Mrs. Bowling's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 23

• Help Us Get to Carnegie Hall!

  Funded Nov 13, 2017

  How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Well, in our case, we relied on the generosity of donors like you! Before the trip, we used the beautiful, colorful workbooks provided by Carnegie Hall to learn about the three musicians we would see at the concert. They also provided videos online so we could get to know the musicians' backgrounds and hear their songs. The girls were excited to learn songs from the musicians: Georgian folk songs, Haitian folk songs, and freedom songs. We even programmed two into our own winter concert!

  At the Musical Explorers concert, I really got to see my girls' personalities shine by watching how they responded to the live musicians. Some of them danced their hearts out, some of them were awestruck, and everybody sung along because they knew every word. They shrieked with delight when each musician, who they were already familiar with, took the stage. You would have thought it was Beatlemania!

  Back at school, the girls reflected on the trip, sharing favorite moments and stories. They asked about some of the instruments they saw and we explored what we didn't know. We reviewed the songs and pretended what it would be like to perform them on Carnegie Hall's stage. They are already asking me if we can go back. Luckily for them, we can! The spring concert, with three brand new musicians, is in May.

  Thank you again for your generous donations. My students made memories that will last a lifetime!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Bowling

• Makin' a Racket

  Funded Oct 5, 2017

  Thank you again for your generous donations! Ever since we received the instruments, there has been a new level of cacophony in our music room. So many sounds to explore! So much depth we can add to music!

  With these instruments, we can play with different types of percussion sounds. For example, younger students had fun adding percussion sounds to a poem about wind. Older students did centers where small groups played an assigned beat or their own rhythm. They had to compose a rhythm that made sense for their instrument's special timbre.

  Our next step is increasing the complexity of the musical parts they perform simultaneously. My students can already do two or three parts at once, both singing and playing instruments, but they are ready for more challenging music. I hope with these new instruments we will play more difficult rhythms with the sandblocks and cabasas and add color with the unique sounds of the vibraslap and finger cymbals.

  Thank you so much! We will be makin' a major racket this year!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Bowling

• Lift Every Voice and Sing...into a New Microphone!

  Funded Mar 29, 2017

  Thank you for your contributions to my project! Now we have an incredible sound system and microphone for our performances. Students of all ages at my school will get to use the microphone when we have soloists at our showcases. All grades will also benefit from the Bluetooth-enabled sound system: soloists can sing over recorded accompaniment, and we can have someone control the volume from a remote device.

  My choir students were so excited when they had their first rehearsal with the new sound system. It is very sleek-looking, and we have never used such extensive equipment before. When they saw it all set up on the auditorium stage, they were blown away. One of them said, "It looks like a real stage!" Another student, remembering the trouble we've had with faulty mics in the past, asked, "Will we be able to hear the soloists now? 'Cause, you know, sometimes the microphone doesn't work?" I assured her we wouldn't have to worry about that ever again.

  The upper grade showcase, lower grade showcase, choir performance, and school-wide unity meetings have all sounded so much better. It puts my mind at ease knowing we have reliable audio equipment. Thank you again for your generous donations! My music program expands more every year with the help of donors like you.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Bowling

  This classroom project was brought to life by Aspect Ventures and 15 other donors.

• Hot Cross BOOKS! New Books for Music Class

  Funded Oct 25, 2016

  Thank you once again for your generous contributions to my project! Because of your donations, I am able to bring new experiences to students in all the grades I teach.

  For my youngest students, I have added a reading component to the end of many of my lessons. I bring out a book, sing through it, show the sheet music at the end, and teach the students a part they can sing. Many of the books involve echo singing or call-and-response because they are traditional American folk songs. My students get so excited to sing along and see the beautiful illustrations. I love being able to pass on such cherished songs to the next generation in this way. Additionally, a little "reading time" allows everyone a moment to "wind down" before they transition into the next subject with their classroom teachers.

  My older students benefit from the addition of brand-new repertoire from the song compilation books. I even chose one class to help me look through them and pick songs they are interested in learning. This gives them ownership of the curriculum and pride when they learn the song of their choosing.

  I am excited to continue working with all of these books and sharing the music with my students. What a wonderful addition to my program!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Bowling

• Putting Music on the Move

  Funded Aug 31, 2016

  Dear Donors,

  Thank you so much for your generous donations to help me get a cart for my music program. Traveling from classroom to classroom requires organization, creativity, and mobility, and this cart helps me in all three areas.

  It helps me stay organized because there are eight openings to insert plastic tubs. They are just the right size for elementary music materials: instruments, folders, worksheets, expo markers and dry-erase boards, or anything else a music student needs. Additionally, the bins are child-sized and at an appropriate height so my students can even help me remove and replace items.

  The cart drives my creativity because I use it as an expression of my program, since I have no classroom. When students see this cart, I want them to think, "That's the music cart!" I decorate it with musical notes and hang note charts or lyric sheets from it so there's no mistaking what this cart is for.

  Finally, the cart helps my mobility. I don't want my students to have an incomplete music program just because I have no classroom. I determine ways to bring all the components of the music room to them, even if it's not all at once. Sometimes we'll play instruments, sometimes we'll compose, but over the course of the year, my students get every part of a music room, a little at a time.

  Thank you again for your generosity. My students love seeing the music cart roll into their classroom!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Bowling

• Percussion for the World

  Funded Mar 29, 2016

  Dear Donors,

  My students have had a very exciting end to their school year because of the wonderful instruments you helped us acquire! Some music programs might pack away the equipment after a spring performance, but because of your generosity, my students were able to enjoy some brand-new instruments and world music.

  The first time I brought out these instruments, the students were so excited. They had played small percussion instruments before, but these had interesting new sounds: the clang of the agogo bells, the scrape of the guiros, the clamor of the cowbells. We accompanied world music like salsa, East Asian, jazz, and African. And for the first time, my students got to play xylophones. They had fun exploring pitch and enjoying the woody timbre.

  Thank you again for helping to enrich my music program. My students will continue to enjoy these instruments next year as we make our way through the world of music!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Bowling

• Back to School to Move and Play

  Funded Aug 22, 2015

  Thank you again for your donations to my music program! My students were so excited to see the high-quality instruments and movement props when they arrived. They were eager to play and get to know about these new sounds.

  Your generosity has made an impact across the entire school in grades kindergarten through four. In the youngest classes, we use the movement props to encourage continuous flowing motion as well as steady beat moves. This builds students' competency and confidence so they will succeed when we move on to playing the instruments. In my older classes, they use movement props for creativity and more complex dancing. We play instruments to accompany recorded music and compose our own rhythms. As we move forward, we will create arrangements to play with these instruments and learn how to write music on the music staff.

  I am so happy that there are people like you who support music education in schools. With your contributions, these young musicians will continue to grow. Thank you!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Bowling

• Little Drums for Little Ones

  Funded Aug 21, 2014

  You were the first donors to help my new program get up and running with new instruments! We started with nothing, and these tubanos and hand drums were a first step into the world of playing instruments. My students were quick to notice the high quality of these drums, and we talked about how to care for them. They observed the fragile tops made of animal hide, and they made connections by discussing other objects they have to treat with care.

  In the beginning, we focused on proper playing technique and maintaining a steady beat while playing. Now all of my students understand how to hold the mallets for the hand drums and how to use their hands on the tubanos. We can compose rhythms, play them on the drums to accompany songs of varying genres, and even improvise. My students' musicianship is constantly bolstered and challenged by the activities we can do with these drums.

  Thank you again for your enormous generosity. I am so grateful that there are people like you in the world who support music education for all children.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Bowling

• Grab that Percussion and Play Along!

  Funded Sep 17, 2014

  I am so grateful that you all supported my music program! Your generous donations brought these fun and interesting instruments to my school, and my students were thrilled to see them and play with them. They asked questions about where they came from, how we play them, and if we can play with different kinds of music. Having these instruments has opened up many avenues for learning, some planned, and some spontaneous.

  Using these instruments, we have been able to make music in many ways. In kindergarten and first grade, we learned to classify percussion by material and timbre, and they have learned to distinguish the different kinds of sounds instruments make. Second, third, and fourth graders have used the Boomwhackers for single-pitch activities and in learning to read simple melodies from notation. My oldest students in fourth grade have played melodies on the glockenspiels in class and in our winter showcase performance. In all cases, my students were able to learn specific pitch and rhythm skills in a very tangible way.

  Thank you again for your generosity. Without you, we would not be able to experience the vast world of music that I know my students are eager to explore.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Bowling

• S.O.X.: Save Our Xylophones!

  Funded Nov 15, 2012

  Thank you again for your generous donations to my classroom. The OrffMobile Cart has been a success in all the ways I had hoped for: facilitating in-class ensemble camaraderie, easier transportation of instruments to school-wide performances, and proper xylophone storage. Now that we have the OrffMobile Cart in the classroom, students play Orff instruments more frequently. I can leave the tonebar instruments set up throughout the day or easily fold up the cart and cover the instruments. The students are physically arranged in a way that encourages close listening and appropriate responses to one another's musical cues. When we perform in other rooms in our building, the cart easily packs all of the instruments we need, and it takes only one trip to get them there from the music room. Finally, my students are learning about the importance of proper storage and care for the high-quality instruments we have.

  On behalf of my students, I offer you our sincerest thanks for your thoughtfulness.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Bowling