The cost of a Sonor Palisono Diatonic Tenor-Alto Xylophone from LMI Music is $795, including shipping and <a target="new" href="http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm" onclick="g_openWindow('http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm', 300, 800, 'fulfillwindow');return false;">fulfillment</a>.
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the national conference for the American Orff Shulwerk Association. (AOSA) This conference was an amazing experience where I experienced the possibilities of music and its ability to encourage critical thinking and creativity simultaneously. The opening session of this conference involved local elementary students performing their version of the migration of the Sandhill Crane through singing, movement, playing instruments, and speech. The beauty and purity of this performance brought tears to my eyes. It also inspired me to bring the tools and philosophies of AOSA back to my students to encourage their creativity and thinking through music.
Carl Orff is a composer and philosopher. His approach to teaching music to children is an open-ended one, relying on improvisation and the children's imaginations to create musical ideas. As music director, Orff was able to realize his ideas of improvised music played on drums, rattles, pitched percussion instruments and recorders. Gunild Keetman, an outstanding Guntherschule student, became Orff's collaborator in developing the elemental style of music. Orff Schulwerk is an approach to music teaching and learning, combined with and supported by movement, based on things children like to do: sing, chant rhymes, clap, dance, and keep a beat or play a rhythm on anything near at hand. Composer Carl Orff, originator of the approach, called this music and movement activity elemental, basic, unsophisticated, fundamental building blocks for music education. The purpose is to provide a means for awakening the potential in every child for being musical--able to understand and use music and movement as forms of expression. The further intent is to develop a foundation for lifelong enjoyment of music and movement/dance, and for some, the incentive for specialized individual study.
The philosophies of Carl Orff and Gunild Keetman are comprehensive and student-centered. I intend to bring activities to each of my pre-Kindergarten through fifth grade students to encourage their musical development and their ability for expression through music. Each year, all students at Poe Montessori share music with parents, teachers, and the community through grade-level performances. Students take ownership in their music making and gain a sense of empowerment by creating their own music and then sharing their creations with an audience in the Orff style.
We need the classroom tools to make music. Currently, our instrument inventory consists of old instruments in need of repair. While we are thankful of the instruments we do have, additional new instruments would extend the richness of sound in our music making. We are requesting an alto xylophone. This instrument will help add body and color to Poe student's daily music making as we prepare to share our creativity with parents, staff, and the community through performances.
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
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