Ukuleles for New Experiences

Funded Apr 19, 2018

We have received our new ukuleles and we cannot be any more excited! The looks on my students' faces when we first opened them were complete amazement, joy, and excitement! It was like Christmas and birthdays all thrown together! It made my heart very happy and thankful that the DonorsChoose project was funded so they could have this experience.

Though we received the ukuleles towards the end of our school year (not enough time to begin and complete a unit), we still did plenty of ukulele exploration. Every class that came into my classroom asked to play them over and over. In my years of teaching, I've not seen on single instrument provide so much focus and excitement.

Especially with certain movies being released over the last few years, they want to have a link to those movies and often times they would pretend they were in those movies singing with their ukulele. Also, many times they've asked if they could take them home to play, and they've only played them a couple of times. I am so excited for the next school year to come so we can dig deep into performing and learning the ukulele!

Next school year (2018-2019), we will begin a ukulele unit where we will learn the basics of ukulele playing, reading sheet music, singing while playing, tuning the instrument, and instrument cleaning and care. Then we will perform for other classes and parents, as well. I absolutely cannot wait to begin, and I know my students feel the same way.

Thank you so very much for helping create this excitement and opportunity for my students!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Millwood