Strumming It Up Together - Ukulele in the Music Room!
My students need 11 soprano ukuleles for our music classroom. As they learn to play, the ukuleles can be added to our other isntruments for classroom learning and school/community performance opportunities.
Our school is a Title I school in Humble ISD, Humble, Tx. Our school has a culturally and economically diverse population, with over 50 percent of our students receiving free and reduced lunch. We have approximately 550 students in our school from Pre K through 5th grades. Out of our population, all students grades Kindergarten through 5th attend music classes 1-2 times per week.
My students are clever and creative and love making music.
We sing, play the soprano recorder, and various percussion instruments on a regular basis. Each grade level performs a musical program for their families during the school year. We also have an after school 4th/5th grade choir that performs for our community and an after school bucket drumming group for 5th graders that participates in our district Fine Arts Festival.
Children crave expression! Music is the greatest way to express thoughts, feelings, and what we learn every day. My hope for all of my students is that they seek out making music when they leave our school. I teach them so that they have the skills and desire to go out on their own and seek opportunities to make music for years to come.
My Project
I am requesting 11 soprano ukuleles for my students to be used in the music classroom. Having this many ukuleles will make it possible for me to integrate ukulele playing with singing, as well as our use of soprano recorders and pitched and unpitched percussion instruments. Students can also work together in small groups to practice and help each other with skills they are learning.
The ukuleles will be used regularly in music class to help my students learn rhythm, pitch, basic chord structure, style, and musical expression.
Learning the ukulele at school is also a cost effective way for our students to learn a musical instrument that they can later purchase and continue perfecting at home. These instruments are inexpensive, easy to find and purchase and easy to maintain. Learning to play will be a life long skill that they can take with them throughtout their lives.
Later in the school year, students will have an opportunity to use the ukuleles to accompany their singing, recorder and percussion playing in their grade level spring performance. Families will have the opportunity to see their child thrive musically through the musical skills they have learned throughout the year. As they leave our school for middle school, they will have learned to play a wind instrument, various pitched/unpitched percussion instruments, and a stringed instrument. In particular, the ukulele can always continue to be a tool for them to accompany their own singing as they continue to learn and make music for years to come.
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 Mrs. McMaster and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
