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Your brain Your brain on music

Melodic Learning

Presented by:Susan Homan, Ph.D

Professor Emeritus, USF College of EducationChief Academic Officer, Electronic Learning Products, Inc.

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My 8-year Journey: from literacy…

to music…to anthropology…

to neuroscience…to melodic learning

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literacy…1960’s Mississippi

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I got to music because a guy came into my office with a singing program

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music…

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Hernando County,Home of the 2005 Pilot Study

with Tune in to Reading

1. West Hernando Middle School

2. 8th grade struggling readers

3. Surprising results

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2005 Pilot Study Results

Control GroupTreatment Group

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

6.5

Pre-Test

Post-Test

Sub-se-

quent Gains

4.24.5

4.4

5.7

4.4

6.1

8th Graders reading at a 4th grade level Results Were Sustainable

Over 1 fullgrade level of improvement

Sustained Improvement

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Six Years of Funded Research on

1. Over 1,400 students from 4 Florida school districts

2. Elementary, middle school, high school students

3. ESE, ELL

4. Boys and Girls Clubs

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6-year Research OverviewStudy Year

School Year Description Grade

Levels# of Study Subjects

1 04/05 Pilot study and sustainability analysis 7, 8 46

2 05/06 Replication/expansion 5, 8, 11 252

3 06/07 English language learnersTitle 1 elementary level

63, 4, 5

79302

4 07/08 4 elementary schools2 Boys & Girls Clubs1 rural high school8 juvenile justice sites

4, 59, 10

11

393

5 08/09 1 elementary school1 high school

4, 510

78110

6 09/10 1 elementary school1 high school

4, 59

12026

1,406

>1 yr

Gains

>1 yr

>1 yr

>1 yr

>1 yr

>1 yr

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FloridaAll 5th Graders

District HAll 5th Graders

4 SchoolComposite

All 5th Graders

4 SchoolComposite

Treatment Group

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

63 6671

116TIR users made 63.4% higher gains

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FCAT GainsDSS Change; 2007 - 2008

n=195,400 n=386 n=171n=14,402

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“Using an Interactive Singing Software Program: A

Comparative Study of Middle School Struggling Readers”

Biggs, M., Homan, S., Dedrick, R., Rasinski, T., & Minick, V. (2008). Reading Psychology. 29:195-213.

“Teaching Reading Fluency to Struggling Readers:

Method, Materials, and Evidence”

Rasinski, T., Homan, S., & Biggs, M. (2009). Reading & Writing Quarterly. 25:192-204.

“Reaching the Hard to Reach: A Comparison of

Two Reading Interventions with Incarcerated Youth”

Calderone, C., Bennett, S., Homan, S., Dedrick, R., & Chatfield, A. (2009). Middle Grades Research Journal. American Educational Research Association. (in press)

DoctoralDissertation

By:Marie C Biggs

“Reading Fluency Through Alternative Text: Rereading with an Interactive Sing-to-Read Program

Embedded Within a MS Classroom”

Biggs, M., (2007)

TiR Articles Published in Scholarly Journals

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Why is Singing Making Such a Positive Difference

for So Many Struggling Readers?

1. The literacy perspective

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Literacy PerspectiveNational Reading Panel Report (2000)

Big 5:

1. Phonemic awareness

2. Phonics

3. Fluency

4. Vocabulary

5. Reading comprehension

It left out:

1. Engagement

2. Motivation

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The Literacy Perspective

Singing

Literacy

Big 5 Engagement

& Motivation

Multi-modalities

Multi-sensory

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Multi-Sensory

• Seeing

• Hearing

• Touching

• Tasting

• Smelling

Multi-Modalities

• Visual

• Auditory

• Tactile/Kinesthetic

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Literacy Practitioners and Researchers Recognizedthe Importance of the Use of Modalities and Multi-Sensory

Approaches Beyond Early Childhood

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The literacy perspective provided some pieces to the puzzle, but did not sufficiently answer the question:

“Why is singing making such a positive difference for so many struggling readers?”

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So…I started looking outside the field of literacy

to find areas that already had recognized the importance

of the connections between music and literacy!

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anthropology…

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Anthropology has Long Recognizedthe Importance of Music

Sin

ging

Anthropology

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Timeline

Invention of writing I-Pod

3,000 BC Today

Jesus Christ

1,500 AD

Invention of the printing press

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“…music has a developmental, if not evolutionary, priority over language.”

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Bone Flute: 50,000 years old

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Revised Timeline

50,000 BC

Bone Flute(first hard evidence

of Melodic Learning)

Invention of writing

I-Pod

3,000 BC 1,500 AD Today

Jesus Christ

Invention of the printing

press

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Anthropology provided more pieces to the puzzle,and along with current events and some new

best-selling books, led me to the area of neuroscience.

1. Gabby Giffords

2. Anthropology study

3. Daniel Levitin & Oliver Sacks (best selling authors)

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neuroscience…

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Neuroscience Perspective

Sin

ging

Neuroscience

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Patel, A. (2008). Music, Language and the Brain. Oxford University Press. NY.

• Armies train by marching to a beat, for instance.

• Beat responses play a role in social bonding.

• Group dancing is a social activity. There also are studies showing that when people move together to a beat, they're more likely to cooperate with each other in nonmusical tasks than if they're not in synch.

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Levitin, Daniel, J. (2006). This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession. Penguin Group. NY.

• “By the age of five, most children can tell when a note is out of sequence or when an instrument is out of tune.”

• “Humans and music share an evolutionary history. Music and humans co-evolved over tens of thousands of years, and our brains became adapted to music while our music adapted to our changing brains.”

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2626Wolf, Maryanne. (2007). Proust and the Squid. Harper Collins. NY.

• “Words and music are the tracks of human evolution.”

~ John S. Dunne

• “Knowing how something originated often is the best clue to how it works.”

~ Terrence Deacon

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Melodic Learning

“Michael” (4th grade ESE)

• Reluctant to read at any level• Was: shy, insecure• Became: confident, outgoing

“Andrew” (5th grade – ESE/ADD)

Passed from teacher to teacher Moved from reg. classes to special ed

“Didn’t have to bring his cushion to Tune In to Reading”

“Tassie”(5th grade)

Was chronically absent, unmotivated Was failing most classes, but didn’t care Never smiled (look at her now!)

Student Success Stories

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Melodic Learning

More Student Success Stories:

Tune In to Reading improves oral reading

“Tiffany”

No longer had to take speech classes;

didn’t stutter due to singing

“Marty” Abused child, 3 foster homes in 2 years! Totally nonverbal and non-participatory Singing “Silent Night” broke the silence

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Conceptual View of Melodic Learning

SingingMelodic Learning

Anthropology Neuroscience

Literacy

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Working Definition of Melodic Learning

• A method of learning whereby the key characteristics of Singing (pitch, rhythm and rhyme) greatly facilitate learning within a multi-modal, multi-sensory framework.

• ML encompasses the recent work on the brain and music utilizing the importance of patterns in the learning process.

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Who knew we could invite struggling readers

back to the table with a song?

One thing we can do:

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How Does Melodic Learning ProduceImproved Learning Outcomes?

• Adds essential rhythmic elements to the foundation of multisensory learning

• Activation of multiple senses – multiple channels are open for input

• Engagement & motivation

Some of the ways are:

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Sacks, Oliver. (2007). Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. Alfred Knoph. NY.

“Music can move us to the heights or depths of emotion.”

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“Alive Inside”

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For more information contact:

Susan Homan, Ph.D. homan@usf.edu

Ann Kay AnnCKay@comcast.net

Electronic Learning Products, Inc.info@ELPcorp.com

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Melodic Learning

One thing we can do…

• Who knew we could invite struggling readers back to the table with a song?