Children`s Preparation for School Concerts Through Educational Computer Games

For several years I have been developing educational games for schoolchildren, as part of their preparation for attending concerts performed by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. The children in the school where I teach come mainly from families who have immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia and Bukhara. The school is situated in a disadvantaged neighborhood and the concert preparation program is supported by the Music Center of the Institute for the Advancement of Education in Jaffa, led by Dr. Adena Portowitz.

Preparing children for the concert involves motivating them to engage with classical music, teaching musical elements, and creating familiarity with the works that they will later hear in live performance.

My goals are:

• to arouse children`s enjoyment of listening to classic music,
• to develop their musical understanding through listening and performing interesting tasks on the computer,
• to develop their knowledge of basic musical elements,
• to develop analytical thinking skills, and
• to improve general learning skills and creative abilities.

My approach is based on the Musical Minds program developed by Dr. Eva Brand at the Music Division of the Yehuda Amir Institute for the Advancement of Social Integration, Bar-Ilan University. In addition to a weekly general music class, children visit a computer lab where they work singly or in pairs at computer stations. This enables them, for example, to follow graphic scores while listening to the music with the aid of earphones. In this activity, they first listen and observe the programmed tracking and then operate the tracking themselves. In addition to working with graphic scores, I have developed, and will present, tests, quizzes, puzzles and computer games, as part of getting to know musical works, using programs such as Flash and Storyline.

Each year I observe changes in the children’s behavior. They learn new pieces with interest and attention and their efforts to succeed motivate them to understand musical elements in the context of the works studied. Listening to music with the aid of graphic scores and computer tasks helps the children to concentrate and to exercise self-regulation, to work independently with care and precision, and to develop self-confidence.

Proof of a successful process is evident when the children, who have never heard classical music in their homes, pay full attention and respond with great enthusiasm at the concert, performed by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. This is the highlight of their year`s study and deep enjoyment of the music is their reward.