Do you remember you or your child playing a hard-plastic recorder in 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade with frequent squeaks and squawks? That has to stop! I want three class-sets of 21st-century recorders designed for mellow tone and ease of use so 250 students a year can feel success playing the recorder.
Our 500-student school is on a beautiful green island in the Pacific Northwest.
We have eager K-5 students supported by involved working parents. Half are in active-duty military families and 62% qualify for free or reduced rate lunch, a percentage which makes the school the least affluent in the district and on the island. It's not always possible for every child to have their own recorder and bring it twice a week to music; the obvious solution is sufficient class sets that stay in the music classroom so each student has an assigned recorder used by no other individual during the three months of their grade's recorder learning unit. What do I want? Nuvo black-and-gray ABS resin recorders with a sleek, thoroughly modern look!
My Project
Three classes of fourth graders will get to use these recorder sets this fall learning and preparing for our city's outdoor Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony in early December. After Winter Break, the freshly washed recorders will pass to the third-grade classes for their first experience playing an instrument and learning to read music. After Spring Break, fifth graders will use them in an integrated music writing and performance unit preparing them for secondary school music experiences. No matter what the learning focus or grade, the availability of 90 well-designed instruments will maximize learning time and allow every student to succeed. In subsequent years, the process will be repeated without the worry of who does or does not have their personal instrument to play on any given day or which recorders have broken parts.
Engaged teaching, interactive Smart Board instruction methods, and a focus on every child's success make recorder units a plus in intermediate music.
What we're missing now are adequate instruments. I'm impressed with the Nuvo recorder and want it for all of my students. I don't want family moves, low funds, or forgetfulness to reduce a child's chance of success. I want a recorder for every intermediate student every day! Please help us reach that goal with your donation for Fall 2015.
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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 Ms. G. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.