Tune Up to Literacy

Tune Up to Literacy encourages literacy using original songs by composer/lyricist/educator Dr. Al Balkin, former Western Michigan Professor and composer who wrote music for The Hobbit as well as several off-Broadway children’s musicals.

Grades PreK-3

Tune Up to Literacy encourages literacy using original songs by composer/lyricist/educator Dr. Al Balkin, former Western Michigan Professor and composer who wrote music for The Hobbit as well as several off-Broadway children’s musicals. The programs musically introduce and reinforce concepts such as punctuation and sentence construction with songs like “Get the Point” and “Punctuation Mystery.” This series was produced by  the SC Department of Education with South Carolina ETV due to the generosity of Dr. Balkin's desire to share his educational music with the children. (From our Streamline collection)

A Syllable | Tune Up to Literacy

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Understanding the concept of syllable is the open sesame to sounding out almost any written word. Developing the ability allow a child to move into the world of reading. This song defines the concept...
Adjective Song | Tune Up to Literacy

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This song has a Middle Eastern musical style, clearly stating the concept, "An adjective is a word that describes a noun." It then elaborates on how descriptions might include such characteristics as...
Sing a Simple Rhyme | Tune Up to Literacy

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This song will fundamentally improve the ways that children attend to sound patterns in words. Wordplay and word associations invite children to provide words that rhyme. This song offers instruction...

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SC Department of Education

SC Department of Education

All students graduate prepared for success in college, careers, and citizenship. By 2022, districts will have available a system of personalized and digital learning that supports students in a safe...