EnCompass Academy, Oakland Unified School District

This workshop will engage participants in playing rhythmic singing games from around the world, and from here in Oakland. We model the naturally integrated Orff-Schulwerk approach, which brings together rhythm, language, movement, drama,and song.

The elements in music learning parallel main elements of language acquisition, in phrasing, tempo, melody,
pitch, and specific sounds. And we know that facilities for making and listening to music are integrated throughout many places in the brain; there is not just a ‘music center’. Music can be a bridge to many other places in the brain, as well as function to satisfy a human capacity.

Making music is one of the central tenets of the EnCompass Academy Spiral philosophy.

How can we work (and play) with songs and games to motivate students in language acquisition?

Sarah Willner and Yari Mander, with EnCompass teachers