Turning Storybooks Into Powerful Music Lessons: Movement, Assessment, and Musical Skills Through Story

In this session, Leanna O’Brien will show teachers exactly how she transforms children’s literature into complete elementary music lessons that teach rhythm, solfege, literacy skills, movement, listening skills, composing, and more. When lessons are built around a strong story, each activity flows naturally from one moment to the next, allowing teachers to teach seamlessly, keep students fully engaged, and gather meaningful assessment data with just a bit of preparation.

Participants will walk through three complete story-based music lessons using outstanding children’s books and see how each story naturally leads into movement activities, musical skill development, classical listening, and simple classroom assessments.

Beyond the ready-to-use lessons, teachers will also learn how to create their own story-driven music lessons. Leanna will share the specific qualities she looks for when selecting a book, how she turns story moments into musical experiences, and what characteristics may make certain books harder to use in a music lesson.