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Language Acquisition through Music

Listening and Speaking

Beyond the Beat

Our school serves: 445 students


360 are English Learners 85 are English Only Students Why so many EL?

Who?

Dolores Huerta Population

E.O.

English Learners

100

200

300

400

Overarching Project Question


How can we develop a systemic/universal platform that focuses on Language Acquisition that will increase oral language and vocabulary of English Learners and EOs at Dolores Huerta Elementary School using Music as the tool?

Why?
95% of our population come from a Latino Background and 97% of our students come from low income families in the downtown area of Los Angeles

What?
What is the urgent issue? What is our dilemma?

What is the dilemma?


Lack of Language Acquisition
Initial Literacy Assessment

Kindergarten Students
10%
17%

Proficient
73% Strategic Intensive

What is the dilemma? Lack of Language Skills


Initial Literacy Assessment

First grade at Dolores Huerta

Proficient 8%

Strategic 27% Intensive 65%

What is the dilemma? Lack of Language Acquisition


Initial Literacy Assessment

Second Grade Students at Dolores Huerta ES


Proficient Strategic 15% 55% 30% Intensive

What is the dilemma?


Percentage of Upper Grade Students Scoring BELOW the Proficient Level in Language Art-CST
100 80 % of Students 60 40 20 0

4th Grade

5th Grade

Research and Music Education


Listening and Speaking Beyond the Beat! Beyond the Standards!!!!

Music: Is for EVERYONE. Lowell Mason, First Music Educator in the


United States of America. Boston, Massachussttes.1838.

Music: Develops happy people- Kaiser Permanente Music: Develops Listening and Speaking skills(ELD standards). Standards For Planning Instruction and Designing Learning
Experiences for All Students.

Music: Connects you with your culture and world.


MENC-The National Association for Music Education.

Music: Rhyme and Rhythm are great methods for storing information that would otherwise be difficult to retain. Patricia Wolfe, Ph.D.-Brain Matters, Translating
Research into Classroom Practice.

My Role as Leader
Model lessons that provoke thought and thinking using music as the tool to develop Listening and Speaking skills Facilitate standards in all disciplines that justify the reasoning or rationale for using music as the tool Support music teaching practices that promote continuous learning through the conceptual mechanisms that make curriculum more meaningful to students. Provide instruction opportunities that allow students to hook new information to previous experiences which increases the strength and complexity of their neural connections and, therefore, the retention of the information.

How am I planning to do this?

1. Develop a Systemic/Universal approach to use music in the classroom that engages students, using a variety of instructional strategies and resources to respond to students diverse needs. 2. Each Instructional month during the year will have a Genre of Music. 3. Within this Genre, music elements, concepts and other discipline standards will be aligned to develop meaningful lessons in all subjects.

Desired Outcomes
Establish a long term vision/mission goal in Language Development for our ELLs that incorporates music as a tool.

Create a school-wide culture that embraces music as the aesthetic tool to develop Proficient Speakers, Active Listeners and Intellectual Thinkers for the 21st century.

Develop an Instructional program that offers equity, learning opportunities and music to all, as it was intended when the first American Music Program was integrated as part of the Public School Curricula in 1838.

Education should not be about preparing students for LIFE, rather.. Education should be more like LIFE itself.

Thank You

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