Literacy, Music & Technology Connection.

Literacy, Music & Technology Connection. Literacy, Music & Technology Connection, w/CD-ROM, by ZigWajler. Alfred Publishing Company, 2009. www.alfred.com; (818) 8922-452;94 pp. $24.95. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Wajler's Literacy, Music & Technology Connection succeedsnot only in combining technology and arts in the classroom, but also ingenerating motivation and self-esteem with social skills and cooperativelearning. "Think, Plan, Assemble, and Produce" (T.P.A.P) lessonplans form the foundation of the book, guiding students to write,compose, record and produce an original song. The T.P.A.P plans alsoincorporate the standards for arts education established by the NationalAssociation of Music Educators. "Think" presents systematic activities of in-depthlistening. Students listen to songs and discuss text, meaning and anywords they remember (in preparation for the terms "hook" orchorus). They identify instruments and consider their contribution tothe character of the piece. Considering instrumentation, text, tempo andvocal techniques, the students learn to discern musical style. Finally,they brainstorm to create lyrics for their own song. They begin with anidea, a single word or phrase, and develop that into several relatedwords and shape them into lyrics. "Plan" combines words from the brainstorming session intophrases and rhymes. Form is introduced as these phrases are organizedinto verses and chorus. The group agrees on a musical style anddetermines the vocal role of each member within the song form(introduction, verses, chorus). "Assemble" aids in defining musical style. Studentschoose a tempo and select and place loops onto tracks with loop-basedsoftware. In "Produce," students organize the loops into sections(introduction, verse, chorus) in preparation for voice recording. Theperformers record the vocal parts on new tracks while hearing theirinstrumental tracks play. The T.P.A.P guidelines are remarkable. These include reproducibleworksheets, instructional steps and effective illustrations. Theenclosed CD contains model songs, which serve as listening examples for"Think." They were composed by students (primary through highschool) using the T.P.A.P. plans and include classical, Native American,pop, rap, rock, hip hop and gospel styles. Fascinating! The CD alsoincludes a library of more than 200 loops. Through this process, students have experienced reading, writing,spelling, organizing, listening, creating and cooperating in a team.They have developed technological savvy as well as mathematical andconflict-resolving skills. They have honed their listening skills,learned form, orchestration and the ability to discern musical styles.They have experienced the music industry as songwriter, composer,arranger and recording engineer. This multi-faceted resource is avaluable addition for any private, group or classroom music instructor. The items marked with this symbol can be ordered via the MTNAwebsite through our affiliation with Amazon.com. Go to www.mma.org andchoose Member Services from the Membership option in the main menu barfor more information. --Reviewed by Kevin Richmond, The University of Memphis