"Singlish" Curriculum Helps Elementary School Kids Develop English Language Skills and Learn About American Culture

Los Angeles, CA – Sounds of music and children's voices singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" resonate through courtyard, late in the morning at Esperanza Elementary School in Los Angeles.

The voices emanate from Room 23, where third grade English language learners are singing their way to fluency as part of Sandra Hernandez's "Singlish" class.

"… for it's one, two, three strikes you're out!"

Donning baseball caps, the kids mimic Hernandez's hand-count as they sing along with her and the music. Colorful posters depict images of baseball paraphernalia, accompanied by lyrics and baseball terminology.

Hernandez says she feels it's important for ELL's to learn about American culture, in addition to learning English.

"Songs like 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' are part of America," she says. "I explained to them about the history of the song."

"When I asked them how many have ever seen a baseball game, not one has ever been."

"Singlish" (www.Singlish.com) was developed in the 1990's by Ida Larsen, a former LAUSD elementary school music teacher who was tasked with the challenge of teaching American songs to a student population dominated by English language learners.

Larsen says, "As a music teacher, it was my job to teach the children music, songs and put on performances. I wasn’t told to develop an ESL program, but necessity is the mother of invention I suppose!"

In June, 1998, California voters passed Proposition 227 which mandated English-only instruction in public schools. Larsen's fellow teachers began requesting the curriculum for use in their own classrooms.

Today, Esperanza Elementary is one of many Los Angeles public schools using Singlish to supplement their Language Arts program.

According to Hernandez, "Our students are required to memorize a poem or a song as part of their English language assessment. The Singlish program satisfies this requirement."

Hernandez, an avid Los Angeles Dodgers fan, adorned the Singlish classroom with her own visual aids.

"I collected 'realia' to teach everything about the game. I downloaded pictures from the Internet and set up a table of baseball artifacts. I even drew the diamond to explain what the different players do."

"Kids learn better with visuals," she says. "The great thing about this curriculum is having a visual to teach the songs."

Having worked on "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" for the past few weeks, Hernandez says the kids can recite all the verses and sing the chorus."

And as for "who's up next," according to Hernandez, "The next song they will do is the 'Star Spangled Banner' – also sung at the baseball game!"

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About Singlish - Singlish was created by Ida Larsen, a teacher with 20 years of experience in Los Angeles Schools. Through her experience teaching music in a large, bilingual, Title I (Federally assisted) school she created the educational program SINGlish. The concept is to teach children the English language through the singing of classic folk and children’s songs. It is a TPR (Total Physical Response) program, which means that all the learning modalities are being addressed; Visual, Aural & Kinesthetic. Learning is accelerated through music, movement and the use of visual aids. Language theorists have long regarded TPR as the most effective, stress-free approach to teaching language. This has been validated through extensive research, often funded through State and Federal Educational Agencies. By using the traditional songs of the United States, the children are also being immersed in American culture. For more information, visit www.Singlish.com.

About Squires PR - Squires Public Relations is a full-service PR firm specializing in getting killer press for great companies and individuals. Based in Los Angeles, we have direct contacts to key decision-makers at every news and entertainment outlet in the nation. Squires PR represents a wide range of clients including entertainment, fine arts, non-profit, legal, family & parenting, and more. Our expertise isn't a specific category of clientele -- it's our ability to "zero in" on what's newsworthy about your business and create press to further your goals. From Good Morning America to the Los Angeles Times to Daily Variety, our "targeted pitching" approach gets you greater media coverage than other agencies, and is consistently praised by reporters and clients alike. For more information, visit www.squirespr.com.

Company Contact:

Singlish Enterprises, Inc.
P.O. Box 3099 Chatsworth, CA 91313
Phone: 1-877-375-SING(7464)
Fax: 818-885-7959
Email: singlishenterprises@socal.rr.com

Press Contact:

Livia Squires, Publicist
Squires PR
142 N. Clark Dr.
West Hollywood, CA 90048
(310) 993-1702
contact@squirespr.com

This release was published on openPR.