Strategies to teach songs:
It is true that songs are conducive to learning. Students can readily learn new concepts, vocabulary and grammar through the rhythm of a tune. However, this natural inclination does not mean that songs don't have to be conscientiously taught! There are many approaches to teaching songs. A teacher needs to teach the songs to students. Teachers must rely on their professional opinions, skills and experiences in deciding how to best teach songs. We all know there is lots of variety in teaching/learning and in any given classroom setting, context may allow for complete coverage of a song in a single class period, dependent upon age, language level and course design. Below I will highlight what works for me.
1. Introduce in sections. Teach the songs in sections. Introduce one or two new lines of a song each classroom period. For example, let's say you wanted to teach your students the song いぬ の おまわりさん. On the first day, sing to the students まいご の まいご の こねこちゃん.
Links to lyrics and audio file for this song is at http://www.mahoroba.ne.jp/~gonbe007/hog/shouka/inunoomawari.html
2. Use visual images/illustrative gestures to maximize learning modalities. It would be helpful if you had a little kitty or a picture of one. Then, when singing the partこねこちゃん you could point to this picture or stuffed animal or whatever you are using. I also teach the students a sign for this word that they can demonstrate when we sing that word. In my classroom, our sign is we pretend to be petting a kitty cat. I encourage you to use a sign to represent a word as I feel that the more modes of learning one addresses in instruction the better the students' retention will be. In this case, the students are hearing the word (auditory learning), seeing a picture or stuffed animal that represents the word (visual learning), stating the word (oral learning) and demonstrating a sign that represents the word (kinestic learning.) The next class period, you can build upon this first line. By this point some of the students will be able to sing this first line with you. However, others will still need to just repeat or echo after the teacher. Allow the students who want to sing with you to do so and the ones who want to repeat to just repeat. This process is part of letting students learn at their own pace. Sing the next verse あなた の おうち は どこ ですか。Since this is the new section to be taught this day, you should sing it slowly over emphasizing each word. It is not a good idea at this time to try to teach using an audiotape as the tape would be too fast for the students and instead of encouraging them, discourage them. Again, I encourage the use of a sign to teach the words あなた、 うち andどこ ですか。 It is easy to think of ways to sign うちand あなた. But どこ ですか does not have an exact sign. In this case, I encourage you to us a sign anyway. It isn't really that the sign must completely represent the word. Rather, it is important that the students have an action to perform when they hear these words.
3. Include comprehension checks. On the third day, build upon the first two instructed lines. More of your students should be able to sing with you. After you sing the song one time, you can quickly access the students by asking them to sign the words that you state. This is an easy method to check their comprehension. Another method would be a quick game of Simon Says. As a teacher, you need to use this assessment as a tool to see if you can teach another verse or if you need to re-teach the material. Continue this process till you reach the end of the song. Your goal is to have the students be able to sing the song without having to repeat you.
4. Engage students throughout. Most class periods at the elementary level are thirty minutes long. Most teachers start with an opening of some type. This opening includes greetings, weather, calendar materials, instruction of hiragana characters, etc. The opening takes about 5-7 minutes depending on what is covered and reviewed. After the opening, new material is instructed, building on previously learned material. I usually try to teach the new parts of the song at this time as well. I might sing part of the song as I am passing out folders, papers or materials for the day. The students are focused on learning the song, allowing me to double task (passing out the materials and teaching the new part to the song.) A teacher must be well organized to do this. I do find that by singing through these transitions I keep the students better focused and use my time most efficiently. I am also exposing my students to as much Japanese as I can in the 30-minute period. My goal here is to input as much Japanese as I can into the students brains, as eventually this input will induce output.
5. Connection with the Curriculum. In my classroom, I use songs to teach phrases and concepts that the students need to master before going onto the next level. This song いぬ の おまわりさん fits well into the first grade curriculum as two key phrases the students need to master during this year are うち は どこ ですか and なまえ は なん ですか。By teaching these phrases through a song, the students have repeated them several times before I actually use them as a teaching strategy in my classroom (see point 6 below.) In addition to these phrases, the first grade students take a mini tour through Japan to learn cultural aspects. I show the students the video "Big Bird in Japan" in which Big Bird gets lost in Japan. I find that the song いぬ の おまわりさん compliments this video. In class, I allow some students to share their experiences of being lost. This discussion, of course, must be done in English with some integration of Japanese (まいご and おまわりさん ) but I feel it is essential and worthwhile. Some of the students can empathize with Bird Big. Big Bird's predicament motivates students to learn Japanese if they wish to travel to Japan.
6. Student recognition precedes production. I feel that it is essential to start teaching a song a few class periods before you will use the material from the song in your lesson. Of course, this does not always work with timing but I do find that this is the best way to most effectively use the songs material. For example, I would teach the song いぬ の おまわりさん prior to the time I wanted the students to master なまえ は なん ですか and うち は どこ ですか. This way, when I introduced these concepts the students would already know the words and feel confident stating them. This song was used to pre-teach the material I needed to teach. The song provided a fun way to encourage the students to repeatedly say these words and now they have the confidence to say them.
7. Explicate vocabulary without English use. I am often asked whether a teacher should explain a song and its meaning in English or in Japanese. This is a highly debated topic. I feel that it is essential for a teacher to use as much Japanese as possible in the classroom. This refers back to my statement that it is a language teacher's job to have a lot of input (target language going in) in order to get eventual output (target language coming out.) However, students do not learn language from just noise. You could not take a student to China and place him/her in front of a television set and expect that in a year, s/he would know Chinese. The student did have a lot of input from the television and will be able to express some phrases in Chinese at appropriate times in a conversation but this experience is not actual instruction. It is my feeling that there are ways that you can demonstrate word meaning without having to use English. You can use pictures to define words. For example, pictures of a こねこちゃん、 うち、 おまわりさん、 いぬ. In singing the song, you can hold up these pictures or have them hanging on a board and point to them. However, what about more difficult words or concepts that are not so easily pictured such as まいご andうち は どこ ですか? It is my belief that you can act most of these words out until a student guesses what the word is in English. When that happens, you can point to the student encouraging them to say the word again. That is one method. However, in teaching the even more difficult concepts, I feel that you can tell the students what the words mean in English.
8. Lyric verses natural speech. It is important to point out that correct intonation, pronunciation, and accent patterns in natural speech are often altered in order for lyrics to match a tune or rhythmic pattern in music. Teachers may want to address this difference in the classroom.
9. Teacher affect when presenting songs is contagious! Finally, my last tips on teaching with songs are the buzzwords from years of being a camp counselor: "Fake it till you make it" and "Show it till you know it." If this is a new way of teaching for you, show confidence to the students and eventually you will have that confidence within you. In time, you will develop your own style and skills in teaching language through songs. Practice and enjoy. And yes, even high school students will enjoy singing if caught up in the way it's presented!
天 気 の 歌 (Weather song)
This song is sung to the famous WWI whistling tune and march "Colonel Bogey" by Kenneth J. Alford. It is also the song that the British soldiers are whistling in the 1957 movie "The Bridge on the River Kwai."
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はれ
あめ ゆき ああ くもり は まあまあ
かみなり！
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カ レ ン ダ ー の 歌 (Calendar song)
This song was written by Carrie Penning Bush. It is sung to the tune "One little, two little, three little Indians".
ついたち、 ふつか、 みっか、 よっか、 いつか、 むいか、 なのか、 ようか、 ここのか、 とおか、 じゅうよっか、 はつか、 にじゅうよっか、clap, clap, clap.
じ か ん の う た (O'clock song)
This song is sung to the tune of the ending part of いっぽん でも にんじん
いち 時、 に 時、 さん 時、 よ 時、 ご 時、 ろく 時、 しち 時 です、 はち 時、 く 時、 じゅう 時、 じゅう いち 時、 じゅう に 時
じ か ん の う た 2 (time in half hour song)
This song is sung to the tune of "Three Blind Mice".
い ち 時 は ん、い ち 時 は ん、 に 時 はん、に 時 はん、 さん 時 はん、さん 時 はん、 よ 時 はん 、よ 時 はん 、 ご 時 はん、ご 時 はん、 ろ く 時 はん 、ろ く 時は ん 、 しち 時 はん、しち 時 はん、 はち 時 はん 、はち 時 はん 、 く 時 はん、く 時 はん、 じゅう 時 はん、、 じゅう 時 はん、 じゅう いち 時 はん、じゅういち 時 はん、 じゅうに 時 はん, じゅうに時はん。
Tips to use opening songs daily in class
1. Sing the weather song at the beginning of class; if you are teaching young children, use signs to represent words in the song. For example, the sign for sunny could be one holding his/her hands up near his/her eyebrows to shade his/her eyes from the sun. The sign for rain could be pretending to hold an umbrella.
2. Upon completion, ask students 今日 の 天 気 は どう ですか。Students can answer individually or as a chorus. Let's say that the weather for that day is rain. Then, as a class you can sing the answer as well. 今日 は 雨 です。 今日 は 雨 です。 今日 は 雨、 雨 、 雨 、 雨 、 雨 です boop boop! This song is sung to this tune:
3. The next step will be to ask the temperature. きょう は あつい ですか。 きょう は あたたかい ですか。 きょう は すずしい ですか。 きょう は さむい ですか。Have students answer again individually or in a chorus. (In my classroom, as the students' language skills improve, I expect them to answer individually. For beginning level students, I encourage choral responses.) Upon answering, the students can again sing this response. きょう は あつい です。 きょう は あつい です。 きょう は あつい、 あつい、 あつい、 あついです boop boop! This song is sung to the same tune as the one listed above.
4. It may be helpful to have a weather wheel in your classroom that looks somewhat like this. This weather wheel can be changed daily to point to the day's weather. It also may be helpful to have a mock thermometer in your classroom.
5. After weather review, sing the calendar song. Then ask, きょう は なん がつ なん にち ですか。Please note: it is best to use this song as a pre-teaching and a post teaching daily review tool. To clarify, I started daily singing this song as part of my opening warm up with my first grade students in January. I met with these students three times a week for thirty minutes. The calendar unit was not in the curriculum until second grade but by taking a minute each day to sing this song to the students, I was pre-teaching these somewhat difficult to pronounce words. After a month of my doing this, all the students in the class were able to sing the song with me. As we sang, I pointed to the date on the calendar and a few of the students were able to comprehend. I had highlighted (with an actual highlighter) the dates that are exceptions on my calendar as well to reinforce the concept that these dates required special words. This year, it will be easier to teach the calendar to these students as second graders as they know the vocabulary. I personally like to teach the calendar in the fall allowing for lots of time for reinforcement.
6. Next, ask きょう は なん ようび ですか。
7. Depending on what you teach in your curriculum, you can also now ask なん じ ですか and きせつ は なんですか。If you are wondering how to change time since your class may meet at the same time daily, have the "opening student" (the student who is asking the opening questions) use a clock to select, show a time and ask the class the question.
8. Complete List of Opening Questions:
1. きょう の てんき は どう ですか。
2. きょう は あついですか 。 きょう は あたたかいですか。
きょう は すずしいですか。きょう は さむい ですか。
3. きょう は なん がつ なん にち ですか。
4. きょう は なん ようび ですか。
5. なん じ ですか。
6. きせつ は なん ですか。
I really suggest listing your opening questions in an area of your classroom. The list will provide a structured format for the students to follow and encourage reading in Japanese. It would be ideal if you had enough space to have your calendar, weather wheel, thermometer, clock, and season chart in the same area. Students need structure to learn. Having a daily, structured opening can aid your students in reviewing these concepts as well as provide an opportunity to use them. Furthermore, I find that my students know that they are in Japanese class when we start our opening.
Tips to use in classroom:
1. This song can be used to teach basic usages of particles or to review particles daily. The phrase that follows the each particle is a simplified grammar explanation. In explaining grammar to students, I find that by using a simple definition, they are able to comprehend it easier. For example, I might teach the students that the particleで always follows a place where action is occurring. Conversely,に is used to mark a location in which no action is occurring at that location.
2. Some of you may be asking what a topicalizer is? How many of you looked up this word in a dictionary? I must admit it to be a self-created word. My students think it is quite a funny word themselves! I continue to use it as it provides some humor in the classroom too. Topicalizer means the particle that shows us the topic of the sentence.
3. What is the object one is a verbing? This phrase refers to the direct object marker. Several students today do not understand what a direct object is but they can understand if you ask them what is the word to which the action is happening. This is what this phrase states in a nutshell and is why the last line is object を action verb.
4. Perhaps you are wondering what a Velcro couple is. This is a term that is again self-created but I think that several of you could use it too. I have had students who repeatedly want to say ___ を すきです。 To avoid this error, I teach that the expression that が and すき plus が and すきじゃ ない are a couple and not only are they a dating, they are so serious that they are stuck or Velcoed together. The students again laugh but it helps them to know that they must go together.
Time words song learned at a conference
(To the
individual who wrote this song, I wish I knew who you were so I could thank
you personally. I have used this song to teach time words with great
success for close to 11 years. I have greatly benefited from this idea as
have my students. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Carolynn Bell.)
いつも よく ときどき たまに
いつ も よく とき どき たまに
いつも よく ときどき たまに
あまり ぜんぜん ません
あまり ぜんぜん ません
あまり ぜんぜん ません
This song is sung to this tune:
How to use this song in the classroom:
1. This song is an ideal to use when teaching the time words for order of degree of occurrence. Students will be able to easily memorize and differentiate between these words. I teach these words and this song after the students have had an introduction to verbs in the present and negative tense. Since there is a rule change in using the Japanese words in the negative that is different than the English grammar rule, I find that the song adds to comprehension.
2. I suggest teaching this song and the concepts in two steps. I teach the words いつも、 よく、 ときどき、 たまに first. These words can be pictorially demonstrated through the use of flashcards with calendars on them. The flashcard for いつも could have a particular activity scheduled daily. Conversely, the flashcard for たまに could again show a calendar with another activity only occasionally happening that month. I do feel that you need four distinct flashcards as it is essential that each student is able to visually distinguish between the degrees of occurrence for each word.
3. In making flashcards for the negative words, if may be helpful for the students if you use a different color of construction paper to visually represent these words. In my classroom, I have these words pictured on red paper. This is just a reminder to the students that they need to stop and think for the change at the end of the verb. In the song, one will note that the words in the negative are:
あまり、ぜんぜん ~ません. In my classroom, I instruct the students to drop the す and add ません to make a verb negative. Therefore, they are accustomed to this lingo when this song is introduced. As a teacher, you will have to use your own professional opinion on whether you can teach the song this way or if you would rather replace ~ません with しません. If you chose to use しません you may have difficulty with expressions such as あまり たべませんas the students may want to say あまり たべしません。
おじいさん、 おばあさん、 おとうさん、 おかあさん、 おにいさん、
おねえさん、 おとうと、 いもうと、 ぜんぶ かぞく
This song can be used to get students to really know the vocabulary for family members. Each family member can have a sign that younger students can act out to further retain vocabulary.
て ん て ん ま る Song written by Carrie Penning Bush
This song is song to this tune:
て ん て ん ま る Song written by Carrie Penning Bush
てんてん snap fingers てんてん snap fingers
てんてん を つける と おと が かわる よ
てんてん snap fingers てんてん snap fingers
てんてん を つける と おと が かわる よ
か き く け こ は
が ぎ ぐ げ ご に なる
さ し す せ そ は
ざ じ ず ぜ ぞ に なる
てんてん snap fingers てんてん snap fingers
てんてん を つける と おと が かわる よ
てんてん snap fingers てんてん snap fingers
てんてん を つける と おと が かわる よ
た ちつ て と は
だ ぢ づ で ど に なる
は ひ ふ へ ほ は
ば び ぶ べ ぼ に なる
てんてん snap fingers てんてん snap fingers
てんてん を つける と おと が かわる よ
てんてん snap fingers てんてん snap fingers
てんてん を つける と おと が かわる よ
まる ( maru gesture 0 ) まる 0
まる を つける と おと が かわるよ
まる ( maru gesture 0 ) まる 0
まる を つける と おと が かわるよ
は ひ ふ へ ほ は
ぱ ぴ ぷ ぺ ぽ に なる
は ひ ふ へ ぼ は
ぱ ぴ ぷ ぺ ぼ に なる
まる ( maru gesture 0 ) まる 0
まる を つける と おと が かわるよ
まる ( maru gesture 0 ) まる 0
まる を つける と おと が かわるよ
This song is sung to the tune for Frere Jaques.
お は よ う お は よ う
こ ん に ち は こ ん に ち は
さ よ な ら さ よ な ら
*ま た ら い しゅ う ま た ら い し ゅ う
*You can replace ま た ら い しゅう with ま た あ し た
This song is available on the CD called "Idea Book Songs", distributed by Japan Book Plaza at http://www.japanbookplaza.com.au/.
あ た ま か た ひ ざ あ し Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
This song uses the same tune as the English version.
あ た ま か た ひ ざ あ し ひ ざ あ し
あ た ま か た ひ ざ あ し ひ ざ あ し
め と み み と く ち と は な
あ た ま か た ひ ざ あ し ひ ざ あ し
む す ん で ひ ら い て
む す ん で ひ ら い て
て を う っ て む す ん で
ま た ひ ら い て て を うって その て を (use a body part) に
This popular children's song, I use often but have created a variation. Instead of ending the song as usual, I use a body part. This keeps the song unpredictable. In addition, this ending can be used to access whether the students know the song body parts. I sometimes tell the students that I am going to purposely try to trick them by saying a particular body that I want them to touch while I touch another one. This encourages the students to focus and to think instead of just imitating my actions.
あ た ま か た ひ ざ あ し
あたま かた ひざ あし ひざ あし ひざ あし
あたま かた ひざ あし て を たたこう
め みみ くち はな くち はな くち はな
め みみ くち はな て を たたこう
おなか せなか おしり しっぽ おしり しっぽ おしり しっぽ
おなか せなか おしり しっぽ て を たたこう
This song is available on the CD called "Idea Book Songs", distributed by Japan Book Plaza at http://www.japanbookplaza.com.au/.
ア ブ ラ ハ ム は し ち に ん の こ Father Abraham
This song is sung to the Father Abraham tune.
ア ブ ラ ハ ム に は し ち に ん の こ
ひとり は の っ ぽ で
あと は ち び
みんな な か よ く
く ら し て る
さ あ お ど り ま し ょ う
１． みぎ て
２． みぎ て、 ひだり て
３． みぎ て、 ひだり て、 みぎ あし 、ひだり あし
４． みぎ て、 ひだり て 、みぎ あし 、ひだり あし
５． みぎ て、 ひだり て 、みぎ あし 、ひだり あし、あたま
６． みぎ て、 ひだり て 、みぎ あし 、ひだり あし、あたま、おしり
７． みぎ て、 ひだり て 、みぎ あし 、ひだり あし、あたま、おしり、ゆび
８． みぎ て、 ひだり て 、みぎ あし 、ひだり あし、あたま、おしり、ゆび, した
Tips to teaching this song:
This song is great to sing and dance to if you feel confident that you will be able to regain control of the class. In singing and dancing to this song, students can become a little rowdy if you do not have guidelines well established. Sing the main part of the song together with the students. Another option is for the teacher to sing a verse and have the students repeat after him/her until they learn the song. After the section, さあ おどりましょう, the teacher states a body part for example, みぎ て. The teacher then waves this body part in the air. The students repeat this body part and also wave this body part in the air. Together, students and teacher, sing the main part of the song again while continuing to wave their right hand in the air. Each time you finish the main part of the song, you add a new body part and continue to wave/move this new body part with the previously stated body parts in the air. This movement can be taken loosely as dancing! Students do learn left and right as well as body parts easily due to the repetition.
A rap to teach the months of the year by Carrie Penning Bush
みなさん せんせい みなさん せんせい
おたんじょう び は なん がつ ですか。
いちがつ
にがつ
さんがつ
しがつ
ごがつ
ろく がつ
しちがつ
はちがつ
くがつ
じゅう がつ
じゅういち がつ
じゅうに がつ
Tips to using in the classroom:
1. This song is meant to be a simple rap. The words みなさん せんせい みなさん せんせい おたんじょうび は なんがつ ですか are meant to be said rather quickly. Of course, when one is first teaching these words, they must be stated slowly but in time the pace of them can be increased. After each month is stated, the students and teacher(s) whose birthday is in that month raise their hand and say はい. This rap is a great way to teach the months as there are some exceptions that the students will learn with the repetition.
For a variation on this song, you can change the words from みんさん せんせい to other people. For example, おかあさん、 おとうさん、おかあさん、 おとうさん おたんじょうび は なん がつ ですか。For other variations, use siblings, pets or grandparents.
A song to teach the days of the week
This song I actually adapted from a much longer Japanese song. It is sung to this tune:
げつようび わらってる ゲラゲラ ゲラゲラ わらってる
かようび おこってる カッカ カッカ カッカ カッカ おこってる
すいようび およいでる すい すい すい すい およいで る
もく ようび もえてる モク モク モクモク もえてる
きんようび ひかってる キラ キラ キラ キラ ひかってる
どようび ほって いく ﾄﾞﾝ ﾄﾞﾝ ﾄﾞﾝ ﾄﾞﾝ ほって いく
にちようび あそんじゃう ニコ ニコ ニコ ニコ あそんじゃう
あ い う え お Hiragana order with greeting words
This song is sung to the tune twinkle, twinkle little star.
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あ い う え おはよう か き く け こんにちは さ し す せ そうですね た ち つ て ともだち な に ぬ ね のんびり は ひ ふ へ ほっかいどう ま み む め もういちど や い ゆ え よろしく ら り る れ ろうそく わ い う え おしまい |
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く に の う た by Carrie Penning Bush
This song is sung to the tune twinkle twinkle little star.
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ア イ ウ エ オーストラリア カ キ ク ケ コロンビア サ シ ス セ ソマリア タ チ ツ テ トルコ ナ ニ ヌ ネ ノルウェー ハ ヒ フ ヘ ホンコン マ ミ ム メ モンゴル ヤ イ ユ エ ヨルダン ラ リ ル レ ロシア ア メ リ カ の ワシントン せ か い は ひろい １ ばん さいご は にほん |
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あ い う え お
This song is on the Teach Me Tapes "Teach Me Japanese" tape 1-800-456-4656.
あ い う え お か き く け こ
だ れ かー が ど こ かー で な らって る
さ し す せ そ た ち つ て と
だ れ が ーが ど こ かー で はなしてる
な に ぬ ね の は ひ ふ へ ほ
だ れ か ー が ど こ かーで わすれてる
ま み む め も や い ゆ え よ
だれ かー が ど こ か ー で うたってる
ら り る れ ろ わ い う え を
だれ かー が ど こ かーで どこ かーで だ れ かー が どなって る ん。
い っ ぽ ん で も に ん じ ん
This is a popular Japanese children's song. I would suggest calling a Japanese friend and having him or her teach you the tune.
いっぽん でも にんじん
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Japan Rap |
The Japan rap is simple. The teacher states one verse and the students' repeat. This rap can be used to get students to learn more about Japan especially the island names. This rap works well with a large island map that can easily be made on a full size white sheet. By using the map visualization, the students can gain understanding as to what an actual island is as well as the locations of the islands in relation to each other. This map can also be used to play games or have students travel from one island to the other.
All four of the following songs were at one time popular Japanese children's songs. I feel that you should be able to obtain the tunes to these songs easily by contacting a native Japanese friend. These songs are long and somewhat difficult for the students. Yet I feel it is important for students learning Japanese to learn them. These songs can teach vocabulary, grammar as well as provide a lot of cultural background. However, I feel the most essential reason for students to learn them is similar to reasons English teachers state on why students should learn and memorize poetry. I feel that the memorization and mastery of songs such as these gives students a tremendous amount of comprehension in the Japanese language. This can be a huge confidence builder for students. A teacher can easily manipulate the material using it in dialogues, skits and conversation for the students readily know it. Songs such as these are great fillers for those days when you finish your lesson five minutes early. They can be great gifts to native Japanese speakers who visit your classroom. In my class, we sing all visitors a song as a way of saying thanks for visiting us. Songs are good to use in making a transition from one concept to the next similar to how commercials break up television shows.
This is a wonderful song to use in teaching young children. The students can easily learn the expressions なまえ は なん ですか and うち は どこ ですか。In addition, they love to learn about the sounds that animals make in Japanese.
は め は め は だ い お う King Hamehameha
も り の く ま さ ん The bear in the woods
I recently found out about a website that has Japanese songs. The URL is http://www.mahoroba.ne.jp/~gonbe007/hog/warabe.html#top and the songs are listed conveniently in hiragana order. I challenge you to find a song that matches the material you are currently instructing and go for it! You will be well on your way to teaching with songs!
In closing I must thank Kaoru Kimura, the talented artist who was my JALEX teaching assistant for two years for the pictures in the article. In addition, I am indebted to Heidi Chong, a talented young musician who dreams of pursuing music with her husband David. Heidi graciously helped me with the musical parts of this article. I had never met her before but received her name from a woman with whom I work. I called Heidi and asked if she would be able to help me put tunes that I had learned or created to lyrics to place in an article I was writing for a teaching journal. Heidi said, "No problem; meet me tomorrow at 2 PM." She worked with me for six hours that afternoon and even took me to her apartment to allow me to type out the lyrics using her computer's music program. I am still amazed by her generosity and hope that you benefit from her work as much as I did.