RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH
Copyright (c) 2001, Richmond Times-Dispatch
DATE: Monday, December 31, 2001
PAGE: B-2 EDITION: City
SECTION: Area/State
SOURCE: By Jamie C. Ruff
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer
DATELINE: FARMVILLE

TEACHING ENGLISH VIA MUSIC
NATIONAL GROUP HONORS LONGWOOD PROFESSOR'S PROJECT

Pat Lust sings the children's song "Ten Little Apples" and marvels at how much it has to offer anyone learning English. The song has the same pacing as the old song standard "Ten Little Indians" and, more important to Lust, a Longwood College music professor, ample opportunity for lessons in grammar. Changing the apples to various colors and replacing the apples with white swans, she gives examples of nouns and adjectives. Then, as she moves the apples in, over, and above the tree, she offers a lesson on prepositions.  Not to mention, she adds, that counting is a math lesson.  "It covers a vast amount of language learning," she said.  The lessons are often reinforced with dancing, art projects and drama and are the focal point of Lust's program, "Using Music to Teach English as a Foreign Language." The program is based on "the natural connections between language and music," incorporating the intelligence and learning theories of psychologist Howard Gardner and German musician and educator Carl Orff.  Gardner theorizes that there are multiple intelligences, including language, mathematical, spatial, musical, kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalist.  Combining those philosophies "along with my own inclinations" became the basis for her effort, Lust said.  To varying degrees the songs touch on the various intelligences, Lust said.  The lessons feature standard folk songs and children's songs such as "If you're happy and you know it" and "There's a hole in the bottom of the sea."  "Too often we segment things," she said.  "Too many people feel that language and physical activity are separated."   "Nothing is just music and language. Everything brings on something else."  In mid-November, Partners of the Americas presented one of two annual "Awards for Excellence" to Lust during its convention in Orlando, Fla. The excellence awards are presented each year to outstanding volunteer projects that "reflect innovation and resourcefulness at the international level."  Established in 1964 as part of the Alliance for Progress, Partners is one of the largest volunteer organizations promoting social and economic development in the Western Hemisphere. Partners has a variety of projects.  Many promote the arts and education. Others focus on public health issues such as AIDS research. Agricultural projects, such as improving milk production and growing sweet corn, continue to be an important part of the mission.  Lust developed the strategy in 1995 and has worked with teachers of English in several cities in Brazil. Santa Catarina and Virginia are paired for exchanges in Partners of the Americas, which links a state in the United States with a country or region in Latin America or the Caribbean.  Meanwhile, Lust is writing a textbook on her technique. "I want to get it all finished and get the book so that someone can pick it up and use it," she said.  Lust is expanding the program's activities and material to appeal to first-grade pupils in addition to the fifth-and sixth-graders targeted initially. She also has made connections in Italy to use the program with children there.  "It's great fun," Lust said. "There is a certain amount you can do with music even if you don't know any word being spoken."