Comparison of Three Selected Music/Reading Activities on Second-Grade Students' Story Comprehension, on-Task/off-Task Behaviors, and Prefrences for the Three Selected Activities.

Research suggests that music is beneficial in teaching both academic and social skills to young children. The purpose of this study was to compare three selected music/reading activities on second-grade students' story comprehension scores, on-task/off-task behaviors, and preferences for the three selected activities. The control condition was reading story with no music (SNM). The two experimental music conditions were: (1) reading story with choral refrain throughout (SCR) and (2) reading story with instrumental accompaniment throughout (SIA). Participants in the study were children (N=38) ages 7-8 years old, enrolled in one of three second-grade classes at a public elementary school in Northern Florida. The order of conditions was counterbalanced among the classes to control for order effects. Each class received one reading activity per week for a total of three consecutive weeks. Following each reading activity, participants were given a 10-question story comprehension test and a preference assessment. Classes were also videotaped for later analyses of on-task and off-task behaviors during each reading activity. Results indicated a significant difference in story comprehension scores among the conditions for Classes B and C. Results indicated no significant difference in story comprehension scores among the conditions for Class A. Further analyses revealed that students in two of the three classes made significantly higher comprehension scores when story reading was paired with the music conditions than the no music condition. Analysis of participants' on-task behaviors revealed the highest percentage of on-task behaviors was during music condition two (story with instrumental accompaniment), followed by music condition one (story with choral refrain). The lowest percentage of on-task behaviors was during the control condition (story with no music). Results also revealed that participants had no significant preferences for the three conditions. These findings suggest that pairing stories with music can be an effective tool in promoting second-grade students' on-task behaviors, and enhancing their story comprehension scores and their preferences for reading activities.