Bill: your comment below reminded me about some research that has been
done on the use of songs lyrics for reading, especially reading
fluency. Susan Homan, Marie Biggs and myself have done some interesting
work in Hillsborough County in Florida where kids were taught lyrics to
songs (actually singing the songs), 30 minutes, 3 times a week. In about
three months times the students make over a year's gain in fluency and
comprehension. Gwynned Ash at Texas State reported similar gains with her
Karaoke Club-- children learning to read by singing songs (repeated
readings/singings) of songs on a Karaoke machine.
I remember singing in school all the time; but less evidence of it every
year nowadays. That's too bad. In our reading clinic we sing every
day. This summer we will doing a lot of patriotic songs - Grand Old Flag,
This Land Is Your Land, God Bless America, On the day before the 4th
of July we will gather all our students in our reading clinic outside the
building around the flagpole and have a patriotic sing-a-long for the last
30 minutes class. Great way to end the day.... and a lot of good reading
takes place too.
I am attaching a list of websites I have found that are great repositories
for song lyrics for kids. (Remember "Polly Wolly Doodle All day!" :)
Happy Memorial Day,
tim
At 05:04 PM 5/26/2007 -0400, you wrote:
>
> I'm reading Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? by Cris Tovani in which she
> says that teens would rather be lazy than stupid. I asked my students (in
> one class) if they think that's true. They did. More disappointment.
> Jan
Here's an idea which won't make them sound stupid:
Have them bring in lyrics to their favorite songs. Have them read them
aloud to practice fluency and prosody (of course, you have to make sure
lyrics are okay for school). Then have them explain the song. See if
students will agree on the interpretations. Since you probably won't be as
familiar with the songs, they will get to be the teachers. For example, I
use "So Happy Together" by the Turtles to explain it's about a stalker
("IMAGINE me and you, I do..."). That gets their attention. I also play
"Mac the Knife" and "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" by the Beatles which are about
serial killers. It's reading, interpreting, schema, and more!
Bill
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Timothy Rasinski, Ph.D.
Reading and Writing Center
404 White Hall
Kent State University
Kent, OH 44242
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Phone: 330-672-0649
Cell: 330-962-6251
Fax: 330-672-2025
Informational website: www.timrasinski.com
Professional Development DVD: http://www.roadtocomprehension.com/
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