December 12
The flight to the North Pole
"We're Walking in the Air"
performed by The King's Singers,
from the movie based upon Raymond Brigg's
"The Snowman"
I showed this beautiful film to my special education students last week. I chose it, not simply because of the wonderful story of a child being swept off to the North Pole by a magical snowman... but because the tale is told without any dialogue or narrative whatsoever. The only accompaniment to the animation is music, which creates a perfect sound-scape.
Children who might not normally have had the ability to focus their attention, much less retain specific information, were completely mesmerized by it. I sat, amazed, as they whispered predictions about "what would happen next..." to each other as the story progressed.
The experience reinforced my belief that music is simply another language, and sometimes far more effective at communicating meaning than the written, or even the spoken word.
Children who might not normally have had the ability to focus their attention, much less retain specific information, were completely mesmerized by it. I sat, amazed, as they whispered predictions about "what would happen next..." to each other as the story progressed.
The experience reinforced my belief that music is simply another language, and sometimes far more effective at communicating meaning than the written, or even the spoken word.
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