Integrating Music Into Social and Emotional Learning
A strategy for guiding preschoolers to identify and manage their emotions with a little help from Muddy Waters, Beethoven, and the Beatles.
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Many educators embrace social and emotional learning (SEL) for teaching coping skills. Like visual art activities, music education can play a role in healing, particularly when itâs paired with deep breathing exercises. Music is readily available from sources like YouTube, Spotify, and Pandora, which makes it easy to integrate into the classroom, and research shows that general music program activities like improvisation and identifying emotion through music as a form of social and emotional learning.
Studies show that children as young as 3 can in music and can even in musical excerpts that are just 0.5 second long. These findings are the backbone of practical applications for using music to support SEL in the classroomâand of the following activities that help preschool children learn how to name and regulate their emotions.
Muddy Watersâs âLouisiana Bluesâ and Feeling Sad
Known as the father of Chicago blues, Muddy Waters was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician. His piece ââ is a classic in the genre, reflecting sadness and hardship.
How to use it: Using color cards or colorful objects, ask students to recognize the colors. With the color blue, stop and say, âSome people say they feel this color. They say they feel blue or they have âthe blues.â What do you think they mean by that?â
After the students answer, explain that the blues is a type of music created by African Americans in the southern United States to . Explain that sometimes life is hard, itâs OK to feel upset by that, and music can help people get through hard times. As the students listen to âLouisiana Blues,â have them tap a drum or rhythm sticks to keep the beat. Then they can reflect on a time when they felt the blues after putting their instruments away.
Beethovenâs Fifth Symphony and Feeling Strong Emotions
With its iconic , Beethovenâs Fifth can prompt awareness of strong emotions.
How to use it: Tell your students to give themselves a big, tight hug. Say, âHugs are nice. But tight feelings are also a sign that you have a strong feeling. Letâs listen to the music together. If you hear a strong emotion, squeeze the ball.â Pass out squishy objects, like stress balls or stuffed animals. As students listen to the first two minutes of , have them squeeze the object when they hear a strong emotion. When the music stops, take two minutes to reflect on how to alleviate sensations of tightness brought on by strong feelings: âWe just listened to the Fifth Symphony by Ludwig Van Beethoven, which was written for an orchestraâa group of musicians playing together. I could tell you felt the strong emotions in it when you squeezed the ball. Did your hands feel better after letting go of the ball?â
Tell students that just as their hands felt better when they let go of the ball, they can let go of the strong feeling inside when it happens: They can let go of their strong feelings by taking belly breaths and using words to get help. Since loud crying and angry screaming (temper tantrums) are among young children, teaching them how to self-soothe and use expressive language prompts .
âJambo Bwanaâ and Greetings
that for autistic children and those who have special needs or language delays, dancing to music without explicit instructions can improve their overall gross motor development and mobility. The Swahili traditional song â,â a piece about saying hello and sharing joy and happiness, works well in this context.
How to use it: Tell students that the song is about saying hello and is from the country of Kenya. Explain that world music includes music in different languages and from different cultures. Ask, âCan you say âhelloâ in Swahili? Try saying âJambo Bwanaââ (âHello, Sirâ). After the students answer, pass out props like colorful scarves (for easier self-expression with smaller motor movements), or forgo props while the students dance to the song. They can then share reflections about how saying hello and seeing people they love can bring happiness.
âYesterdayâ and Feeling Disappointment
The Beatles song ââ can prompt students to reflect on a time when something went wrong or they made a mistake. When children recall this experience with you, it becomes a âa moment when you deliberately connect with a child while guiding their learning.
How to use it: Begin by telling children about a made-up recent event where there was disappointment; it could be based on an event in the classroom. For example, âBella was looking forward to the class field trip to the zoo, but it was canceled when it rained. How do you think she felt? Letâs listen to this piece of music at the art table and draw a picture of the feeling. Do any of you like rock-and-roll music? This is the genre of music that rock bands playâgroups of musicians that have a guitarist, drummer, bass player, and singer. Usually the music is upbeat and makes you feel excited. But this song by the Beatles is about feeling melancholy and remembering a time when you made a mistake or did something wrong.â Play âYesterdayâ and prompt children to illustrate a time when they experienced disappointment or things didnât work out as planned.
âĂguas de Marçoâ and Mindfulness
The jazz/bossa nova song ââ (âThe Waters of Marchâ), by the Brazilian songwriter AntĂ´nio Carlos Jobim, works well when teaching students that being calm can improve their on their surroundings, as well as how to embrace mindfulness.
How to use it: Ask students to take a deep belly breath, perhaps while ringing a singing bowl. Tell students, âWhen we feel calm, our bodies are relaxed. And when weâre relaxed, we can notice things we didnât notice before. Letâs listen to this song and take deep breaths to become more mindful of our surroundings. This style of music is a form of Brazilian jazz called bossa nova, and it has a smooth, sophisticated sound that people can dance or relax to while listening to it.â
When the song is done, move on to an activity to test studentsâ new and improved awareness. Tell the students, âNow that we have calm and relaxed bodies, we can see things even better than we did before. Letâs go on a scavenger hunt to find the objects from the song in our room.â Students can go around the room to find objects mentioned in the song (a stick, stone, a hair pin, and a flower).