Recall of Facts in Social Studies through the Use of

Music

Chelsie Fultz

Ridgedale Elementary School

Rationale• Text is better recalled when it is

heard as a song (Wallace, 1994).

• WESTEST2 Scores– 38% of students scored at the novice

level in social studies proficiency

Contexts• Monongalia County

– South of Morgantown, outside of city – Grades Pre-K through 5th; 418 students

• 3rd grade classroom– Internet (YouTube access); Projector and Smart

Board; Table at front with desks facing front • Students

– 11 students (20 in class); 8 Caucasian, 1 Asian, 1 Biracial; 1 student with Aspbergers tendencies

Research Support for Use of Music to Recall Facts

• “The encoding of songs can be conceptualized as an information processing activity (Calvert and Billingsley, 1998).”

• “Subjects who had received music treatments (on retention tasks) performed significantly better than subjects who did not (Hanschumaker 1980).”

• Students learn songs “when the melody is easily and sufficiently learned and is repeated across verses (Memory for Music, n.d.).”

• “The rhythm and melody of a familiar song could provide a structure for learning unfamiliar information, and a familiar melody could provide both distinctive memory records and retrieval cues to assist in recall (Rainey and Larsen, 2002).”

Guiding Question

“How does the use of music increase third graders’ recall

of facts in social studies?”

Teaching Strategy• Each day, the students and I

– Listened to the song– Read the lyrics sheet together (for one stanza) – Sang the song 3-5 times (including the new stanza)

• Student performance tested with daily quizzes

• Revised teaching by singing the song more times per day

Data Sources• Pre/Post-test

– 10 states and capitals for students to match

• Teacher Researcher Journal – Notes about students’ performance

and attitudes

• Daily Quizzes – 5 states and capitals to

be matched (learned in previous day’s lesson)

Pre/Post Test Comparison

Scores on All Assessments

Low-Achieving Students

Conclusions

• Using music in the classroom does help students recall the facts that they learned in song.

• Each student improved from the pre to the post-test.

Recommendations

• Teaching in smaller, shorter stanzas

• Study time in class

• Oral quizzes

• My host teacher, Mrs. Malinovich• Third grade students, faculty, staff

and administration at Ridgedale Elementary School

• My liaison, Dr. Lindstrom

Acknowledgements

States and Capitals Video