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Feedback From Teachers
The following are teachers' comments about the effectiveness and positive impact that The ABCs and All of Me! has had on their students.
Julianne Anderson (Edith Bowen Laboratory School Kindergarten, USU) writes:
"I absolutely love teaching with the ABCs and All of Me program, and may use it forever as my introductory alphabetic
mastery program. The children were delightfully, as well as fully engaged in learning the letter names and sounds.
They especially loved being able to act out the songs each day. I let them freely move through the room doing the
actions for each new letter as it was introduced. They became confident in applying their alphabetic knowledge into
broader literacy applications through the follow up activities, which offer even the most reluctant learners enough
repetitions to succeed. I loved having many ways to use the same letter reference as a foundation from which to launch
into greater alphabetic mastery of each letter until the student is reading. It was nice to have the basic sight words
introduced in the context of the same program.
"This program truly immerses the children's diverse learning styles by engaging the multiple intelligences with which
students present themselves. It offers an enriching opportunity for every child by providing internal scaffolding
connections for learners as each advances within his/her individual and varied zones of proximal development.
My second language learners thrived in the program, which provides excellent pieces of sheltered instruction.
The worksheets create a nice take- home piece, which children can complete as homework or use to teach their parents what
they have learned. I am looking forward to using the little books for this connection as well.
"The ABCs and All of Me is easy to use and can be used as a whole or integrated as part of other pedagogical practices to
advance students through the subskills of alphabetic mastery. Our school has a “strength through the arts” component, so
the classical music worked well for gathering time and listening exercises."
Rachel Owens (Cache School District) writes:
"The ABCs and All of Me literacy program worked wonders with my
English
Language Learners and the test scores show it! It helped build a
foundation
of phonemic awareness and academics with my kindergarten students and
it
helped bridge the gap between language and literacy for my first grade
students. My own preschool child was having a difficult time
learning his
letters, no matter what method of instruction I used. The music
program was
very successful for him. He is now ready for kindergarten and
excited about
learning! Thanks so much!"
Beverly Cantwell writes:
"I highly recommend this wonderful literacy approach. This is my 5th year teaching Kindergarten. This is the first year that all
of my students reached benchmark at mid-year. I teach in a Title 1 school. I have 22 students in my class. Nine of these students
come from homes where English is their second language.
"When school began I had several students that knew none or less than 5 letter
names and sounds. I began using the ABCs and All of Me! the first day of school. The students loved the characters and the
action songs. They quickly associated the letter names and sounds. This program incorporates “search, say and produce” activities
so the students begin writing immediately.
"After the first round of the alphabet, 26 days into the year, we began to read with
the songs. It was so much fun. The students were excited and able to read the words very quickly.
It made the students feel confident and proud of their skill. Now at the end of the year, my students are all readers.
They are very confident in their reading and writing ability. They are all well above bench mark. This is a great program."
Pam Reutzel (Adams Elementary) writes:
"I have used the "The ABC's and All of Me" big book, CD with songs for letters, alphabet cards and sheets to go along with each
letter this past year as a kindergarten teacher. I love them. I will use them again next year. I love the way students "search,
say, and produce" letters. Using movement in the songs to reinforce letters and sounds is very fun and effective. I fully
recommend this program as scientifically based and appealing to children."
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Feedback From Parents*
The following are parents' and students' comments about their experiences with The ABCs and All of ME!
Julie B. writes:
"Thank you so much for making (our daughter’s) first year of school so wonderful. She has thoroughly enjoyed the songs
you taught her about letters and the sounds they make. She has come home and taught them to her little brother in 'baby
school.'"
Lisa L. writes:
“You make learning fun. I can’t wait until your book/CD is published. What a great way to learn letters and their sounds.
It is so creative! The books that go along with the songs are much more interesting than the other early readers I have
seen.”
Laurie H. writes:
“We have enjoyed your fun songs and artwork! We sing the songs as a family. Thanks for helping (our daughter) love her first
year of school and for the growth we have seen in her.”
Chunhua H. writes:
“We are writing to express our gratitude for the wonderful classes you have given to the PM kids. (Our son’s) grades
have improved
markedly over the past few months. We have also noticed that he now can read by himself. We are impressed with your
teaching. He is very lucky to be your student this year.”
Patty C. writes:
“We appreciate your magic. Your kind attention to the children and all the details has really taken them such a long way
since those first days of school. It is amazing to watch (our daughter) read, compose written sentences . . . sing new
songs. You worked wonders with her and the band of PM kids.”
Jarvis and Robin J. writes:
“(Our son) has loved being in your class. He is always so excited to share with us the things he is doing in school, and he
loves to read. We have caught him up late with his flashlight reading in bed. Learning to read has improved his self confidence.
Thanks for making learning so much fun.”
Amy M. writes:
“(Our son) has never once, all year, not wanted to go to school. Thank you for helping teach my
child to read and be happy.”
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*All names have been changed to protect the privacy of those quoted.
Students' Success Stories*
The children below were all kindergarten student's of Melanie Herrmann. The reading curriculum used was
entirely based on The ABCs and All of Me! For more about Melanie Herrman visit the "Program Designers" link at the bottom
of the page.
Emma
In a note to the teacher at the beginning of the school year Emma's mother wrote,
"Emma is behind academically. She has been tested twice.
It appears she has 'central auditory processing disorder.' Emma has difficulty expressing herself as well as
understanding instructions. The more detailed the instructions, the more difficult it is for her to understand.
It would be helpful for her to be at the front of the class. If the “hum” of the classroom is up, she will not hear
as much as usual. She will need instructions repeated."
The graphs below map Emma's progress in "Inital Sound Fluency" and "Letter Naming Fluency" from September to April.
The graphs are representative of Emma's significant progress and the effectiveness of The ABCs and All of Me! approach to literacy.
The improvement in Emma's literacy skills over the course of the school year prompted her mother to write, “Thank you for being Emma’s teacher this year. She learns best with music.
I am so impressed with the way you implement music and body movements in your teaching. It has really helped Emma.
I had really tried hard to teach Emma her ABCs and numbers prior to kindergarten. I am very happy about her success in
your class. It is a triumph to me and especially to Emma . . . I have one more child to send through the public school
system. It would be wonderful to have you teach this child.”
Peter
Peter came to my classroom in mid October. He was not potty trained. His language was unintelligible. He could not
identify a dog, a tree, or the sun. When tested by the school psychologist he scored in the “lowest 1% of the lowest 1% of children
his age.” It was recommended he be moved to a severe classroom. But he was happy in our class and the children loved him, so I
suggested we give him until December to make adequate progress and then meet again for further discussion.
The graphs below map Peter's significant progress.
Peter immediately took to the ABCs and All of Me!
letter song, movements, and materials. As the year progressed Peter could pick out a letters, attempt to trace them, and even
name them. I gave his mother a copy of our book/CD and suggested they sing/read it together every night at bedtime. His progress was amazing.
Gisselle
Gisselle came to my classroom from Mexico the week before Christmas vacation. She did not speak any English and knew no
letter names or sounds. She was significantly behind the rest of the class. I wanted to help her progress as quickly
as possible. She could not understand a thing I said, but she was immediately interested in The ABCs and All of Me! letter song and movements.
She would look at the illustrations, mimic the other children as they moved, and follow along in our ‘singing books’ as
we sang daily in preparation for the DIBELS assessment which would take place after our return from Christmas vacation.
I took a book and CD (and a translator) to her home and showed her mother and aunt how to move and sing with her for
the eight days of beak that we had.
Upon returning to school in January a classroom aide was working with Gisselle and using magnetic letters. When Gisselle
saw the letter “L” she immediately picked it up and licked it! The aide was initially horrified, but quickly realized Gisselle had
made a multi-modal connection. Gisselle had recognized the L and it's accompanying action from The ABCs and All of Me! letter song
(“He likes to lick lemon lollipops. L l /l/ /l/ /l/”).
The graph Below maps Gisselle's progress in "Letter Naming Fluency."
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*All names have been changed to protect the privacy of the students.
Excerpts from Melanie Herrmann's End of the Year Notes
Not only did the (initially) ‘at level’ or ‘above level’ children in my classes learn to read, but the ‘at risk’
children as well. I had 11 ESL children this year. There were also children with learning challenges such as
severe ADHD, auditory processing disorder, and language delay. These children progressed at a much greater rate
with a multi-sensory, developmentally appropriate approach to reading than my previous classes had with a
traditional (auditory, teacher directed) style.
In past years I was excited if the ‘at risk’ children had learned their letter names and sounds by the benchmark
assessment in May. But this year, most had mastered letter names and sounds by January and were ready to read.
(Why? The multi-modal approach! Traditional school instruction comes through auditory means, overlooking the needs
of 80% of children who are either visual or tactile/kinesthetic learners).
Now I was faced with the problem of what to read. I began using the early reading books stored in my classroom.
The children were initially excited about these books because, WOW, they were reading! All of them! But after
two weeks of “the tan cab fell in the big pit,” their enthusiasm dwindled. What now? I wanted reading to be
pleasurable while challenging the children to reach their potentials. So I created motivating, interactive, readers
that provided plenty of sight word and decoding practice, while engaging the children in reading. Motivation was
there because they were actually characters in their own stories. I tried to use a natural flow of language so the
books would “read as we speak,” thus strengthening fluency. The stories were based on the characters and/or activities
from our ABC letter song. The children were not intimidated or afraid of reading a page with multiple words because
they were already “friends” with the alligator, dragon, or elephant.
And what about the precocious children...the children who knew most of their letter names and sounds when they started school?
I hoped to make our reading program a pleasure for all.
There are so many ways for a child to grow and develop! With the ABCs and All of Me the children were able to
increase their large and fine motor skills, grow in confidence, and share thoughts and ideas with their
classmates. They improved their writing skills. They enjoyed classical music and fine art. In short, they
matured as “whole” children.
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Learn More About The ABCs and All of Me!
Visit these links:
Overview | How It Works |
Why It Works | Samples |
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