Learning is all a song in classrooms

A music student is developing the first curriculum-based set of songs to help school students in Australia and beyond learn about ancient history.

Charles Darwin University Masters student Aniko Debreceny said music was a refreshing way to help students remember information.

Ms Debreceny is recording catchy songs about ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, and China for Middle School students as part of her thesis, “Song as Saga: Creating curriculum-based song for learning.”

“Kids remember these songs. If you sing it, you learn it,” she said.

Each song includes facts and terms outlined in sixth grade ancient history curricula in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Ms Debreceny said it was challenging to create songs that included curriculum criteria from all three regions.

“It’s a small world and we’re all connected through music,” she said.

Ms Debreceny’s CD of songs will include slide images displaying the lyrics for students to follow visually to increase material recognition and learning.

She said she would target Middle School students because the content required for High School students would be too detailed to put into individual songs.

Ms Debreceny said the songs she was working on would be short, at six to 20 lines.

“If you’re looking at sixth grade, your attention span is short,” she said.

Ms Debreceny has taught flute for more than 40 years and has taught music using curriculum-based songs to home school students in the US for the past 17 years.