This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
The students at my school come from low-income environments but are quick to pick-up on and use any materials we can provide them. I want to provide some materials for them to use at home to supplement the enrichment activities I'm creating for them.
Our students love to create.
The virtual start to this year makes it difficult to provide the same opportunities they would get in a setting where materials are more readily available to them without requiring monetary support from their families that may not be possible right now.
My Project
The items in this project will be the start of an individual music kit for my K-2 students. Each student will receive a bag containing a plastic egg shaker (filled with BB's and secured shut with strong duct tape), pipe cleaners as a manipulative to create music shapes, and wood sticks to "play" rhythms. My school will be using Seesaw to start our year. While Seesaw allows students to "manipulate" objects on the screen, a hands-on, physical implement will give the students a better grasp of the concept. With these instruments at home, students will be able to record themselves using the materials provided to complete musical tasks, i.e. "Listen to this song and keep the rhythm with your eggs!"
Whether we stay virtual or come back to in-person learning, these kits will belong to each student and provide them their own instruments at no cost to them.
My school did not have a music class prior to my arrival last year and one of my biggest regrets was not being able to give every student an instrument to explore during class and relying almost entirely on singing and some movement. Individual kits will go a long way to bridging this gap in and out of our classroom.
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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 Mr. Ham and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
