Music & Language Development

Music is an incredibly important part of first and second language development, especially for children.  Let's face it--whether an early elementary teacher is "musical" or not, his or her children adore listening to, singing, and moving to songs.  This means we need to get over any inhibitions we might have about weaving music and movement throughout our teaching and just do it!  Music engages children mentally and physically, attunes their ears not only to music itself but also to the musicality of lyrics, builds their oral vocabularies, helps boost their memory, and simply brings joy into the classroom!  Singing is especially important for young children still building oral language and early literacy skills in their first language as well as those learning a second language.  Here are some favorite songs/albums/artists that I and/or my colleagues have used in the classroom with great success (and fun!).  You can also find most of the following music for song and album download on Amazon and iTunes:



SPANISH

• Mi Guitarrí: 30 original and traditional children's songs in Spanish performed by Joel Valle, many written for specific classroom procedures, transitions, and common content themes in grades K-2.
• Jose-Luis Orozco: One of my all time favorite children's artists, Jose-Luis has created at least 15 albums devoted to Spanish language children's songs and traditions
• Whistlefritz: Music by Jorge Anaya: Check out the CDs (¡A bailar! and Cha, cha, cha) as well as a number of DVDs
• Dr. Jean en español: Olé, Olé, Olé for daily routines, oral language, and math
• Muévete: Learn Spanish through Songs & Movement
• Grupo Chiquitos: Lots of early childhood songs in Spanish on several albums
• 50 canciones infantiles
• Colores, formas, y números
• Mis animalitos
• Susy Dorn created the Let's Play in Spanish immersion program and has created several music CDs as part of it
•  Cri Cri:  You can listen to lots of Cri-Cri songs here or purchase CDs here
• Songs in Spanish for Children by Elena Paz Travesi
• Charlotte Diamond
• Soy Una Pizza (includes Each of us is a Flower/Somos como las flores)
• Todo el Mundo Come Banana
• YouTube videos:  You can find all sorts of great Spanish children's songs here, such as:
• Sol, solecito
• Pin Pon
• En la granja de mi tio
• El trencito y la hormiga
• Ganas de aplaudir
• Sandy el heladero
• La ballena
• Juguemos en el bosque
• Pecos Bill
• Arroz con leche
• A la rueda rueda
• Los pollitos
• Some simple searches can help you find lots of others
• Canciones infantiles de GuiaInfantil.com
• Songs for Teaching (check out the Spanish section)
• Plaza Sésamo songs and clips are great; a number of episodes are available for download on iTunes and several DVDs are available at Amazon.  Also, you can access lots of songs on YouTube by searching for Plaza Sésamo or Barrio Sésamo.  You can also access other clips in Spanish at the Sesame Workshop site.
• Check out these books with more songs and poems in Spanish (could also be great for shared reading texts)
• Canciones infantiles (byAntonio Salgado)
• Cancioncero infantil mexicano (by Antonio Avitia Hernández)
• Arroz con leche (by Jose-Luis Orozco)
• De Colores and Other Latin American Folksongs for Children (by Jose-Luis Orozco)
• Diez Deditos and Other Play Rhymes and Action Songs from Latin America (by Jose-Luis Orozco)
• Fiestas: A Year of Latin American Songs of Celebration (by Jose-Luis Orozco)
• Rin, Rin, Rin, Do, Re, Mi (by Jose-Luis Orozco)
• Keep searching anywhere & everywhere for canciones infantiles en español, and if you find other great  songs or artists we could post, leave a comment!

ENGLISH
English songs for children are much easier to find and, for most teachers who grew up in the U.S, are much more well-known.  For that reason, my list won't be as extensive as that for Spanish, but I'll still share some favorites!

• Raffi
• Sesame Street 
• Fiesta (songs are mainly in English but promote Spanish and bilingualism)
• Favorite Songs
• The Wiggles
• Songs For Teaching: Using Music to Promote Learning
• Twin Sisters Productions: The Leader in Educational Music
• Kindergarten Songs (by Kidzup Production Inc): 15 songs for download on iTunes
• More Kindergarten Songs (by Twin Sisters Productions): 20 songs for download on iTunes
• 30 Preschool Songs (by Countdown Kids): 30 songs for download on iTunes
• Charlotte Diamond
• They Might Be Giants (older children (and adults!) love TMBG music)
• Here Come the ABCs
• Here Come the 123s
• Here Comes the Science
• Schoolhouse Rock (also great for older children)
• The Teacher's Guide: Children's Songs: Lyrics and MIDIs for over 200 favorite children's nursery rhymes and songs in English
• MathJam CDs by David & Judy

Bilingual Pledges and National Anthem

On Spanish days we recite the US and TX pledges of allegiance in Spanish and (during certain assemblies) sing the National Anthem in Spanish.  Nuestro Himno is performed by a variety of artists and there are actually several slightly different versions--here's one:



Verso 1
Amanece, lo veis? a la luz de la aurora?
lo que tanto aclamamos la noche al caer?
sus estrellas sus franjas
flotaban ayer
en el fiero combate
en señal de victoria,
fulgor de lucha, al paso de la libertad.
Por la noche decían:
"Se va defendiendo!"

Coro
Oh decid! Despliega aún
Su hermosura estrellada
sobre tierra de libres,
la bandera sagrada?

Verso 2
Sus estrellas, sus franjas,
la libertad, somos iguales.
Somos hermanos. Es nuestro himno.
En el fiero combate en señal de victoria,
Fulgor de lucha
(Mi gente sigue luchando)
al paso de la libertad
(Ya es tiempo de romper las cadenas.)
Por la noche decían: "!Se va defendiendo!"
Oh decid! Despliega aún su hermosura estrellada
sobre tierra de libres,
la bandera sagrada?


English translation:

Verse 1
It's sunrise. Do you see by the light of the dawn
What we proudly hailed last nightfall?
Its stars, its stripes
yesterday streamed
above fierce combat
a symbol of victory
the glory of battle, the march toward liberty.
Throughout the night, they proclaimed: "We will defend it!"

Chorus
Tell me! Does its starry beauty still wave
above the land of the free,
the sacred flag?

Verse 2
Its stars, its stripes,
Liberty, we are the same.
We are brothers in our anthem.
In fierce combat, a symbol of victory
the glory of battle,
(My people fight on)
the march toward liberty.
(The time has come to break the chains.)
Throughout the night they proclaimed: "We will defend it!"
Tell me! Does its starry beauty still wave
above the land of the free,
the sacred flag?


Here are some images of the US and TX pledges in both English and Spanish.  You can purchase them from Guerra Publishing.

 

Spring Jamaica 2010

We've worked hard this year to celebrate family, language, and culture in even richer ways.  Our 1st Annual Spring Jamaica (held at the Veterans Pavilion on S. Inspiration Rd) was a huge success!  Children and families celebrated spring, family, and culture through food, games, singing, and dancing.  Spearheaded by our amazing Assistant Principal, Mrs. Lozano, everything came together beautifully and it ended up being a highly successful fundraiser.  Enjoy some pics from the big event.

Jose-Luis Orozco Concert

We celebrated Dia de los Niños and 5 de mayo with a fantastic concert by bilingual children's songwriter and performer Jose-Luis Orozco.  He performed at Quest (paid for by money raised by Mission's parent association) so Mission and Quest K - 2 students enjoyed a true musical treat.  Here are some pics from the event--we hope to make it an annual tradition!

 Here's a video clip from an appearance Jose-Luis Orozco made on Telemundo:


Telemundo - De Mañanita from José-Luis Orozco on Vimeo.