https://doi.org/10.1177/1048371318814910 General Music Today 2019, Vol. 32(2) 24–30 © National Association for Music Education 2018 DOI:10.1177/1048371318814910 journals.sagepub.com/home/gmt Article As fifth graders crowd into Whitney Smyth’s classroom for music, the unmistakable sounds of Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock” entice them to dance and sing along. When Mrs. Smyth asks if anyone knows who the musician is, a chorus of student voices call out “Elvis Presley!” The children know “stuff” about Elvis—his looks and style, his flamboyant movement, his fanatic fans—many of whom are now their parents and grandparents. Even these fifth graders, two generations later, recognize his songs. Mrs. Smyth brings out the book Elvis: The Story of the Rock and Roll King (Christensen, 2015) and begins to share details about Elvis’s life: his upbringing, his strug- gles, his influences, and his successes. She pauses occa- sionally to invite the students to respond to her questions. “What in the book has surprised you so far?” she asks. Answers show the children have been listening: I can’t believe Elvis was teased so much when he was a kid. In our civil rights unit, we learned how people rejected other races. But I didn’t know they rejected other races’ music. I always thought he was famous. I didn’t know he was trying to make different kinds of music. As Mrs. Smyth closed the book, the children wanted to listen to more Elvis songs. Mrs. Smyth rewarded them with “Hound Dog,” along with the promise to teach them to play it on the ukulele. The use of picture book biographies can bring about powerful classroom learning. Music teachers can use many of the biographies published recently about musicians and composers to enhance music learning experiences in music classrooms. This article introduces biography breaks, provides a rationale, and suggests ways for using them in elementary music classes. The authors provide instructions on how to select picture book biographies, and address ways biography breaks address the National Arts Standards. The authors also share a number of out- standing picture book biographies from various genres and styles of music (e.g., jazz, Western European, world music, rock, folk, and hip-hop) that may be useful in music classrooms, and continue the music lesson plan based on Elvis Presley’s life and music. Teaching Music With Biographies Esmé Raji Codell, a well-known children’s book author and Chicago Public Schools librarian, developed the notion of biography breaks (Young & Bradley, 2011). Codell is well known for her book, Educating Esmé: Diary of a Teacher’s First Year (1999), and her website, Planet Esmé (plane- tesmé.com). She describes two important aspects to a biog- raphy break: reading the picture book biography aloud and asking questions while reading the book (Young & Miner, 2015). Heisey and Kucan (2010) found that students learn more and understand content more deeply when questions are asked during the reading rather than afterward. Typically, 814910GMT XX X 10.1177/1048371318814910General Music TodayMay research-article 2018 1 Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA 2 Alpine School District, UT, USA Corresponding Author: Brittany Nixon May, Brigham Young University, C-550 Harris Fine Arts Center, Provo, UT 84602-0002, USA. Email: brittany_may@byu.edu Biography Breaks in the Music Classroom Brittany Nixon May 1 , Amy Baird Miner 2 , and Terrell A. Young 1 Abstract Children’s picture book biographies on composers and musicians can prompt powerful music learning experiences. Biography breaks are the reading aloud of a picture book biography and the questions or activities the teacher engages students in while and after reading the book. In the music classroom, biography breaks can be used with children of all ages to introduce students to composers, musicians, music elements and concepts, music vocabulary, music genres and styles. Biography breaks provide a groundwork for discussing the historical, social, and cultural context of music, as well as a catalyst for engaging students in meaningful music experiences creating, performing, responding to, and connecting with music. Keywords elementary general music, creativity, culture, children’s literature, listening, arts integration, interdisciplinary