FunSongs Christmas Shows

Santa Claus visiting children at SE Garibaldi in Bologna

The last few weeks have been particularly busy with Christmas, European Union and Civiltà Quiz shows in three regions: Lombardy, Emilia Romagna and Tuscany. Our action songs "I Love Christmas" and "The Union Song" on which the shows are based have charmed and presented key vocabulary and language to another generation of young learners.

PuntoEdu Indire interest in the FunSongs approach

Last week Charles Goodger was again contacted by Italy's national teacher training organization Indire to produce a module on using action songs. His module which will explain how to make the most of a song for teaching purposes, should be available on the national teacher training site PuntoEdu soon.

FunSongs in Milan

Scott Bishop teaches "Robin Hood's Band"

Yesterday Charles Goodger and FunSongs actors, Scott Bishop and Amy Hough set off at 5 in the morning for Milan to present four FunSongs Christmas shows at a Primary school in Lainate just outside the city. After a meeting with a Lainate-based record company to organize the reprinting of the new FunSongs CD, Charles then travelled into the centre - to the British Council in Via Manzoni - to attend the annual ELT conference where he hosted a well attended workshop for Primary School teachers entitled "Songs in Action". There was considerable interest in the FunSongs method.

Imminent show dates include Christmas shows in Bologna and European shows for a large Scuola Media near Siena.

FSC - waiting for Zola Council

FunSongs is still waiting to hear from Zola Predosa council for approval of the Summer Camp project. We hope to receive an answer from Domenico Neto in the next few days.

FunSongs bulletin after Frascati shows

Final round of a Civiltà Quiz Show

Our FunSongs shows at the large Scuola Media (Tino Buazzelli) in Frascati were well received last week. Scott and Amy travelled down to Rome on Monday evening in time for a series of Autumn and Monster shows and Charles Goodger came down to Rome on Wednesday evening to host six FunSongs Civiltà Quiz Shows. Our thanks to Prof.ssa Daniela Rosati for organizing everything.


Italy's Ministry of Education and University Research,
Viale Trastevere, Rome

While in Rome Charles Goodger visited the MIUR to deliver a folder of FunSongs worksheets to Inspector Raffaele Sanzo. The Ministry is interested in the FunSongs Approach and will indirectly help us promote our material by mentioning it at workshops and conferences.

FunSongs Summer Camp

On Saturday 12 November Charles Goodger finally met up with the Director of Servizi alle Persone of Zola Predosa Council. There is definite interest in the project as part of the UISP Summer Camps. In the next few days Charles will submit a formal proposal to the Council which should approve it in the next few weeks.

Monster and Quiz shows in Frascati

FunSongs Monster Show

FunSongs in Frascati

After a successful start to the new season of FunSongs Shows in Liguria and Valle d'Aosta, we are now getting ready for a week of shows and workshops at Scuola Media Tino Buazzelli in Frascati, near Rome. Scott Bishop and Amy Hough will be driving down with the equipment on Monday evening to be joined by Charles Goodger for the last two days of shows on Thursday and Friday.

Sixty-five Million years Ago

A new action song based on the fascinating world of dinosaurs is reaching its final phase. We hope to be able to put up a sample of the song on www.funsongs.co.uk before long.

FunSongs in Liguria and Valle d'Aosta

Part of a worksheet from the
"Our Autumn Song" package

Scott Bishop and Amy Hough, our regular FunSongs Show actors have been presenting Halloween and Autumn shows in Liguria and Valle d'Aosta. This has been Amy's first tour and from all accounts she's been well received. Puppeteer, singer, choreographer and actor, Scott Bishop has built up invaluable expereince entertaining and educating thousands of children. This is his fourth year with FunSongs.

FunSongs Summer Camp - latest developments

Charles Goodger expects to reach a deal with Zola Predosa Council for next summer's two weeks of FunSongs fun straight after the school year. After a constructive meeting with President Casadio of UISP in Bologna a few days ago, there is hope the council will agree to part-finance the scheme. We shall see. . .

Genoa workshop

Tomorrow Charles Goodger will be at the British School in Genoa to host a workshop entitled "Songs in Action". The event is being sponsored by Cambridge ESOL to promote interest among Primary School teachers of English in its Young Learner qualifications.

Local start to new shows season

Scott Bishop teaching The Millennium Song during
the FunSongs Halloween Show

On Friday 21st October we started the new 2005-2006 season of FunSongs shows at Ceretolo Istituto Comprensivo near Bologna. The two shows were well received by both the children and teachers.
The school's new head Cesare Sarti who speaks good English, also came to see the start of the show. Stile di Bologna sent a TV cameraman to film the event.

Amy Hough and Scott Bishop are now in Albenga to present a series of Halloween shows. Arrigo Speziali of ACLE - Theatrino will come to see the shows at Villanova on Monday 23 October.
ACLE is keen to distribute FunSongs throughout Italy.

FunSongs Summer Camp - a hiatus

Unfortunately Domenico Netto of Zola Predosa Council appeared to forget a scheduled meeting with Charles Goodger last Saturday. Charles had wanted to present the results of last week's positive meeting with Sig. Casodio, Chairman of UISP and discuss finance. He will attempt to contact Sig. Netto again in the next few days.

FunSongs at Feltrinelli in Florence

Amy Hough presents the FunSongs CD

The prestigious downtown Florence branch of Italy's well-known bookshop chain Feltrinelli invited FunSongs to present the CD "Action Songs for Learning English" as part of a series of events for kids. Amy Hough and I took a train down from Bologna and had fun teaching a group of primary school children "Time to Play", "The Monster March", "Our Autumn Song and "On Halloween".
Feltrinelli were happy with the event - specially as all the families that came purchased the CD. This was Amy's very first FunSongs event - she was able to show she has a real way with kids.

FSC Casalecchio meeting

On Saturday Gloria Vannucchi and I met Elena Iacucci, assesore della cultura at Casalecchio di Reno council, one of the largest municipalities in Bologna Province outside the city itself. She was most encouraging and supportive and we'll get back to her soon with a specific request in the light of meetings with Zola Predosa Council and Presidente Casodio of UISP this week. Still no word from Stefano Rizzoli of Monte S. Pietro.

Ministry approval for FunSongs!

FunSongs Halloween Show with Benedict
Protheroe and Monica Paris

Yesterday I went to Rome to present the FunSongs on-line material to Inspector Raffaele Sanzo of Italy's Ministry of Education. He said it was highly valid and was particularly interested in its interdisciplinary characteristics - the combination of music, movement and language. He said he would mention FunSongs at presentations. He also gave me some advice about how to market the worksheets and song packages more effectively.

FunSongs Summer Camp - Casalecchio Support!

Today Gloria Vannucchi and I met with Casalecchio di Reno's Assessore della Cultura, Elena Iacucci. She was most responsive and guaranteed her municipality's support. I'm now waiting to hear from Stefano Rizzoli of Monte San Pietro Council. Next week I have meeting with Luigi Casodio, President of the Sports association UISP and Domenico Letto of Zola Predosa. With any luck we will soon have an agreement with the three councils and can start promoting the course.

Amy Hough, new FunSongs actress

Last night on a later train than mine, Amy Hough from Los Angeles, reached Bologna. She will be staying with us for a few days until she finds her own place to stay at in Bologna. We have already started rehearsing and I'm confident she'll do an excellent job. Tomorrow we leave for Florence to present the FunSongs CD at Feltrinelli bookshop. Scott Bishop is now back in Bologna and he will be rehearsing with Amy next week

Crucial time for FunSongs

Scott Bishop, Erin Glass and Charles Goodger
FunSongs Quiz Show, Chiari (BS)

The next few days hold the promise of exciting prospects for FunSongs and its profile in ELT. On Friday I have a meeting with Inspector Raffaele Sanzo of Italy's Ministry of Education in Rome to present the licence scheme. On Saturday there's a key meeting to discuss and hopefully launch the FunSongs Summer Camp 2006 with Casalecchio Municipality. On Sunday our new actress, Amy Hough will be debuting at a presentation at Feltrinelli Bookshop in downtown Florence. And then of course FunSongs Shows kick off with the first FunSongs Autumn-Halloween workshops in Ceretolo prior to the Liguria and Valle d'Aosta tours the following week.

U.I.S.P. and the Italo-Germanic Centre

Yesterday I received a call from the President of UISP, Sig. Casadio, to discuss working with this national sports and leisure time organization in the summer. Thanks to their kind head Frau Sabine, I also managed to secure an agreement with the Italo-Germanic Association in Strada Maggiore, Bologna to use their premises for show rehearsals and equipment storage.

Amy and Scott

We're all looking forward to welcoming Amy and seeing Scott Bishop again. It looks like this school year will be as busy for them as it'll be crucial for FunSongs itself! I was glad to receive an email from Erin Glass who worked with us last school year. She's now back in California completing her studies. I'm sure Itty misses her touch!

A.N.I.L.S. Conference in Cento

Prof. Paolo Balboni

The ANILS (Associazione Italiana di Insegnanti di Lingue Straniere) Conference at Cento suffered because of very bad weather. More people would have come if it hadn't rained. However the FunSongs Workshop which included a lively and highly responsive class of 22 primary school children was appreciated. I taught "On Halloween" and hosted a session "Songs in Action" later in the day.
There were many interesing people at the event including Paolo Balboni from Cà Foscari University in Venice. He gave a provocative talk on the close connection between language and culture. I also made several new contacts including Dott.ssa Lucia Cucciarelli. She runs a project called "Studi Sociale e cooperazione europea." Marika Triola was also there to present her "Baby CLIL" which includes several references to the FunSongs Approach.

FunSongs Summer Camp

I'm now waiting for confirmation from Zola Predosa Council for a meeting on Saturday 15th October which I hope to attend with Antonella Gasparini. That same morning I have another meeting with Casalecchio Council and Teacher Gloria Vannucchi. I'm still waiting to hear from Monte San Pietro.

FunSongs shows

Every day last week there were inquiries and bookings for FunSongs Shows. We're all looking forward to welcoming the new actress Amy Hough who should be arriving in time for the Fetrinelli Bookshop presentation in Florence next Sunday.

FSC - Contact with Monte San Pietro

Parco dei Gessi between Monte San Pietro and Zola Predosa

Contact with Calderino
We have now made contact with all three municipalities involved in the FunSongs Summer Camp project: Zola Predosa, Casalecchio and Monte San Piuetro, often called Calderino. On Friday I tried to reach Stefano Rizzoli of Monte San Pietro Council after English teacher Rossella Gualandi forwarded me his name. I didn't manage to speak to him but got through to a helpful lady called Monica Santandrea.

FunSongs Promotional Drive
The weekend was spent preparing leaflets and updating the database for the FunSongs promotional drive. This essentially means sending out hundreds of leaflets publicizing the shows.

Sixty-Five Million Years Ago
The new action song about dinosaurs is now complete. It needed a final verse:

Sharp white teeth
In colossal jaws
You moved around
On your three-toe claws

I hope to be able to record it before the ANILS conference on 7th October.

Poised for success!

Actress and musician Amy Hough

TESOL Conference

The Rome TESOL Conference was an opportunity to meet people and discuss projects. I made contact with Inspector Raffaele Sanzo of the Italian Ministry of Education. He specializes in English tuition in Primary Schools and invited me to Rome on 6th October to present the FunSongs License material. I also renewed talks with Arrigo Speziali ands Raffaele Nasti of ACLE Teatrino but we weren't able to reach a satisfactory agreement about distributing or licensing FunSongs Shows. Lingue Senza Frontiere, another theatre group expressed interest in using some of our songs in their own shows.
I met many teachers, publishers and people in education I already knew and got the impression FunSongs is now an established name in the field. My session was well attended and people appreciated the new action song about dinosaurs "Sixty-Five Million Years Ago".

Amy Hough

Amy Hough from Los Angeles will be presenting FunSongs Shows with Scott Bishop this school year. She should be arriving in Bologna mid October. The first scheduled FunSongs shows are on Friday 21st October in Ceretolo near Bologna.

FunSongs Summer Camp

I received an email from Rossella Gualandi with details of the people to contact in Monte San Pietro. The meeting with Elena Iacucci of Casalecchio was rescheduled for Saturday 15th October and by then I hope to have a definitive answer from Zola Predosa.

Shows and material

Requests and queries about shows and material have been steady all week. Only definite bookings appear on the FunSongs Show website calendar page.

Update on eve of Rome TESOL Conference

FunSongs Monster Show


Update on the eve of TESOL 2005

Yesterday Gloria Vannucchi and I met Francesco Giacomini of Zola Predosa. He seemed interested in the FunSongs Summer Camp. However he mentioned the Council's ongoing contract with the UISP Association for Summer activities and said it may be necessary to reach an agreement with them. He agreed to contact us soon after consulting with other people in the Council.
Tomorrow (or rather today - it's late!) I leave for Rome and the National TESOL conference. Before leaving I hope to be able to record a draft version of the new "65 Million Years Old" action song to present during my session.
This afternoon I delivered several hundred FunSongs Licence and Show flyers to FunSongs distributors Spaggiari Spa in Parma to help with the promotion. This evening I called Scott Bishop now back in Los Angeles. He's well and looking forward to returning to Italy in October for the shows. Yesterday I received confirmation of two more licence renewals (Gazzaniga and Nembro in Bergamo Province) and bookings for shows in Aosta.
Yestreday afternoon the Florence Branch of the book shop Feltrinelli called to ask FunSongs to organize a presentation of the FunSongs CD on 16th October. Could be worthwhile!

The days ahead

Zola Predosa Council Offices

Official Summer Camp meetings scheduled

In the next few days FunSongs has two important meetings fixed with Zola Predosa and Casalecchio local government officials. On Tuesday 20th September at 5.30 pm I have a meeting with Elena Iaccuci, Assessore della Cultura of Casalecchio and then the next morning with Francesco Giacomini in his office in the big building depicted above. I hope Antonella Gasparini and Gloria Vannucchi (and Rossella Gualandi of Monte S. Pietro too if she has time) will be able to attend. The aim is to lay the basis for the first FunSongs Summer Camp, scheduled for June 2006.

Licence and shows news

Requests for FunSongs shows are picking up. The promotional campaign with the new leaflets will help.
Yesterday Preside Perani of Gazzaniga Istituto Comprensivo in Bergamo Province verbally confirmed renewal of their FunSongs licence for the 2005 and 2006 and also expressed interest in doing shows again. This is a good moment to announce the arrival of a new action song package Words for Time, Time for Words

On Friday and Saturday next week in Rome the annual national TESOL conference for English teachers takes place and I hope to make more contacts and incite further interest in FunSongs there. My session will take place on Saturday afternoon.

Mid September Update

New logo






FunSongs Summer Camp - developments

After Monday's meeting with Sig.ra Melchiorri at Zola Predosa Council, I met up with Gloria Vannucchi on Wednesday and we visited the Falcone Centre in Riale, possible venue for the FunSongs Summer Camp. I also showed Gloria the new action song about dinosaurs "65 million years ago." The next day Sig.ra Melchiorri called to say we'd be dealing with Francesco Giacomini, the councillor who handles external relations with the schools and I'm waiting for him to contact me.
Yesterday I had a meeting with Davide Montanari of Casalecchio and also saw Roberto Mignani, the Deputy Mayor. He kindly introduced me to Elena Iacucci, Casalecchio's assessore per la Cultura and we scheduled a meeting for next Tuesday. I hope to have heard from Sig. Giacomini of Zola Predosa before then.

Shows and Licences

SDB have now completed the art work for the two promotional leaflets and they are now at the printers. The new FunSongs logos are ready too. The promo flyers should be ready for the TESOL conference in Rome which I'll be leaving for Thursday. Today I got confirmation for the shows in Albenga and Valle d'Aosta. I have a number of appointments with schools to discuss the licence. Spaggiari told me yesterday they'd be pushing the scheme at an E-learning conference in Genoa.

Conferences

This week also saw further requests for workshops and conference talks. These include the ANILS conference at Cento in October and a workshop in Genoa sponsored by the Britsh School and Cambridge ESOL. I was also invited to speak at a conference in Chiari and organize two days of action song theatre workshops in Aosta in February.

FunSongs Summer Camp 2006

Kids at a FunSongs Show

This afternoon I met with the FunSongs Summer Camp Committee (local teachers Antonella Gasparini, Gloria Vannucchi Rossella Gualandi) and the "Assessore della Cultura" Marilena Melchiorri of Zola Predosa Council to discuss the FunSongs Summer Camp. The idea is to provide local kids with a one or two-week full-immersion English language experience (using the FunSongs Approach)after the end of the school year. Sig.ra Melchiorri was most interested in the project and offered us her support. She will also help me to contact the right people in the neighbouring villages of Monte San Pietro and Casalecchio.
Linda Edwards of PET Brescia called to invite me to speak at a language teachers conference on October 20th. The event is sponsored by local educational pubslishers La Scuola .
Today we received a copy of the lastest issue of ET Professional containing my article "Songs in Action".
Thanks to the kind help of English teacher Carla Moretti of Milan's largest Scuola Media "Divona-Speri" I finally managed to complete the FunSongs Quiz Show leaflet and sent it off to SDB to get the graphics checked prior to printing.

John Grisham at Bologna University

VIP day

Today I met John Grisham and Romano Prodi at two separate events. The American writer was at Bologna University to mark the Italian launch of his thriller "The Broker" set in the streets of Bologna. After his public interview I somehow managed to approach him and ask him to sign my copy of the book which ex-FunSongs performer Jeff Canada had very kindly given me just before he left Bologna in July; that evening I exchanged a few words with Romano Prodi in a beer tent after his interview at the Festa dell'Unità. I was highly impressed with both men - John Grisham (the world's best-selling writer before Harry Potter came along!) was charming and witty, Prodi intelligent and credible.

Romano Prodi at Festa dell'Unita, Bologna 9th September 2005

Rome shows?

I met up with Andrea Arnsten-Harris from Seattle after she emailed FunSongs interested in working as a show performer. I liked her. Very musical and with experience both as an actress and working with kids. I told her we'd get back to her for auditions in October.


Andrea Arnsten-Harris

In the late afternoon, English teacher Marzia Catalana from Rome's 105th Circolo called to ask about shows. She'd been at a high-profile Tesol presentation I did with Scott and Megan Bishop at the Centro Americano in Rome some time ago. I told her we'd need to have at least six shows booked to be able to come.

Show bookings and licence requests

Interest is picking up in shows and licences. Yesterday a school in Albenga ordered a licence and also confirmed two days of shows on 24th and 25th October. Today Zola Predosa again reconfirmed renewal of the FunSongs licence for the 2005-2006 year.
On a less positive note we were still unable to find out about an unpaid invoice dating back to January 2005 for the sale of 80 CDs. Fortunately I now have a lawyer lined up in Milan - Avv. Mangiarotti - and won't hesitate to take legal action to secure payment if the situation remains stalled. Finally after the presentation at UCSB I received a mail from Andrea Arnsten-Harris who's studying at Chicago University. She's most interested in auditioning as a FunSongs performer.

CRT Mestre - Teacher workshop

The event was well attended and appreciated. The twenty teachers participating were there as part of a teacher training course organized by Annavaleria Guezzieri on behalf of IRRSAE Veneto. These teachers are working to achieve a high enough level (B2) to be able to teach English at Primary School along with standard subjects such as Italian and Maths. Carla from Associazione Morelli came along too.

FunSongs workshop with Charles Goodger

Mestre workshop

Tomorrow all going well FunSongs will be holding a workshop for Primary school teachers. It will take place at Liceo Stefanini, Mestre and has been organized by Annavaleria Guazzieri whom Charles met at a Tesol conference two years ago.

FunSongsNews early September

FunSongs is back at work getting ready for the new school year. Yesterday Charles Goodger met up with Sandro Morando of SDB and his partners to discuss the new Licence and FunSongs Show leaflet. It should be ready to go into print next week. Later in the day Goodger spoke to Davide Montanari of Casalecchio Library and arranged a meeting to fix shows for January and February 2006. He also spoke to Arrigo Speziali of ACLE/Theatrino about working together and they agreed to update at the 25th September TESOL Rome conference.
The Bologna office of UCLA and Indiana University are again interested in FunSongs Show opportunities for their students. Scott Bishop was in Bologna but is about to leave for Paris and will return in two weeks.

Still working in mid-August!

Practically everyone is on holiday but FunSongs is still at work - this time on the new "Words for Time" package. The aim is to have it live on our site in time for Rome TESOL at the end of September. New worksheets are also on their way for the "Union Song" package.

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