My students need one 4x6 magnetic dry erase board, one 2x3 magnetic dry erase board, 30 student magnetic wipe off staff boards and 30 students blank marker boards.
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
My students love to get hands-on with their music. From patting steady beats on their laps to plucking out their tunes on the piano, they know how to make music come alive! One of their favorite ways to express music is to visualize it. They draw a picture, build a rhythm, or put a note in a staff.
My students are all such wonderful musicians!
They are learning that through hard work and persistence they can achieve beautiful things. As their music teacher, I am inspired daily by their persistence, talent and irrepressible, joyful spirits. As well as singing and studying music theory, all of my students learn the fundamentals of piano technique through a wonderful classroom keyboard curriculum.
These children attend an elementary school in a high need, inner-city area of New York. Many come from broken homes, some living in shelters. Music offers them a life-line in their often chaotic lives, giving them an outlet to express themselves in a positive and constructive way.
My Project
For the past few years that I have taught music at our school, the kids and I have done lots of musical literacy work. By musical literacy, I don't just mean reading music, but building a fundamental understanding of musical concepts. Much our work involves visual aids that help the kids express rhythmic and melodic ideas. These methods logically pave the way to reading and writing music.
Much of this has been done on our classroom's magnetic chalkboard. It hard to overstate how important that magnetic factor has been! I've created sets of magnets (notes, hearts(beats), clefs, etc.) that the kids move around on the board to create rhythms and melodies, label piano keys, decipher puzzles, etc.
Music has recently been moved to another room, and, unfortunately, its chalkboard is not magnetic. To continue our visual explorations we will need some magnetic surfaces that are writable as well. It would also be incredible for the kids to have personal tablets to work on individually. My students need one 4x6 magnetic dry erase board, one 2x3 magnetic dry erase board, 30 student magnetic wipe off staff boards and 30 students blank marker boards.
These tools will not only allow us to continue on our exciting path of musical literacy, but open up new possibilities for the kids to explore their own individual creativity.
Your support of this project will give my students the resources to build a strong musical foundation. Let's change lives through music!
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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. Miller and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.