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Educational Production and Consulting

 

I like Sunny Days, Fun Songs, Mother Goose, Animal Parade, and ABCs and 123s were created to provide teachers and parents with a way to help children have fun while they practice some very basic skills. Although the activites on the CDs are most appropriate for children in the ability range of 2 to 5 years, other children will also enjoy the songs.

  Music For Zoo-phonics

Soundpiper wrote the music and lyrics for Zoo-phonics. The Zoo-Music Collection On CD and a digital download of "Music That Teaches" is available under the Zoo-phonics Music and Games. The CD includes “We Are Zoo-phonics Kids,” “Zoo-robics” and “The Jump Rope Rap,” plus “Queeny & Umber Quality Friends” (story and music) bonus track. Also includes an extra play of “Come Meet Us At the Zoo” and complete booklet of lyrics. We also wrote the Spanish version that teaches the sounds of the Spanish alphabet through songs and stories. Songs include Zoo-phonics M'agico Los Animales son mis Amigos, RAP Suena Asi y se, Hace Asi, Cuentos Acento Ortogr'afico and many more.

CD Rom Game For Zoo-phonics

Zoo-phonics developed Read and Spell in conjunction with VTech. Zoo-phonics was developed by two teachers and an illustrator with an accent on reinforcement through the multi-modal approach. Carla Piper and Janne Bradshaw recorded all of the music and sound effects for this curriculum-based reading and spelling software program that teaches reading, spelling and writing. The CD-Rom is no longer available.  However, you can locate music, games , and digital media on the Zoo-phonics products website.

Zoo-phonics MP3 narrated story and music for read-a-longs

We wrote music and songs for nine Zoo-phonics read-a-long stories – Circle of Five, Bossy Ellie Learns a Lesson, Help for Aunt Claire, Break in the Beaver Dam, No Room for Lies, Moat Mates Save the Day, In Pursuit of the Perfect Suit, Silent Treatment at the Zoo, and All Soft Inside. (no longer available for download, but some are still available on the Zoo-phonics website)

ClipBoard (Archived)

ClipBoard was developed by Soundpiper as a comprehensive electronic teacher portfolio system designed to guide the professional development of early childhood educators. ClipBoard was originally a component of two grants sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education as a part of No Child Left Behind.  CAL-NET, incorporated ClipBoard as a professional teacher self-assessment tool, allowing teachers to collect artifacts that document teaching competencies aligned with national and state standards for early childhood educators. Teachers submitted artifacts that focus on Early Reading First instructional skills in early literacy and numeracy, as well as meet academic standards for young children in all subject areas. Teachers designed showcases aligned with professional standards of excellence. As teachers collected artifacts and designed showcases, they reflected on their teaching practice. Showcases may be published for public exhibition and shared with the professional community. ClipBoard is no longer available, but the research resulting from this portfolio process continues to guide digital portfolio assessment for the educational community.

Teachport (Archived)

TeachPort served as a comprehensive electronic teacher portfolio system designed to guide the professional development of California K-12 teachers and teacher candidates. TeachPort allows teachers to collect, organize, and submit evidence of their competencies in meeting the California Teacher Performance Expectations (TPE). Teachers used TeachPort as a tool for self assessment and reflection. Teachers collected artifacts and created showcases to document teaching competencies aligned with the preliminary and professional clear California Standards for the Teaching Profession as well as the state and national educational technology standards. As teachers collect artifacts and design showcases, they reflect on their teaching practice. Showcases could be published for public exhibition and shared with the professional community.

CAL-NET - Archived

CAL-NET was an early childhood professional development grant sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education as a part of No Child Left Behind and Early Reading First.  The project abstract states: "The Rural California Early Childhood Education Professional Development Program (CAL-NET) is a research-based, model program that provides sustained, intensive professional development to over 500 early childhood educators serving in 250 early childhood programs located in nine rural California counties." The focus of this two-year grant was to develop coursework and teacher training in early literacy and numeracy.  Dr. Carla Piper served as a university consultant for this grant, creating coursework, conducting workshops and teacher training, and coordinating professional development activities with institutions of higher learning.  Carla and Janne Bradshaw created this website to document CAL-NET activities.

Music and Artwork for Character Connection

Carla Piper and Janne Bradshaw wrote these songs and raps for letter and sound recognition and counting.  The original purpose of this CD was to provide tools for parents as they help their children learn letter sounds and symbols, identify letter shapes, and count to 30 and 100.  Reproducible 8 1/2x11 or 11x14 letter and number posters, flash cards, and letter wall cards were made available as free downloads on the Soundpiper website.  Originally, the CDs and letter/number grids were used as "parent homework" as a part of Character Connection, a local Modesto character education program. The CDs are available to order. Contact us! Click here for free artwork downloads.

Urban Dreams - No Longer Active

The Urban Dreams Project was a U.S. Department of Education technology challenge innovation grant with the Oakland, California public high schools.  Dr. Carla Piper served on the evaluation team and created this website to document the project activities including professional development in the use of technology in English and History classrooms. A supplemental grant provided digital video equipment and training for teachers and students in the use of digital video technologies.  Carla Piper and Janne Bradshaw conducted video case studies with teachers and students in the Urban Dreams Project The original Urban Dreams Project web, including the video case studies is archived on the Oakland Public Schools Urban Dreams Project website.

Sesame Street

Check out Fairy Alphabet. Carla wrote and performed this alphabet song for Sesame Street. It is now a favourite on YouTube. Another production for Sesame Street was Simple Simon. Carla incorporated her love for Renaissance music into these two projects. The CQE course series provides formal instruction and training to pre-school caregivers and teachers through a combination of online coursework, workshops, seminars, and center-based fieldwork.

Early Childhood Education Courses - Archived

The Center for Quality Education (CQE) is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving education for the 21st century. CQE provides a series of courses that will prepare teachers in a preschool classroom or state-approved child development center. The early childhood education curriculum was designed to meet the requirements for the Child Development Associates (CDA) national credential. The CQE course series provided formal instruction and training to pre-school caregivers and teachers through a combination of online coursework, workshops, seminars, and center-based fieldwork. The formal coursework included 180 hours of education in child development. Courses were designed to meet the CDA competency standards. (No Longer Available)

Carla's Resume

Click here for Carla Piper's resume.