.

Towards the back of each book, the sheet music is available and it is also available to download from the Cantata Learning website.

The lyrics for each are included too.

I love the different Guided Read Activities that connect to each book. This will make it very easy to pull into your lessons in the library and classroom, and are even great for parents and caregivers as they use the Cantata Learning books.

In fact, what new thing with each title is a page in the front with Tips To Support Literacy At Home. This provides the information and resources anyone needs when using Cantata Learning at home.

You will also find a in depth lesson plan for this series on the Cantata Learning website under Lessons and Project Ideas.

You will find the Read, Sing, Learn Lesson Plan here.

You will be ready to use this set the day you get them by using this lesson plan with the books. Not only does it include a terrific lesson plan....

it also includes Art, Technology and PE Extensions too, making this series relevant and important to all teachers within the school.

At the bottom of the lesson plan, there are links that will take you to each book on YouTube as well.

You will find them in the Cantata Learning Spring 2017 Playlist on their YouTube Channel.

I love to use them for small group and individual instruction, and they are great to use with your class in whole group instruction.

My niece has the Cantata Learning YouTube Channel bookmarked on her iPad, so she can listen to all of the Cantata Learning titles on-the-go too!

You will find this series on the Capstone site here. They are available in print and eBook....just like all of the Cantata Learning titles.

I can't wait to see how you use Read, Sing, Learn setwith you kids too!

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Build Literacy Skills With 4 AWESOME New Books & Songs From Cantata Learning!

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With the new Spring 2017 Cantata Learning books here, I am very excited to share so many of them! One series that I am especially excited about is the Read, Sing, Learn Set , written by Blake Hoena, illustrated by Luke Flowers, and music arranged and produced by Mark Oblinger.

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One New YouTube Channel All Librarians & Teachers Will Want To Subscribe To....Cantata Learning!

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One New YouTube Channel All Librarians & Teachers Will Want To Subscribe To....Cantata Learning!

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As a librarian and teacher I used YouTube for a variety of purposes....storing and sharing student work, promoting reading celebrations throughout the year, research and gathering new ideas, and virtually traveling around the world.

One of my favorite ways to use YouTube is to find all of the awesome publisher channels!

I can find book trailers for new titles coming up, author and illustrator interviews, new product development, project and lesson plan ideas, reading celebrations, library branding, and so much more!

It is easy to keep up on what they are adding and save what you love, because we can Subscribe to YouTube Channels right from the publishers pages.

This way we don't miss a thing and everything we Subscribe to is added to our YouTube Channel too.

All of the content from YouTube is easy to access online or through the YouTube app. And best of all....Everything is FREE!

There is a new YouTube Channel on the block that I don't want you to miss.

It is Cantata Learning's YouTube Channel, a place to read it, sing it and learn it!

As the Cantata Learning YouTube Channel states,

We take pride in making the best music enhanced picture books. Cantata Learning engages every type of learner. Through music, movement, art, and text, you can access multiple learning styles with one book.

Cantata Learning's YouTube Channel is packed full of singing, reading, and lots of fun! This is a place that your students will want to go, that you can use in the library and classroom, and one that children and parents will love to visit at home or even on the go from the YouTube app.

As you can see there are lots of special places to check out on Cantata Learning's YouTube.

Let's take a look....

The first place you visit on Cantata Learning's YouTube Channel is a place called What to watch next.

Here you can find wonderful new YouTube videos that have just been added. This week there are several book videos of the new Fall 2016 books.

This is something wonderful that can be sung and read as a class, small group instruction, or even individual students will love finding these and singing along too.

Here is one of my new favorites One the ...and also under the Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
You can watch this one by clicking on the window above.
Home page you will also find a video for each book in every season Cantata Learning has produced so far.
These can be browsed by season....

Video tab each one can be found.

Another one of my favorite spots are the Virtual Storytimes. In this section, you will find five Cantata Learning Virtual Storytimes.

Each of these includes a fun video that children will love to read and sing along with.

You will also find two other videos of me reading the book. One video includes the text as I read and one is without the text.

These videos are a wonderful addition to storytime at school or home, because it is a special storytime with a librarian.

Watch me reading Miss Mary Mack above.

You will also find an From the YouTube Channel, you can also connect with About Cantata Learning section which contains videos and information to help you understand what Cantata Learning is and how to use their books and songs with your students too.
Don't wait another day to subscribe to Cantata Learning.
Go here and sign up.
Remember....once you sign up, Cantata Learning will become part of your YouTube Channel subscriptions and you will always have access to all of these amazing videos, books and songs too.

Cantata Learning's website and other places on social media including Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook which brings you so many terrific ideas, projects and fun too! You can find these links in the right hand corner of Cantata Learning's YouTube Channel or...

This is one that you will want to share with your students, parents and others too!

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One New YouTube Channel All Librarians & Teachers Will Want To Subscribe To....Cantata Learning!

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As a librarian and teacher I used YouTube for a variety of purposes....storing and sharing student work, promoting reading celebrations throughout the year, research and gathering new ideas, and virtually traveling around the world. One of my favorite ways to use YouTube is to find all of the awesome publisher channels!

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12 Things You Won't Want To Miss On The NEW Cantata Learning Website!

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12 Things You Won't Want To Miss On The NEW Cantata Learning Website!

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Cantata Learning has a beautiful new website!  I couldn't wait to share this with all of you.

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Cantata Learning has a beautiful new website! I couldn't wait to share this with all of you.

Not only is it interactive, engaging and fun....It is filled with music, stories, resources and information for your library, classroom and all of the children you work with at school and home.

In fact, here are 10 things you definitely won't want to miss on the new Cantata Learning website.

1. You will find all of the Cantata Learning books and songs on the home page! There are songs to enhance every aspect of your curriculum.

They are organized into the different subjects which makes it easy to find and play them.

2. All of the songs are free to stream or download. You will find this on the page for each title.

You can even stream or download just the instrumental version.

3. The sheet music is also available to download. You will also find that on the page for each title.

You can print this off or use it with an overhead projector or device.

4. You can browse the catalog for all of the books and music.

You can even explore the Cantata Learning products by selecting subjects, genre, reading and interest level, series and music genre.

5. On the home page, there is a carousel of Featured Titles. I love seeing the new ones that pop up on here.

To view a title all you have to do is click on that cover.

6. Also on the home page you will find Storytime Videos, Cantata Learning stories being read by me!

When you click on Find Storytime Videos it will take you to...

the Storytime Videos page.

These are fun to play for your students as a class or even in a small group. And just think how much individual students will love watching these at school and home.

7. You will find the Cantata Learning Harmony Projects from the link at the tool bar on the top. It will show you all three of the projects and even the individual school projects too.

This is a great place to get ideas for using Cantata Learning stories and songs in your own library and classroom too.

8. Under Resources, you will find lots of new ideas and inspiration.

One of my favorite places to go under Resources is to several rich lesson plans that we have developed for the Cantata Learning stories and songs.

You will also find these under Lesson and Project Ideas.

9. Also under you will find....

10. On the Cantata Learning Blog, this is where you will find posts with news, events and presentations.

For example, last week we posted a new article I wrote A Teacher Librarian Shares Her Best Practices for Tuneful Teaching for Edvocate.

We posted it on the Cantata Learning blog too.

11. Under About Cantata Learning, you will find the amazing infographic created Learning With Music and all of the information you need to show how to use the stories and songs to help students build skills and meet standards.

12. The last thing I wanted to point out is the Cantata Learning Leadership Team, which I am very proud to be part of! I am the Teacher Librarian Consultant.

You will find all of us under the About Cantata Learning page too!

I hope you enjoy these 12 reasons and even more on the new Cantata Learning site!

I find something new every time I visit and love the way it supports us in using all of the songs, stories and other fabulous resources we are creating for our young learners.

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12 Things You Won't Want To Miss On The NEW Cantata Learning Website!

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Cantata Learning has a beautiful new website! I couldn't wait to share this with all of you. Not only is it interactive, engaging and fun....It is filled with music, stories, resources and information for your library, classroom and all of the children you work with at school and home.

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New Collection of books and music from Cantata Learning

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New Collection of books and music from Cantata Learning

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Jennings Elementary School

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When I saw a blog post about Cantata books about a year ago I started to dream about having them available for our students at Jennings Library.

In collaboration with Mrs. Fiero, we applied for a grant in order to get these beautiful books and CDs. We are thankful to the Fairfield Foundation For Education for allowing us the opportunity to add a new collection to our library shelves.

Cantata Learning is an educational publisher, creating books and music audio that address content areas, especially for PreK-1 and Grades 1-3, using familiar and original music, simple text, and age-appropriate illustrations.

The Learning With Music infographic released by Cantata Learning shows how music facilitates deeper learning by stimulating and connecting to the different areas of the brain.

Also, it shows the effect that music and arts training has on reading. By using music and art with our learners, we can see a big increase in reading accuracy over the year.

With great enthusiasm we are announcing the books have been added to our library collection.

Each book has a CD in the back with the music and we will also add a QR code that parents can scan in order to easily play the music on a mobile device that does not have a CD player.

Also, on our under reading resources we have a link for that opens a Symbaloo webmix with all the songs for the books in our collection. Just click a tile and then scroll down to the play button, open the book you borrow from the Jennings LLC and read or rather sing along! 🙂

We are looking at different ways of incorporating the books and music from Cantata Learning into our curriculum.

Our Kindergartners listened to the music of "Winter the coldest season of all" and used Wixie to draw pictures of their favorite winter activities. The challenge was for them to keep the assigned background and add the their own creativity to it. Click the play button to view all the wonderful snowflakes, snowmen, and other winter fun activities they drew!

We are now exploring various kinds of dinosaurs and just started our research with another wonderful book from our new Cantata Collection:

"Nothing Cooler than a Dinosaur". Click on the image below and then click the play button to stream the song!

Happy reading, singing and creating with Cantata Books and Music!

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New Collection of books and music from Cantata Learning |

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When I saw a blog post about Cantata books about a year ago I started to dream about having them available for our students at Jennings Library. In collaboration with Mrs. Fiero, we applied for a grant in order to get these beautiful books and CDs.

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Using NASA Posters With "Visit the Planets" Book and Song!  

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Using NASA Posters With "Visit the Planets" Book and Song!  

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This is a fun and engaging way to teach your students about the planets and space exploration.

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These beautiful posters from NASA recently caught our attention.

The Visions of the Future posters are a glimpse into our imagination of what the future might look like. I love to think about what the innovators and explorers of the future will bring to us.

All of these posters can be downloaded and printed from the NASA website.

You will find this information there.

This is one of my favorite from the set. Hagan and I printed off this one to hang up in his room.

When I saw this post on the Cantata Learning Facebook page, I thought of so many other super fun connections and ideas for these posters by using one of my favorite science books and songs from Cantata.

Visit the Planets by Wes Schuck and illustrated by Marcin Piwowarski is part of the My First Science Songs from Cantata Learning.

This book takes young readers on a trip through the solar system with a wonderful story and song, paired with beautiful and engaging illustrations.

I love how fun the planets are in the book. Their expressions make the story and learning experience come to life.

The music for Visit the Planets and all of the Cantata titles, can be found here.

By pairing this fun song and book along with the NASA posters, you can turn this into a creative learning experience and have students create their own posters to be displayed and shared too.

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Visit The Planets With NASA and Cantata Learning!

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These beautiful posters from NASA recently caught our attention. The Visions of the Future posters are a glimpse into our imagination of what the future might look like. I love to think about what the innovators and explorers of the future will bring to us.

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I use all of the Cantata books in my 2nd grade fluency station. 100% engagement

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GREAT RESOURCE FOR MUSIC CONNECTIONS TO CLASSIC LIT

http://www.corndancer.com/tunes/tunes_db.html

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Digital Book created with the Cantata Learning books and songs using Bookemon.com 

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Digital Book created with the Cantata Learning books and songs using Bookemon.com 

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Laurie Holland, Minnesota

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Summer Fun by Mr. Davidson's Kindergarten Class 2015

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Uploaded by Laurie Holland on 2015-05-28.

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A Wonderful Visit With Cantata Learning To The Kindergarteners At Concord Elementary....Just Look At The eBook They Created Too!

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A Wonderful Visit With Cantata Learning To The Kindergarteners At Concord Elementary....Just Look At The eBook They Created Too!

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Laurie Holland, Minneosta

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Last week I had such a fun time visiting the kindergarteners in Concord Elementary in Eagon, Minnesota.

Their wonderful teacher librarian, Laurie Holland, invited my friends from Cantata Learning and myself to visit their beautiful library.....and the sweet little ones from Mr. Davidson's kindergarten class.

We started the day by creating tiny noise makers together.

This was a fun way for them to show their individuality and to have something to make music with when we sang and danced to the songs and books from Cantata Learning.

It is also the perfect activity to show that by working together you can create something awesome and useful.

You can see how we created the Noise Makers by going to this Google Document we have created with instructions and pictures. This would be helpful to print off and laminate for your students to use over and over again as they create musical instruments too.

Laurie had shared the Cantata Learning book Summer...Hot Days in the Sun by Lisa Bell the week before we came to visit.

After listening, reading, and singing the book, the kindergarteners from Mr. Davidson's classroom drew illustrations for a book they were going to create called Summer Fun.

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A Wonderful Visit With Cantata Learning To The Kindergarteners At Concord Elementary....Just Look At The eBook They Created Too!

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Last week I had such a fun time visiting the kindergarteners in Concord Elementary in Eagon, Minnesota. Their wonderful teacher librarian, Laurie Holland, invited my friends from Cantata Learning and myself to visit their beautiful library.....and the sweet little ones from Mr. Davidson's kindergarten class. We started the day by creating tiny noise makers together.

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We use traditional & original music paired with simple text & beautiful illustrations to engage the multiple learning styles of today’s young learners

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PBS Kids

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It's so much fun to make music, and I think it's even more fun when you make the instruments you play with. Create your own cardboard box guitar (or violin, banjo, etc.) with recycled materials, with one child or an entire classroom, and you could end up with a whole band!

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Cardboard Guitars | Crafts for Kids | PBS Parents

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It's so much fun to make music, and I think it's even more fun when you make the instruments you play with. Create your own cardboard box guitar (or violin, banjo, etc.) with recycled materials, with one child or an entire classroom, and you could end up with a whole band!

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Recycled Bottles and Materials

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Is There A Place For Music In Our Makerspaces?

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Is There A Place For Music In Our Makerspaces?

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Shannon McClintock Miller

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I spend a lot of time thinking about Makerspaces.

These engaging spaces that bring creativity, tinkering, and exploration to our communities make me push the possibilities and potential of what these spaces and experiences can bring to our young people.

For me it is fun to think about all of the different elements we can add to our Makerspaces.

There can be duck tape, 3D printers, art supplies, recycled goods, old computer parts, wood, Makey Makey kits, Sphero's, knitting needles and yarn, LEGO's, playdough, wood, hot glue guns, fabric, paper, wire, and the list goes on and on.

Now think about this.
Ask yourself....

I thought about this last fall as I put together a presentation for a conference.

Since I was traveling to the conference, I put all of my Makerspace materials into a bag...and of course had to call it a Makerspace-To-Go.

I wrote about it here. And as I put this together, I also created the....

Makerspace Mobile out of all of the apps I had on my iPad and iPhone. There are so many wonderful apps that fit into the tinkering and maker movement.....and our young people love them!

It is when I also started thinking about the place that music has within our Makerspaces.

Who doesn't love music? Who wouldn't want to create their own music or create while listening to music?

With music, there is definitely something for everyone.

We have dozens of great apps and websites that focus around music....

which I have put together the Music Fun for Kids Symbaloo. I have been filling it up with websites and resources tying music to our learners.

I added the Music Fun for Kids Symbaloo to the ....

Makerspace Symbaloo that I created last year to share with my school community and others.

We can create musical instruments....

just like all of these ideas on the Homemade Musical Instruments Pinterest board.

And even play music as part of our Makerspace community from websites such as Spotify and Amazon Music Prime.

We had several Van Meter Library Voice Pandora playlists....The kids loved these! And it was fun to not only play them in the library but also to share them with the students to play them within their own personal Pandora accounts.

One of the things we can't forget about in our Makerspaces are books and digital resources.
Since I have included print books in the Makerspace and Makerspace-To-Go, I made sure to include dozens of wonderful eBooks through the MackinVIA website and app....

and Capstone Interactive app. I downloaded over 20 Makerspace themed eBooks from Capstone onto my iPad so they can be accessed easily within the Makerspace Mobile.

Last year we also had another fantastic type of book containing music come into the publishing scene. These books are from the publishing group,
Cantata Learning.

With their books, they have paired stories....

All of the Cantata Learning books...

and eBooks can be added to any Makerspace...

for exciting adventures in music, movement, and fun.

and anyone can listen and download the songs.

I added this to the Makerspace Symbaloo too. I love that they can bring the music and stories to their homes or any place.....Bringing tinkering and making right along with them.

So as you plan your very own Makerspaces.....within your libraries and classrooms....and online....or in a bag or on a cart....
think about this again....
Is there a place for music in our Makerspaces?
Is there a place for music in all of our classrooms and libraries.....and how does it fit in?

The answer is YES!
Bringing music to children is one of the sweetest gifts you can give your students.
It not only empowers our children and gives them a voice.....It also brings a purpose and reason to creativity, engagement, and a whole lot of fun!

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Is There A Place For Music In Our Makerspaces?

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I spend a lot of time thinking about Makerspaces. These engaging spaces that bring creativity, tinkering, and exploration to our communities make me push the possibilities and potential of what these spaces and experiences can bring to our young people. For me it is fun to think about all of the different elements we can add to our Makerspaces.

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My 2nd Grade Friends Share On Soundcloud One Of Their Favorite Cantata Learning Books.... "A Peaceful Leader...Martin Luther King Jr."

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My 2nd Grade Friends Share On Soundcloud One Of Their Favorite Cantata Learning Books.... "A Peaceful Leader...Martin Luther King Jr."

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Tracy Ferguson's 2nd Graders at Van Meter, Iowa

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One of my favorite sites for recording and sharing is SoundCloud.

With this website, you can sign up for an account, create your own channel, and record very easily through the website and SoundCloud app.

Within your account, you can also set up Groups, which can hold separate SoundCloud recordings.

SoundCloud Groups are very easy to upload new recording to either from the website, app, or another recording that you have access to on your computer or device.

Individuals can also join the Groups. This is a great way to engage parents and others with your students, classroom, and library.

My dear friend Tracy Ferguson and her amazing 2nd graders at Van Meter Community School shared their favorite Cantata Learning book with all of us using SoundCloud....

One day we Skyped from Iowa to Colorado and my little friends sang and read the book to me.

I opened up SoundCloud so I could record them....It was so much fun. You can listen to them by clicking on the embedded SoundCloud recording above or clicking here.

We can't wait to add more of our favorite Cantata Learning books and songs to this group.

If you want to use SoundCloud with your students, don't miss all of the easy ways to share the wonderful recordings too.

It truly is a very easy to way to share the voice from your library, classroom, and school too.

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My 2nd Grade Friends Share On Soundcloud One Of Their Favorite Cantata Learning Books.... "A Peaceful Leader...Martin Luther King Jr."

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One of my favorite sites for recording and sharing is SoundCloud. With this website, you can sign up for an account, create your own channel, and record very easily through the website and SoundCloud app. Within your account, you can also set up Groups, which can hold separate SoundCloud recordings.

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You Will Love These Fun & Engaging New Songs and Books From Cantata Learning! Check Them Out On Our Symbaloo's!

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You Will Love These Fun & Engaging New Songs and Books From Cantata Learning! Check Them Out On Our Symbaloo's!

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I love new finds in children's literature.....In fact, it is one of my favorite things to do.

My friends at Cantata Learning have 42 amazing new books, along with fun and engaging songs, coming soon for the fall.... And I LOVE them all!

One of the best things....

there are three ways to get the music from each Cantata book....a CD in the back of each book, downloadable from iTunes, and also on their website at the Listen and Look page.

You can see all of the titles and listen to the music on the Cantata Learning Listen and Look page under Fall 2015.

From all of these, I created a new Symbaloo for the Fall 2015 Cantata Learning books and songs.

On this webmix, each tile links to one of the 42 new songs from the books.

You can use this with your students, teachers, and others since Symbaloo is a social bookmarking site where once the webmix is made public, it can be used by all of us.

And even embedded onto other sites, such as the front page of Follett's Destiny...perfect for any library and school.

I also created a webmix for the Fall 2014 Cantata Learning books and songs.

In the right-hand corner of each webmix, there is a hot pink tile which takes you back and forth between the two webmixes. This makes it very easy for your young learners to use.

I hope you have fun listening to all of the wonderful books from Cantata Learning just as much as we do in our home. There is something for everyone.

And remember one of the BEST things about the Cantata books.....You can send them home with your students and they can listen to the songs anywhere with the online access through the website and these Symbaloo's.

How fun is that!

Now you can see one more reason these are some of my favorite new books.

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You Will Love These Fun & Engaging New Songs and Books From Cantata Learning! Check Them Out On Our Symbaloo's!

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I love new finds in children's literature.....In fact, it is one of my favorite things to do. My friends at Cantata Learning have 42 amazing new books, along with fun and engaging songs, coming soon for the fall.... And I LOVE them all! One of the best things....

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Have students write and record original songs using Ed Tech and plan and storyboard music videos for their songs!

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Using songs to help Ss learn relationship building and how to show empathy.

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Our Little Ones Will Have A Song For Every Story With Cantata Learning

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Our Little Ones Will Have A Song For Every Story With Cantata Learning

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Shannon McClintock Miller

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A few weeks ago I got a special package in the mail. I opened it to find two picture books.

It was from my friends at Cantata Learning, a new publishing company from Mankato, Minnesota creating books for children 3-8 years old.

At first glance you see a beautifully illustrated picture book with an engaging story for young learners inside. Any child would absolutely love these stories being read to them.

These picture books were developed by publishing and early childhood experts.

The illustrations and text support early literacy skills, while introducing science, social studies and language arts themes addressing the multiple intelligences cited by Dr. Howard Gardner from Harvard University.

Now, for something that truly makes Cantata Learning stand out from the others.

As you open the cover of the books you will see a stamp on the front that invites the reader to the back of the book for music.

And not just any music.....Wonderful sing-along songs!

The books brings to life favorite classics like Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and Hickory Dickory Dock.

Cantata Learning use rhythm, rhyme, and beat in the music to "open up" pathways to learning. This will be very exciting for any librarian, classroom teacher, or music teacher who are already using music in their libraries and classrooms.

With Cantata, the songs and stories reinforce this learning too!

With each book, the lyrics and music are contained within the pages and each is accompanied by a CD that can be played with the story or alone.

And I love what else they have done with the music for each book.

Under the " Listen and Look" tab on the Cantata Learning website you can find each of the books they have available right now and stream the music right from the site. Teachers and librarians not only have access to this music at any time without even using the CD, but children and their families have access to it at home as well.

I was thinking about how many times we tell our kids they can't bring the book with the CD home in case something is lost or broken. With Cantata Learning books they don't have to. All you have to do is point out the URL to the songs in the book and make sure your students and parents know where to located everything.

You can also pay $1.99 for a download of the song.

By scrolling over the top of the book cover, you will see a little pink square link pop-up in the left-hand corner. You can click on that and it will take you...

to the page that plays the music. You just click on the white arrow in the long black box shown above.

You can try it out here too.

Who wouldn't just love reading 10 Little Kittens.... looking at the fun illustrations of all the barn yard animals, counting,listening to music and singing along. It will be fun for them to read and share the book in the library or music room....then go back to their classroom to share with their teacher or home to share it with their families.

The sky is the limit!

And just look how great they look on my iPad! I loved reading it and listening to the music at the same time.

I really like how there is a Glossary towards the back that will further their understanding and use of the vocabulary contained in the book.

Also, on the very last page there is a To Learn More page that will take the learners, teachers, librarians and parents to more resources that will further the excitement around the book.

In the books focused around science and social studies topics, they have included Activities to further the learning experience.

Yesterday I had the pleasure speaking with Joan Berge, marketing consultant for the Cantata Learning team. It was so much fun hearing the story behind Cantata Learning and these wonderful new books.

She told me how her niece Katherine (Kat) Coughlan was " inspired with the idea of creating books that would support children by offering multiple languages with which to make meaning of their world and express themselves, including music, movement and art."

So they came together to create a product for the youngest learners and also to help others, such as ESL students.

You can check out all of the books they have available on the Cantata Learning website. They are available in print and eBook format.

Make sure you check out the classics we all love like Hickory Dickory Dock, along with...

social studies topics, and....

amazing science topics too.

For more information you can contact Joan Berge at joan.berge@gmail.com or by phone at 952-456-2995.

Cantata Learning is an educational publisher, creating books and music audio that addresses content areas, especially for Pre-1 and Grades 1-3, using recognizable and original music, simple text and age-appropriate illustrations.

What a rich reading experience we can give our youngest learners with Cantata Learning books.

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Our Little Ones Will Have A Song For Every Story With Cantata Learning

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A few weeks ago I got a special package in the mail. I opened it to find two picture books. It was from my friends at Cantata Learning, a new publishing company from Mankato, Minnesota creating books for children 3-8 years old.