DonorsChoose Project: FUNDED!!!

HOORAY! I had to share the good news that our DonorsChoose project was fully funded today, so that means that our new drums should be coming in just a few short weeks :) Thank you to everyone who donated or spread the word--we greatly appreciate your support and cannot wait to use our new instruments. I feel very fortunate to teach in a community that is so supportive of music education, and I wanted to let you know that. Thank you, Bryant School!

Cool Bobby McFerrin Song Game!

Bobby McFerrin is an amazing singer and conductor who has won 10 Grammy awards! He is known for his a cappella style singing, meaning he uses his voice to imitate the sounds of instruments. In one of my favorite songs of his, "Don't Worry Be Happy," he layers different vocal parts to create the song's awesome groove. 

Click on the link to go to his website to play a cool game with "Don't Worry Be Happy." It let's you hear each one of the parts alone, and then let's you mix them up to create your own new version of the song! It's so fun I could do it all day! Enjoy, and....don't worry, be happy!

Bobby McFerrin: "Don't Worry Be Happy!" Song Game

Yay!

Yay!!! 3 people have donated to our Donors Choose project and we are that much closer to getting our new drums. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Starting today, the website has extended the matching opportunity, and will DOUBLE any donation to our project (a donation of $10 will give us $20 towards our project when using the match code). Just enter the match code "HEART" when checking out and any donation made will be instantly doubled. Donations will be matched through February 18th. 

I have also been given a $100 gift card (from my very kind brother :) ) to DonorsChoose, so if we get $55 more donated to our project, DonorsChoose will double it to make it $110 and I can use the $100 gift card from my brother to fund the remaining amount. Then, all we need to do is wait for our new drums in the mail so that we can play them and make some music! 

Please spread the word to anyone who you might know who would like to make a tax-deductible donation to help our classroom get these resources. 

Here is the link to our project...

www.donorschoose.org/ms.ritter

Looking forward to seeing everyone back at school tomorrow!!!

DonorsChoose: Last day for matching donations!

Hi Everyone! Today is the last day that donations to our DonorsChoose project will be matched in full by the website. If anyone you know would like to make a tax-deductible donation to support our project of getting drums for our music classroom, they can visit our classroom page and have all donations instantly doubled when entering the match code "INSPIRE" at check out. Here is the link to our project....

donorschoose.org/ms.ritter

Thanks for your support!

Donors Choose Project: Playful Percussion

Dear Bryant parents, family and friends--

Yesterday, I posted a project to a website called DonorsChoose.

DonorsChoose is a wonderful online organization for teachers and schools in need of new supplies that will help enhance the education of students across the country. Teachers all over create accounts and post projects on the website, hoping that others will donate to their project. If a project is fully funded by the community, the resources that were requested (pencils, books, instruments) are then purchased by Donors Choose and sent to the school (How cool is that?!) All donations through DonorsChoose are tax-deductible.

In this project, we are hoping to get 5 small drums and one large gathering drum for rhythmic exploration and community building. Here are pictures of the items... 

If you are interested in learning more about my project, click the 

link below, or the link on the upper right-hand side of this blog. You can read about the impact these instruments will have on the students at Bryant.

****IF YOU DONATE IN THE NEXT 7 DAYS, EVERY DOLLAR WILL BE MATCHED BY DONORSCHOOSE, DOUBLING YOUR DONATION! JUST ENER IN THE CODE "INSPIRE" AT CHECKOUT. (Matching expires Feb. 3rd)****

MS. RITTER'S DONORS CHOOSE PROJECT LINK:http://www.donorschoose.org/ms.ritter

Please pass the word on to anyone you might know who would like to donate to this project. These instruments will last for many 

years and benefit students at Bryant for years to come! 

Happy MLK Day!

Thank you to everyone who came out last Tuesday for our school's annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration assembly. It was great to see the gym packed with Bryant parents, teachers, friends and students and I was very proud of all of the students who participated. It was also very special, because we were able to have our assembly on Dr. King's actual birthday! (January 15th)

In music class, we have had some great discussions about Dr. King and what he, along with many others, did for our country. We read a story called "Let Freedom Sing" by Vanessa Newton, which illustrates many famous civil rights leaders and pairs their stories with the song "This Little Light of Mine." The main things we talked about were kindness, perseverance, equality, fairness, peace, non-violence and caring--all things that our Bryant students do and demonstrate on a regular basis. 

On this day where we have time to recognize and celebrate the immense impact of Dr. King, I thought I would share one of my favorite pictures of Dr. King and his family. Can you guess why I like it so much?!

I Love Bryant School VIDEO: Bryant's 1st Harambee

Want to know what over 350 Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd graders sound like when singing together? Well, check out the video of Bryant students singing their new school song at our very first Harambee assembly. This past Friday, Bryant staff and students gathered in the multi-purpose room for an all-school assembly called Harambee, which is Swahili for "all put together." Once a month, our school will be coming together for these school-wide gatherings to promote a positive school culture at Bryant. Friday's Harambee began with some musical fun, as Bryant students got to sing their new school song together for the first time! They did a fantastic job and my favorite part was when the song was over, I heard more than one student say, "can we sing it again?!" and "encore, encore!" Now, with our new song, each Harambee will begin with our students singing about positivity, kindness, working hard, and doing their best. What a better way to begin a gathering!

Following our school song, Mrs. Heyward read a story to the students called "These Hands." The students really enjoyed the story! Overall, our first Harambee was a great success. I hope you enjoy the video!