From a young age, Zach Ladin developed a liking for music and the outdoors. Ladin’s love and gratitude to all things natural and his musical talent come together in the music he writes and performs. Many of his songs are written to help children understand the beauty and value of nature. In the folk song Localvore, in which we hear the sounds of the banjo and the bandolin, Zach sings about appreciating locally grown food. Localvore, part of the larger project called Nature Jams, is about supporting local foods, businesses, and ultimately our communities and people. In a rapidly changing world, Ladin calls on individuals to have a huge role in reducing their impact on the environment by supporting the growing “local” movement.

Lyrics and Classroom Activities
Do you want to use this song in your classroom? Here are the lyrics and classroom activities to get started.

In this song, hip-hop singer, humanitarian, motivational speaker and entrepreneur Chen Lo makes an appeal for peace in the world.  As is typical of many hip-hop/rap songs, this song not only criticizes and describes an unfortunate state of affairs, but also puts forward a call for change. As our world experiences wars, global warming, injustice, inequality and growing individualism, Chen Lo calls on all of us to stand together and build a world in which each person can have their peace of mind.

Chen Lo not only sings for change, but also puts it into practice himself: the singer is very much dedicated to community work and uses hip-hop as a means of educating young people in his native Brooklyn, New York. Chen Lo has also taken part in the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs program The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad, performing in Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

The possibilities for drawing activities with English language learners are endless. Drawing can be done with very few materials and can be used to enhance a wide range of classroom topics, themes, or subjects. Drawing can reinforce vocabulary, provide practice for grammatical structures, and can offer a creative impetus for meaningful language use in oral conversation practice.

This section contains six lesson plans focusing on the simple present, simple past, information questions, imperatives, and prepositions of location focusing on beginner to intermediate proficiency levels. 

A Podcast from Voice of America Podcasts in Special English. Learn English as you read and listen to a weekly show about education, including study in the U.S. Stories are written at the intermediate and upper-beginner level and are read one-third slower than regular VOA English.