Maple Avenue Elementary students have the opportunity to celebrate music and fitness education together. Cardio drumming proves to be a unique opportunity for teachers to collaborate and inspire students with different interests.
“With cardio drumming, we show students that exercise or music don’t have to exist separately,” explains Maple Avenue Elementary School Music Teacher Amy Ciesielski. “The students love it because it is such a different activity from their standard music or fitness education lessons. It is great to see the smiles on their faces as soon as the music hits and they start drumming,” she adds.
Cardio drumming is a form of exercise that involves drumming movements. Students use drumsticks to hit an exercise ball that is sitting in a bucket while they listen to upbeat music.
“For students who prefer being active in fitness education class, they see that music can involve your entire body moving to create beat and rhythm,” says Maple Avenue Elementary School Fitness Education Teacher Chris Totero. “For students who prefer creating and performing music, they see that physical activity can be the avenue for that creativity.”
Ciesielski says cardio drumming is also a great way for teachers to work together. “I enjoy collaborating on this unit with Mr. T. because it lets me see our students in a different way,” she says. “It also reinforces to our students that their teachers are all on the same team, working to create engaging and meaningful experiences for them in new and innovative ways.”
“They are having fun while improving their fitness and rhythmic skills, which is our approach to music and fitness,” shares Totero. “They also enjoy the challenge of performing new songs each time they come to the gym for cardio drumming and learning which routines are most difficult to coordinate as a team. The coordination needed for drumming certain rhythms along with physical activity improves the students’ hand-eye coordination, which is helpful in both music and fitness education.”
Cardio drumming is accessible to all students and requires very few accommodations to make the lessons inclusive.