Choristers: Infusing classroom instruction with world music

At the start of the 2018-2019 school year, two teachers at Talent Elementary invited Rogue World Music to integrate our Choristers program into their classroom instruction on a weekly basis. We are now wrapping up our SECOND session in each of these classrooms, and could not be more excited about the direction our Choristers program is taking.

Initially, the Choristers program was an afterschool world music education program for 3rd – 5th grade students. The intended purpose has always been to help children tap into the joy of expression through music and dance. We want children to have the option to access singing as a tool for happiness throughout their lives.

By moving our teaching in classrooms we have the opportunity to reach twice as many students with the same resources, to help teachers incorporate music into everyday class instruction, and to use music as a means to connect student with other cultures and with their peers. Instructing in a classroom also makes it possible for us to consistently build on student skill levels from session to session.

At the start of our second in-class session, we discovered that students were thrilled to be given a chance to share what they learned in the first session, and helped each other remember the lyrics as they sang the songs. Children were sharing joy, laughter, excitement, teamwork, and encouragement.

As we move forward with further in-class instruction, we continue to incorporate input from each classroom teacher. Our goal is to develop a curriculum that can be used in any classroom to help teachers and students infuse their lives with music. The second session of in-class Choristers wraps up on March 12th, and we look forward discovering how our students use song and movement to amplify the positive in their lives.