Local Newswire Chicago Public Schools teacher Kickstarting ESL program through song

It can be difficult to make learning an interesting and interactive experience for students, especially as the world around them becomes much more visually and technologically centered. Chicago Public Schools teacher Matt Baron is trying to change the way students learn with an album of curriculum-based rock songs, and his Kickstarter campaign is helping him fund it.

Baron teaches elementary English as a Second Language (ESL) students, and he argues that the students not only love the music he’s created, but they also learn about grammar and pronunciation of the English language through songs like “Yellow Boat,” which focuses on teaching long “o” sounds.

The proposed album will feature musicians Emma Hospelhorn of Hollows and Ben Sutherland, an assistant professor at Columbia College. If all goes well, the album will be produced by Mark Greenberg, who has worked with fellow Chicago-based acts Wilco, Andrew Bird, and Mavis Staples.

The campaign lasts for 29 more days, but has only raised a little over half of the funds needed to produce the album. The campaign needs about $2,600 more until it’s officially funded. The project truly is a noble and local cause that, if funded, could reach thousands of children nationwide.