We all know children need to be more active, but besides the physical benefits of being active, there are many academic and social benefits to being active. True magic happens in the music room when you put a movement prop into a student's hand.
I teach music to 425 students in grades PreK-5.
We are a small, rural elementary school with approximately 25% minority students. Like many school districts, money is tight. Fortunately, the school and community are supportive of our music program and have worked hard to prevent budget cuts that would impact students' musical learning. While we have been able to maintain music programming, the budgets for materials has been drastically cut.
My Project
The tennis balls, parachutes, and rhythm sticks and a Koosh ball will all be used to create and perform routines to music. The routines will strengthen students' competency in keeping a beat, reading and performing rhythms, expression, and understanding musical form. An added bonus to using these items is that they are just plain fun.
According to Elliot and Sanders, “In addition to the health benefits of physical activity, movement is an integral part of the young child’s life and education, for it is through movement that children develop social, emotional and cognitive skills. For young children, movement is a critical means of communication, expression and learning. It is imperative that classroom teachers give children as many opportunities as possible to be physically active and to learn through movement.” (E. Elliot & S. Sanders, 2005)
Music and movement should go hand-in-hand in an elementary music classroom.
Students who are allowed to be active throughout the day will be less fidgety, more focused and be able to concentrate for longer periods of time. This benefit will extend from music class into other area of their academic day.
These materials will be used by students at all grade levels and we will be able to use them for many years to come.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Jahn and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
