Kindergarten students love to sing and move! The goal of this project is to use HeidiSongs to help my students learn important sight words, phonics skills, and math concepts in a fun and memorable way.
For many five- and six-year-olds, simply seeing a word or practicing a skill on paper isn't enough. They need to hear it, see it, say it, and move with it. HeidiSongs combines catchy songs with movements and visual cues to give children another way to remember what they are learning. The visual, auditory, and hands-on learners are all engaged.
My goal is for students to take what they learn through the songs and use it independently when they are reading, writing, and doing math.
HeidiSongs will become a fun part of our regular kindergarten day. As I introduce new sight words, phonics skills, and math concepts, students will sing and move along with the corresponding songs. We can also bring favorite songs back when students need extra practice or a quick review.
For example, when we are learning a new sight word, students won't just look at the word and try to memorize it. They will see the word, sing it, spell it, and use movements that help them remember it. Then we will look for the word in books and use it in our own reading and writing.
We will use the phonics songs in the same way to practice letter sounds, blending, word families, and other skills we are learning. Math songs will give students another way to practice numbers, counting, patterns, shapes, and beginning addition and subtraction.
The best part is that every child can participate. Even students who aren't ready to answer a question in front of the class can sing and move along with us. I want to hear them singing the catchy songs and learning the sight words and math concepts each day.
HeidiSongs helps my students remember skills that can be difficult for kindergarten children to master through paper & pencil practice alone. Music and movement make repetition enjoyable, which means we can practice important skills again and again without it feeling like drill work.
I will look for growth in students' sight-word recognition, phonics skills, reading and writing, and the math concepts we practice with the songs. I can measure this through the assessments and skill checks I already use in my classroom, along with student work and my observations during instruction.
Most importantly, I will know the project is working when I see students make the connection themselves — recognizing a sight word while reading, remembering a sound when trying to write a word, or using something they learned in a math song to solve a problem. We all know how songs get stuck in our heads. These songs will help them succeed on district sight word and math assessments.
Grant funds will be used to purchase a HeidiSongs subscription for one year of access. Providing 1000s of song resources for sight words, phonics, and math. These materials will be used daily throughout the school year as new skills are introduced and for review when students need additional practice.
