INCREASING COMPREHENSION FOR SONG LYRICS USING THE SOUNDS OF WORDS

Today I helped a learner who is planning to sing a self-selected country song in a talent show this fall. He has listened to the song on the radio, and he already knows some of the words. In fact, he enjoys singing along with the parts of the lyrics he has learned. Now, since he wants to sing that song in the talent show, he needs to learn all of the words. So, this morning I helped him decode, say, and type all the lyrics. He enjoys the song, and he will enjoy singing it in the show.

Because every word is concretely and multi-sensorily decodable, and because The Sounds Of Words is applied phonics, B is now able to learn to read every word of the lyrics. Because he is able to read every word, he is able to learn to sing every word of the song. And he will eventually commit each word to memory, and then he will sing the entire song in the show.

Two years ago, B was not well versed in the sounds of words. He sang along with a song in that year's talent show, but he had not memorized some of the words. He was unable to sing all the lyrics. He had difficulty with consistent focus. Now, practicing The Sounds Of Words, he has learned to focus on the words he needs to learn, in order to decode and read them. He will enjoy singing all the lyrics of this year's song!