Author and educator Rena Upitis has written a unique book to help regular classroom and private music teachers recognize and foster children's attempts at notating music as they engage in improvisation and composition. Through a colorful, engaging narrative, Upitis describes a "whole music" classroom where teachers, using a child-centered environment, can introduce activities encouraging children to compose and notate their own works. Familiar techniques from a whole language classroom -- such as the use of writing folders and conferencing -- are refashioned in a music context.
Including over seventy examples of children's invented notations, comparing the development of music notations with invented spellings, Can I Play You My Song? is full of ideas for individual projects, small group compositions, and full-class works.