Effects of rhythm training on reading improvment

Includes bibliographical references (pages 30-33)This study in rhythmic training was undertaken to explore the relationship of rhythmic coordination and reading. It was hypothesized that improvement in rhythmic\ud deficiencies would carry over to improvement in reading, \ud as measured by tests. The design,of the study was pretest-posttest, with an\ud experimental group and a control group. There were twelve children of third and fourth grade level in each group. These children were matched according to reading level,\ud grade, and reading score, as measured on the California\ud State Reading Test, The Cooperative Primary. \ud The twelve children in the experimental group were given a thirty-minute period of rhythmic training each day for six weeks.\ud Various rhythm activities involving clapping, dancing, body movement, and playing of instruments\ud were used. The Silvaroli Reading Inventory, Forms A and B, was\ud used for the pretest and posttest. In the experimental\ud group the results were significant at the .05 level, thus\ud the null hypothesis was rejected. During the same period\ud of time, there was almost no change in the scores of the\ud control group. The data supported the original hypothesis that\ud remediation of rhythm difficulties would carry over into\ud improved reading