My students have "got the beat" but many have never been outside Michigan. With a drum circle, I can take them around the world!
Our school is a Leadership Lighthouse School (Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits).
We focus on developing independent thinking and personal responsibility alongside the academics.
We are home to the district CI (cognitive impairment) program and therefore, have a very diverse student population ranging from individuals identified as "Gifted and Talented" to those with limited verbal communication. Our leadership piece fits right in with this. Our school is truly a caring community in which everyone is involved and appreciated for their unique abilities and voice.
Because we are not a culturally diverse school, I feel a particularly strong need as the music teacher to expose our students to different people, music, and ideas from around the world. This is where our drumming circle comes into play!
My Project
The steady pulse of a Caribbean or African dance tune is playing and the children are seated in a circle around the room. They are practicing patting the macro or micro beat and syncopated rhythms on the floor, intent on getting it just right so that they can have a turn on a djembe, timbau, or tubano drum. And when they do get a turn on our new drums, their imagination transports them from Michigan and they get a little closer to something you might hear on the other side of the world (or just a little further south).
In the layered rhythms of a drum circle students strengthen their practical understanding of beat, learn to play more independently in a group, and find opportunities to improvise. These drums will be used in every grade level and can accompany an American folk song as well as a Puerto Rican bomba dance. In the lower elementary we will use them to play steady beats and in the upper grades, to accompany a variety of songs and activities.
This project will help bring to life music from around the world through hands-on music-making and will affect all 620 of my students.
Through drumming activities, students will strengthen their rhythmic skills and understanding of music as a "team sport." It will also enhance the multicultural lessons that, I believe, are vital for my students and their future as caring people that respect differences and understand the commonalities in our diverse world.
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