Krivanek 1

Rachel Krivanek

Mrs. DeBock

English IV Honors

March 14, 2017

Essential Question: Does singing along, using technology, and comprehending educational songs

help students retain the information?

Working Thesis: Students react and remember more information when given a song to help.

Refined Thesis: Child development students are prone to remember more information, such as

counting numbers, when participating in upbeat songs that review the material.

Annotated Bibliography

Fenton, Angela, et al. "A Strengths Approach to Supporting Early Mathematics

Learning in Family Contexts." Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, vol. 41, no.

1, Mar. 2016, pp. 45-53.

In this article, Fenton focuses on children, families, and how the connection between

home life relates to the outcome of a students performance. She discusses approaches to how

there can be support in a childs mathematical development. Not only do child development

students need extra attention to math in school, a push is needed for students to follow up on the

lesson at home with a parent or guardian. Defending multiple ways for students to have access to

math programs at home, Fenton provides multiple examples of ideas and programs that can

strengthen her thesis. Mathematics, music, and memory are all connected, and the article

supplies the specific information on math.

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Hughes, James R. "Creative Experiences in an Interdisciplinary Honors Course on

Mathematics in Music." Journal of Mathematics and Music, no. 2, 2014, p. 131

I chose this article because Hughes sums up all theories made with music, mathematics,

memory, education, and child development. He presents his creative experiences, such as his

study in math and music. Each creative experiences is a stage in his study, such as acoustics

demonstration, tuning demonstration, and analysis. He also expresses the creativity that music

can produce and spark in a human being. Overall, the article describes the complexity of music,

going into specific details of almost all ideas and theories, therefore making a valid conclusion

that music is an art that is connected to the academic performance of students.

Jacobi, Bonnie Schaffhauser. "Bagpipes and Artichokes: Surprise as a Stimulus to

Learning in the Elementary Music Classroom." General Music Today, vol. 29, no. 2,

01 Jan. 2016, pp. 14-19.

I chose this article because Jacobi supports the original thesis that I provided, which was

music has a strong, positive influence on students, especially on developing brains. Digging

deeper into this theory, Jacobi claims music can stimulate a students attention, interest, and

curiosity. The article not only gives information on the pros of music in schools, but also

explains why it can specifically have a different effect on young minds. Relating and connecting

to the previous article, the way the brain and memory are wired in young students can be similar

among all students, despite learning styles, gender, or any other factors that may influence a

student.
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Pittman, Tiffani and Trudi Gaines. "Technology Integration in Third, Fourth and Fifth Grade

Classrooms in a Florida School District." Educational Technology Research &

Development, vol. 63, no. 4, Aug. 2015, pp. 539-554.

Pittman discusses the effects of technology in the classroom on a select group of third,

fourth, and fifth graders. This article focuses on how technology can improve education, how to

achieve the goal of having working technology, and how it affects the way students learn. Having

a select group of students being observed shows specific strengths and weaknesses that

elementary students may face while using technology, rather than viewing a large population and

not being able to target distinct problems. Discussing the current, basic effects of technology

introduces the idea of how it is used in the classroom, when it is used, and how it can eventually

be intertwined with music.

Rush, Toby W. "Incorporating Assistive Technology for Students with Visual Impairments into

the Music Classroom." Music Educators Journal, vol. 102, no. 2, Dec. 2015, p. 78.

I chose this article because Rush provides useful information on visually impaired

students and how accommodations can be made for them to experience visual music education.

The article digs deeper into issues that every classroom or teacher can experience, and how to

comply with the problem or obstacles it may cause. Specifically music educators, having a

visually impaired or deaf student requires specific arrangements to made in order to provide

them with an equal education opportunity and experience. The article gives examples on

resources, requiring technology, that can be used by any teacher or classroom, therefore

strengthening any classroom or lesson.

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Surez, Lidia, et al. "Cross-Sectional Study on the Relationship between Music Training and

Working Memory in Adults." Australian Journal of Psychology, vol. 68, no. 1, Mar.

2016, pp. 38-46

Surez investigated the relationship between musicians and memory. There is a

comparison between music, memory, age, and education in adults. It also suggests that there

might be different effects on males compared to females. Showing connection between music

and adults, the article focuses on the future effects music and memory. The article also describes

specific memory, such as phonological memory, spatial memory, visual memory, and working

memory. Showing relation between past education and present effects on memory is the main

idea of the article. Overall, the article defends the idea that music leads to exact memory effects

rather than general.