Mrs. Lawrence's Classroom Edit display name

Current requests

Past projects 37

• World Music Drumming Workshop

  Funded Nov 2, 2019

  I am beginning my 22nd year of teaching this fall, and I am just as excited as I was twenty-two years ago! I had the wonderful opportunity to study with Sowah Mensah, a master drummer and ethnomusicologist from Ghana. Unfortunately my classes with him moved from in-person to virtual due to the pandemic, but we made the most of it and I still learned a lot!

  There were two highlights from my studies with Sowah. First was learning Kpatsa, a type of drumming and dance music from Ghana. I am very excited to teach my students Kpatsa this coming school year. The other highlight was studying privately over Zoom with Sowah. The one-on-one attention helped me learn far more in one week than I would have in several in-person workshops. I sang in Twi, learned a complicated piece on gyil (a West African xylophone), and honed my drumming skills.

  I am forever grateful for your support in my studies in West African music. It is not easy to study this music where I live, so having financial support to leave the state (or in this case, take a virtual class) means more to me and my students then you will ever know. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Lawrence

  This classroom project was brought to life by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and one other donor.

• African Drumming for All!

  Funded Oct 25, 2019

  Teaching the music of West Africa, particularly Ghana, is my passion. This past summer I had the wonderful opportunity of studying with master drummer Sowah Mensah from Ghana. I learned many wonderful things to bring to my classroom in the coming school year, and I also received two handmade kpanlogo drums from Ghana. Studying with Sowah and receiving these beautiful instruments for my classroom would not have been possible without your help.

  There is no way I would be the teacher I am today without the help of amazing donors like you. The professional development I have been able to participate in and the wonderful instruments I have been able to bring to my classroom have given my students opportunities that few kids have. They play, dance and sing music that is mostly experienced on a continent on the other side of the world. It is truly amazing. Thank you so much for your generous support. It really means the world to me!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Lawrence

  This classroom project was brought to life by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and one other donor.

• World Music Drumming Workshop II

  Funded Dec 7, 2019

  This summer I completed approximately 34 hours of professional development with Sowah Mensah, master drummer and ethnomusicologist from Ghana. The Covid-19 pandemic forced these classes to be virtual, but I still had an amazing experience. The first class was through the University of St. Thomas. I participated in drumming and singing with eleven other music educators from around the country. I was fortunate to have studied 1:1 with Sowah, increasing my knowledge of West African music and sharpening my own musical skills. The second class was through World Music Drumming and was also taught by Sowah Mensah. In this class I learned two different singing and clapping games that are played by children in Ghana. Soon I will teach these games to my own students!

  I am very grateful for your support. I wouldn't have been able to take these classes without it. These experiences not only increased my knowledge of and skills in teaching West African music, but increased my confidence in being able to teach music from cultures other than my own. This has been a goal of mine since I began teaching and I will continue to pursue knowledge of the musics of other cultures until I retire! Again, thank you so much for helping become a better teacher for my wonderufl students!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Lawrence

  This classroom project was brought to life by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and 11 other donors.

• We Want to Know How to Play the Donno!

  Funded Oct 7, 2019

  My classroom has been buzzing with the sounds of our new donno drums. My students have enjoyed the challenges of learning how to play this instrument from a country thousands of miles away. We had a lot of fun learning to play a piece of music called "Harvest Song" from Ghana.

  I am very, very grateful for all who donated to this project. Not only do my current students get to experience these awesome drums, so will students for years to come. No other teacher in my district teaches music for donno drums, so my students are experiencing something unique. I wouldn't be able to give my students these experiences without your generous help. My students and I are incredibly thankful and honored that you chose our classroom to support. Thank you!!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Lawrence

• Organizing Our Music Making Space!

  Funded Aug 5, 2019

  The school year is off to a roaring start! My students and I have loved using our new items from our "Organizing Our Music Space" project. Handheld percussion instruments are clean and organized in clear plastic bins. The students have used the new dry erase markers for countless activities, like drawing the beat, creating compositions using different notes, and drawing vocal exploration pictures. The best item from what received from this project has been the projector cart. I have it at the front of our room and everyone can now see what is on the screen without having to move! It's wonderful!

  I am so thankful for you and your caring support for my students and my classroom. Running a kindergarten through fifth grade music program with hundreds of students isn't easy, but you've made it a little easier for me. I am so very grateful for what you have done for me and my kids. Thank you!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Lawrence

• West African Donnos for a Multicultural Music Experience!

  Funded Feb 28, 2019

  Since our new donno arrived, we have been having a great time learning how to play them! It takes some practice to get the hang of squeezing and releasing the ropes on the donno while playing it with the beater, but the process has been so much fun! It's been fantastic having these authentic instruments from Ghana in our classroom. The students have loved playing "real" instruments from Africa! We learned a piece of music from Ghana called "Harvest Song". It involves improvising for several beats on the donno.

  These four instruments have already become some of my students' favorite instruments. They will help us in learning and exploring the World Music Drumming Curriculum and beyond! Without generous people like you, my students would only get to see pictures or maybe watch a video clip of donno being played. Now they can experience for themselves! When we use these instruments, we are creating memories that will last a lifetime! Thank you so very much for helping us acquire these donno. We appreciate it from the bottom of our hearts!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Lawrence

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose.org Community and 10 other donors.

• New Music For Engaged Learners

  Funded May 9, 2018

  It has been a couple of months since our new resources arrived in the music room. We've been having a ball digging into these new lessons and learning new things! Third grade students are learning about major and minor tonalities and playing drums and shekeres with "Shake Dem Halloween Bones" from the Creative Bits with Children's Lit book. Fifth grade students have been working hard on learning about 6/8 time with "The Remarkable Farkle McBride" (also from Creative Bits with Children's Lit). Fifth graders have also tried their hand at recorder duets in the Recorder Frolics books. First graders learned about dynamics with the lesson "Spider, Spider" from the book Simply Speaking. They formed "spider groups" and created movement for each dynamic level (piano, mezzo piano, mezzo forte, forte).

  I can't emphasize enough how wonderful it has been to have fresh new ideas to keep my classroom engaging and fun backed with serious learning. I know I wouldn't have been able to purchase all of these incredible resources without your help. I'm so thankful for you and your support for my classroom and for the Music Makes Our Students Smarter giving page. You are incredible, and I'm forever grateful for you!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Lawrence

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

• Expressing Musicality With Music Express Magazine

  Funded Mar 23, 2018

  Since receiving "Music Express Magazine", our music classroom has been buzzing! We have had so much fun learning through these magazines! Recently the third graders had a chance to learn about the composer Modest Mussorgsky and his tone poem "Night on Bald Mountain". They loved learning about how composers use melodies to tell stories. Most of my students' favorite part of the magazine is the Disney on Broadway section. I'm impressed with the magazine's diverse content. We can study music from other countries, patriotic music, composers, music from Broadway, and music theory, all from the same resource.

  Many, many thanks to you for supporting my classroom and my students. I'm so grateful for your generosity and your interest in keeping music alive in our public schools. You've helped me bring a love of music to hundreds of kids. I cannot thank you enough!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Lawrence

• Beautiful Harmony With a Baritone Ukulele

  Funded May 14, 2018

  The baritone ukulele has been in our classroom for about five weeks, and we just love it! It gets a lot of use in kindergarten and first grade especially! I invite students to come up to help strum during movement songs. Not only do they get a chance to play this beautiful instrument, they show me how well they can keep a beat! The older students are starting to learn pieces from our new book, "Ukuleles on Board!". The step by step approach of this book has helped them be very successful on ukulele right from the start! We are all singing and playing, learning new things and having a great time along the way!

  These successes in my classroom would not have been happened without your kind support. My students and I are so grateful and appreciative of your generosity. Your help will help us learn and play for years to come! Thank you so very much for giving us this wonderful gift”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Lawrence