The cost of music materials are $599, 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>.
One of my goals as a classroom teacher is to share the joy of music with my students. Although I am not a music teacher as such, I have given regular guitar lessons to 5th graders and led the school's choir for the last several years. Actually, we have no school choir. It is my class that becomes the school choir by default because it is the only class that sings and performs.
I have taught 5th grade for the last 10 years in a K-5 school. The school is located in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, where many students walk to school from nearby tenements. Over 79% of students receive free breakfast and lunch. Many students are immigrants from Hong Kong, India, Yemen, Mexico and Iraq and therefore, learning English is a top priority.
For the last several years, I have formalized music instruction on a daily basis so as to maximize students' learning of both oral and reading English using music lyrics, and to create an appreciation for and a joy of music through singing. Last year, for example, students learned over 23 songs from the Rodgers and Hammerstein repertory. We shared our songs in 2 formal performances for parents, friends, community helpers and student body.
In this new school year of 2005-06, I anticipate about 45-50 students making up our choir. This means that 45-50 students will receive more practice in oral and reading English, and learn songs they have probably never heard of because we will be learning songs from the 1960s in the form of rock and roll, highlighting the music of Elvis, the Beatles, Motown, the Beach Boys and other groups. To be sure, I view this as a challenge both instructionally and musically in terms of the students' learning the lyrics and melodies. The payoff, however, will be higher test scores in English and reading, the learning of new songs from history (they need to know that there were great groups and songs from the past that have stood the test of time), an appreciation of music, and an increase in self esteem as they perform in a culminating concert
before their parents and peers in May 2006.
These are my goals for my music program. The supplies I would like are music song books and specific music cds by the artists we are featuring. The breadth and depth of the cds and
songbooks will allow for their future usage with future students as well, and will be shared with teachers who are interested in music and song.Thank you for your interest.
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