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
I teach at a Head Start through 5th grade elementary school. Many of my students have never had the opportunity to play an instrument, much less to learn how to write or compose music. I was able to have several projects funded throughout the years that allowed me to extend my program in terms of strings, percussion, and recorders. Since 2012, I have managed my music program using materials from DonorsChoose.org projects; but now, help is once again needed as music technology is going to be part of our school's new STEAM program.
My school has a high number of students who were affected after Hurricane Irma devastated our community and now we are welcoming students from Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, who were displaced by Hurricane Maria.
Even though the memories of the devastation is still ever present, my students have found comfort and stability through music and the performing arts. They also bring joy wherever and whenever they perform in the community and for the school population. Now it is time for them to learn how to use technology to read, create, and compose/write stories through music.
My Project
My students love listening to music, therefore, to accommodate their needs I introduce a wide variety of musical genres, including pop music in my lessons. Music appreciation and analysis are components incorporated in my lessons and it proved to be quite a success as the students learn, discover and enjoy the lesson while developing analytical and critical listening/auditory skills and I effectively meet the state standards and teaching objectives/goals. My classroom is limited in terms of equipment and the space is not utilized effectively. The ideal learning environment would be conducive to differentiated instruction, which is instruction that accommodates the different needs my students may have. Students should be able to work comfortably in groups, individually and/or in learning centers according to the learning activity. Research shows that 2nd and 3rd grade students who were exposed to the music-based math lessons scored a full 100% higher on fractions tests than those who learned in the conventional manner. The group was taught about the relationships between eighth, quarter, half and whole notes. Their peers received traditional fraction instruction(Neurological Research, 1999).
Your donation would assist in enhancing integrated/cross curriculum instruction as these students will improve their math skills through music.
We need a television that is portable and has a DVD player which can play the math DVDs and CDs from the math resource kit. Your donation will also help in the improvement of effective differentiated instruction as the kids will have more musical math opportunities and activities to be fully engaged and meet their needs.
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. Aming and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
