I service the budding, little Mozartians from preschool age to 6th grade at two schools. As their music teacher, I'm always figuring out ways to lead them through "the mystery of music class” with joy full of surprises. Our students become fluent in Singlish as they enter the wondrous land of Sing-a-Lore each day. They come away dancing, singing, and moving to music comprehending the phrasing, structure, and timing behind it. They explore the textures of sound while learning the symbols, style, and art behind it. Their beat work causes their minds to expand, and their focus to increase while feeling its elements. They learn to incorporate all kinds of subjects from literature, spelling, math, history, and science while enjoying the beauty of the arts surrounding them.
My Project
The body is like a big ear... It's as simple as that! Hearing is a form of touch. You feel it through your body, and sometimes it almost hits your face!" This quote, by world renowned Evelyn Glennie, is profound considering she also happens to be deaf. I would like to set up an opportunity for students to distinguish vibrations by tapping into Evelyn's concept of "listening" (TED talk). This is patterned after the award-winning "Science of Music" DonorsChoose.org project where amplitude of sound waves were tested and visually rendered. Through feeling the vibration emitted from keyboards, drums, xylophones, and glockenspiels students will evaluate if the pitches affect specific parts of their body. They will test the velocity created by low and high pitched frequencies and experience the way sound waves harmonize or clash between intervals on keyboards, distinguish the strikes on drums v. differing types of xylophones (including glockenspiels), and develop patience and quick response time through sensitivity to sound wave properties.
"I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the key to learning." Plato
We will meet as a training lab for those interested in becoming better musicians and therapists. Students will close their eyes as they experience feeling certain frequencies on each of the instruments, then trace on paper the way those strikes of the glockenspiels look to them. They would then compare/contrast, discovering relationships in the way sound frequencies collide with their body, or make them react. We would see if certain resonances from each instrument reach the body in specific locations. Lastly, we would look at the possible healing properties associated with each to see if certain tones or varying mallet strikes from the instruments affect specific parts of the body.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
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. Coleman and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
