Rhythms of Learning: Creative Tools for Developing Lifelong Skills

Description

It has long been recognized that there is a meaningful connection between artistic abilities and academic abilities, notable in the relationship between musical and mathematical/scientific abilities. In a recent worldwide study on the science achievements of fourteen-year-olds, the top three countries include music as an integral part of the curriculum from kindergarten through high school. Hungary, which has been implementing an intensive program in music education since the fifties, ranks first. Japan is second, and the Netherlands is third. (The United States ranks fourteenth out of the seventeen countries in the study.) In “Silicon Valley,” California, it has been reported that the top engineers and technical designers are nearly all practicing musicians. While we do not yet fully understand why or how this relationship between musical and mathematical/scientific ability works, we do know that schools that devote a significant part of every school day to the arts, taught both as separate subjects and integrated throughout the curriculum, are producing the highest academic achievement in the United States today. (Davidson in Augusta, Georgia, is first in the nation, and Ashley River Elementary in Charleston, North Carolina, is second.) Even more important, their students are especially motivated, creative, and independent learners and thinkers who experience learning through mind, body, and spirit. Until the publication of this book, it has been somewhat easier for many teachers to learn to teach various subjects through the graphic and dramatic arts than it has been to teach through music and dance. Yet these “rhythms of learning,” in which the body itself becomes the instrument and the art form, can enhance and accelerate learning for all students. In many cases, music makes it possible to master difficult, abstract concepts faster, more easily, and with greater retention. Rhythms of Learning Contents Foreword (Dee Dickinson) Chapter I Patterns of Listening Sound Education: The Journey from Hearing to Listening (Don G. Campbell) Reaching Out to Listen Listening and the Ear: Research by Tomatis Listening Deficits The Art of Listening: The Journey from Listening to Lifelong Learning (Chris Brewer) Inner Speech The Intention toward Attention Inner Listening Activities for Teachers Tuning Up Our Teaching Cortical Cheer Dominant Ears Three Ways to Listen Ear, Air, Bones, and Skin Looking for Sound The Listening Experience Activities for Students Tuning Up with Students Turning On Your Ears Soundscapes Toning the Voice Inner Hearing Directional Listening “Rithem” Patterns of Listening Chapter II Creative Teaching: Phase Forward Education Rhythmic Awareness Phase Forward Education A New Look at Intelligence Creative Intelligence Activities for Teachers Tuning Up Our Teaching Twenty-Five Things to Imagine Rappin’ Rhythms Tools of Expression: Drawing Tools of Expression: Clay Dynamic Empowerment Activities for Students Tuning Up with Students Moving Art Body Music Rhythmic Spelling Clay Creations Twelve Days of Christmas Conducting Creativity Chapter III Observing Inner Rhythms Inner Patterns Learning Rhythms Rhythms of Attention Infradian Attention Rhythms The Rhythms of the Day School Day Harmony The 90-Minute Cycles The Learning State Rhythms Memory Rhythms Patterns of Memory Daily Memory Rhythms Rhythms of Presentation Educational Synchrony Activities for Teachers Tuning Up Our Teaching Finding Your Teaching Rhythm The Rhythms of Your Class Rhythmscapes Changing Tempos How to Have Quiet without Really Asking Activities for Students Tuning Up with Students Rhythms of the Day Rhythms in Studying Soundscape Circles Soundscape Diary A Timeless Walk Bravo the Conductor Under the Spell of Rhythm Chapter IV Rhythms of Discovery The Rhythmic Brain The Growing Brain The Rhythms of Brain Growth The Discovery Cycle The Beginnings of Discovery: Awareness The Magic of Discovery: Developing Patterns of Movement and Language The Discovery of Logic Problem Solving: Discovering the Answers Problem Finding: Discovering the Questions Discovering a Global Vision Sharing Discovery Activities for Teachers Tuning Up Our Teaching Teaching Circle Left Brain, Right Brain Perceptual I.Q. Test Body Statements Teaching Patterns Small Techniques with Great Responses Activities for Students Tuning Up with Students Learning Circle Discovery Maps Tracking Your Discoveries Challenging Discovery Sound Charades Music - Body - Rhythm Music - Body - Movement “Who Is Harvey Whole Note?” Chapter V Emotional I.Q. Rhythm and Emotion The Triune Brain Learning through Emotion Stimulating vs. Awakening Developing the Emotional 1.Q. Activities for Teachers Tuning Up Our Teaching Under the Spell of Teaching Emotions in Sound (Ooooh-Aaaah) “Sys-tem”: An Outer-World Rap Inner-Sound Dynamics End of a Perfectly Exhausting Day Activities for Students Tuning Up with Students Sound Feelings Sound Expressions Motion Pictures Moving to Learn Drawing Connections Sounding Off Stretching Yourself Chapter VI Orchestrating Lifelong Learning Orchestrating Learning Skills Accelerated Learning: The Contributions of Lozanov Music and Learning Choosing Music Background Music The Passive Style The Active Style Soundbreaks Vocal Patterning Building the Image Learning Images Guided Images The Image of Self Composing the Classroom Activities for Teachers Tuning Up Our Teaching Choosing Music for the Learning Environment Passive Concert Readings Rhythms of Your Voice Finding Your Own Tempo Active Concerts Learning Imagery Activities for Students Tuning Up with Students Textures of Reading Inside, Outside, In-between Making Classroom Tapes Rhythmscape Study Guides Image Streaming Image Boosters Image Streaming through the Curriculum Chapter VII Orchestrating Intelligence Creating Form Finding the Theme A Unified Field Appendix 1: The Tomatis Method and Empowering Learners (Billie Thompson, Ph.D.) Appendix 2: Suggestology and Suggestopedy. By Georgi Lozanov, from The Lozanov Report to UNESCO Appendix 3: Resource Guide Bibliography