Ms. Schwartz's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 25

• Building a Community Collection of Instruments (Part 2)

  Funded Dec 2, 2020

  As our school year draws to a close, I'm feeling so very grateful for the support of our incredible DonorsChoose community. Thank you for helping to build a Community Collection of instruments for my elementary music students.

  Back in July 2020, we began to assemble a Community Collection of instruments for students to play at home. Our multi-part project seemed ambitious; we needed hundreds of instruments for students to play during remote music instruction. But your generous support helped to make the impossible possible.

  Thanks to you, we've had a year of meaningful music making. In the midst of a challenging year, our music learning has continued -- from wherever they were, our students continued to make music together. Though we couldn't play together in person, students used their Community Collection instruments to participate in virtual music lessons. This year, students worked together to create performance videos for virtual concerts and other virtual special occasions. As a part of our virtual music lessons, worked together in bands and practiced playing drum patterns for the songs they'd selected to perform; students watched each other's virtual performances, cheered for one another, and voted to select the winner of our second annual (and first virtual) Battle of the Bands. I've been so proud of students' musical curiosity, expressivity, and creativity.

  Thank you for your support of our music program. Our Community Collection has allowed students to continue making music this year, and the collection will continue to serve our music students for many years to come.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Schwartz

  This classroom project was brought to life by FamilyAlbum and 24 other donors.

• Making Music at Home: Building a Community Collection of Instruments

  Funded Sep 10, 2020

  As our school year draws to a close, I'm feeling so very grateful for the support of our incredible DonorsChoose community. Thank you for helping to build a Community Collection of instruments for my elementary music students.

  Back in July 2020, we began to assemble a Community Collection of instruments for students to play at home. Our multi-part project seemed ambitious; we needed hundreds of instruments for students to play during remote music instruction. But your generous support helped to make the impossible possible.

  Thanks to you, we've had a year of meaningful music making. In the midst of a challenging year, our music learning has continued -- from wherever they were, our students continued to make music together. Though we couldn't play together in person, students used their Community Collection instruments to participate in virtual music lessons. This year, students worked together to create performance videos for virtual concerts and other virtual special occasions. As a part of our virtual music lessons, students learned to play favorite melodies and created their own compositions; students worked together in small bands and practiced playing the chords of their favorite songs; students watched each other's virtual performances, cheered for one another, and voted to select the winner of our second annual (and first virtual) Battle of the Bands. I've been so proud of students' musical curiosity, expressivity, and creativity.

  Thank you for your support of our music program. Our Community Collection has allowed students to continue making music this year, and the collection will continue to serve our music students for many years to come.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Schwartz

  This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 27 other donors.

• Playing in Parts While We're Apart (Part 7)

  Funded Jun 25, 2020

  Last spring, your generous contribution helped to provide recording equipment for one of my students to use for music making at home. A year has passed since our school buildings first closed because of COVID. But thanks to your support, students' musical learning has continued.

  In the past year, our young musicians have worked together (virtually) to select, learn, rehearse, and perform new repertoire. This winter, students performed in their first live stream virtual concert; now we are beginning to prepare for our upcoming virtual Battle of the Bands.

  When our new instruments first arrived, I loved seeing students' engagement soar -- they reminded each other about our live meetings, reached out for help with tricky sections of music, and spent time practicing independently. Now, almost a year later, we continue to meet "live" to learn and rehearse new repertoire. Students use a variety of online platforms to access practice resources, rehearse their parts on their own, and record themselves playing the music they learn. They work hard to master new music, they help one another, and they continue to bring their creativity and enthusiasm to our weekly live meetings.

  Thanks to your generous gift, one of my students has an instrument to play at home -- not just for this year, but, I hope, for many years to come.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Schwartz

• Playing in Parts While We're Apart (Part 6)

  Funded Jun 1, 2020

  Last spring, your generous contribution helped to provide a keyboard for one of my students to play at home. A year has passed since our school buildings first closed because of COVID. But thanks to your support, students' musical learning has continued.

  In the past year, our young musicians have worked together (virtually) to select, learn, rehearse, and perform new repertoire. This winter, students performed in their first live stream virtual concert; now we are beginning to prepare for our upcoming virtual Battle of the Bands.

  When our new instruments first arrived, I loved seeing students' engagement soar -- they reminded each other about our live meetings, reached out for help with tricky sections of music, and spent time practicing independently. Now, almost a year later, we continue to meet "live" to learn and rehearse new repertoire. Students use a variety of online platforms to access practice resources, rehearse their parts on their own, and record themselves playing the music they learn. They work hard to master new music, they help one another, and they continue to bring their creativity and enthusiasm to our weekly live meetings.

  Thanks to your generous gift, one of my students has an instrument to play at home -- not just for this year, but, I hope, for many years to come.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Schwartz

• Playing in Parts While We're Apart (Part 5)

  Funded May 27, 2020

  Last spring, your generous contribution helped to provide an electric guitar for one of my students to play at home. Almost a year has passed since our school buildings first closed because of COVID. But thanks to your support, students' musical learning has continued.

  In the past year, our young musicians have worked together (virtually) to select, learn, rehearse, and perform new repertoire. This winter, students performed in their first live stream virtual concert; now we are beginning to prepare for our upcoming virtual Battle of the Bands.

  When our new instruments first arrived, I loved seeing students' engagement soar -- they reminded each other about our live meetings, reached out for help with tricky sections of music, and spent time practicing independently. Now, almost a year later, we continue to meet "live" to learn and rehearse new repertoire. Students use a variety of online platforms to access practice resources, rehearse their parts on their own, and record themselves playing the music they learn. They work hard to master new music, they help one another, and they continue to bring their creativity and enthusiasm to our weekly live meetings.

  Thanks to your generous gift, one of my students has an instrument to play at home -- not just for this year, but, I hope, for many years to come.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Schwartz

• Playing in Parts While We're Apart (Part 3)

  Funded May 20, 2020

  Last spring, your generous contribution helped to provide an electronic drum set for one of my students to play at home. Almost a year has passed since our school buildings first closed because of COVID. But thanks to your support, students' musical learning has continued.

  In the past year, our young musicians have worked together (virtually) to select, learn, rehearse, and perform new repertoire. This winter, students performed in their first live stream virtual concert; now we are beginning to prepare for our upcoming virtual Battle of the Bands.

  When our new instruments first arrived, I loved seeing students' engagement soar -- they reminded each other about our live meetings, reached out for help with tricky sections of music, and spent time practicing independently. Now, almost a year later, we continue to meet "live" to learn and rehearse new repertoire. Students use a variety of online platforms to access practice resources, rehearse their parts on their own, and record themselves playing the music they learn. They work hard to master new music, they help one another, and they continue to bring their creativity and enthusiasm to our weekly live meetings.

  Thanks to your generous gift, one of my students has an instrument to play at home -- not just for this year, but, I hope, for many years to come.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Schwartz

  This classroom project was brought to life by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and 3 other donors.

• Playing in Parts While We're Apart (Part 4)

  Funded May 21, 2020

  Last spring, your generous contribution helped to provide an electronic drum set for one of my students to play at home. Almost a year has passed since our school buildings first closed because of COVID. But thanks to your support, students' musical learning has continued.

  In the past year, our young musicians have worked together (virtually) to select, learn, rehearse, and perform new repertoire. This winter, students performed in their first live stream virtual concert; now we are beginning to prepare for our upcoming virtual Battle of the Bands.

  When our new instruments first arrived, I loved seeing students' engagement soar -- they reminded each other about our live meetings, reached out for help with tricky sections of music, and spent time practicing independently. Now, almost a year later, we continue to meet "live" to learn and rehearse new repertoire. Students use a variety of online platforms to access practice resources, rehearse their parts on their own, and record themselves playing the music they learn. They work hard to master new music, they help one another, and they continue to bring their creativity and enthusiasm to our weekly live meetings.

  Thanks to your generous gift, one of my students has an instrument to play at home -- not just for this year, but, I hope, for many years to come.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Schwartz

  This classroom project was brought to life by FamilyAlbum and 2 other donors.

• Playing in Parts While We're Apart (Part 2)

  Funded May 20, 2020

  Last spring, your generous contribution helped to provide a guitar for one of my students to play at home. Almost a year has passed since our school buildings first closed because of COVID. But thanks to your support, students' musical learning has continued.

  In the past year, our young musicians have worked together (virtually) to select, learn, rehearse, and perform new repertoire. This winter, students performed in their first live stream virtual concert; now we are beginning to prepare for our upcoming virtual Battle of the Bands.

  When our new instruments first arrived, I loved seeing students' engagement soar -- they reminded each other about our live meetings, reached out for help with tricky sections of music, and spent time practicing independently. Now, almost a year later, we continue to meet "live" to learn and rehearse new repertoire. Students use a variety of online platforms to access practice resources, rehearse their parts on their own, and record themselves playing the music they learn. They work hard to master new music, they help one another, and they continue to bring their creativity and enthusiasm to our weekly live meetings.

  Thanks to your generous gift, one of my students has an instrument to play at home -- not just for this year, but, I hope, for many years to come.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Schwartz

  This classroom project was brought to life by FamilyAlbum and one other donor.

• Playing in Parts While We're Apart (Part 1)

  Funded May 17, 2020

  Thank you for supporting my fourth grade musicians! Your generous contribution helped to provide a keyboard for one of my students to play at home.

  After students received their instruments, we held virtual band meetings to learn and rehearse new repertoire. Students met "live" with their classmates and me, and students discussed their progress and challenges with one another. Students used a variety of online platforms to access practice resources, rehearse their parts on their own, and record themselves playing the music they had learned.

  I loved seeing students' engagement soar -- they reminded each other about our live meetings, reached out for help with tricky sections of music, and spent time practicing independently. As the school year drew to a close, students asked for assignments and resources so they could continue to practice and play over the summer.

  Thanks to your generous gift, one of my students has an instrument to play at home -- not just for this year, but, I hope, for many years to come.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Schwartz

• Seeing Ourselves, Hearing Ourselves: Percussion Instruments for Elementary Music

  Funded Aug 30, 2019

  At the beginning of the school year (which may feel like a very long time ago), you helped to provide steel pans, congas, and timbales for my first and second grade students. I'm writing to thank you for your generous support. We've been away from our classroom since March, so perhaps it's a strange time to send this message—but now more than ever, I am grateful for your support.

  Our school community has transitioned to remote learning, and our music classroom has moved online. These days, my first and second grade students are making music in digital platforms, and we're meeting online for virtual music lessons.

  For much of the year, our new percussion instruments offered opportunities for rich and meaningful musical learning. My students explored their new instruments with incredible respect and wonder. But even while we're away from our music classroom, students' curiosity and love of musical learning shine through our virtual lessons. Every day, as I watch students' video assignments or meet with students for video lessons, I witness the same joy, excitement, and confidence that we had begun to develop together in the classroom.

  Thank you for helping my first and second grade students to see themselves as musicians, and thank you for helping to inspire a love of musical learning that extends beyond the walls of our classroom. And, of course, thank you for helping to create a musical classroom that, whenever we return, will better reflect the diversity of our school community.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Schwartz

  This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 21 other donors.