As many of us know, education in the United States is underfunded and undervalued, and our students fall further and further behind other countries around the world each year in math and science skills. How can we get our kids excited about these subjects and help them learn better? Adding backing tracks to your classroom during particularly difficult lessons may be the solution you’ve been looking for! Here are nine creative ways you can use backings tracks in your classroom...
As children learn difficult science concepts, like Newton’s laws of motion, sometimes they need extra assistance. Using an accompanying music track with lyrics about acceleration can help improve their understanding of how something accelerates at a rate relative to its mass and velocity. Students can sing along with the words and use dance or hand motions to help demonstrate the concepts physically!
Instantly download and sing along to high-quality backing tracks for your favorite children's music and folk songs. Spiritrax accompaniments are perfect for use in the classroom.
Download the CollectionThere are a number of great childrens songs that involve numbers. Try teaching each concept (addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc.) with it’s own song! Also consider using catchy tunes like The Hokey Pokey or If You’re Happy and You Know It for getting kids up and moving around.
Combining music and singing with art, such as painting and crafting, can enhance the creative process. When children sing along to upbeat, fun songs while painting or creating—they’re much more likely to stay focused on their work. The rapt attention kids pay when they’re completely engrossed in something is almost impossible for teachers or parents to break once it starts; that's why using entertaining backing tracks during projects like these is so effective. Trying singing along to De Colores or This Little Light of Mine while painting or coloring.
For students studying geography, backing tracks can aid memorization and recall. Songs can be used as a fun way to reinforce what they’ve learned about countries, state capitals, time zones and landforms. For example, singing along with a song about Africa or South America helps kids think of those regions as familiar places rather than just a bunch of place names on a map. Backing tracks can also serve as great background music for videos related to geography lessons because they don't have lyrics interfering with the lesson.
As well as making learning more enjoyable, music is a great way to support their language skills and improve literacy! Using accompaniment tracks to sing along to classic hymns can help students to understand key components of poetry and prose by helping them to tune in to the rhythm and meaning of the words they are singing. When it comes to grammar and sentence structure, listening and mimicking how phrases sound helps children (and adults!) learn about the English language without even realizing it!
It goes without saying, but we'll say it anyway. Using backing tracks in music class helps make learning to sing new songs fun. Kids will feel more confident being accompanied by full bands and orchestras, or fun, up-beat tracks.
History classes present great opportunity to combine curriculum and accompaniment music. For example, ask students about battles from history. Then have them sing The Battle Hymn of the Republic as a group, emphasizing certain words during key moments. You can also play songs that are set at specific points in history. Check out Bob Marley’s Redemption Song for an excellent companion piece to class work on slavery, civil rights or any similar topics to make your lessons memorable and engaging.
Backing tracks can create unique learning opportunities for kids with special needs who struggle with traditional teaching styles. At its most basic, adding backing music allows teachers to effectively turn down distracting classroom noise while also increasing student focus and reducing distractions that may cause students—especially those on the autism spectrum—to become easily frustrated or flustered during lessons that don't come naturally. Try using calming instrumental tracks to help students relax and focus.
The use of backing tracks during physical education is nothing new; music has long been used as a tool for teaching coordination and agility. Try singing along to a song like Michael Row The Boat Ashore while performing the motions; singing and matching the words to the movements helps students to develop motor skills, coordination, and endurance.
