Past projects 12
Lighting Up the Music Room (Part 2)
Funded Jan 19, 2022Now that we're several months removed from the completion of this Donors Choose project I wanted to check back in and thank you so much for your help getting us across the finish line. Your additional donations towards its completion allowed us to realize the dream of having the coolest classroom... IN THE WORLD!
The disco ball is the cherry on top in a learning environment that now includes hundreds of feet of LED strip lights, patio lights, laser lights, black lights and more. Every music class starts with a dance party, and the room goes to a flood of color at the push of a button on my iPad. The kids have a blast dancing their hearts out, and the confidence they have gained and the memories they have made are proof of how valuable your contributions have been. Thank you so much for investing in the music program at Boone Meadow and thank you for supporting this idea!
Please follow this link to see a video of what a dance party in music class is really like: https://youtu.be/fTjmHChOnxc”
With gratitude,
Mr. Doublestein
Lighting Up The Music Room For Dance Parties!
Funded Nov 30, 2021It's been about four months since this Donors Choose project was fully funded and I'm so excited to give you an update. I'm happy to report that the lights have completely transformed the atmosphere of my classroom, and the students are LOVING THEM. We have LED light strips, laser lights, black lights, a disco ball, string lights and more! Trust me, you've never seen a classroom quite like this, and to give you an idea of what it's like to be a part of one of these dance parties I made this short video for you to check out: https://youtu.be/fTjmHChOnxc .
As you can see the kids are having an absolute BLAST dancing to the music. This was our purpose, and it's so rewarding seeing them not be afraid or self-conscious dancing with their friends. I have also enjoyed empowering the students to lead through these dance parties. I give them the iPad to control the lights, I take their song suggestions, and I encourage them to get in the middle of dance circles and model dance moves for the rest of the class to emulate.
Thank you for your generosity in making this dream a reality. Your investment in the music program at Boone Meadow Elementary means so much, and these dance parties have really become the highlight of our year. I sincerely believe many of the memories these kids will look back on one day will center around the joy they had dancing under the lights, and that wouldn't have been possible without your donations. Thank you so much!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Doublestein
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 20 other donors.Music Technology: The Looping Station!
Funded Jan 23, 2020Thank you so much for your generosity in providing us the RC-1 loop station! This is such a cool piece of technology and I have so much fun sharing it with my students. By recording loops on my guitar or on my ukulele I'm able to layer parts and show the kids how music can build on itself. I often start by recording a simple drum beat, then I add a chord progression, and then I record accompaniment parts over top. Finally, I add a solo, starting and stopping the accompanying loops for added effect.
I loved watching the kids' faces light up the first time they heard me play with the loop station, and I enjoyed explaining how the process worked. I'm also grateful for the chance to increase my own musicianship by learning how to use a tool that was brand new to me. This is a great way of using more technology in my classroom, and it allows me to be more creative as I seek to inspire a love of music in my students. Thank you so much for you contribution to and investment in the music program at Boone Meadow Elementary!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Doublestein
This classroom project was brought to life by Anonymous Arts Supporter and 2 other donors.Staying In Tune
Funded Dec 19, 2019When I was a kid music education looked a lot different than it does today. I remember the music room being pretty similar to any other classroom, with chairs lined in rows, posters hung on the walls, and textbooks laying on the desks. We had one instrument, an upright piano at the front of the room where the teacher led us in singing songs from our books. It was a functional room, but not a very exciting one.
As I write this today from the other side of the desk, I see a new way of teaching, one that emphasizes the joy found in music through creativity and musical variety. Gone are the days when kids were satisfied singing songs from textbooks for forty five minutes. Instead, we daily sing songs, speak rhythms, play instruments, learn theory, dance, and create music, because we know that not everyone enjoys the same things or learns the same way.
But striving for a well rounded set of experiences requires far more resources than I ever had when I was a kid. To do it well you need lots of instruments, and you need those instruments to last. Unfortunately our school doesn't have a budget for such things, and building a program like we are trying to build requires the generosity of people like you.
Thank you so much partnering with us in giving our kids everything they need to have the best experience with music possible. It's because of your investment that we now have the final piece of our classroom set of 29 high quality xylophones, metallophones and glockenspiels. These instruments are enjoyed by over 550 students on a regular basis. All our instruments are now in tune with one another, and the effect when the students play is just gorgeous!
When the xylophones arrived I had the kids help me open the boxes and put the instruments together. I also gave every child the opportunity to try out those instruments and explore them freely. They had such a great time, and I recorded their reactions and appreciation in a video that can be seen here: https://youtu.be/u9Wkhb7UL3k . They loved this, and I loved seeing the joy in their faces.
As I look out on a room that felt so empty just a few years ago I now see one that has been completely transformed. We now have over a hundred instruments including mallet instruments, drums, recorders, and percussion accessories, and it's all thanks to people like you who believe in the power of music. Thank you for making our music room a place that inspires wonder, discovery, and creativity in the lives of our kids. We could not have done this without you, and I expect your contribution will make a huge difference for many years to come!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Doublestein
This classroom project was brought to life by An anonymous classroom supporter and 49 other donors.Pentatonic Bass Bars
Funded May 24, 2018I can't thank you enough for your generous support of my Donors Choose project. Over $3,000 was raised through three separate Donors Choose projects last year, and I'm pleased to report that all five bass bars, along with many additional instruments, have finally arrived! I'm thankful that so many of you would come together and give sacrificially to make my vision a reality for these students. Before 2017 the music room at Boone Meadow was vastly under-resourced, but thanks to the help of a community of people like you who believe in the value of music education, our classroom now has everything we need to make music fun and engaging for years to come. My students were so excited to explore the new instruments, and we spent the majority of last week making sure that everyone had a turn playing on each. Please follow this link to watch a short video on how each instrument sounds and how my students reacted: https://youtu.be/WlNMCsF_8R4 .
I'd also like to give you a quick update explaining how we were able to purchase so many additional instruments. Bass bars, like many other instruments including xylophones, marimbas and guitars, are made out of rosewood, a very desirable species of wood that has recently become protected from overharvesting through international trade restrictions. This means that American companies can no longer import rosewood instruments, and unfortunately an alternative to rosewood has yet to make its way into the production of Orff instruments like bass bars. Therefore, the only bass bars available are those that were imported to the United States before the new restrictions were put into effect. When I ordered the five bass bars I had originally hoped to purchase them from a distributor selling Studio 49 instruments. Studio 49 is a German company that worked with Carl Orff to invent Orff instruments back in the 1940s, and to this day makes by far the highest quality Orff instruments available. However, I was only able to purchase three of the five bass bars this way, the last of the distributor's pre-restriction inventory. To find the other two I had to get creative. Finally, I managed to find two other bass bars made by a different company, and while the quality isn't as high they turned out to be far better than I expected. Even better, I was left with a balance big enough to purchase dozens of other unpitched percussion instruments that I knew the kids would love. The extra instruments, funded exclusively by the original project amount, include wind chimes, a slap stick, a flex-a-tone, a kokoriko, a thunder drum, 16 cymbals, 2 finger cymbals, and 29 jingle taps.
It's incredible to think that so many instruments were provided in my first year at Boone Meadow, and I don't take it for granted. We are so fortunate, and I will use this investment to spread my love of music to as many of my students possible. Thank you so much for your donations, and thank you for investing in the music program at Boone Meadow!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Doublestein
This classroom project was brought to life by An Anonymous Arts Funder and 16 other donors.Bass Bars to Keep the Beat!
Funded May 23, 2018I can't thank you enough for your generous support of my Donors Choose project. Over $3,000 was raised through three separate Donors Choose projects last year, and I'm pleased to report that all five bass bars, along with many additional instruments, have finally arrived! I'm thankful that so many of you would come together and give sacrificially to make my vision a reality for these students. Before 2017 the music room at Boone Meadow was vastly under-resourced, but thanks to the help of a community of people like you who believe in the value of music education, our classroom now has everything we need to make music fun and engaging for years to come. My students were so excited to explore the new instruments, and we spent the majority of last week making sure that everyone had a turn playing on each. Please follow this link to watch a short video on how each instrument sounds and how my students reacted: https://youtu.be/WlNMCsF_8R4 .
I'd also like to give you a quick update explaining how we were able to purchase so many additional instruments. Bass bars, like many other instruments including xylophones, marimbas and guitars, are made out of rosewood, a very desirable species of wood that has recently become protected from overharvesting through international trade restrictions. This means that American companies can no longer import rosewood instruments, and unfortunately an alternative to rosewood has yet to make its way into the production of Orff instruments like bass bars. Therefore, the only bass bars available are those that were imported to the United States before the new restrictions were put into effect. When I ordered the five bass bars I had originally hoped to purchase them from a distributor selling Studio 49 instruments. Studio 49 is a German company that worked with Carl Orff to invent Orff instruments back in the 1940s, and to this day makes by far the highest quality Orff instruments available. However, I was only able to purchase three of the five bass bars this way, the last of the distributor's pre-restriction inventory. To find the other two I had to get creative. Finally, I managed to find two other bass bars made by a different company, and while the quality isn't as high they turned out to be far better than I expected. Even better, I was left with a balance big enough to purchase dozens of other unpitched percussion instruments that I knew the kids would love. The extra instruments, funded exclusively by the original project amount, include wind chimes, a slap stick, a flex-a-tone, a kokoriko, a thunder drum, 16 cymbals, 2 finger cymbals, and 29 jingle taps.
It's incredible to think that so many instruments were provided in my first year at Boone Meadow, and I don't take it for granted. We are so fortunate, and I will use this investment to spread my love of music to as many of my students possible. Thank you so much for your donations, and thank you for investing in the music program at Boone Meadow!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Doublestein
This classroom project was brought to life by An Anonymous Arts Funder and 16 other donors.Bass Bars to Keep the Beat!
Funded Mar 27, 2018Thank you so much for investing in the students and music program at Boone Meadow Elementary by giving to this Donors Choose project. With your support we were able to purchase two top of the line, brand new, Studio 49 bass bars. These instruments are of the highest quality, expected to last 15-30 years with proper care and maintenance, and have already become perhaps the most loved instruments in my classroom.
There are so many reasons I am happy that our growing collection of instruments now includes bass bars. First and foremost, the kids always have so much fun when playing them! They love the variety of playing something that sounds so different from everything else we have. The distinctive full sound of the bass bars is low enough that the students can actually feel the music, which is especially helpful when trying to keep everyone on the same beat. As my students continue to grow in their understanding and abilities, it is my goal to have them take leadership roles by playing the bass bars during their annual performances, keeping their ensemble together and filling out their sound with the lower register. It will surely bring our performances to the next level, and I hope it will delight our audience to hear such a mature sound coming from kindergarten through fourth grade kids.
As I sit at my desk typing this note I am surrounded by over 65 new instruments since 2017, all provided by people like you who believe in what we are doing at Boone Meadow. Before waking up and checking my email on the #bestschooldayever I had no idea who Ripple was or why they would want to fund my project, but seeing my grant fully funded by your single donation was such a memorable surprise and a huge blessing to me and my students. Thank you so much for your support, and for your belief in teachers all across the country to make a difference in the lives of their students! We are so grateful, and I look forward to using these instruments to instill in my students a lifelong love for music.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Doublestein
This classroom project was brought to life by Ripple.Bass Bars to Keep the Beat!
Funded Nov 18, 2013What a wonderful gift you have given my students, thank you family and friends! Our music classroom now has four big bass bars, C G D and A. The bars came from Studio 49, the premier instrument manufacturer for Orff instruments and while they were expensive I expect the investment will be well worth it. These bad boys should last many years, and they sound amazing! I enjoyed showing the kids, and the faces of the little ones were especially well lit as they heard notes so low the room shook. This gave us a great opportunity to discuss sound waves and how large instruments typically produce low notes and therefore long sound waves powerful enough to vibrate their environment.
We also discussed generosity and the sacrifice that many parents made to ensure we had all the instruments we would need. By the end the students expressed their gratitude and I wanted to pass that on to you. To all those who supported this project and other projects in the past thank you! We could not have done this without you, and we are now a well equipped classroom for nearly any Orff lesson. Soon I'll have the kids playing the bass bars regularly, keeping their peers on the beat, and adding a further dimension to their performances.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Doublestein
Stand Up For Music With Metallophone Stands
Funded Sep 12, 2013I am excited to share that our music classroom now has a complete set of instrument stands, and it's all thanks to your support! Last year I had the idea to raise funds for all 26 Orff instruments, and with your help and the help of a few other families and businesses that goal has been reached. Our instruments are now better protected and easily transported out of the classroom to make room for dances or to the gym for performances. The final six stands just arrived and the kids are very excited to stand up rather than sit on the floor while playing. Before they would pick instruments based on their height, now they will hopefully select instruments based on their sound. Thank you so much, we could not have done this without you!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Doublestein
Stand Up for Music with Xylophone Stands!
Funded Jul 25, 2013Thank you very much for generously funding my Donors Choose project providing six new xylophone stands for the music classroom. This was an expensive project, but the investment is greatly appreciated as it will allow greater efficiency in transitioning between activities, better playing technique from the kids, and a safer commute when moving to the gym for programs.
Our relatively small music classroom hold dozens of instruments and up to 27 kids at a time, and the ability to move instruments out of the way or into different positions makes my entire class run more smoothly. Just last week I taught my fifth graders a dance that required just about all the space I had in my room, and because all my xylophones were on stands I was easily able to wheel them out into the hallway to free up space. Without the stands this process would have been much more of an ordeal.
It is also nice seeing the kids get so excited about standing up while playing. When I let them choose instruments the xylophones are always the first to go, and by standing up they are less tempted to play with bad technique.
Finally, the stands will be such a relief when we have programs in the gym and have to move thousands of dollars worth of instruments such a distance. In the past I have had two kids carry each instrument, but this was always scary especially going up and down the steps. With the stands we will now use the elevator and never have to worry about dropping a xylophone. Thank you parents, grandparents, families and friends of these great musicians for your support of music education!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Doublestein