This special project will support eight new free music training programs in at-risk schools around the U.S. 150 teachers will get the chance to participate and they will lead music for over 7,000 students a week, collectively. This will dramatically improve literacy, language & reading skills as students create and share songs with their own Lyrics for Learning in class and with their families. In addition to training, participants will receive instruments, accessories, supplies & materials.
America is experiencing a literacy crisis, beginning in grade school & continuing through adulthood.This is contributing to our impacted juvenile justice system, a rise in teen pregnancies, overcrowded jails, unemployment and dependency on welfare. About 70% of the people affected are functionally illiterate. Their troubles present early: 42% of 3rd grade boys & 34% of girls are reading below grade level! One in 4 students won't read by high school & will drop out. These students need help now.
"Songs in their Hearts & Strings in their Hands!" will boost student literacy, language & reading skills this year & beyond with musical learning that addresses Language Arts lessons and standards. From California to Mississippi, Illinois to Hawaii, classroom teachers will learn, then teach their students to sing & strum easy, traditional songs on guitar or ukulele. Then students will embed vocabulary & spelling words, grammar, punctuation & expressive language in songs they'll remember & share.
GITC instills a life-long love of learning in students by creatively engaging the whole classroom in language-rich musical activities! It offers ongoing benefit because once teachers train with GITC, they keep song-leading for years. Students, most attending Title 1 (low income) schools, get a musical start in life, singing songs as a part of learning academic lessons. This approach makes classrooms happier places, lowering stress and assisting students to bring up their grades and test scores.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
