Past projects 8
Help Us Share Our Song
Funded Feb 13, 2025Thank you so very much. I am so incredibly happy! My students will be so excited to use this new equipment in our performances. We have a performance tonight and the material like this will improve the concerts even more. I cannot wait for it to arrive and I am so appreciative for your support, thank you so so so much!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Rewerts
This classroom project was brought to life by Herb Kohl Philanthropies and 5 other donors.UKE Can Help Us Get UKULELES
Funded Dec 1, 2021I went to bed last night thrilled by all of the support I had received. This morning, I woke up and am so blessed to see that I had received multiple donations before the midnight deadline. Thank you all so much for supporting our project! I cannot wait to share the amazing news with my students today. In a small town like ours, this would not have been possible without all of the amazing support from all of you! I cannot express my thanks enough! Thank you, thank you, thank you! It means the world to me to receive all of this generosity!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Rewerts
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 11 other donors.Write It Down, Down, Down, Down
Funded Aug 29, 2018Funded, funded, funded! Thank you! This will impact this school year so much and I am so excited! Thank you! Thsnk you! Thank you! Cannot wait for the students to arrive next Tuesday! Thank you so incredibly much! The students responses will show me as a teacher what they know and create a more individualized learning environment!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Rewerts
Help Our Students Explore the Theatrical "Jungle Book"
Funded Jun 2, 2018YOU DID IT! Yet again I am beyond blessed and extremely happy and honored! Thanks for providing us with “the bare necessities” so that we can perform Jungle Book next year! I cannot explain how happy I am! This years cast loved Schoolhouse Rock Live but next years will be blown away by Jungle Book! Thank you thank you thank you!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Rewerts
This classroom project was brought to life by An Anonymous Arts Funder and 6 other donors.Organize the Music Room
Funded May 7, 2018Thank you so much for support my class!! This is incredible and the support is beyond what I ever expected! I am so amazed that it was completed so incredibly fast!! Thank you for the support, I appreciate it beyond belief! Thank you thank you thank you!! Beyond happy and appreciative!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Rewerts
This classroom project was brought to life by Herb Kohl Philanthropies.Drumming Up a Passion for Music
Funded Jan 16, 2018I cannot believe how much the students have LOVED bucket drumming. My kindergarten, first, and second grade classes come in daily begging to play the bucket drums. (Sometimes I let it go and say, "Sure, lets have some fun on the drums".)
I started the units with my kindergarten, first, and second grade classes and they were extremely excited when I showed them the drumsticks for the first time. They have been playing rhythms, playing along with some recordings (their favorite is Queen's "We Will Rock You", such a fun song for bucket drums) They also are playing a game I created called knockout which involves using aural skills and rhythmic patterns, the kids beg for this game all the time. My favorite moment is when we get down to the final five contestants and they are all so excited and nervous, they love trying to see if they got it right and they all are excited for the winner!
The next steps are to do drumming with my third, fourth, and fifth grade classes because they heard that other grades were doing this and they really want to participate with them as well! They actually asked to help with some of the thank you letters because they want to show how excited they are!
As a first year teacher all the support has been amazing and I thank you all for everything!!!
Keep on supporting public school teachers, we appreciate it immensely!
Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Rewerts
Tune Up Your Uke
Funded Oct 9, 2017THANK YOU! My fifth graders have been playing the ukuleles and they are in LOVE with them! Currently they are working on open strings! We have the immense privilege of having access to the "Quaver's Marvelous World of Music" curriculum. They have watched a few videos about the introduction to the ukulele, history of the ukulele, and the parts of the ukulele. They have played a song called "Ukulele Breakdown" and can play the four warmup activities that lead up to the song.
From the moment the ukuleles arrived I had my students help unpack the materials and get them ready for classroom use. When the students first saw the materials they all asked to help unpack them and they gladly volunteered their time. The students anxiously, quickly, and safely unpacked all of the instruments. They could not wait to begin playing. When they arrived and I started to tune them I knew that the students had to learn how to tune these instruments.
The students, already excited that we received ukuleles were just as excited to learn that we had received tuners as well! The students were super excited to learn how to tune the ukuleles and were amazed to see how they worked. For some classes teaching them how to tune was very easy, for others it proved too be extremely challenging.
To work on tuning I have created a challenge among all the fifth grade classes. I time the class tuning the ukuleles. The class that gets the best score by the end of the ukulele unit will receive a popcorn party and a reduction on the final assessment on the ukuleles. To ensure they tune it correctly they have to get their tuning approved by me. Some classes have received times close to five minutes and some are around 20 minutes. Each class gets better each time they tune. One of the funniest parts that occurs while tuning is the students singing "My Dog Has Fleas, G C E A" which they learned in one of the videos to use as a tool to hear the way a ukulele should be tuned.
Overall, they are in love with the ukuleles and they cannot wait to get to chords. Coming up in the next lessons is teaching them the scale of C on the ukulele.
Thank you one and all!!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Rewerts
"UKE" Can Help Us Get Ukuleles
Funded Aug 30, 2017Thank you one and all or your donation to my classroom. From the moment the ukuleles arrived I had my students help unpack the materials and get them ready for classroom use. As we prepare for the ukulele unit that we will begin in fifth grade in two weeks I have been using the concert ukulele throughout class to get the students used to the sound of the ukuleles and to show the students how versatile this instrument is.
A week ago I had a small group of students come down to my room after class and be the first students to play these incredible instruments. I had eight students in the room and they learned the first two chords. The students went back to their classmates and told them about the chords and the song, Taylor Swifts "Shake It Off", that we played in the extra class time. Because of this the students are beyond excited and ask me daily when we will be using them in the regular class time.
When the students first saw the materials they all asked to help unpack them and they gladly volunteered their time. The students anxiously, quickly, and safely unpacked all of the instruments. They could not wait to begin playing.
We will be beginning the ukulele unit in fifth grade in about two weeks. The next step for this project is to get ukulele tuners so I can teach the students how to tune the ukuleles correctly. Currently in class we are working on reading the note names on the treble clef and rhythms as we prepare for the unit to begin! I cannot wait to begin teaching these instruments to the students”
With gratitude,
Mr. Rewerts
This classroom project was brought to life by Herb Kohl Philanthropies and 6 other donors.