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What's Right with Tampa Bay: Program helps students read through song
Mark Wilson reports
TAMPA, Fla. - Bay Area students are learning how to read while singing.
"It's fun to sing because I like singing and I like it when it tells me different words," shared Solona Lopez, a student in the program.
Lopez is taking part in the Sing Out and Read Family Literacy Project. It’s a non-profit with a mission to help kids who are behind in reading catch up quickly with their grade level by using the magic of music.
"There are a whole bunch of good things that happen with music in the brain that helps children remember and adults to remember what it is they're reading and seeing," explained Carlo Franzblau, co-founder and executive director of Sing Out and Read.
Sing Out and Read Family Literacy Project is a a non-profit with a mission to help kids who are behind in reading catch up quickly with their grade level by using the magic of music.
Victoria Klug is a former fifth-grade teacher who now teaches the first grade at Dunbar Elementary School.
"What I found is that children are missing the phonics and they're coming to me in fifth grade reading on a first-grade level, and they're not able to access the instruction that is provided to them in the general education classroom," she said.
Franzblau, the founder of Sing Out and Read, says more than two-thirds of third-graders are not reading on their level and he's determined to improve those numbers with notes.
A child is learning to read by singing.
"If you can't read, you can't succeed and certainly not in our society today," Franzblau stated. "We live in a knowledge society, a knowledge economy."
To help turn the tide, students are given a computer to take home for 12 weeks so they learn at school and at home. It seems to be working.
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"What I have found is with Sing Out and Read, it helped bridge the gap between students reading two or more grade levels behind and then being able to sort of catch up and understand what's going on in their general education classroom and it is a game-changer," Klug explained.
Sing Out and Read was started in 2013 and has helped more than one thousand students.
They are striking the right note to help young readers stay in tune with their education.
The program was started in 2013 and has helped more than one thousand students.
LINK: Click here to learn more about the program.