"Sit up straight, please!" is heard all too often in the music classroom. At the beginning level proper posture and position is paramount to good performance, but instilling young musicians with this important basic skill can be a challenge.
I teach in a K-5 public elementary school with a diverse population of about 1300 students.
My students are generally of low socio-economic status immigrant families from all corners of the globe.
The ability to participate in a music ensemble, to play an instrument or sing, is a unique opportunity for many of these students. We feel that music is an important part of their education and understand that their musical experience goes beyond holding an instrument and making a sound, it actually helps their brains to develop into better readers, writers and thinkers.
My Project
This skeleton may seem like an odd match for the music classroom, but I was recently in a workshop for teachers of string instruments and the facilitator demonstrated proper position and posture by using parts of a skeleton. Being a very limited string player, I had an "Aha!" moment. Suddenly, I was better able to hold and play a violin because I could more clearly envision the correct way to stand and move.
"If this method of instruction was so powerful for me," I thought, "won't it be just as powerful for my students?" And that thought is what led me to writing this proposal.
This is also a wonderful way to incorporate some science into music class.
We can discuss anatomy and the respiratory system as they relate to making music. Opportunities like this are what make teaching such an exhilarating and dynamic career!
Your contribution will reach so many students and enrich their experience. And we will, of course, have to come up with a name for our new addition to class, so I hope you will make a suggestion with your donation.
More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Nelson and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
