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Music: As a Way of Knowing
Nick Page loves to make and share music with his students, and it's likely that you will too by the time you've finished his passionate, thought-provoking book. You will also have developed a new understanding of and appreciation for the role music can play in supporting learners. A music educator and song leader who has devoted his professional life to helping people of all ages realize that they are "capable of great miracles through the simple, yet powerful, act of singing," Nick is particularly devoted to multicultural music and works diligently to promote music of diverse cultures. Rich with ideas on how to use music in the classroom, Music as a Way of Knowing will appeal especially to classroom teachers who are not musicians, but who enjoy and learn from music and want to use it with their students. Indeed, Nick reveals the truth of the Zimbabwean "If you can talk, you can sing. If you can walk, you can dance." Nick provides simple instructions for writing songs, using music to support learning across the curriculum, teaching singing effectively, and finding good songs. He assures you that with time, all students can sing well. The good news is that once you've read this book, you'll have the confidence to trust yourself-and your students-to sing and learn well through the joy and power of music.
80 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1995
4 people want to read
About the author
Nick Page
199 books47 followersNick Page lives in Oxfordshire, UK, with his wife Claire, their three daughters and a dog called Bill.
As well as writing books, he works with a number of campaign groups and NGOs. He is also a popular speaker for churches, church weekends and other events. events, etc.
His main focus is on church history – particularly the early church. Recent work includes A Nearly Infallible History of Christianity, and the Longest Week trilogy.
As well as writing many books for adults (or at least those who think they are adult) he has also written many books for children.
As well as writing books, he works with a number of campaign groups and NGOs. He is also a popular speaker for churches, church weekends and other events. events, etc.
His main focus is on church history – particularly the early church. Recent work includes A Nearly Infallible History of Christianity, and the Longest Week trilogy.
As well as writing many books for adults (or at least those who think they are adult) he has also written many books for children.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 15, 2017
This book is written on the premise that you already have an appreciation for music in education. It would be very difficult to use this book as a resource in support of music in education. It's not going to convince any skeptic. Page does write about some benefits of music, but that writing is filled with metaphors and fluff. For example, he repeatedly writes that music "charges the brain."
In his introduction, he spends time explaining how educators don't need to know how to write a song or read music to incorporate music into education, but then the entire next chapter is about how to write a song to incorporate music into education. He tries to describe different aspects of music, like melody and dynamics, but most of his descriptions aren't very helpful if you don't already have a basic knowledge of music.
Page sprinkles his book with stories about teachers that aren't very believable. "Once upon a time" there was a teacher who yelled at her students every time she wanted them to do something. However, just next door, there was another teacher who would SING to her students every time she wanted them to do something. Guess what? The students of the singing teacher responded better. That's the power of music, baby.
Here's another one of his stories, word for word. "There was once a boy in one of my classes who hated to sing. He'd tell me flat out, 'I hate to sing.' But everyone in the class would be singing away and through the corner of my eye, I could see he loved to sing." That's the whole non-story in its entirety.
He does include a number of interesting activities in this book. However, even when he describes activities, I'm still left having to fill in missing gaps. For example, he describes how to use sound to make sand "dance." First, sand is sprinkled on a drum head, which is then placed on a speaker--but then he says to leave "some air in between." This is one example of many. As another example: he explains how to make a marimba, although he doesn't say what that even is. He describes how to cut the wood and at what ratios the smaller pieces should be to the longest piece, but then he casually mentions that you need to "suspend the wood above the floor somehow." With no images or further description, I'm left baffled.
The most grandiose activity he describes is an instrument made out of the metal tray from an oven. He doesn't really explain if it's the shelf in the oven or the piece from the broiler drawer. I don't know, and there certainly aren't any pictures. But, apparently, if you hang it from the end of two wires that are wrapped around your fingers, and then you shove said fingers in your ears, you'll hear amazing sounds when someone bangs on the tray. I mean, A+ for innovation, but... what?
Honestly, I'm not even sure how this book got published. I don't think it's worth reading.
In his introduction, he spends time explaining how educators don't need to know how to write a song or read music to incorporate music into education, but then the entire next chapter is about how to write a song to incorporate music into education. He tries to describe different aspects of music, like melody and dynamics, but most of his descriptions aren't very helpful if you don't already have a basic knowledge of music.
Page sprinkles his book with stories about teachers that aren't very believable. "Once upon a time" there was a teacher who yelled at her students every time she wanted them to do something. However, just next door, there was another teacher who would SING to her students every time she wanted them to do something. Guess what? The students of the singing teacher responded better. That's the power of music, baby.
Here's another one of his stories, word for word. "There was once a boy in one of my classes who hated to sing. He'd tell me flat out, 'I hate to sing.' But everyone in the class would be singing away and through the corner of my eye, I could see he loved to sing." That's the whole non-story in its entirety.
He does include a number of interesting activities in this book. However, even when he describes activities, I'm still left having to fill in missing gaps. For example, he describes how to use sound to make sand "dance." First, sand is sprinkled on a drum head, which is then placed on a speaker--but then he says to leave "some air in between." This is one example of many. As another example: he explains how to make a marimba, although he doesn't say what that even is. He describes how to cut the wood and at what ratios the smaller pieces should be to the longest piece, but then he casually mentions that you need to "suspend the wood above the floor somehow." With no images or further description, I'm left baffled.
The most grandiose activity he describes is an instrument made out of the metal tray from an oven. He doesn't really explain if it's the shelf in the oven or the piece from the broiler drawer. I don't know, and there certainly aren't any pictures. But, apparently, if you hang it from the end of two wires that are wrapped around your fingers, and then you shove said fingers in your ears, you'll hear amazing sounds when someone bangs on the tray. I mean, A+ for innovation, but... what?
Honestly, I'm not even sure how this book got published. I don't think it's worth reading.
January 15, 2011
This book is part of a series published by Stenhouse. The focus of the series is how regular classroom teachers can incorporate the arts into their classroom. Each book in the series is written by a different author.
This author, Nick Page, seems to be very inspired about his teaching of music, but I feel that most of this short book is fluff. (I was disappointed by this. I'm a musician, so I was hoping for a better treatment of one of my favorite subjects.) The fluff is the repetition about how good music is for your brain. He does offer some very good concrete tips and examples, so I'm not completely dissing it. I guess it just left me wanting more on the subject: both breadth and depth.
This author, Nick Page, seems to be very inspired about his teaching of music, but I feel that most of this short book is fluff. (I was disappointed by this. I'm a musician, so I was hoping for a better treatment of one of my favorite subjects.) The fluff is the repetition about how good music is for your brain. He does offer some very good concrete tips and examples, so I'm not completely dissing it. I guess it just left me wanting more on the subject: both breadth and depth.
March 2, 2012
Some good teaching techniques are in the book. But I wanted more from it.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews