Childrens+Songbook

(Note: the actual title of this software is Children**'s** Songbook, but wiki will not let me put an apostrophe in the title.)

GENERAL INFORMATION

 * Title - Children’s Songbook
 * Publisher - Forest Technologies (Voyager)
 * ©1996
 * Platform - Macintosh/Windows
 * Runs off of a CD-ROM, no hard drive space necessary
 * Age - Pre-K, Elementary
 * Focus - General Music, Music Appreciation
 * Available on multiple software websites

TEACHER SUPPORT
The Children’s Songbook CD-ROM is designed for elementary students to use on their own and could also be used as a supplemental resource for music educators. The program is very simple to use and an audio help function can be turned on which will explain the various icons and functions to the user. It does not come with a manual or supplemental material.

Teachers could use this program in a one computer classroom if a large monitor or screen is available.

**INSTRUCTIONAL CONTENT**
Children’s Songbook includes 15 classic folk songs organized by their country of origin. A cartoon world map serves as the main menu where students can use their mouse to highlight a continent/country and view all of the available music for that region. Some areas of the world have more than one song available, but many only have one option.

Once a song is selected, children have different options of what they would like to learn about. They can watch the music as a recording plays. In this feature there is a cursor that follows the notation. It is easy to stop and start the recording. Students can also jump to different parts of the song quite easily. There is an option to turn the vocal part on and off. This way the student can listen to the lyrics and the music, or just the music. Another section of the Children’s Songbook allows students to see a translation of the lyrics. Additional options within the software include: watching an animated movie that goes along with the song, playing a game/puzzle related to the song, and viewing background information on the song’s topic.

National Standards potentially addressed by this game:

1) Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music 5) Reading and notating music. 6) Listening to, analyzing, and describing music. 9) Understanding music in relation to history and culture.

INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN AND PEDAGOGICAL SOUNDNESS
If students are using this software without assistance from a teacher, then it may be seen as a discovery style of CD-ROM. Elementary students would have no problem working with this program due to its simplicity and ease of use. The animations are fun and could be quite motivating to a young child. There are multiple ways that students can interact with each song, providing many repetitions of the music without boredom. Students are able to move at their own pace, stopping or changing activities whenever they are ready.

Use of this program with teacher assistance may be more beneficial overall. It would be easy to use this program to supplement teaching one of the included songs to an elementary general music class. The children may reap more musical knowledge benefits with the guidance of a trained music educator who can elaborate and embellish the information about these folk songs. It could also be used to link music to culture and heritage.

Note - Children’s Songbook won the 1997 Best Overall Title for Kids Mac Home Journal's Home Choice Award, and Newsweek Parent's Guide to Children's Software 1997 Editors' Choice Award.

RECORD KEEPING
There is no record keeping within Children’s Songbook due to the discovery nature of the program. It is easy to move around to different songs and activities in this program, so teachers and students could quickly stop and restart work with this CD-ROM.

OVERALL EVALUATION
Children’s Songbook could be a very useful supplement for the elementary general music teacher if used appropriately. The graphics and sounds are motivating and it is fun to go through this program. The biggest downside is that it only contains 15 songs. It would be nice if more programs with additional songs were available, representing even more of the music of different cultures. It would also be nice if students were able to learn more about the songs’ countries of origin.

Rating - ***

//Reviewed by Stacey Kolthammer, April 11, 2006//