Patti Sands & Jocelyn Shoop

Dayton Elementary

April 26, 2021

            “We received a school wide grant in the amount of $2,000.  The name of our grant was “Drumming Up Fitness.”  The goal of our grant was to promote fitness through a fun and creative activity.  We ordered the equipment (exercise balls, buckets, and drum sticks) and co-planned the unit.  Each class had at least four 40 minute sessions (some classes had more due to scheduling availability).  Each session consisted of a warm-up song, an aerobic period to raise heart rate, and a cool down song.  Transitions were smooth and students were active very close to the full 40 minutes.  The sessions were a combination of teacher-led songs as well as some YouTube videos.  We also included one song in each session where kids created their own movements and routines.  This gave them time to be creative and to express themselves at their own comfort level. 

         Students were very excited to start the unit.  They all seemed to enjoy themselves and many commented that they were disappointed when the unit concluded.  We were happy to have 100% participation.  It is rare to have every single student engaged in an activity, but that is what we experienced with this unit.  This unit will be taught every year and we will build on the skills learned this year.

         There were two unexpected outcomes from this unit.  First, one of our special needs students enjoyed drumming so much that we have now worked it into her behavior incentive plan.  She earns a one-on-one drumming session each week.  This has worked well for her and she loves it!  The second unexpected outcome is that we have now started after school drumming sessions for teachers.  Many teachers commented that they really wished that they could participate, so we gave them the option of attending twice weekly sessions after school.  We have a group of 8-10 teachers who have drummed with us the last several weeks. 

         Mrs. Shoop and I (Mrs. Sands) wish to thank you for awarding us the grant.  It was so much fun both for us and for our students.  We enjoyed working together and combining our classes.  We look forward to teaching this unit every year!”