The importance of reading, writing, and singing too!

Blog Incentive

This blog was influenced by the Illinois State Board of Education’s (ISBE) decision to cancel the writing exam for grades 3, 5, 6, and 8 for the 2010-11 school year, as reported in Education Week. This is the second time in the last decade the state has made such a disappointing decision modeling to our children that writing is not a national academic priority that we value enough to pay for. Apparently, this decision was made to save money.

How is writing closely tied to reading?

Whenever a complete literacy program is mentioned in reading research of best practices reading and writing are combined. The National Reading Panel (NPR) has explained that reading comprehension is highly correlated with making personal connections with what we read. This is done through writing and discussion. We are devaluing the importance of writing through NOT testing children’s ability to share their understanding in writing. Through analysis of a child’s writing we can what, if any, literacy gaps are present and can knowledgeably provide appropriate interventions.

How does connecting reading and writing with singing help my child with literacy skills?

• Singing can provide a pattern children know that they can use to develop fluency, recognize predicable text, rhyme, and build sight word vocabulary (Bintz, 2010).
• Write out a familiar nursery rhyme/song with a predictable pattern and read it to your child using best practices of pointing to each word and having your child point and say/sing words they know along the way.
• Connects what your child already knows such as a familiar nursery rhyme “Row Row Row Your Boat” with understanding the sounds vowels make.

A, E, I, O, U can make two main sounds, /ae/ and /ah/, /ae/ and /ah/ are the ones for A. Repeat with E, I, O, U!

• Help your child bring meaning/experiences (neural connections they already have) to something new- learning their vowel sounds, letter combination, predicable text, poems, or sight word using songs!
• Please share your own “singing” tricks and trial and error successes here!