I completed the recording of my first CD, American Family in the summer of 2005. This CD contains songs that introduce young learners to our American spirit, and culture. I have just finished my second CD, Try to Reach a Rainbow, songs for basic language development, and have already begun work on the third recording, Mother Goose Flew the Coop. Mother Goose will be a collection of songs and ‘raps’ based on common nursery rhymes and fairy tales. I take the traditional, give it a modern twist, and set it to music or rhythm. My kindergarteners and first graders especially love singing, chanting, giggling to, and performing these mixed up versions of familiar stories.

My plans for a fourth CD are to write songs about American heroes. Of course I already have a Martin Luther King and an Abraham Lincoln song, as well as a few others, but some of the historical figures that American youngsters grow up with are foreign to my second language learners. This will be a meaningful way to introduce famous Americans and emphasize character traits that made them ‘hero’ material, dual objectives to be achieved with this CD. I plan to reinforce the character aspect of these songs with classroom materials which will also be available on the website.