Balkin, A. (2009). Tune Up to Literacy: Original Songs and Activities for Kids. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.Encourage literacy with twenty original songs by musician and educator Al Balkin! Children's and school librarians will welcome Tune Up to Literacy, a handy package of music and activities that musically introduces and reinforces crucial literacy concepts such as the alphabet, vowels, consonants, nouns, verbs, adjectives, sentence construction, punctuation, sequence, rhyming, and much, much more. The book includes
•20 original songs to encourage children's development of literacy
•Rhyme-a-ton rhyming dictionary of commonly used one-syllable words
•Activities related to each song-- from inventing new verses to telling stories to playing flash-card games
Catchy and strikingly original, the road-tested songs of Tune Up to Literacy are proven tools for acquainting kids with basic literacy concepts.
Here are Al Balkin’s recordings of the songs in Tune Up to Literacy, with and without vocals, along with the sheet music. Readers of the book are welcome to use these songs in their children’s programs. All songs and recordings are copyright Al Balkin.
You can play these MP3s directly from your computer. If you would like to make a CD of these songs to play in a regular CD player, you’ll need to download the MP3s onto your computer, import them into the music software of your choice (such as iTunes or Windows Media Player), and use that software to make the CD. A CD cover is included here. To save files to your computer, right-click on the link and choose “Save link as” or “Save target as."(book description)
