Our students come from all over the world. Our school has one of the most ethnically, diverse, student bodies in the district. Numbering nearly 400 students, many receive free lunch. Languages represented at our school include Spanish, Tagalog, Arabic, Hindi and Vietnamese, among others. Many students are from first generation families, some are newly arrived in the United States and speak no English.
Some of our students have experienced upheaval, trauma, and poverty in their young lives, but all have shown great enthusiasm for learning music.
I would like them to have the opportunity to experience the joy of playing quality musical instruments and listening to quality performances.
Learning an instrument facilitates students learning self-discipline, requiring focus and patience, even through sometimes tedious repetition. An additional benefit of playing an instrument is it helps build a child's self-esteem. The joy of playing an instrument and becoming a musical being is a feeling all students can recognize, participate in, and have fun doing.
My Project
This will be my students' third year playing ukulele. My goal is to have a class set of ukuleles, adding instruments slowly but surely.
Having eight more ukuleles will optimize the short time we have in class, giving all students opportunity to practice individually.
With only thirty minutes each class, time goes quickly. After passing out materials, I'll have time to teach a whole group mini-lesson, and after the exchanging of instruments, class is nearly over. If we're lucky, we might be able to schedule independent practice for roughly 30 minutes a month, or less. Think of trying to practice a new skill for less than six minutes a week!
The accessibility of ukuleles helps inspire kids to practice and become independent musicians. It's also nice for their self-esteem to be able to say "I know how to play the ukulele!"
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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 Mrs. H. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
