Have you ever wondered why music literacy feels so challenging for your students—even when you’ve practiced note names and drawn the treble clef a hundred times? In this practical, engaging webinar, LeslieAnne Bird shares step-by-step strategies to help your students build a deep, lasting understanding of the musical staff and alphabet, starting as early as preschool. You’ll explore playful, hands-on games, manipulatives, and scaffolding techniques that address common points of confusion and help young learners confidently transition from movement to notation. You’ll also leave with actionable ideas for assessment, remediation, and building connections to literacy practices from other classrooms. If you’re ready to move beyond memorization and empower your students to truly understand what they’re reading in music, this session is for you.

Highlights:

• Understand why students struggle with music literacy, even after repeated practice.
• Learn how to teach the musical alphabet in developmentally appropriate ways, starting in early grades.
• Discover engaging, movement-based games that build music reading skills (including the popular "potato" game).
• Explore hands-on manipulatives and Montessori-inspired activities to deepen understanding.
• Get practical tips for teaching the transition from manipulatives to written notation.
• Receive strategies for scaffolding, peer tutoring, and remediation.
• Find out how to reduce cognitive overload by breaking music reading into manageable steps.
• Connect music literacy to broader learning practices, including language arts and classroom routines.
• Gain ideas for valid, reliable, and developmentally appropriate assessments.
• Walk away with ready-to-use activities and approaches you can implement immediately.

After registering, the webinar recording and downloadable materials will be added to your online library in the days following the live event.

Upon completion, you may request a certificate of completion for 1.5 hours of professional development by emailing our team at [email protected]. All states and school districts are different, so please check your organizations’ requirements for continuing education.