Seeking straight A's, parents push for pills

"Chookie" wrote in message
...
In article ,
(Herman Rubin) wrote:

Music may be interesting, but useful?

Depends how narrow your definition of "useful" is. Note that music is
used
therapeutically in hospitals and amongst intellectually disabled people.
I do
not think bringing joy to people is a small thing.

Also, does taking
music in school improve this? If you play an instrument,
probably, but otherwise?

IMO school music should include a fair bit of music history and
appreciation.
We used to have 40 mins for music each week; you can't learn to play an
instrument in that time.

Music is a tool by which study of many disciplines is enhanced dramatically,
and this only occurs in general music/music appreciation courses, as opposed
to structured instrumental classes.

Music is a major tool used for manipulation of moods and temperments-which
equates to eating more in restaurants, buying more in stores, and similar
behaviors. Knowing how music is used in this way, and recognizing when it
is, can make a major difference in avoiding such manipulation. And, a good
music appreciation program should include awareness of when and how music is
used-I begin this even with 5 yr olds, although usually the whys and hows
are left for psychology of music classes.

Music also provides a lens through which to view a given time and people.
While the historians can rewrite the history books, the "popular" music of
the day-particularly before recording technology was widely available, can
sometimes show a very different picture. At very least, it provides a more
human touch to the past, and with the exception of those students who are
attracted to historical details for the sake of the details (like my
brother) that can make a huge difference in interest in the subject. And,
since music history is not a required field of study for history teachers,
but is for music teachers, music history (and often the supporting history)
is taught in general music classes.

Music provides a real-world laboratory for quite a few principles in
science, and, dare I say it? Math. I have had many students who first really
got the concept of fractions in my class, not in their math class. Patterns
are taught and reinforced very thoroughly in music. And, the whole area of
acoustics is demonstrated, on a daily basis, in a music classroom.

In addition, the rigid structure and different notation of music, as well as
the vertical and horizontal simultaneous reading comes into play again later
in formal algebra, which normally aren't studied as early as music reading
is, since study of music reading in a good school music program typically
begins at age 5, and most students are pretty fluent by age 8-9.

Physically, many of the activities done in a good primary general music
class closely replicate (with completely separate development streams) those
done by occupational and physical therapists to increase neurological system
communication. All that steady beat, cross lateral movements, midline
crossing, mirroring, and similar activities really do help teach the child's
brain at a low level, which in turn makes reading writing, and yes, the
notational aspects of math easier.

Music also enhances verbal communication, and music provides a huge amount
of pre-literacy skills in the phonemic awareness, rimes, and vocabulary
development areas. This is especially noticable in toddler classes, where
you'll often see an obvious jump after the child is used to a setting after
even a 45 minute a week class. The concepts and words in the music seem to
stick with the child, particularly when paired with movement. It applies to
older children as well, but isn't quite as obvious. And, if a teacher has
been trained in actively using music to improve language development, you
can really see it take off. Memphis City Schools and (then) Memphis State
University brought the Orff method in as a pilot program in the 1960s,
funded not by arts funds but as a literacy project. MOre than 30 years
later, that literacy project is considered one of the top Orff programs in
the country, and a third party audit found it to be the single most
effective educational program in the entire system.

Long term, outside of school, listening to music, and knowing how to select
the music you listen to, has potent physiological and psychological effects.
Music can improve your mood or depress it, make it easier or harder to
concentrate, reduce or increase your pulse rate (and, in some individuals,
blood pressure), trigger long-term memories and much more. And this is just
LISTENING to music. Actively producing it is even more potent, and causes
endorphin and other biochemical changes similar to physical exercise.



So yes,there's more going on in that music class than you might expect, and
there are volumes of research on this subject, most of it NOT coming from
musicians and music educators, and a substantial proportion not coming from
education at all (Neuropsychologists and neurologists have actually
contributed some of the most important research in this field in the last 20
years or so). One good summary is "Spin-offs-Extra-Musical Benefits of Music
Education" By Robert Cuietta.

"Bob LeChevalier" wrote in message
...
Chris Malcolm wrote:
In alt.support.attn-deficit wrote:
But so far as I know, Calclulus offers
nothing practical for day to day life for ANYONE. Ditto physics.

Lack of understanding of very basic Newtonian physics kills a lot of
car drivers. For example, car drivers who when driving at high speed
decide to make a quick steering correction and flip the car over into
cartwheeling down the road. And if you don't understand the basic
physics of skidding and steering you have to be taught the rules of
how to control a skid, because your intuitive reactions to a skid will
make it worse instead of recovering control. Speaking more generally,
a failure to understand the simple physics of speed, acceleration, and
braking, lies behind a great deal of the risky behaviour you see every
day on the roads. Even if it's an emergency and worth taking risks to
carve through the traffic, there are much safer ways of doing it than
the way most drivers in hurry actually do it.

Then there's those cyclists who grab the front wheel brake to slow
down when cornering, an extremely common cause of cycling accidents
which nobody who understood elementary physics would make.

Another example is novice rock climbers who instinctively pull
themselves into the rock when scared of losing their grip, thereby
losing the force vector which gave the friction grip to their feet,
and they fall off.

People up trees with saws doing a bit of branch pruning in their
gardens often have easily avoidable accidents because of an ignorance
of basic physics.

And sailing boats! You could write a book about the injuries the
physically ignorant have suffered on yachts! But I'd better stop there
:-)

None of which would be taught in a class teaching mathematical
physics. In those classes, the student spends his time trying to work
with equations. For some people, they MIGHT be able to intuitively
translate an equation of motion into a concept of real world effects,
but for most it is neither trivial nor intuitive to turn the laws of
motion into the stopping distance for braking a car.

Actually, the issues you're talking about are going to be most thorougly
taught in preschool and kindergarten, when kids are playing with pedal cars
and tricycles, and where a teacher can gently explain why things work as
they do (and when children often ask). A lot of practical physics comes on
the playground, which is why removing recess from schools in favor of a
little more academic time is a bad idea for more reasons than just
overweight kids.

Physics, as a subject, is often so divorced from the real world that it
really doesn't get applied. The same is, unfortunately, true with Chemistry.
I know the American Chemical Society has worked quite hard at creating
materials for the elementary and secondary levels which teach chemical
principals via household chemistry, but the current high-stakes push, every
child is college bound in a technical field, students should start taking
advanced placement classes in 9th grade has largely derailed this effort,
with the result that students may be able to tell you in great detail about
orbitals, but not understand why mixing bleach and ammonia is a very bad
idea.

Chris Malcolm wrote:
In alt.support.attn-deficit wrote:

But so far as I know, Calclulus offers
nothing practical for day to day life for ANYONE. Ditto physics.

Lack of understanding of very basic Newtonian physics kills a lot of
car drivers. For example, car drivers who when driving at high speed
decide to make a quick steering correction and flip the car over into
cartwheeling down the road. And if you don't understand the basic
physics of skidding and steering you have to be taught the rules of
how to control a skid, because your intuitive reactions to a skid will
make it worse instead of recovering control. Speaking more generally,
a failure to understand the simple physics of speed, acceleration, and
braking, lies behind a great deal of the risky behaviour you see every
day on the roads. Even if it's an emergency and worth taking risks to
carve through the traffic, there are much safer ways of doing it than
the way most drivers in hurry actually do it.

Which are skills FAR more sensibly taught in driver's ed, rather than
expecting a driver, in the heat of the moment (when, IME, instinct
tends to take over anyway -- when talking to the cops/insurance people
after MY one and only road accident, I realized that I didn't even
remember what I'd done, since it was all over in an instant, and what I
did was outside my concious thought.), to remember and apply what he
learned in physics class 5 years ago.


Then there's those cyclists who grab the front wheel brake to slow
down when cornering, an extremely common cause of cycling accidents
which nobody who understood elementary physics would make.

Heh, I'm more concerned about the cyclists who believe that a) all cars
can stop on a dime and b) if a 40 pound bike hits an 1800 pound
automobile, the bike (and its rider) will emerge from the impact
unscathed -- therefore there is no need to stop at stopsigns or red
lights.

Naomi

Donna Metler wrote:
"Bob LeChevalier" wrote in message
...
Chris Malcolm wrote:
In alt.support.attn-deficit wrote:
But so far as I know, Calclulus offers
nothing practical for day to day life for ANYONE. Ditto physics.

Lack of understanding of very basic Newtonian physics kills a lot of
car drivers. For example, car drivers who when driving at high speed
decide to make a quick steering correction and flip the car over into
cartwheeling down the road. And if you don't understand the basic
physics of skidding and steering you have to be taught the rules of
how to control a skid, because your intuitive reactions to a skid will
make it worse instead of recovering control. Speaking more generally,
a failure to understand the simple physics of speed, acceleration, and
braking, lies behind a great deal of the risky behaviour you see every
day on the roads. Even if it's an emergency and worth taking risks to
carve through the traffic, there are much safer ways of doing it than
the way most drivers in hurry actually do it.

Then there's those cyclists who grab the front wheel brake to slow
down when cornering, an extremely common cause of cycling accidents
which nobody who understood elementary physics would make.

Another example is novice rock climbers who instinctively pull
themselves into the rock when scared of losing their grip, thereby
losing the force vector which gave the friction grip to their feet,
and they fall off.

People up trees with saws doing a bit of branch pruning in their
gardens often have easily avoidable accidents because of an ignorance
of basic physics.

And sailing boats! You could write a book about the injuries the
physically ignorant have suffered on yachts! But I'd better stop there
:-)

None of which would be taught in a class teaching mathematical
physics. In those classes, the student spends his time trying to work
with equations. For some people, they MIGHT be able to intuitively
translate an equation of motion into a concept of real world effects,
but for most it is neither trivial nor intuitive to turn the laws of
motion into the stopping distance for braking a car.

Actually, the issues you're talking about are going to be most thorougly
taught in preschool and kindergarten, when kids are playing with pedal cars
and tricycles, and where a teacher can gently explain why things work as
they do (and when children often ask). A lot of practical physics comes on
the playground, which is why removing recess from schools in favor of a
little more academic time is a bad idea for more reasons than just
overweight kids.

Physics, as a subject, is often so divorced from the real world that it
really doesn't get applied. The same is, unfortunately, true with Chemistry.
I know the American Chemical Society has worked quite hard at creating
materials for the elementary and secondary levels which teach chemical
principals via household chemistry, but the current high-stakes push, every
child is college bound in a technical field, students should start taking
advanced placement classes in 9th grade has largely derailed this effort,
with the result that students may be able to tell you in great detail about
orbitals, but not understand why mixing bleach and ammonia is a very bad
idea.

So maybe safety is the common theme here.
One often sees safety rules being stated for
whatever it is that one is doing, but I don't
know if anyone has written anything general
about safety with regards to scientific
principles from all sciences.

I have an old book in my family dating
from about the 30's that was apparently
used to teach high school students (who
were not planning to specialize in science)
household and applied chemistry. It had a
lot of information about chemicals in industrial
plants too. Don't know if it had much about
safety in it, though. Don't have the book
with me right now though, so can't check.

C.

"Donna Metler" wrote in message
...
Music provides a real-world laboratory for quite a few principles in
science, and, dare I say it? Math. I have had many students who first
really
got the concept of fractions in my class, not in their math class.
Patterns
are taught and reinforced very thoroughly in music. And, the whole area of
acoustics is demonstrated, on a daily basis, in a music classroom.

I always had difficulties in math, but not in music...it was not until I was
in high school (having started to learn clarinet in 4th grade beginner band)
that I finally had the epiphany that music was nothing more than pure,
applied mathematics. The thing I loved was the thing I struggled the most
with! Talk about something that was really difficult for a 17 year old to
wrap her brain around!


In addition, the rigid structure and different notation of music, as well
as
the vertical and horizontal simultaneous reading comes into play again
later
in formal algebra, which normally aren't studied as early as music reading
is, since study of music reading in a good school music program typically
begins at age 5, and most students are pretty fluent by age 8-9.

Interesting...my difficulties in maht have always been in the more basic
math--multiplication tables actually--but "getting it" in algebra was a
little easier. I always got "partial credit" because I showed all my work.
The reason I usually had a wrong answer was not because my algebraic
concepts were wrong, but usually because my multiplication was... If what
you say about music and algebra being connected is true, it might be
why...interesting idea...


Physically, many of the activities done in a good primary general music
class closely replicate (with completely separate development streams)
those
done by occupational and physical therapists to increase neurological
system
communication. All that steady beat, cross lateral movements, midline
crossing, mirroring, and similar activities really do help teach the
child's
brain at a low level, which in turn makes reading writing, and yes, the
notational aspects of math easier.

As a special ed major, and parent of children with exceptionalities, this,
too, is rather intriguing...


Music also enhances verbal communication, and music provides a huge amount
of pre-literacy skills in the phonemic awareness, rimes, and vocabulary
development areas. This is especially noticable in toddler classes, where
you'll often see an obvious jump after the child is used to a setting
after
even a 45 minute a week class. The concepts and words in the music seem to
stick with the child, particularly when paired with movement. It applies
to
older children as well, but isn't quite as obvious. And, if a teacher has
been trained in actively using music to improve language development, you
can really see it take off. Memphis City Schools and (then) Memphis State
University brought the Orff method in as a pilot program in the 1960s,
funded not by arts funds but as a literacy project. MOre than 30 years
later, that literacy project is considered one of the top Orff programs in
the country, and a third party audit found it to be the single most
effective educational program in the entire system.

Long term, outside of school, listening to music, and knowing how to
select
the music you listen to, has potent physiological and psychological
effects.
Music can improve your mood or depress it, make it easier or harder to
concentrate, reduce or increase your pulse rate (and, in some individuals,
blood pressure), trigger long-term memories and much more. And this is
just
LISTENING to music. Actively producing it is even more potent, and causes
endorphin and other biochemical changes similar to physical exercise.



So yes,there's more going on in that music class than you might expect,
and
there are volumes of research on this subject, most of it NOT coming from
musicians and music educators, and a substantial proportion not coming
from
education at all (Neuropsychologists and neurologists have actually
contributed some of the most important research in this field in the last
20
years or so). One good summary is "Spin-offs-Extra-Musical Benefits of
Music
Education" By Robert Cuietta.


In our state, if you graduate high school with the traditional
4-year-diploma, you are required to take at least one year of practical arts
or performing/fine arts or a combination of the two (i.e., a half year of
each) http://www.facts.org/cgi-bin/eaglec IMHO, it was finally some
recognition of how important it is to students...then again, I admit to some
bias, being a musician myself g

FWIW, each of my sons marched in the band (middle- and high-school)...one
has ADHD, the other is dealing with ADHD/gifted/aspergers/SID

--
Buny

" Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be
normal."
~ Albert Camus

"Chookie" wrote in message
...
In article ,
(Herman Rubin) wrote:

I still do not see the need for so many years of English,
which is largely literature, usually chosen to be
politically correct propaganda.

Because culture is transmitted largely through words. If you don't know
the
words *and the context*, you are a stranger in the culture. Our
broadsheet
recently quoted Abraham Lincoln as the *source* of "A house divided
against
itself cannot stand" which indicates to me that some journalists need
*more*
English Lit, not less!

G OK...which source are you referring to in this one? *English*
literature? Or much older? And if you are talking about the much older
text that I am thinking of, you might consider your own words, about
culture--how many students are taught in a separaton of church/state
environment where the older text would not have been taught in the school?

http://www.bartleby.com/66/83/783.html


and how to learn,

People do not learn the same way. How can you teach
someone how to learn?
snippage
The teachers will have to learn this. They cannot imagine
someone who learns like me, or in fact like any gifted
child; they are all different. I have no idea how I came
to learn the way I did and do, nor can I really explain it.

There's an entire field of endeavour about this, and it seems that there
is
only a finite number of learning styles. They vary according to the
learner's
personality and the nature of the material. For example, to learn a
practical
skill (eg, stripping down a motor, or cutting hair), the instructor should
show how it's done at normal speed, then go through it slowly, step by
step,
then have the students attempt it themselves. Omitting the normal-speed
demonstration is counterproductive: students need to see the fluidity of
movement (and indeed the "step-by-step" demonstrations often miss steps!).

Gifted students do learn in different ways from average students. You
might
also be a visual-spatial learner, given your field.


I have been in gifted classes, both as a student and as a parent/volunteer
of a student who is gifted (with other exceptionalities) While I do agree
that a person who is gifted is "a different animal" to the degree that in
many states in the US they are considered to be "special ed" students, I
have seen them to be all over the spectrum in learning style...i.e., just as
any other group of students, "no two are alike" G



What teachers can do for the good students is let them
go ahead as fast as they can, and not try to teach them
how to learn.

This works for the gifted, in their field of interest, if they have not
been
put off learning. I do not know if it will work for Tori in algebra!


Could this not be said for any student?


--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You
may
start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled."
Kerry Cue

Love the sig---waaay too much truth in it!!! BG



--
Buny

" Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be
normal."
~ Albert Camus

"Donna Metler" wrote in message
...


"Chookie" wrote in message
...
In article ,
(Herman Rubin) wrote:

Music may be interesting, but useful?

Depends how narrow your definition of "useful" is. Note that music is
used
therapeutically in hospitals and amongst intellectually disabled people.
I do
not think bringing joy to people is a small thing.

Also, does taking
music in school improve this? If you play an instrument,
probably, but otherwise?

IMO school music should include a fair bit of music history and
appreciation.
We used to have 40 mins for music each week; you can't learn to play an
instrument in that time.

Music is a tool by which study of many disciplines is enhanced
dramatically,
and this only occurs in general music/music appreciation courses, as
opposed
to structured instrumental classes.

Music is a major tool used for manipulation of moods and temperments-which
equates to eating more in restaurants, buying more in stores, and similar
behaviors. Knowing how music is used in this way, and recognizing when it
is, can make a major difference in avoiding such manipulation. And, a good
music appreciation program should include awareness of when and how music
is
used-I begin this even with 5 yr olds, although usually the whys and hows
are left for psychology of music classes.

Music also provides a lens through which to view a given time and people.
While the historians can rewrite the history books, the "popular" music of
the day-particularly before recording technology was widely available, can
sometimes show a very different picture. At very least, it provides a more
human touch to the past, and with the exception of those students who are
attracted to historical details for the sake of the details (like my
brother) that can make a huge difference in interest in the subject. And,
since music history is not a required field of study for history teachers,
but is for music teachers, music history (and often the supporting
history)
is taught in general music classes.

To truly appreciate and understand the periods in history (romantic,
classical, etc.) it is necessary to study the music and art of the day. The
music sounds like the art and vice versa. Both reflect much about the
"thinking" and concerns of the period.

Music provides a real-world laboratory for quite a few principles in
science, and, dare I say it? Math. I have had many students who first
really
got the concept of fractions in my class, not in their math class.
Patterns
are taught and reinforced very thoroughly in music. And, the whole area of
acoustics is demonstrated, on a daily basis, in a music classroom.

Despite no great love for math, I always found fractions incredibly easy. I
could never understand the angst it seemed to cause some folks. Perhaps my
love of music and all those music lessons is part of the reason.

In addition, the rigid structure and different notation of music, as well
as
the vertical and horizontal simultaneous reading comes into play again
later
in formal algebra, which normally aren't studied as early as music reading
is, since study of music reading in a good school music program typically
begins at age 5, and most students are pretty fluent by age 8-9.

Physically, many of the activities done in a good primary general music
class closely replicate (with completely separate development streams)
those
done by occupational and physical therapists to increase neurological
system
communication. All that steady beat, cross lateral movements, midline
crossing, mirroring, and similar activities really do help teach the
child's
brain at a low level, which in turn makes reading writing, and yes, the
notational aspects of math easier.

Music also enhances verbal communication, and music provides a huge amount
of pre-literacy skills in the phonemic awareness, rimes, and vocabulary
development areas. This is especially noticable in toddler classes, where
you'll often see an obvious jump after the child is used to a setting
after
even a 45 minute a week class. The concepts and words in the music seem to
stick with the child, particularly when paired with movement. It applies
to
older children as well, but isn't quite as obvious. And, if a teacher has
been trained in actively using music to improve language development, you
can really see it take off. Memphis City Schools and (then) Memphis State
University brought the Orff method in as a pilot program in the 1960s,
funded not by arts funds but as a literacy project. MOre than 30 years
later, that literacy project is considered one of the top Orff programs in
the country, and a third party audit found it to be the single most
effective educational program in the entire system.

Many years ago my middle school students learned a musical for a performance
that happened to have a song reciting all the presidents. A couple of
months later the history teacher came into the lounge much amused. He had
just given a test that required listing all the presidents. Imagine his
surprise to find the whole class quietly humming and tapping pencils and
toes as they wrote down the answers.

Long term, outside of school, listening to music, and knowing how to
select
the music you listen to, has potent physiological and psychological
effects.
Music can improve your mood or depress it, make it easier or harder to
concentrate, reduce or increase your pulse rate (and, in some individuals,
blood pressure), trigger long-term memories and much more. And this is
just
LISTENING to music. Actively producing it is even more potent, and causes
endorphin and other biochemical changes similar to physical exercise.



So yes,there's more going on in that music class than you might expect,
and
there are volumes of research on this subject, most of it NOT coming from
musicians and music educators, and a substantial proportion not coming
from
education at all (Neuropsychologists and neurologists have actually
contributed some of the most important research in this field in the last
20
years or so). One good summary is "Spin-offs-Extra-Musical Benefits of
Music
Education" By Robert Cuietta.


Thank you for you excellent post!

"LAH" wrote in message
news



Many years ago my middle school students learned a musical for a
performance that happened to have a song reciting all the presidents.

My apologies to all the english teachers out there. I should have written.
"Many years ago my middle school students learned a musical for a
performance. One of the songs in the musical was a recitation of all the
presidents."

LAH wrote:

Many years ago my middle school students learned a musical for a performance
that happened to have a song reciting all the presidents. A couple of
months later the history teacher came into the lounge much amused. He had
just given a test that required listing all the presidents. Imagine his
surprise to find the whole class quietly humming and tapping pencils and
toes as they wrote down the answers.

Way back when *I* was in middle school we learned a song which
including the names of all 50 states in alphabetical order. To this day
(30 years later) I can still rattle off the names of all 50 states.
(And sing the rest of the song as well.) And I'm sure most of us
remember the preamble to the constitution, having learned to sing it
during Saturday morning cartoons.

Music is, in general, an excellent aid to memory. Most of know, by
heart, the words to MANY more songs than poems or comparable length.

Naomi

wrote in message
oups.com...

LAH wrote:

Many years ago my middle school students learned a musical for a
performance
that happened to have a song reciting all the presidents. A couple of
months later the history teacher came into the lounge much amused. He
had
just given a test that required listing all the presidents. Imagine his
surprise to find the whole class quietly humming and tapping pencils and
toes as they wrote down the answers.

Way back when *I* was in middle school we learned a song which
including the names of all 50 states in alphabetical order. To this day
(30 years later) I can still rattle off the names of all 50 states.
(And sing the rest of the song as well.) And I'm sure most of us
remember the preamble to the constitution, having learned to sing it
during Saturday morning cartoons.

Music is, in general, an excellent aid to memory. Most of know, by
heart, the words to MANY more songs than poems or comparable length.

Naomi

My brother was a two time national Citizen Bee finalist. At the national
finals, in one of the written sections, one of the questions referred to the
preamble of the constitution. According to him, it was readily apparent when
every student got to this question, because you'd hear humming-"The
Preamble" from Schoolhouse Rock!. And these were literally the top students
of American History and Government in the USA, chosen through multiple
rounds of written and oral competition.

I also remember a few years back when, for an All-city choir performance,
one of the songs was a speech rondo about Australia. One of the verses of
the rondo referred to the seasons being reversed. As it turned out, one of
the questions on the 4th grade state Science exam that year was on the order
of the seasons in the Southern Hemisphere-which was NOT in the 4th grade
science text. Literally, the only children who got that question correct
were those who had participated in all-city choir that year.

Music used as a mnemonic is a wonderful tool-however, as a music teacher, I
have to say that there is a danger to this as well. Multiplication Rock,
Grammar Grooves, The Weather Guy, and similar CDs are useful for teaching
rote memory, but don't teach concepts at all, and many children have
difficulty divorcing the material in the song from the song. There are huge
numbers of 2 yr olds who have parents who think they're brilliant because
they can sing the ABC song-but who wouldn't recognize any single letter if
it jumped out and bit them, or a child may be able to remember ALL the
states and capitals in order, but not be able to pull out the states in the
Southwestern US. And, it is very, very possible for such rote memorization
songs to take over a music curriculum such that true music instruction
vanishes under a layer of memorization of states, capitals, presidents,
rivers and oceans in order of length, grammar rules, arithmetic tables, and
just plain trivia. Most of these songs just plain aren't great music
(although the "Fifty, Nifty United States" is part of every music Basal I
know of).