Music of the Week: Embedding Musical Literacy and Joy in Early Years Classrooms

Written By Liam Benjamin

Over the past 21 years of teaching, I have used music as an anchor point for learning. From the very first class I taught, a Year 6 class in Kent, I introduced a variety of musicians throughout the academic year. I still cannot listen to the album Songs About Jane by Maroon 5 without being transported to that first classroom. Now, years later, I am still introducing music to my students. In Year 2 we just finished another catalogue of musicians, and applied statistical skills in maths to identify our favourite musicians of the year.

I have already published an article about the power of music as a writing tool with my Year 2 class (UKLA: Literacy 4-11, Issue 80, 2024, p16-17) and how I use it each week to inspire a different writing focus linked to spelling and grammar. Emile Sande taught my children how to use 'because' in a sentence while Benson Boone helped us write haikus. Whoever I have chosen to listen to that week, using whiteboards they write an opinion on the musician based on an area of SPAG such as commas or homophones. Then after having it checked by an adult they rewrite on a post it note. Three songs from each musician every week are added to a shared playlist and by the end of the year we have about 100 songs collected. The playlist becomes synonymous with the class: it plays on the car ride to school, with families singing together. Each song becoming an anchor point to a learning moment.

"My dad loves singing along to Lady Gaga in the car."

There are stand out performers and surprise favourites that the children resonate with, every year I adjust and choose different ones. I try to select a musician with a largely clean lyric back catalogue. I am conscious they might want to explore more music by that artist and I feel a responsibility for where their musical curiosity might take them. Another reason why we have a class playlist so that parents can stay informed. It is important to remember that while I might be hypersensitive to a song's content the children do not always pick up on the more subtle themes, especially if you're using this with a younger age. They hear the hooks and melodies, the beat and the style. They are influenced by the desire to sing or to dance more than the words or wider message. It is an instinctive emotional and physical response but allow me to be clear. If the song explicitly features anything like racism, sexual content or profanity it 100% never makes the cut.

I balance music from around the world, selecting singers that represent the cultures in my class. Equally, choosing a balance of gender and race is just as important as choosing the genre of music. Yo-Yo Ma might feature one week and he can be followed by The Spice Girls shortly afterward. Teachers should provide students with a diverse range of examples, sources, and reference points.

Last week a parent came up to me at the end of our graduation ceremony, sharing how the weekly musician had unlocked something within her son that he had discovered a sense of musicality within himself. As a family they had settled on a drum kit for him and now he plays every week. It’s one of the areas of my teaching that receives the most positive feedback. I recognise it is unique and refined; shaped by two decades of reflective practice. The results in class speak for themselves, writing for a purpose is powerful beyond measure.

As well as the obvious curriculum links that appear when using music in class: the timelines, the significant cultural musical impacts, the mathematical links of record sales, time in the charts or just collecting data of our favourites. There are higher notes to hit though. Allow me to drop a 'Vygotskyian' type beat, about how learning is a social process rather than an independent journey, and I do believe nothing binds us better than shared musical experiences. It is why we attend concerts, it is why we sing in choirs. It is with this in mind that I have been exploring how my music of the week is having a larger impact on my children.

In a recent article from The Washington Post they broke down published research by Daniel Bowling. Bowling shares his research about how music has an impact on cognitive flexibility as well as the impact that a shared musical experience has.

Neural activity becomes more similar in the brains of people engaged with the same music, imaging studies have shown. Singing in groups can decrease cortisol, a stress hormone, and increase the release of oxytocin, a neuropeptide and hormone important for social bonding. The oxytocin release may further amplify the reward system so if you have a very positive social experience, it may be extra reinforcing.

Furthermore, in a GQ Magazine essay about Father’s Day, music critic Lawrence Burney shares an excerpt from his book No Sense In Wishing. He writes about how shared music helps form a connection with his daughter. That rather than asking about how school is, they talk about musicians, songs and share opinions. Over time they have developed a car journey routine, that every journey is about them picking a song each and playing a game of musical tennis, each taking it in turns to play a song. Longer car journeys allow them to pick several songs to create a mood or vibe. They critique and share opening opinions about one another's choices. Connecting my own class with musicians that their parents once upon a time danced and sang to, provides a beautiful full circle moment that everyone can participate in. Students have returned to class and shared their own playlists with me, something I have felt lucky to participate in.

You ask a kid in eighth grade how school went that day and, barring a cataclysmic event, good luck on getting anything more detailed than “Fine,” “Cool,” or “It was okay.” But having an open forum about why she thinks the songs I played from Mike’s Disco! album are unlistenable is how you get to the root of something. - Lawrence Burney.

This is part of a larger creative journey I was privileged to begin over 20 years ago. Working in a small rural school in Kent we were playing with the curriculum and I gave birth to a musician of the week. When we lean on the imaginations of our teachers and trust their process great things can be achieved. I was trained as a teacher to think outside the box, to engage with students, to start with what they know. These principles have never left me and when I lean on them I know I am doing the right thing for my students.

Finding inspiration to start learning is always about capturing their interest and building on it. Children these days are more and more exposed to music; soundtracks to films or TV shows, radio still holds great influence but any device now offers instant access to millions of songs. My 'Music of the Week' has been a soundtrack to their Year 2 experience.

For anyone interested, here is the 2025 top ten as voted for by my students:

  1. BTS (168 points)

  2. Taylor Swift (98 points)

  3. Steps (90 points)

  4. Conan Gray (75 points)

  5. Jake Bugg and Spice Girls (74 points each)

  6. Jacob Collier (67 points)

  7. Purple Disco Machine, G.E.M. and Lady Gaga (58 points each)

  8. Coldplay (46 points)

  9. Harry Styles (43 points)

  10. S-Club 7 (42 points)

I suspect that BTS were a firm favourite based on more than their musical abilities. Their colourful clothes and vibrant energy stole the show, and perhaps that they used a simile in one of their songs, "Smooth Like Butter", caught their attention too. Considering only one child in my class understands Korean helps to highlight the connecting power of music. I did receive some considered feedback from a parent recently though, citing that I needed more Backstreet Boys in future.

Liam Benjamin
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