The Potential Power of Music to Transform the Literacy World: A Guest Blog by Julia Armstrong and Tim Rasinski

I received this email from Julie Armstrong this week. It was addressed to me and Dr. Tim Rasinski:

Good afternoon! I wanted to thank you both for the work that you are sharing about using music to support literacy instruction.  I wanted to share an experience from the perspective of geriatric patients.  I have been in Florida the past couple of weeks, moving my mother from a skilled nursing program to a room in assisted living.  While I was dining with a loved one, I noticed that many of the residents in the skilled nursing program were not communicating and would sleep frequently.  Last week, a couple visited and performed songs that were familiar to the residents.  It was astonishing to observe the changes in the patients’ demeanor!  One woman danced and commented, “You are really good!”  Other patients were clapping to the beat and some actually sang a few of the lyrics in the songs!  I was so surprised to see the transformation in all of the residents.  I found myself teary eyed as I watched the joy in their faces.  The music literally brought them to life!  If I could show a video of the patients on an average afternoon without music and a video of the patients listening to live music, every non believer would comprehend the connection between music and how it stimulates the brain 🧠- especially for people with Dementia and Altzheimers. 

I am determined now to professionally record my high frequency word songs in the future.  Also, I’ll send you both a copy of my new decodable once I finish the illustrations.  

Thanks again for all that you do for the literacy world! 

Julie (Julia)

This is Dr Tim Rasinki’s response:

HI Julia – what a wonderful observation.   Music brings so much joy to all.  I had a similar experience.  For years my wife and I volunteered in a nursing home for memory care patients.     These folks would not remember us from visit to another.     However when we brought in the old Mitch Miller sing along CDs (not sure if you know of him), the patients came alive with the same joy you describe  – singing, clapping, smiles, etc.

Thank for sharing your own experience.    Wish we could spread the word about music and song more.

Best wishes and thank you again,

tim

Timothy Rasinski, PhD

Professor Emeritus, Literacy Education

Presidential Scholar

Kent State University

Top 2% World Scientists, Stanford Univ 2021 & 2023

My own thoughts:

The first step in any scientific endeavor is observation. In workshop teaching, we call this step noticing. Julia and Time are on to something very important here- the power of music. Dr. Nina Kraus has extensively researched music’s effects on the brain. Ann Kay, Jeremy Spritz, Liz Baul and Carlo Franzblau have translated that research into various highly successful programs that use the power of music to transform literacy instruction.  Lynne Kulich, Timothy, Rasinski, and David Harrison’s newly published book The Fluency Development Lesson, gives teachers a practical tool for creating lessons that take advantage of the well-documented ability of repeated reading to improve both fluency and comprehension in students of all ages. Add to that Gina Pepin and Eric Litwin’s book The Power of Joyful Reading: Help Your Young Readers Soar to Success. That book tells the story of Eric’s highly successful endeavors to bring JOY back into reading and includes extensive research to back up his practices. Finally, look at time Rasinski and Chase Young’s successful use of Reader’s Theatre, which brings the effects of reading to perform to a whole new level.

Folks, in my opinion we are seeing the beginnings of a movement that has the power to transform literacy instruction as we know it. Students can learn all about sound-symbol relations in a setting that nurtures their growth as readers and motivates them to want to read. This movement is developing a strong research base, including research about music’s effect on the brain, an effect seen in people of all ages.

I want to thank Julie and Tim for sharing their thoughts on this powerful and transformative topic. Julie wanted me to mention that sharing her story has resulted in her friends contacting her to support her in her own situation. We’ve barely scratched the surface on this way of teaching. It seems to me that it is quite plausible that students really can sing their way into fluency and comprehension. This can be a way to bring joy back into the whole process of literacy instruction.

I want to end with repeating this excerpt from Tim’s remarks: “Wish we could spread the word about music and song.” I hope this blog post helps to do that.

Happy Reading and Writing.

Dr. Sam Bommarito (aka, the guy in the middle taking flak from all sides)

Copyright 2024 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization.

A Simple Teaching Move Designed to Help Beginning Readers by Dr. Sam Bommarito

NOTE: Beginning this week, I will be trying out a new format for the blog. In one week, I will post a short and simple teaching tip. The next week, I will post a full blog post, including some interviews. Here is this week’s teaching tip:

Teaching the Concept of Word- The importance of making it match.

While working with a kindergarten student this summer, my student told me, “My friends told me to memorize the books.” 

RED FLAG!!!!!

Memorizing leads to fake reading- it looks like they are reading, but they are not. Give them a text of appropriate difficulty that they’ve never read before, and they can’t read it at all. There are a couple of simple teaching moves to use with students to help them overcome that way of thinking.

Dr. Sam’s Chant –

“Make it match don’t make it up, that is what to do. Make it match don’t make it up, you’ll read your story true”  ©2024 Dr Sam Bommarito.

The teaching move is simple. Teach the child to point to each word as they read. At first, you can even give them the first sound of each word. Play a game with them after reading. Ask them to find all occurrences of a single word (e.g., all the “the’s”). After the child begins to understand and use the concept of word, gradually release them from this scaffold. Usually, this happens by Christmas.

This is me modeling the finger-pointing. My child this summer likes to point with her “magic wand.” The book is one we made together- she picks pictures, we write something about the picture and turn it into a little book for her to read and reread. We also do Elkonin boxes and onset rhyme practice with selected words.

That’s the teaching tip, so until next week:

Happy Reading and Writing.

Dr. Sam Bommarito (aka, the guy in the middle taking flak from all sides)

Copyright 2024 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization.

Liz Bahl talks about the Learning Alliance’s successful implementation of a fluency-based reading intervention: An interview conducted by Dr. Sam Bommarito

One of the recurring themes in my blog this summer is using music to develop comprehension and fluency for readers of all ages. The underlying idea of projects based on this use of music is rooted in the research of Dr. Tim Rasinski, a world-class expert in fluency. Dr. Rasinski has created a huge base of peer-reviewed research demonstrating the efficacy of repeated reading LINK, LINK. Rasinski recently co-authored the book The Fluency Development Lesson: Closing The Reading Gap LINK. The foundation of the FDL (Fluency Development Lesson) is promoting repeated reading. Students are motivated to carry out the repeated reading by the educational practice of reading to perform.

Last week, I talked to Carlos Franzblau about his Sing Out and Read program. This week, we continue that discussion. Liz Baul joins Carlos from the Learning Alliance, a nonprofit organization. The Learning Alliance implemented the Sing Out and Read program in the Indian River County district in Florida. The Indian River County is now an “A” district and continues outperforming the state and the Treasure Coast for 3^rd-grade reading scores. Here is a brief excerpt from the Ohio State University white paper about the project.

Evidence of Efficacy 

Per the norms published by NWEA, struggling readers are expected to increase 2 points on the MAP score during the Spring semester. Children who completed the FLiP program gained  7.5  points or  nearly  4  times  the  expected  amount. (bolding mine)  When  compared  to  the expectation for these students over a 12-month period, the FLiP children gained  ¾ of a year (75%) during the Spring Semester.

Background About Liz Bahl and the Learning Alliance

About The Learning Alliance:

The Learning Alliance (TLA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring 90% of children are reading at grade level by the end of 3^rd grade. Our Early Literacy Blueprint encompasses four areas of impact to achieve this “Moonshot Goal.”  They are 1) Excellence in Teaching: TLA provides professional development and coaching to ensure that K-3 teachers understand the science of reading and how to teach it. 2) Extended Learning for Students: We provide after-school and summer programming to allow students the necessary time to catch up to their peers; the most in-need students receive in-school support through small group reading intervention that happens 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. 3) Empowered Families: Because we know literacy begins at birth, we support families with children ages birth – 5 years, so parents understand that they are their child’s first teacher and have the strategies and best practices to support their children to be ready for kindergarten. 4) Engaged Community: We know that schools can’t do it alone, so we galvanized the community around the 90% Moonshot literacy goal, so that everyone understands that early literacy is an important and essential investment.

BIO:

Liz Bahl has over 30 years of experience in a broad array of industries, including bank marketing, public relations, financial software, and retail management. She joined The Learning Alliance in 2014 and has established leadership in all aspects of the organization, including fundraising, volunteer management, program design and implementation, data and documentation, and is currently the Chief Operating Officer. She holds a BA in Communications from Loyola University, New Orleans.

Here is a link to the YouTube video:

Here is a link to the Reading Alliance website. It will allow you to explore the Alliance’s ongoing fluency work, including their successful Indian River County project LINK

Final Thoughts About This Interview

This interview is part of a series of interviews I’ve done (and will do) with members of Ann Kay’s ZAP the Gap group. Music is a way (not the only way) to motivate students to do repeated reading. Repeated reading is a powerful tool for developing fluency and comprehension. This tool’s impact can be enhanced greatly by carefully scaffolding instruction.

Reading to perform can be carried out in a variety of settings in a variety of ways. The key to the success of this type of reading intervention is that it motivates the students to do repeated readings. Whether it be in the form of singing, or reader’s theatre, students want to reread. With proper scaffolding, that kind of repeated reading can dramatically improve reading performance at every grade level.

For those interested in using Liz and Carlo’s program, they indicated that those living outside the Tampa Bay area can contact Carlos directly at the following e-mail address: carlo@singoutandread.org. By the way, I’m working with a student this summer using a language experience approach. That is where the student dictates their own stories, and the teacher uses the stories as the basis for instruction. I’m adding Carlo’s FLP (Family Literacy Project) to that instruction. As I indicated last week, you’ll hear more about that at the end of this summer. So, until next week,

.

Happy Reading and Writing.

Dr. Sam Bommarito (aka, the guy in the middle taking flak from all sides)

Copyright 2024 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization.

Singing our Way into Fluency: Carlo Franzblau talks about his Sing Out and Read program: An interview conducted by Dr. Sam Bommarito

One of the recurring themes in my blog this summer is using music to develop comprehension and fluency for readers of all ages. The underlying idea of Carlo Franzblau’s project is rooted in the research of Dr. Tim Rasinski, a world-class expert in the area of fluency. Dr. Rasinski has created a huge base of peer-reviewed research demonstrating the efficacy of repeated reading LINK, LINK. Rasinski recently co-authored the book The Fluency Development Lesson: Closing The Reading Gap LINK. The foundation of the FDL (Fluency Development Lesson) is promoting repeated reading. Students are motivated to carry out the repeated reading by the educational practice of reading to perform. Carlo’s project is one good example of doing just that. The results Carlo has gotten in the 20-plus years of this project are just amazing. For example, here is an excerpt from a White Paper done by Tim Rasinski and his colleagues at Kent State University:

Findings – Summer 2020 and Summer 2021 In both Summer implementations, children who finished 2nd grade and were expected to start 3rd grade in the fall (i.e. rising 3rd graders) were recruited. All of the children met the definition of struggling reader. The assessment that was used to determine reading gains is the Oral Reading Fluency Score (ORF) which is expressed in Words Correct Per Minute (WCPM). The children were assessed at the beginning and end of the summer. In both cases the students who completed the FLiP program gained more than 20 WCPM over the three-month summer period. This is a very large increase over three months, given that one full year’s gain for struggling readers at this grade level is 19 WCPM. Said another way, these children gained more than a full year in reading level in three months’ time. This gain is remarkable for another reason. Normed data shows that the expectation for these children is to actually lose approximately 13 WCPM over the Summer.   Findings – Spring ‘21  A group of 45 students (3rd graders) used the FLiP program from February through April of 2021. All students came from Title 1 schools and were significantly behind in reading. The assessment that was used was the MAP Reading Test (from  NWEA). The assessments were administered in December and May of the 2020/2021 school year.  

Evidence of Efficacy 

Per the norms published by NWEA, struggling readers are expected to increase 2 points on the MAP score during the Spring semester. Children who completed the FLiP program gained  7.5  points or  nearly  4  times  the  expected  amount. (bolding mine)  When  compared  to  the expectation for these students over a 12-month period, the FLiP children gained  ¾ of a year (75%) during the Spring Semester.

How did such amazing gains, 4 times the expected MAP Score gains, come to be? During his interview Carlo described how the project evolved. Its origins were serendipitous. He was trying to teach himself to stay in tune as he sang. He developed a software program to help himself do that. At the same time he was working with the software, he also discovered that readers with reading problems seemed to improve when they used the program. He outlines how he first used a for-profit company to market the software. Then, in 2018 Carlo and his wife, Beth, founded the literacy nonprofit Sing Out and READ.  The software program has been adapted over the 20-plus years since it was first created. Listen to the interview for details about that.   

Background About Carlo and Sing Out and READ

Carlo worked for 30 years with his father and his sister in their Tampa-based business, Thompson Cigar Company. After the Franzblau family sold that business in 2018, Carlo and his wife, Beth, founded the literacy nonprofit Sing Out and READ. 

Sing Out and READ has grown quickly in three years, going from serving 50 families to more than 500 in the last 12-month period. SOAR’s short-term goal is to “move the needle” by reducing the 30+ percent point Reading Achievement Gap for communities of color in Pinellas County. 

Carlo was born and raised in Tampa. He earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Harvard College and Harvard Business School. Before working at Thompson Cigar, Carlo worked at Paramount Pictures and The American Express Company. Carlo is the holder of three US patents for software technology. As a hobby, Carlo plays bass guitar and Tampa-based classic rock cover band south of Kennedy.

On behalf of Sing Out and READ, Carlo was honored to accept the Diversity & Empowerment Education Award from the Pinellas Urban League and grateful for the opportunity to catalyze change and growth in reading literacy among at-risk youth in Pinellas County and beyond

Here is a link to the YouTube video: https://youtu.be/WeLpSREXZUI

Here is a link to the Sing Out and READ website. Feel free to explore the website. Pay special attention to the Family Literacy Project. LINK

Carlo also provided these three links explaining important ideas he talked about during the interview:

1. “SOAR’s Family Literacy Project (FLiP) is a Game changer for at-risk kids”-  LINK.   
2. How does the FLiP program boost reading skills for a full year in just 12 weeks? – LINK   
3. Testimonial from a single mom living in public housing. –LINK:  

Final Thoughts About This Interview

This interview is part of a series of interviews I’ve done with members of Ann Kay’s ZAP the Gap group. Music is a way (not the only way) to motivate students to do repeated reading. Repeated reading is a powerful tool for developing fluency and comprehension. This tool’s impact can be enhanced greatly by carefully scaffolding instruction. In the case of Carlo’s program, that includes developing vocabulary and checking for comprehension. His program exemplifies how FDL (The Fluency Development Lesson) can be adapted into educational settings. Those who live in the Tampa Bay area can learn more about using the program on the website. Carlo indicated that those living outside the Tampa Bay area can contact him directly at the following e-mail address: carlo@singoutandread.org. By the way, I’m working with a student this summer using a language experience approach. That is where the student dictates their own stories, and the teacher uses them as the basis for instruction. I’m adding Carlo’s FLP (Family Literacy Project) to that instruction. You’ll be hearing more about that at the end of this summer. In addition, in two weeks I’m having Carlos back along with some folks who are currently using the program, so you can find out even more about the nuts and bolts of this award-winning program. So, until next week,

.

Happy Reading and Writing.

Dr. Sam Bommarito (aka, the guy in the middle taking flak from all sides)

Copyright 2024 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization.