Integrating Listening and Creative Work in Music Lessons in Israel.

General music lessons in elementary school can offer a rare opportunity for students to engage in musical creation, yet despite theoretical support for this idea, lessons that focus on creativity in music are uncommon. This article presents the actions of four music teachers in Israel who successfully cultivate meaningful creative work in their lessons. It discusses the pedagogical means they take to integrate musical appreciation activities into their lessons to develop their students’ musical understanding and as inspiration for creative work. The teachers’ actions are presented within the framework of four stages: preparation, instruction, working, and feedback, with an emphasis on their combination with music appreciation. We also examine if and how these teachers’ actions align with the recommendations in the research literature and how their students responded, with an aim to portray the combined contribution of integrating creative work and music appreciation with the students’ ability to derive a meaningful experience from their musical practice.