I teach music appreciation and vocal music students in grades 6-8. Our community is a diverse mix of students from a variety of backgrounds, but, overall, we are an inner-city school with extreme poverty and limited resources. Many of my students do not speak English at home. A full 80% qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. My students rarely leave their neighborhoods and have limited access to the world around them. Many are dealing with a lot of trauma in their personal lives and are forced to grow up far too quickly at home. I try to help everybody feel free of worries and stress through music-making and singing! My students work on having a positive growth mindset and making everyone feel safe and included. I strive to instill a lifelong love and appreciation of the fine arts through music-making, while also teaching skills like teamwork, confidence, creativity, and self-motivation. My students are just like any other middle school students, struggling with finding their place and their identity. But together in music, they can all feel like they belong!
My Project
This project will bring two sets of handbells and carrying cases to our music classroom. Right now our use of pitched instruments has been limited to Boomwackers. Even though my students love Boomwacker days, I don’t have enough for everyone to be playing at the same time and I’d like to “change it up” a little with something new and fun.
These handbells have numbers and pitch names on them and they color coordinate with the Boomwacker flash cards, songs, and other resources we are already using!
My students love to create compositions and perform them for each other. These handbell sets will ensure that every student can have an instrument and allow students to rotate between instruments more often during small group learning opportunities. More instruments means we can have smaller groups, which will make learning more efficient and ensure more active participation from all students.
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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. Rathe and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
