Have you ever tried to unlock a door with a hair pin, or use a knife to eat peas? It's frustrating! My students are often frustrated when given the task of playing instruments because we don't have the proper mallets for the instruments we have.
My students love music.
My students love singing, playing instruments, and musical games. My students also have very little time in music class, so every second counts. My school has a very high poverty rate and many of my students also struggle with the additional challenge of learning English. Musical activities like playing instruments are a universal experience that foster academic success while building personal confidence and community among even the most disenfranchised, low achieving students.
My Project
Every instrument in the elementary music classroom is used in an effort to foster musical literacy and to encourage creativity. Mallets provide differing types of sounds based on what they are made of. Soft mallets provide a smoother softer sound while hard mallets provide a more percussive sharp sound. Additionally, when matched with the proper instrument, mallets come in a variety of sizes to fit both the size of the instrument and the size of the child playing. In my classroom we only have hard wooden mallets that in the hands of beginners often damage instruments and sound harsh. Therefore I am requesting a variety of soft, medium mallets made out of rubber and yarn as well as a few hard yarn mallets for specific musical expressions and more advanced students.
The mallets will ensure that my students can play instruments more musically even as beginners.
Also, these mallets will increase the amount of time I can give to the study of instruments because the experience will be more enjoyable for everyone and less of a risk to our very expensive instruments.
Nearly all 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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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. McSpadden and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
