Who says music literacy isn't as important as reading and writing? With the use of Xylophones and Glockenspiels, and the training I have received at Orff worksheets, the students at my school will be able to read music in 1st grade. 2nd graders will be able to read melody and harmony at the same time. 3rd graders will be able to read melody and harmony at the same time as well as difficult rhythms such as dotted quarter eighth notes/rest rhythms without previous example. 4th and 5th graders are taught by another music teacher, but I am sure he would put these instruments to great use with them as well. We both agree that reading music is a challenging yet important goal we have for all of our students, k-6.
The obstacles at our school are that our students have never been able to play instruments of this caliber before. Unfortunately, our budget will not allow for the expenses of these great caliber instruments. Of course it is wonderful for them to play the small hand drums, tambourines, triangles, and sticks, but when they see a beautiful Xylophone or Glockenspiel, they begin to have a new respect for musical instruments. They realize that they are not toys and love to hear the sounds that they can create while playing these instruments. It is a treat to watch a student want to play these instruments every time they come to class for two reasons. The first being that they are excited about playing a musical instrument at such a young age. The second being that they are learning not only how to play and treat an instrument but also how to read music. This becomes a kinesthetic towards learning how to play/read music because they are physically doing something as their minds follow the melodies and harmonies depending on their age group. They are putting their thoughts into action and this is how they learn best!
The resources we need are one Soprano Xylophone and 2 Soprano Glockenspiels. The students need at least one of the Xylophones so they can begin to play on an instrument of great caliber. They should also be able to hear the difference between a Xylophone and Glockenspiel. This enables the students to read music and percussion symbols from treble and bass clefs at a young age. It also enables listening skills as well as a desire to play both instruments because they sound different. This will benefit my students to the effect that they will be able to read music when it comes time to choose an extra-curricular. My hope is that they will choose band or choir and be able to go in strong, reading music better than any of the students before them! This also will help them with hand eye coordination if they choose to go into an athletic extra-curricular activity. I know that having these instruments will enrich the learning process for music class.
You can be the one who enriches my students lives' by providing them a few basic instruments that they otherwise would never have the opportunity to learn or enjoy.
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