Your students have probably had their parents tell them to turn off the stereo while studying. While this can be good advice, there is nothing wrong with some light background music to stimulate your students while they do independent work. Make sure you find music that has no lyrics, as words can distract students' minds from the tasks they are doing. Find classical music or soft jazz with soothing melodies and predictable rhythms. Put the music on a low volume and see if it improves your students' concentration.
Music can make lessons you teach come alive. By giving students a song to sing that contains educational information, you can help them learn and memorize material they might otherwise forget. There are plenty of songs available to help students learn math, geography, science, culture and other topics (see Resources). While having students sing their lessons is most appropriate for younger children, older students might be willing to give it a try as well.
You can make your classroom come alive by encourage your students to integrate music into class presentations and other schoolwork. If your students have any sort of upcoming presentation, encourage them to write a song or a rap to go along with it. For poetry analysis, encourage students to study the lyrics of one of their favorite songs. You also can assign a student each day to bring in a recording of one of his favorite songs, play it for the class and explain its meaning.
While learning to play music properly is usually the domain of formal music lessons, you can still introduce students to the basics of music in your classroom. Having a scheduled time each week where students get to experiment with different instruments can give them something to look forward to and make your classroom come alive. See what kinds of musical instruments your school has available. Bring in a variety of different instruments at the same time each week and show students how to use them.