Learning by note

Christine Carrillo

Their voices rose in partial unison as they sang -- “We the people of

the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish

justice, insure domestic tranquillity ...” -- the preamble to the

United States Constitution.

Singing about promoting the general welfare of the country and

securing the blessings of liberty and posterity, kindergarteners at

Woodland Elementary School enthusiastically took on the challenges of

American history Friday.

From singing the preamble to singing songs that teach them about

the geography of the states, the 5- and 6-year-olds learn how to rely

on the music and lyrics to remember challenging lessons.

“You have a greater percentage of them learning when you put

[lessons] to a song,” said Kristin Battaglia, who has taught

kindergarten for five years. “It goes to their brains and their

hearts.”

Students in Battaglia’s class learn nearly every lesson with a

song.

“I think it’s important to learn about singing in case you want to

be a teacher when you grow up,” 5-year-old Stephanie Jones said.

They began their geography lesson with “The Northern Border of the

United States” song. The students, each of whom sat in a designated

square on the rug, sang their way across America from Washington to

Maine before getting a pop quiz from their teacher.

Anxious to show off their memorization and hoping for another

sticker to show off their accomplishments, the students threw up

their hands hoping to be called.

Although a few students got some of the pronunciations and

locations confused, each of them expressed an interest and a desire

to learn about their country.

“You’ve got to have high expectations ... and you can’t expect

anything less,” Battaglia said. “These are very big concepts that

they’re understanding at a 5- and 6-year-old level. They’re much more

sophisticated than people give them credit for, but they are still

kids.”

* IN THE CLASSROOM is a weekly feature in which Daily Pilot

education writer Christine Carrillo visits a campus in the

Newport-Mesa area and writes about her experience.