At Huddleston Elementary they’re not afraid to march to the beat of their own drum because it truly is their own drum. Incorporating their knowledge of sound, music teacher Jon Burns led 4th graders through creating their own instruments.
A collaboration between Burns and the 4th grade teachers, the project reinforced the curriculum on sound from the students’ science unit. Earlier this semester, students began tinkering with the Maker Space run by Huddleston technology specialist Misty Brown. They were encouraged to design an instrument that fit into at least one of the five classifications of musical instrument: Aerophone, Chordophone, Idiophone, Lamellophone, and Idiophone. The instruments needed to have at least two frequencies (pitches) and two amplitudes (volumes).
After a few weeks in the Maker Space and using lots of hot glue, cardboard, and donated recycled materials from various teachers and locations like the Teacher Resource Studio, students took their projects home to finish or decorate before presenting to the class.
Burns was pleased to see the students so invested in the project.
“The big takeaway was creating something unique and using as many common objects as possible to make an instrument of their own.”
— Provided by the Fayette County School System.
