Help me give my students a Bass Xylophone to add to our Orff instrument collection. My students need this low bass xylophone to help them to develop a strong sense of pitch and steady beat.
Each day as I walk to work and say good morning to the many students and families in the community I realize what a special place my school is. As our school enters its 11th year as an early childhood school (Pre-K – 3) our school is the first one many of our students have ever gone to and their first experiences with formal learning take place within our walls.
We serve a very high number of English Language Learners (ELLs) in the most diverse borough of New York City, Queens, where most students speak a language other than English at home.
As a Title 1 school, we are also charged with serving a high-poverty community with 69% of our students are eligible for free or reduced lunch.
As an ESL and Music teacher serving a linguistically and culturally diverse community of learners, I strive to help students find their own voice. As they learn a new language, my students learn to use their voices and bodies to express themselves in the music room. These young students are naturally active and ready to explore their world around them. I am anxious to help them share their thoughts and feelings musically.
My Project
For the past three summers, I have spent time training in the Orff Schulwerk method of music education because I think that my students should know that they are music MAKERS and CREATORS. As a Level III Orff Schulwerk certified teacher, I have been able to explore how improvisation and creation are at the core of an active learning music classroom.
The bass xylophone is one of the most important tools for helping students to learn to improvise and create their own music.
Students can hear the music better with the low tones of the bass xylophone and the large keys of the instrument are easy for small hands to learn to play. With another bass xylophone in my music classroom, I can get more students to play this instrument and get more students making music together.
This year my students explored poetry and literature and added their own melodies by exploring pitch anchored in the bass xylophone. This exciting work helped them find their own ways of expressing their thinking in a musical way and got us all anxious for more experiences with improvisation and composition in the future.
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