Educators

Fellow Educator,

A few years ago, I made a discovery while I was teaching Social Studies at a high school in upstate New York. One day, I happened upon Pedro, one of my students, rapping for his friends in the hallway. Pedro was a very likable young man who retained virtually nothing in US History class, or so his consistently dismal test scores indicated. At that moment, though, I watched in amazement as he entertained the group assembled around him with an inspired performance of a hip-hop epic. By the end, he had delivered a huge body of information without missing a syllable.

I wondered if Pedro's hidden memorization skills had emerged because he was reciting information set to music he enjoyed. I began to look for a way to use this discovery in the classroom. An exhaustive search revealed that almost all educational music is geared toward elementary school children. Next to no music with academic content is available for young adults in middle school and high school. Ironically, this is the time when many people develop a life-long passion for music. I realized then that there is a need for educational music that is hip (if not hip-hop), academically serious, and consistent with state curriculum standards. Together with a collaborative group of educators and artists, I created MME to fulfill this need.

Lance Fialkoff
Founder and CEO

Our goal is to transform the academic experience in public and private schools by helping teachers to:

  1. Develop students' content awareness (including knowledge, comprehension and critical thinking skills).
  2. Improve students' levels of academic performance.
  3. Differentiate instruction by providing a greater variety of teaching methods.
  4. Motivate students through active learning.
  5. Bring more fun, excitement and active engagement into the classroom.
  6. Reach disaffected students through music-based, instructional materials.

12 Ways to Bring MME Into Your Classroom:

  1. INTRODUCE a lesson using a song for the anticipatory set.
  2. ENRICH a lecture or discussion with music and Lyrical Footnotes as supplemental resources.
  3. GROUP students for cooperative activities based on Song Templates.
  4. MOVE hands and bodies with Kinesthetic Songs, aiding retention through body memory.
  5. DIFFERENTIATE instruction with a better way to reach auditory learners and students with strong musical intelligence.
  6. ASSIGN Lyrical Footnotes for in-class reading or homework.
  7. CELEBRATE special events with songs for ethnic heritage months, Election 2008, and holidays.
  8. ASSESS students with musical DBQs (Document Based Questions) and quizzes.
  9. MAKE–UP lessons for absentees by e–mailing content based MP3s to students who missed class.
  10. CLOSE a lesson with a song to review critical points.
  11. FILL extra time with music that is both entertaining and academically rich.
  12. FILE substitute teacher lesson plans that will produce positive results.

INVOLVE students actively in the learning process with an innovative teaching approach and music they will truly enjoy!