Integrating Music and Literacy: Applying Invented Music Notation to Support Prosody and Reading Fluency

Prosody and Reading Comprehension

Reading experts use the term prosody to describe the changes in volume, rhythm, and pitch that readers use to add expression and meaning when reading text aloud (Kuhn et al., 2010). For example, when reading the question, “Are you really tired?” the meaning can change depending on the inflection given to the word “really.” The question could refer to being very tired (neutral emphasis on the word “really”) or genuinely tired (heavy emphasis on the word “really”). The word “record” provides another useful example. If the emphasis is on the first syllable (RE-cord) the word represents an object (noun). If the emphasis is on the second syllable (re-CORD) the word represents an action (verb). Prosody refers to the “way” words are spoken. More specifically, it refers to the way people speak with variations in volume, rhythm, and pitch to communicate the meaning of a text.

Combined with accuracy and automaticity, prosody is one of the essential elements of reading fluency (Kuhn et al., 2010). Rather than reading word-by-word like a computer (staccato and monotone), fluent readers read aloud effortlessly and with expression. Readers who require extra effort to recognize words (e.g., repeatedly sounding out the same word) have less attention available for the construction of meaning. Readers who recognize words with less effort can focus their attention on the meaning of text and can then process it at a deeper level. This type of active reading is intentional and enhances text comprehension. When reading aloud, fluent readers can use their voices to explore and convey the meaning and emotion that is not always represented by the words alone. Research has shown that students who read aloud with fluency and expression have greater capacity to comprehend text (Benjamin & Schwanenflugel, 2010; Schwanenflugel & Benjamin, 2017).

Third-grade students are usually at a stage of literacy development in which they are applying their decoding skills while also building their reading fluency and expression (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 2012). Chall (1996) identified that readers at this stage transition from learning to read to reading to learn. Generally, children at the earlier stage (between kindergarten and third grade) are focusing their attention on decoding. At the next stage of reading development—usually around the third- or fourth-grade—readers master decoding (crack the code). Once children are automatically recognizing most words they read, they can shift their attention to meaning making. It is at this stage that prosody can meaningfully contribute to reading comprehension. Through reading aloud, reading often, and repeated practice, students can build their reading fluency and expression and ultimately their reading comprehension (Schwanenflugel & Benjamin, 2017).

Integrating Prosody and Music

The learning experience we describe here applies the power of music understanding to advance students’ awareness of the prosodic features of oral language. The activities nurture skill development in reading prosody by inviting students to use a music lens to consider and plan how they read aloud. Ransinski et al. (2009) suggest several ways in which third-grade students can develop their reading prosody: for example, students can read aloud text from poems, songs, or plays. Our learning experience takes students further into exploring and understanding prosody by engaging them in the conscious decision-making process of music planning—composing—how they will read a particular text aloud. Students use invented notation to organize the music elements of pitch, rhythm, and volume in a spoken-word performance of a chosen text. By composing and notating their unique expressive readings, learners develop the ability to manipulate music elements for creative self-expression.

Ideally, teaching across multiple curricula will produce meaningful understanding in each subject area (May, 2018). The activities we propose not only advance students’ understanding of prosody and skill development in reading fluency but also foster music understanding. As learners explore music nuances within spoken language (prosody), they have the opportunity to practice and broaden their understanding of the music elements that create those nuances. The activities also support skill development in invented notation and composing. One of the primary benefits of music composing activities is the opportunity they provide for learners’ creative self-expression (M. Barrett, 2003; Hickey, 2012). Through the activities described in detail below, learners have the chance to apply music concepts and tools to express themselves and their understanding of the poetic texts in unique and powerful ways.

Invented Notation and Composing

With invented notation, students can plan and record their music compositions. As Guderian (2012) has identified, “student-generated original notation often makes possible the realization of complex ideas and whole compositions that the child is able to compose but not able to notate in traditional Western notation” (p. 10). Invented notations allow young learners to bypass the complexity of traditional notation, which is often unwieldy as a tool for children to express their music ideas (Upitis, 2018). Instead, students can focus on producing notation that serves their purposes: notation that allows them to organize and recall how their compositions should be performed. As an added benefit, constructing their own symbol systems supports students in learning to understand formal symbol systems; developing their own notation can serve as a step toward understanding, and using traditional notation (Hickey, 2012; Upitis, 2018). Using invented notation makes students’ compositions accessible—an activity they enjoy and value because it provides them “an authentic way of interacting with peers, parents, and teachers” and because it makes their music work “real” (Upitis, 2018, p. 147).

The activities described later in this article invite learners to use invented notation to represent how they want to perform a spoken text. With this creative exercise, learners engage in the same decision-making processes that composers and songwriters employ to set lyrics to music. Creative exercises can function as a preliminary step or scaffold to more extended composing (Guderian, 2012), serving as practicums for learning (Regelski, 2004).

Engaging students in music composing has many benefits. Strand (2006) identified that composing enables young people to take ownership of their own learning experiences. McGillen and McMillan (2005) found that composing activities provide students with a sense of equality and interdependence and the ability to share power. At the heart of composing is exploration, and young learners “naturally enjoy musical composition because music exploration and process orientation is so natural for them” (Hickey, 2012, p. 12). Composing allows individuals not only to explore music ideas but also to explore, learn, and communicate about themselves (M. Barrett, 2003; Reimer, 2003). On a pragmatic level, and with learning outcomes in mind, composing tasks can enable learners to develop and represent music understanding (Swanwick, 1999) and therefore can also enable teachers to assess learners’ understanding of particular music concepts (Hickey, 2012).

In the following lesson sample, we illustrate how invented notation can be used as a tool for students to develop and demonstrate their understanding of the music concepts of pitch, rhythm, and volume, and of representing music ideas with notated symbols. At the same time, students gain awareness of prosody, which will help them with reading fluency and text comprehension.

Although we have been prescriptive in outlining the lesson to enhance clarity, we of course encourage teachers to adapt the wording and activities as they feel appropriate for their contexts and students. Please find the lesson description in the appendix at the end of this article.

Reflections from Teaching Experience

In our experience of engaging students with this activity, a few observations are worth sharing. First, we have noticed that students create many different and unique ways to notate pitch, duration, and volume (M. Barrett, 2003; Hickey, 2012; Upitis, 2018). Figures 4, 5, 6, and 7 illustrate some of the variety. Some of the students’ notational ideas followed the visual representations of volume, pitch, and rhythm that we showed to them at the start of the lesson. However, in other cases students represented the elements with completely different notational symbols.

We have also noticed that students notate their expressive readings with greatly varying levels of detail and that greater detail in notation does not necessarily result in a more effective performance. One of the most exciting and expressive performances we witnessed—involving not only huge ranges in volume, pitch, and duration but also dramatic interaction between partners, Oscar-worthy characterization, and even choreography—was represented notationally with no more than a few vague pencil marks. Indeed, for some students, when the notational detail was too great, it seemed to inhibit the fluency of the performance (the notation got in the way), as music education researchers Hickey (2012) and Upitis (2018) have also found. One pair spent so much time creating a complex system of notational representation that they did not make it past the first line of the poem.

Finally, we have noticed that while most students work effectively in pairs, it does not work out for everyone (Burland & Davidson, 2001). We recall observing one pair who started out very happily together, but then one of the team became very quiet, sat back in her chair, and stopped contributing entirely. Perhaps she was frustrated that her ideas were not being valued. Fortunately, she had the presence of mind to come to us and request that she complete the activity on her own, which she subsequently did with considerable enthusiasm. Accordingly, we have learned that some students find it more meaningful and enjoyable to work alone (e.g., when creative visions do not mesh).

Extending into Other Music Activities

We have identified various ways that this learning experience can be extended into other music activities. A logical follow-up is for students to move from spoken-word performance of their poems to song composition and performance. Indeed, some students did this without prompting—crafting their expressive readings directly as melodies and songs. To facilitate this process, a first step can be to encourage students to add increasingly specific rhythm and pitch to their performance of the text until they have a melody. A next or alternative step can be to invite students to add body percussion to their performance, or instrumental accompaniment. Throughout this process students can consider how their volume, pitch, and rhythm choices work with the text to emphasize and communicate meaning.

A related activity in the realm of listening, responding, and analyzing is to invite students to notice how songwriters and composers apply the music elements within the songs they create. Students can be supported in recognizing how variations in volume, pitch, and rhythm add emphasis to certain words, and add or accentuate or even shift meaning within the text.

Finally, while singing songs, students can be invited to make music choices that apply their knowledge of music elements to communicate the meaning of text. For example, students might choose to manipulate volume (dynamics) to make certain words and pitches louder or softer. They might choose to manipulate duration and make certain words shorter (staccato) or a little longer (tenuto or fermata). Students could even explore different pitch choices than those made by the original composer. They might be able to find, for example, some pitches that better communicate or represent their understanding of the lyrics.

Final Words

Students engage with the sound of words when they read aloud, but when they read aloud with expression, they engage with the meaning of words, experiencing a richer and deeper interaction with the text. In fact, prosodic reading has been found to be a good predictor of reading comprehension of difficult texts (Benjamin & Schwanenflugel, 2010). Inviting students to think about prosody with a music lens has the potential to help them better understand what prosody is all about. Similarly, thinking about the music elements of volume, rhythm, and pitch in relation to prosody—or, more simply, expressive reading—has the potential to help students better understand those music concepts. In addition, this activity helps students gain awareness that music elements exist and are important outside of music contexts. Specifically, music elements are very much at play when people read or speak aloud with expression and are key to effective oral communication. Finally, the integrative learning experience we describe not only helps students to learn about prosody and music elements but also about planning and notating how music elements can be manipulated to enhance text; it helps them learn how to write songs and compose. This integrated activity therefore advances learners’ capacities as readers and musicians. From our experience with children in schools, we can also say that it’s a lot of fun.