By Ms. Nelson, via DonorsChoose.org
Nearly every day of my life, I hear the same question. Students are always asking me “Can I play your xylophone?” And by xylophone, they mean the one, singular, lonely Orff instrument in my classroom; we need some more instruments to go around!
My school was created as a model school for the inclusion of students with special needs. It is also an urban school, serving a population of students who have minimal access to fine arts programs. It is a mid-sized school with about 400 students. Each student, regardless of disability, comes to fine arts class once every three days.
My DonorsChoose.org Project: Children have an innate desire to create music. They want the chance to improvise, to compose, to create accompaniments, and to be more like “real musicians”. I could stand in front of my classroom all day and explain all the mechanics of music theory, but what my students crave is the ability to figure it out for themselves.
Learning the difference between steps and skips, learning how two or more pitches sound together, and learning how to create a melody or accompaniment are some things that can only be learned from experience.
For a limited time: The Donors Choose board of directors has chosen to kick start the project! For the next few days (until March 4), Donors Choose will match any donation made with the code INSPIRE dollar-for-dollar. So please share this project and help us improve our Fine Arts Program.
