My students are energetic and creative. They love coming to music class twice a week. We're a Title 1 school with many musical opportunities. We have an after-school choir, an after-school world music drumming ensemble, band and orchestra. Almost every grade level performs in a special concert once a year.
Music gives my students a creative outlet during their day.
They are often in the driver's seat of their class. The students decide where to take a lesson and how to improve their musicianship as individuals or as a class. They have opportunities to try new things in a supportive atmosphere and can refine their musicianship in areas they feel they are strong.
My Project
We would love to add a baritone ukulele to our current set of classroom ukuleles. A baritone ukulele has a deeper sound that would be perfect to support the higher voices of the soprano ukuleles. Students who have taken guitar lessons can play the baritone ukulele very easily since the baritone ukulele strings are the same as the highest four strings on the guitar. We would also use this baritone ukulele to play the harmonic progressions of songs that we also play with recorders, xylophones and drums.
Ukuleles allow students to learn many musical concepts with one instrument.
Kindergarten and first grade students can sing many simple pentatonic folk songs while strumming the beat on one chord. Older students can sing and strum chords, learn to pick melodies, and create their own music with the skills they learn on these instruments. The lessons from the book Ukuleles on Board! will help the students learn all aspects of playing ukulele and will help my students now and for years to come.
More than half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
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. Lawrence and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
