Author blends music, education
Singing, repetition and rhyme – those are the three elements children’s author Debbie Clement brought to a room full of Fayette County elementary school librarians and teachers recently to show how they can ultimately help children succeed in life. Clement, well known in education circles for her ability to engage children by bringing books and learning to life, presented the workshop “Lyrics to Literacy: Read A Song, Sing A Book” to area schoolteachers and librarians. Her visit was made possible through a grant received by elementary school librarians in the Albert Gallatin School District. Her presentation focused on techniques for educators and parents alike to use as fun ways to teach children important concepts, and hold their attention while doing so.
Clement, a resident of the East Side of Columbus, Ohio, who has more than 20 years of experience working with children, uses props – felt boards, puppets, costumes, hats and books – and music to allow children to have fun while learning through repetition and rhyme.
She has recorded four CDs full of her original songs for children. According to her biography, the songs are appreciated in schools, libraries and homes throughout the Midwest, but many who attended the presentation see Clement becoming an even bigger star.
Donning a big, plastic flower pin, a black-and-white striped top with a flower-and-dot-printed vest and colorful jangle bracelets, Clement happily sang, “Clickity-clack, clicking clack. Big, black train on the track,” as she used two plastic plates to symbolize wheels and blew a toy train whistle. She also had the audience sing and follow along with her movements.
“Where are you going? Will you come back? Clickity, clickity, clickity, clack,” rhymed Clement.
“The first time it’s all about you performing it, but it’s the magical fourth time through when the whole group gets it,” she explained to around 20 teachers and librarians in the audience gathered at the Uniontown Holiday Inn.
The lessons children learn while singing the repetitious rhymes and mimicking creative movements can transfer from the music room to the classroom or to the library, said Clement.
“They’re using that vocabulary. They’re thinking it through,” she said. “They’re using a piece of literature to know what to anticipate, to know what comes next.”
Clement said evidence shows improved learning and memory take place over time when children (are): 1) physically relaxed, 2) mentally alert, 3) breath rhythmically with or without music, 4) see, hear and move to content and concepts, 5) visualize what they are seeing and hearing and 6) believe they can learn.
She also relayed to the audience that a child who doesn’t comprehend rhyme has only a 20 percent chance of becoming a fluid reader. She sang to the audience simple rhymes such as “Fish, Dish and Whale with a Polka-dot Tail” that help children embrace the concept of rhyme.
She used a felt board with animal cutouts to help children visualize the concept.
Clement continued with another simple melody, all of which are affectionately known as “Debbie’s Ditties” because she composed each one.
“I’m a windshield wiper. This is how I go. Back and forth, back and forth, in the rain and snow,” she sang, pronouncing each syllable clearly and then repeating the rhyme at a faster pace.
“There may be one kid who is not getting the beat and words,” she told the audience. “You can adjust your speed and then whisper (to that student), “Are you ready, Sam?”
Her songs also teach children to find an easy beat in music, which Clement said is important. Tapping their head, ear and then stomping twice in the “Pattern Song” help children grasp this concept and allow them to be able to repeat it “all to the beat of the music,” said Clement.
For a more energetic activity, Clement suggested forming a circle and having students pass a carrot, puppet or rabbit ears onto the next student when the rhyme ends. It’s a game similar to “Duck, Duck, Goose.” Teachers can also change the student’s run to a skip.
Since jumping, running and skipping get the children oxygenated, or have gotten oxygen to their brain, Clement also reminded teachers to make sure students are hydrated after all the activity.
She said when a student raises his or her hand to ask for a drink, they are really saying help. Teachers need to take a break and offer water to students, she said.
“The big buzz is getting them hydrated, getting them enough water, and oxygen to the brain,” said Clement. “To hydrate and oxygenate – you always have to have those two components so the kids are ready to learn.”
She also instructed those in attendance to make “pregnant pauses” longer between song lyrics until students know which words and movements will come next. Whether they have grasped the concept will be apparent through their response.
If they don’t sing the correct words or make the right movements, the teacher can slow the pace and then pick it up again later, said Clement.
Children with special needs may need to hear the rhyme several times before they catch on, she noted.
And, Clement knows about working with children with special needs.
She began her career as a college student helping children in that capacity, and she now incorporates their special learning needs into her work as an arts enrichment specialist within her company Rainbows Within Reach.
“Special needs kids may need more time to finally connect and this can be seen by their response,” said Clement, who formerly was a classroom teacher and an administrator who won the Ella Lyman Cabot Award for her excellence in music programs for special needs children.
But, Clement said you know you made that special connection when kids say, “Do that again. That was fun.”
With the children’s book “You’re Wonderful” complete and available for purchase, Clement is working on a second book titled “Red, White and Blue” inspired by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The book should be available this summer.
“You’re Wonderful,” which won the “Dramatic Impact” 2005 Achievement Award, features colorful drawings that are replicas of hand-sewn quilts Clement designed.
Accompanied by a CD with a song that sets to music the author’s words, the book promotes self-esteem in children. Clement has performed the song for children and their mothers, who are inmates in an Ohio prison, and the feedback she receives from such visits makes her work worthwhile, she says.
A page in the book also explains movements to learn the sign language for the words in the book.
Books, CDs and other items used by Clement can be purchased online at www.rainbowswithinreach.com.