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Children's Books for Music Class
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items Have you been asked (or told) to include reading and literacy activities in your music classes to support what is being taught in the homeroom classes? In this list, I have collected some great children's literature that is perfect for incorporating ...
Sections
6
Bring the Pages to Life! Making Stories Musical
Books with Song Lyrics to Sing
Stories with Add-On Characters
Stories with Repeating Text Phrases
Stories to Pair with a Genre Study
Books with Pictures Only-No Words
Bring the Pages to Life! Making Stories Musical
Are you stumped with figuring out how to incorporate literacy into your music classes without giving up your musical objectives? I have collected my best strategies to help you!
Have you been asked (or told) to include reading and literacy activities in your music classes to support what is being taught in the homeroom classes? In this post, we will be discussing strategies for incorporating reading and literacy activities i...
Sally's Sea of Songs: Bringing the Pages to Life: Making Stories Musical
Free Handout & link to video presentation
Bringing the Pages to Life Making Stories Musical-Handout-Music Crew Virtual Conference
Teaching the Nutcracker Ballet is one of my favorite things! Here is a great list of story books to support your lessons.
Sally's Sea of Songs: My Favorite Nutcracker Ballet Story Books for Music Class
Books with Song Lyrics to Sing
Books with song lyrics to sing are great to pair with steady beat practice! Sing along to the book, adding clapping or patting on lap or even small rhythm instruments.
The new adventures of the itsy bitsy spider make this a great book to sing!
The Itsy Bitsy Spider (Iza Trapani's Nursery Rhymes)
This book was a hit in my Pre-K and Kindergarten music classes!
Over in the Meadow
I enjoyed this song as a child, so I was delighted to find this illustrated version of the song lyrics. It is a great book for springtime music lessons.
Inch by Inch: The Garden Song (Paperback)
The illustrations in this book are awesome! The song was already a favorite throughout my school, so adding this book into my lessons is a natural next step!
You Are My Sunshine: Classic Nursery Rhyme
A childhood classic song, this book has fun illustrations that add much to any singing session
Wheels on the Bus (Raffi Songs to Read)
The illustrations are wonderful. Another great book to sing!
Had a Little Rooster (First Steps in Music series)
Stories with Add-On Characters
Story with add-on characters are perfect to pair with classroom instrument technique/improvisation or body percussion creativity & improvisation.
Great to pair with the Music K8 song, “Mittens & Gloves.”
The Mitten
This is my favorite. We added an instrument for each of the animals that entered the cave. The children selected from my collection of small percussion instruments and improvised a short pattern each time the character is mentioned.
Bear Snores On (The Bear Books)
While this is an older book, the story lends itself well to the adding of motions or instruments to make an interesting re-telling.
Too Much Noise
This book is fun! I think it would be great with a short bluesy refrain to intersperse every few pages.
Possum Come A-Knockin' (Dragonfly Books)
Stories with Repeating Text Phrases
Stories with repeating text phrases pair well with classroom instrument technique or resting tone or bordun accompaniment.
Whether you set the title phrase to a tune you (or your students) compose or assign instruments to each word in the title, this book is a hit!
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible Day
Great for kindergarten & first grade students!
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type - Paperback
The Gingerbread Man Musical Story is a versatile resource that can be used in the music classroom or as a mini-presentation for an audience. In addition to the story PowerPoint presentation slides, a B-A-G refrain perfect for young singers to support...
The Gingerbread Man A Musical Story for Music Class or Mini Performance
The Three Billy Goats Gruff Musical Story is a versatile resource that can be used in the music classroom or as a mini-presentation for an audience. In addition to the story PowerPoint presentation slides, two refrains, B-A-G-E & C-B-A-G, perfect...
Three Billy Goats Gruff A Musical Story for Music Class or Mini Performance
The Crow and the Pitcher Musical Story is a versatile resource that can be used in the music classroom or as a mini-presentation for an audience. In addition to the story PowerPoint presentation slides, two refrains, B-A-G-E & B-A-G, perfect for ...
The Crow and the Pitcher A Musical Story for Music Class or Mini Performance
Stories to Pair with a Genre Study
Consider pairing a genre study such as sea shanties or the Blues with a book for a different take on incorporating literacy into music lessons.
Consider making this interactive by having students echo the pirate words. Then pair this one with a brief genre study of sea shanties. Fun!
How I Became a Pirate
Pair this book with a brief study of lullabies.
Goodnight Moon
Turn any bedtime storybook into a musical experience with our musical companion for literature. This story set includes a mini-lesson on lullabies & dynamics, world lullaby listening links, and a simple refrain for singers, ukulele, or Orff instr...
Bunny's Lullaby Musical Companion for Literature - Sound Story/Orff Arrangement
Books with Pictures Only-No Words
Wordless picture books are perfect for encouraging student creativity! Pictures are presented in a sequence and children are free to tell the story in their own words. Often we think of this type of book being for very young children, and that is tru...
This would be great for upper elementary students to collaborate on a telling of this story. Once they decide upon the words, they could use their musical creativity to add instruments.
Journey (Aaron Becker's Wordless Trilogy, 1)
The camping tent is cozy. What is happening outside? A fun picture book for younger students. Imaginge the sounds that might be heard while on this nighttime exploration!
Flashlight: Picture Books, Wordless Books for Kids
Another book about the outdoors, this one also has great potential for creating a sound story.
Hike
This is a wordless adaptation of the fable and the illustrations are fabulous.
The Lion & the Mouse (Caldecott Medal Winner)
Add rainsticks & pitter pats for a fun sound story.
Laney Dances in the Rain: Wordless Picture Book
Unleash your students' inner creativity with our musical composition picture story. This story set is based on wordless picture prompts that will spark those creative writing, songwriting, and classroom instrument composition lessons. Encourage music...
Epic Room Rescue A Musical Composition Picture Story Encourage Music Creativity