Past projects 50
Marvelous Musical Metallophone
Funded Dec 29, 2012My students play our new metallophone BEAUTIFULLY! What an amazing addition this instrument has been to our classroom music experience. Because of your support, our 4th graders are preparing for a performance in May where our new instrument will be an important part of the performance. In this performance we are going to play instruments, sing and demonstrate song experience games. It is going to be an "informance" to remember. My students are so proud of their new instruments. They are learning how to use the instruments correctly while demonstrating their developing musicianship. Thank you for making this improved musical experience possible for my students!”
With gratitude,
Ms. McSpadden
X Is For Xylophone!
Funded Mar 23, 2013This is so exciting! Just like I hoped it would, our new xylophone has arrived just before Easter. My 4th grade students are the first ones to use this instrument on a regular basis, while the other students are getting to use this new instrument as a part of composition workstations. Being able to provide my students with an instrument that is pristine condition and not having to lace my instructions with warnings of how to avoid the broken areas is a wonderful gift. Some of my classes are quite large and it's especially in those classes where I can see the biggest impact from your support. Thank you for all of the ways that you have blessed my students and my school.”
With gratitude,
Ms. McSpadden
Xylophone, Xylophone Let's Play a Xylophone
Funded Oct 1, 2012To say that my students are enjoying our brand new bass xylophone would be an understatement. While everyone has had the chance to have at least one lesson using our new xylophone, my third graders in particular have have had the most opportunity to play the instrument. Recently, they composed a class song where each group of instruments played a part independent of the others based on the type of instrument they had. Because we now have a bass section in our class orchestra, we were able to easily break into 3 groups each one playing independently, The students were so proud of their accomplishment that they very excitedly played for their teachers at dismissal time. Thank you for helping me to increase and deepen the rigor and relevance with which my students are able to learn.”
With gratitude,
Ms. McSpadden
This classroom project was brought to life by an anonymous donor and one other donor.Proud to Play Piano - Part 1
Funded Sep 20, 2012It is with great delight that my students visit the piano lab. They love to learn how to play the piano and they love sharing their accomplishments with their friends. Now that we have our new pianos, sharing our playing with each other is as simple as turning up the volume. Thank you so much for your support that has gone such a long way in transforming our outmoded and outdated piano lab. With these new pianos, the interest and motivation is running high among all of my students. Yesterday, when we got to the part of class where we were going to make our daily trip to the piano lab, one of my second graders stopped me as we were lining up to say, "I ALWAYS have a great time in music." Thank you for making that statement possible.”
With gratitude,
Ms. McSpadden
This classroom project was brought to life by an anonymous donor and 11 other donors.Proud to Play Piano - Part 2
Funded Oct 10, 2012It is with great delight that my students visit the piano lab. They love to learn how to play the piano and they love sharing their accomplishments with their friends. Now that we have our new pianos, sharing our playing with each other is as simple as turning up the volume. Thank you so much for your support that has gone such a long way in transforming our outmoded and outdated piano lab. With these new pianos, the interest and motivation is running high among all of my students. Yesterday, when we got to the part of class where we were going to make our daily trip to the piano lab, one of my second graders stopped me as we were lining up to say, "I ALWAYS have a great time in music." Thank you for making that statement possible.”
With gratitude,
Ms. McSpadden
School Supplies SOS
Funded May 23, 2012The school supplies that you have provided through your donations have made an incredible impact in my classroom. It is so nice to have the materials we need so that our class is organized and functional. The most popular supplies that we have received are our folders. Everyone in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade has a folder where they can keep all of their materials. These folders save a ton of time when we are trying to pass things out. The facial tissue has been indispensable and helps us keep our germs to ourselves. We've already used the majority of our envelopes and we use our pencils, erasers and glue almost every day. Our year would not be complete without your gracious contributions.”
With gratitude,
Ms. McSpadden
Practicing our Way to a Black Belt -- Recorder Karate
Funded Jul 25, 2012The Recorder Karate belts and accessories that you provided for my students have absolutely transformed the way that my students approach their time playing recorder. Before you helped out by providing these "karate belts" My students would look forward to playing recorder with all sorts of excitement and enthusiasm that would slowly die when faced with the reality that playing recorder isn't as easy as it looks. Before long our recorder lessons would be met with long faces and complaining because the students lacked the one key ingredient for success, personal motivation. All it took to ignite a recorder fire in my classroom was the support you provided and one student to earn the very first belt and then all 250 students who are currently playing recorder got excited! They love earning their belts and even though they have only been playing for a few weeks I already have students who are working toward some of the more advanced belts. I look forward to providing new opportunities for them to succeed. I knew that those little belts would work, but I really had no idea just how completely my students would engage. Your generosity solved the only obstacle in our way; funds. Without your help, there would have been no way to provide these "belts" for my students. You transformed my classroom! Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Ms. McSpadden
Our Enrollment Is Up! Recorders To The Rescue!
Funded May 31, 2012Recorders have become a VERY popular part of our music instruction. Because we have had such an increase in our enrollment, we truly wouldn't have enough recorders without your gracious contribution. It's so nice to be able to share materials with my very deserving students, Because we now have enough recorders to go around, I can assign each student their own recorder. This allows for more time on task, which means that I've see a vast improvement in the quality of their playing. I love the fact that I no longer have to spend tons of time cleaning recorders every day because now each student has their own. Thank you for improving what my students experience in music class through your generosity!”
With gratitude,
Ms. McSpadden
Microphones on the Move!
Funded Oct 15, 2012My 5th graders just finished their big show for the year and our new microphones came in just in time. With our new cordless microphones we were able to easily share the microphones with all of the speakers and the soloists were easy to hear. Having new microphone stands meant that we didn't have to set the microphones on the floor during transitions. Our new cords and traditional microphone cords have already made their debut at several parent nights and are perfect for times when speaking parts are limited like during our upcoming winter sing-along. The new boom microphones will be perfect for our "Go Texas" day Hoe-Down when I use my guitar to lead the students in singing songs about Texas. For the first time, I'll be comfortably amplified. Because of your generosity all of our student performances and school gatherings will run much more smoothly simply because everyone will be able to hear. Thank you for your help!”
With gratitude,
Ms. McSpadden
Proud to Play Piano - Part 3
Funded Oct 30, 2012It is with great delight that my students visit the piano lab. They love to learn how to play the piano and they love sharing their accomplishments with their friends. Now that we have our new pianos, sharing our playing with each other is as simple as turning up the volume. Thank you so much for your support that has gone such a long way in transforming our outmoded and outdated piano lab. With these new pianos, the interest and motivation is running high among all of my students. Yesterday, when we got to the part of class where we were going to make our daily trip to the piano lab, one of my second graders stopped me as we were lining up to say, "I ALWAYS have a great time in music." Thank you for making that statement possible.”
With gratitude,
Ms. McSpadden