Past projects 50
Metallophone Metallophone- We Are Wishing For a Metallophone
Funded Mar 19, 2012Our bass metallophone is literally my students favorite thing in music. They love the way it sounds and the beautiful tone of the instrument has added a quality to the music we create that has truly enhanced our experiences. I love the excitement that I am seeing on the faces of my students as they practice good instrumental technique. Having the opportunity to care for a nice instrument is a chance that many of these students would not otherwise have without your generous contribution. My students are so impressed by this instrument that they are doing a better job of taking care of all of our instruments. I knew that receiving this metallophone would help my students become better musicians. I am happy to say that this new metallophone is also contributing to their ability to become good stewards of our equipment and materials. Becoming a good musician and becoming a good steward are both lifelong lessons that will help my students succeed both now and in the future. Thank you so much! ”
With gratitude,
Ms. McSpadden
Books on the Brain, Songs in the Soul
Funded Dec 7, 2011The books provided for my classroom through your donation to donorschoose.org have already become such an integral part of my classroom instruction that I literally can't remember how we ever had music class without them. From the moment we pulled the books out of the box, my students began exploring them. The VERY day that our first shipment of books arrived, we were beginning a 5th grade unit about songs like "Follow the Drinking Gourd" and "Wade in the Water". As it happens, "Follow the Drinking Gourd" was one of the songs that arrived. My 5th graders poured over the new treasured book as they learned about the Unndergound Railroad and sang those wonderful old songs. The same week, our kindergarten classes were beginning a study of music and stories from Africa. "Abiyoyo" is another book that we needed for our study that your timely donation provided.
Books are essential to learning, rather expensive to purchase. Thank you for making it possible for my students to add these books to their study of music. Donations like yours enable my students to read what interests them and therefore deepen their literacy. This donation of books has made music VERY exciting!”
With gratitude,
Ms. McSpadden
Nuts And Bolts
Funded Nov 29, 2011WOW! This project was funded JUST in time! I am so excited to have the chance to really organize my classroom without having to break the bank on organizational supplies. Also, I have 3 different groups of children in need of rehearsal CDs, so the CDs and CD sleeves have been put to use immediately. I was so excited to be able to show my students how I make a rehearsal CD. It was a great lesson on digital music. I showed them how I record my voice and piano using Audacity. Then I showed them how I dragged all of the rehearsal tracks together and then burned the CD. They have been thrilled to practice their music at home, and I am certain that by the time our concert comes around, their parents will know the music as well as the kids do. Thank you for making this possible. Also, for the first time I am going to be able to send recorded work home with students that we create in class. I have a group of 5th graders working on a project that will be perfect for them to put on a CD to take home. It's exciting to be able to share what we do in class with parents at home. ”
With gratitude,
Ms. McSpadden
This classroom project was brought to life by Music Empowers Foundation and 3 other donors.Wipe Off . . . Write On . . . Write Opus . . . Part 2
Funded Sep 12, 2011Imagine my delight when I got a phone call from the office just before dismissal time telling me that my box of donorschoose.org goodies had finally arrived! These lapboards and erasers and dry-erase markers have been in my room for less than a day and I've already used them to great effect. When things arrive at the end of the school day, it means that it's time for me to get ready for my after school music club "MelodySoup". When my "club kids" arrived, we got to crack open the boxes and we used our new materials to compose an accompaniment we will perform as part of the opera we are writing. It was a great thing to be able to give my students a way to practice writing without wasting paper. My lesson plans next week are filled with opportunities to write melodies and rhythms in every grade level just so that I can use my new wonderful lap boards, and they arrived JUST IN TIME! My classes yesterday have each been clamoring to have a look at our new materials. I know that next week is going to be just wonderful as we fully utilize this new resource in every way. I can't wait to see their creativity grow! Thank you for your support and all the ways that you make our school a great place to learn. ”
With gratitude,
Ms. McSpadden
Write On, Wipe Off, Write Opus
Funded Sep 12, 2011Just as the bell was about to ring for the end of the day, I got a phone call to let me know that my boxes from donorschoose.org were waiting for me in the front office. My students knew that we were expecting some wonderful new items and have been excited for days. So, right at the end of class guitar, I told my small group of boys that we were going to go on an "in-school" field trip. We packed up our things and made our way down the hall to the front office. The box of white boards was so big that I had to open it while it was still in the office. Then each student took three or four lapboard boxes and we carried out treasure back to the music room. Once we got back to the room the real fun began! WOW, did we have fun! Each lapboard came in it's own box and we had a great time unwrapping each one. When it was time for my group of helpers to go back to class, they left talking about how cool it was going to be to use our new music lapboards. Ever since they carried and unwrapped those boxes, they've been asking me about when it will be their turn to use them. It's a good thing that I have my lesson plans for next week filled with activities that will incorporate the white boards. It's going to be a great and exciting week! Thank you for your support. We appreciate all that you do to make our school a special and effective place to learn. ”
With gratitude,
Ms. McSpadden
I Wish You Could Have Heard Me Sing Today Mom!
Funded Oct 3, 2011What a treat to be able to invite students to record themselves singing! The best part is that these little digital recorders are strong enough that they don't even have to separate themselves from the group. Now when I want to take a grade I just continue class as usual and have my students pass the recorders around. They press record, say their name and off they go, recording their authentic response to whatever we are learning. Our choir auditions will never be the same because now I don't have to stop class so that I can hear a small group or an individual students. This wonderful resources has greatly improved my teaching. Thank you for your constant support. ”
With gratitude,
Ms. McSpadden
A Song and a Smile
Funded Sep 12, 2011I am happy to say that my students use our new resources every single day. The class guitar is a favorite. My students love to dance and sing while I play and it's nice that the guitar is small enough that it doesn't get in my way. I also like the fact that the guitar doesn't take up very much room. When my 4th and 5th grade students play their recorders I am able to support proper technique by giving them the red wrist bands to wear. My students love to wear the wrist bands and if I ever forget to pass them out, they always remind me. Our book bins have enabled us to put books out for students to use very easily. I can't wait to get the chance to label my new book boxes according to genre and subject. Thank you for your dedication to making schools a wonderful place to learn. ”
With gratitude,
Ms. McSpadden
Sing a Subscription, We'll Sing You a Song
Funded Sep 5, 2011It was such fun to take the library organization bins out of the boxes! They fit my books perfectly which made them very easy to organize. I will be labeling the books soon, so those big labels are about to come in VERY handy. My students are thrilled with our new class guitar! Every day when they come into class they ask if today is the day that they will get to hear the guitar. I really don't know what it is about the guitar that lends freedom to singing, but their singing has become more enthusiastic and assured now that they can sing along with a guitar. I love the fact that since this guitar is travel sized it fits easily into the storage space that I have. Because it's small I can put it up entirely and I don't have to worry about students tripping over a large case that could get in the way. One afternoon my kindergarten class decided to look through the new guitar book and see how many songs we knew. It was simply wonderful! Thank you for your generosity and support. These materials and equipment have enhanced our learning in so many ways already and this is just the beginning. ”
With gratitude,
Ms. McSpadden
Happily Printing with HP
Funded Mar 12, 2011WOW! You all have changed my classroom for the better. Since receiving our new printer I have found ways to use it every day. This printer is not just a printer but also a scanner and copier. Daily I am able to use the scanner portion of the printer to make a digital record of student work. Now, as students finish their work, they bring it to me, I scan it in and in just a quick minute I have their work saved as a picture or PDF file on my computer for later reference. This has been most useful in the last few weeks as I have been working with 5th graders to write their song for graduation. Soon, I will have other technology arriving in my classroom that will enable my class and I to properly notate our compositions using music composition software. Being able to print out their compositions as they are created will give the projects a life they haven't had before.
Truly, I've been able to use the printer in countless ways as a means to keep my classroom better organized. Just last week I was taking a group of students to a choir festival. The heavy duty copy machine located in the teacher's lounge was in need of repair and I needed to make copies of my permission slips and medical release forms before the field trip. Without our new printer I would have had to go to another campus or pay to have these forms professionally copied. Instead, I scanned them all in and sent the forms to the office in an email. The best part it took less time than it would have to copy them all and I didn't have to waste the paper or the ink. Now when I send home a note to a parent, I just print from the computer or copy hand written notes thereby making my communication with parents and students much more expedient. I knew that my class needed a printer in the worst way, but I have to be honest when I say, I didn't realize just how many ways I'ld be able to use a printer until I had one at hand. Thank you for supporting my students in this way, your contributions have truly made a difference. ”
With gratitude,
Ms. McSpadden
This classroom project was brought to life by HP and 4 other donors.Mallet Madness!
Funded Feb 28, 2011What beautiful music is to be found in the music room these days! Even our neighboring classrooms are commenting on how much they are enjoying our class now that we are using our brand new mallets. I have rarely seen my students so excited about anything as they were on the day the mallets arrived. We carefully opened each box, and made quite a ceremony of unwrapping the mallets. We took lots of pictures and then we headed over to the pitched an unpitched instruments for a little bit of sound exploration. Over the past few weeks all of my students have had the chance to use the instruments with the new mallets and all of them have enjoyed deciding which mallets to use in order to get the best sounds. Thank you for improving the quality of music we are able to make in our classroom by helping us provide new mallets for all of our instruments. The best part is that next year, we will have these new mallets from the beginning of the year. You have touched many lives through your generosity and on behalf of my students, I thank you. ”
With gratitude,
Ms. McSpadden