Kansas Kids: Singing Their Way to Literacy

As I walked through the vendor displays at the International Reading Association’s Annual Convention, my attention wandered to a booth with singing. I love music and thought of my daughter, Sarah, who teaches music. For many years, we had discussed the connections between music and a well-rounded education, and I had watched her grow into an accomplished music teacher with the goal of connecting music to learning in all content areas. I just had to stop and see what this program had to offer. What I found was TUNEin ™ to READING (2011), a program that has students singing karaoke with claims the program could increase reading skills, even guaranteeing one year’s growth in just nine weeks of time. After listening and watching the company representative sing a few tunes, plus trying it out myself, I was hooked