The Best Sites (& Videos) For Learning about Jazz Chants

 by Larry Ferlazzo

Many teachers of English Language Learners have used “jazz chants” (originally developed by Carolyn Graham) in the classroom, and I thought I’d put together a quick list of useful related resources:

Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto has written an excellent blog post, including a video, sharing the process Graham uses to develop these chants.

Celebrating Twenty-Five Years Of Jazz Chants is an article from New York TESOL.

Here’s a video of Graham explaining jazz chants:

This comes from TEFL Videos:

Using Jazz Chants for Teaching Language Functions comes from The University of Delaware.

Chants for Enhancement Activities is a blog with…chants for ELLs.

Play It Again And Again, Sam is from NPR and, I think, may help explain why jazz chants are effective in language instruction.

Aeon Magazine has a similar piece on that research.

Jazz Chants can be a very effective instructional strategy with ELLs, and repetition has a lot to do with it. Here is a video from TED-Ed about why we like repetition:

Listen To (& Read) An ELL Classroom Chant About The Months Of The Year

Additional suggestions are welcome.