Music Assessments with Seating Charts

Not every educator faces the challenge of authentic assessment for hundreds of students a week like specialists do.  Some of my teaching friends see up to 200 or more students a day.  WOWZA!  In one school district I taught in, my administrator required 6 assessment grades per quarter.  I'm sure this worked well for classroom teachers, but I only saw my classes 8-9 times a quarter.  Who gives an assessment after 50 minutes of instruction?  It was then that I devised a plan for daily grades.

Using a seating chart template that I had created for my classroom setups, I adding a means for recording a participation grade and a daily grade.  I'm not a fan of participation grades.  It feels like I'm saying "Just do as you are told and you'll 'get' an A."  What I discovered is that occasionally I needed that participation grade to record to meet the requirements from my administrator.  Not what my kiddos NEEDED to be assessed on, but what I was being required to submit.

As this idea evolved I decided that I could take my student learning objectives (SLOs) and use those as a means of daily assessment without too much of a hassle.  The reality is that I was constantly using informal observation and formative assessments in the form of exit tickets and that I could make this work in my classroom.

I have multiple copies of these seating charts with the daily grade rubric and participation rubric right on them.   I sort them by class and then place them in  a three-ring binder in the order that I will see them on the schedule.  For example, all Monday classes are in order and then Tuesday and so on.  This makes it easy between classes to turn to the next class and just add the date and be ready to go.

At first I sorted by grade level, but didn't like the way I was still flipping through my book to find the class I needed.  Sorting by grade level may work for your classroom and schedule.

My seating charts function as my attendance book and partial grade book.  I add the date to the large box on the left and if a student is absent, I mark A in the corresponding box with the student name.  When setting this up, I include a color coded system to remind me about students that I may need to make special accommodations for including alternate activities or extra time for assignments.  In my district we have very few students that opt out of activities based on their religion so if I have a student that can't participate in holiday or patriotic activities, I'll mark that to remind myself to alter the activity or provide another one for those students.

I've tried to simplify this system every year.  Currently unless a student has a less than perfect score I do not record it on the seating chart.  If a student was in class and consistently displayed evidence of mastering whatever skill were working on then their box for that day is empty.  When I transfer grades to the computer it's less clutter to look at.

Look at the example below.  Phillip Washington has been in class all four days and earned all of the points each day.  He has four empty boxes.  Hillary Zenith below him has a similar report except on September 11, she earned 2 points instead of 3 on mastering the skill that day.

In addition to daily grades I also record grades that I take during class time on the seating chart.

Note:  This examples were created to look like sheets that I have used in my classroom, but I have made up the names to protect my kiddos' privacy.

My seating chart functions as a partial grade book because I don't write down every grade on the seating chart and then copy them into the computer.  I grade papers and enter them into the computer directly whenever possible.  Some activities like echo singing attendance, simple rhythm detection or performance are recorded in the seating chart as I take attendance or go down the row or whatever.  If we do a worksheet in class and grade it together, I may quickly record the grade and pass them back out.  I write this in my book because it is faster than pulling up my grade book program.

 I use rubrics for almost every performance event that I grade.  I post the scoring guide or print each student a copy so that they know how they will be graded.  The rubrics (above and below) are just a few of scoring guides that are available in my Ready To Use Music Rubrics.  It's 118 pages of scoring guides and data tracking tools that I've been using for years.  Click HERE to download the set.

Ready to try tracking assessments with your seating chart?  Download this FREE set of seating charts.  Several varieties are included and because this is a PowerPoint file you can manipulate the pieces so that it is perfect for your classroom.

Like these ideas?  PIN them for later.

Assessment in Music Class -What Do You Hear?

Can I confess something to you?  I have no idea how any of my elementary or junior high teachers came up with a grade for me.  Not a single one.  Did they just "give" me a grade?  Did I do something to earn it?  Was there every any real assessment?  I don't think so.  I think that I got an A because I was a good kid that did what I was told.  Of course, that must mean that kids that didn't do that would have received a different grade.  Is that crazy?  Have you been guilty of that?

I guess that is one of the reasons that assessment has been so important to me.  I've created hundreds of rubrics, sat through dozens of assessment workshops for math and reading teachers trying to glean everything I could and challenged other music teachers to show me how they plan for authentic assessment.  I've learned that there is a wide variety of strategies for grading or assessing students in music class.  I've seen elaborate data tables and heard others say "I just give them an S, no matter what."  Whaaaat?  I've tried to find a balance based on how often I see my students and what I want them to be able to do when they leave my classroom.

Today I'm going to share with you one of my favorite tools for assessing rhythm skills.  I call it ear training, but it isn't exactly what I remember doing for my Ear Training classes in college.  I use these assessments most often with 3rd through 6th grades but they could be adapted for use with younger and older students.  When I taught high school band I used this type of assessment all of the time.

Check out this video to see how I use my What Do You Hear set of worksheets.  You can download them HERE if you are interested in trying them out in your classroom.

Like this idea?  PIN IT for later!

Erasers as Music Manipulatives

My 5 year old daughter is a collector.  Okay, she is probably a future hoarder.  She loves putting things in her "collections" and one of those treasures is erasers.  She loves those colorful, unique erasers not so much for erasing but for pretend play, counting and more.  This gave me a great idea for music class!

I decided to use the 16 block grid as a means for students to create and organize rhythm patterns based on the erasers.  I talk a little bit more about the grid and the lap packs they are used with in THIS blog post.

At this workstation, students choose an erase and put it in a square.  Then, students decide what to call the eraser.  They can be creative with this part (and often are!).  When they decide what to call the eraser they write the name under it.  In this picture they actually put it in the second row, but usually we put it in the same box as the eraser.

Students can be creative in naming the erasers depending on the rhythms they know or want to use.  For example watermelon could be called "fruit".  Pizza could be "slice" or "piece of pizza" or "veggie pizza".  This works are a means of differentiation.  Students can make this as difficult or as easy as they like.

After they have created the rhythms, they share them with their group.  I use this activity as part of a workstation rotation so there are 3-5 kids in a group.  Students can then choose body percussion or a small percussion instrument to perform their rhythm as an ostinato in their group.

This would also work as a whole group activity.  You could write the rhythms on the board or use a document camera, erasers and grids to replicate student compositions.  Then you could create ostinatos using percussion instruments, Orff instruments or body percussion to create a really fantastic piece.

I've found erasers in many different stores:  Target (Dollar Spot), Office Max, Five Below, Dollar Tree and more.  I'm storing them in a box that was designed for beads right now, but I think that I might try this organizer (from Michael's) as my collection grows. (Pictured below.)

 In addition to using the erasers for rhythm practice you could also use them with a staff and do melodic dictation using the erasers as note heads.  This would be particularly fun if you had erasers to match the theme of a song.  For example, fish while listening to "Aquarium" from Carnival of the Animals or Jack-o-lanterns while listening to "Night on Bald Mountain would be fun to create an activity around.

I hope that you have been inspired to try mini erasers in your classroom.  I also hope that I haven't created an addiction for you!  I have already started collecting erasers for Halloween, Christmas and Easter!

Like these ideas?  PIN THEM for later!

Movin' with Music Go Rounds

If you have been reading my blog for long, you know that I a big fan of workstations  and I love new goodies for my music room!  I've posted a few times about Music Go Round from Music in Motion.  They are so fun to touch and lend themselves to a variety of activities.  You can read about using them for singing practice HERE and reading about using them with rhythm work HERE.

Today I'm going to explain how I've used them to build a creative movement workstation.  In preparation, I created a 16 block grid on my dry erase board with colored masking tape.  I tried drawing it on the board with the first class and it was a much bigger hassle.  I had to re-draw the grid after each group.  The masking tape worked really well and lasted all week.

I laid the Music Go Rounds that I needed on a stand near the board.  For this workstation I used Music Go Rounds: Hands and Feet and the quarter notes and barred eighth notes from THIS set.  

Students were instructed to choose a hand or foot piece and a rhythm piece.  Within their group they decided what each hand or foot piece represented.  Some groups used clapping or snapping for hands and stomping, sliding or hopping for the feet.  They composed and performed their piece together.

After performing their piece, some groups made some edits to make it easier or more interesting and then performed it again.  I loved watching their creative process and hearing their conversations about what would improve their pieces.

This was a great activity to add to our center rotations.  Student got practice with rhythm, but also engaged in composing and creating choreography too.  Having a workstation that let students be physically active wasn't too noisy or crazy (much to my great delight!) and I can definitely recommend it for inclusion in your classroom.

If you liked this idea, PIN IT for later.

Farmhouse Music Room Tour

I am so excited to share my classroom with you!  I went with a farmhouse theme and incorporated multiple wooden backgrounds, farm animals on posters, fruit and veggie cushions and lots of metal accents.  As an ambassador for Creative Teaching Press, I've also used TONS of products from the bold and bright series.  Black and white patterns mixed with rainbow themes have always been my favorite!  I'll link to as many things as I can if you would like to replicate any of the looks in your classroom!

On the outside of my classroom door I used some paper plates that had a wood finish.  I picked them up at Walmart last year as they were closing out some of their fall merchandise.  I used these letters and attached them to the plates with tape.  I taped the plates to a long piece of ribbon before hanging it on my door.  The burlap canvas below contains a greeting for all of my students.

Classroom View- The Front 

 I created some large paper flowers using various tutorials that I found on YouTube.  The front of the room is what the students will see the majority of their time so I want it to be bright, colorful and inviting.  Music Gives You Skills to Crow About bulletin board can be downloaded HERE.  I've dressed it up with this black and white border and this rainbow scalloped border.

I store small instruments, scarves, tennis balls, flashlights and other movement props at the front of the room.  I do this so that they are accessible but they are not easy for students to walk by and touch. 

Yep.  That's my sub tub!  I'll try to talk about it in another post.

This bulletin board features the cool wooden backdrop paper (available at Michael's) and metal file holders and letters (Hobby Lobby).  The big clip is from a set of Bold and Bright Clip It cut outs from Creative Teaching Press.  The black polka dot border and the colorful spots border are also from CTP.  I'll use this space to post flyers, pictures and other reminders and mementos from the year.

I was fortunate to grab some storage containers (Target) and a rolling cart (Michael's) on sale and have organized some of the things I kept in or on my desk in them.  The rolling cart has paper, file folders, sheet protectors, etc... and the other containers have some books and resources that I use often.  The metal contain at the bottom has markers sorted by color.  We don't use markers that often in class, but I like how pretty they look when they are organized.

These are flower pots that I painted years ago.  They still kind of go with my classroom theme so they are out again this year.  I used a paint pen to create the keyboard design around the top.

Classroom View-The Side Walls

This rainbow scalloped border is the same as I used on the front bulletin board as is the black and white striped border.  The posters are the Music Symbols Farmhouse Theme available in my TpT store.  They come in several colors, but I chose white because I have a LOT going on in my room already.

The canvas pictures above were created by my daughter and I.  You can see how we did it in THIS blogpost.  The Listen, Sing, Play posters are from a set that I have in my store.  You can download it HERE.  I also have one for "Move" but I've found that I don't refer to it very often so I left it out this year.

The piano has been glammed up a little this year.  In the background you can see my steady beat swords.  Find out how I use them in this blog post: Steady Beat Swords.  The black poofy flowers were from Dollar Tree.  Although I like the way they look, they were quite a pain to poof!  The flat flowers are BW Designer Flower Cut Outs.

I use my cabinet doors as display areas too.  I use packing tape to secure them and group posters by topic.  The tempo posters and ensemble posters are included in my Farmhouse Music Decor Bundle and are also available individually.  I love the pop of color and interest they give to a plain, ole cabinet door.

I usually don't put up instrument posters as my 3rd graders spend a good portion of the year learning their names, characteristics and instrument families and we take frequent quizzes on them.  I designed this set to look like a word wall and I love that it doesn't take up too much space.  You can download it HERE.

Classroom View-The Back Wall

This is the part of my classroom that I look at the most.  It also houses some instruments and is where we line up to head into the hall.

I've sectioned off one large bulletin board to create three smaller area to post displays.  Let's Read MOOsic is one that will be up most of the year.  The treble staff display was designed to coordinate with the rest of my farmhouse style music decor but could really work with many different themes.

I'm so excited to start teaching ukulele this year!  I created an inexpensive storage area for this with an expandable shoe rack.  I padded the bars with pool noodles and added sticker numbers on each of the ukes.  I used Bold and Bright Student Numbers to label the shelves so that students will know exactly where to return their ukuleles.

This reminder is displayed around my clock.  I always want my classroom to be a joyful place and love having this to look at all day!  You can download this freebie HERE and post a reminder in your classroom too.

We are required to have students sign out of our classroom if they leave to go to the restroom, office or nurse.  This year I have set up the sign out area near the door with a cute chalkboard, a metal bucket filled with chalk and a few metal accents (Hobby Lobby).  I love the way it turned out!

During workstation rotations, I've been implementing various seating options.  This year students can choose from these cool cushions and pillows.  The log pillows are from Five Below and the fruit and vegetable cushions are from various sellers on Amazon.

More poofs.  Did I mention what a pain they were?   On the right side of the picture you can see my magnetic set of Note Knacks.  They are AWESOME!  You can order these bad boys from Rhythm Band Instruments here:  Note Knacks Magnet Set

Do you know David Row from Make Moments Matter?  Well, he's amazing and I absolutely LOVE this character ed bulletin board designed for the music classroom.  It's called Moral Focus in Famous Musicians and is available in his store.  It's a huge set (I'm only displaying part of it) and could be used in a smaller space and changed every month to match your character word of the month.  The cool thumbtack borders can be purchased HERE.

I LOVE my Song of the Month display this year!  I used the month signs from the CTP Bold and Bright Calendar set.  Then I used letters and letter stickers from the same line to create the title.  The sticky note border and sticky note cut outs tie it all together.  Each month I will write the song of the month on the sticky note cut out.  You can read more about how I do songs of the month in my classroom in this blog post:  Songs of the Month.

The little buckets on the shelf hold pencils and erasers.  The wooden container on the shelf holds my crayon boxes.  I use travel soap boxes for this.  You can see a closer view of them in THIS blog post.

Like this post?  Pin it for later!

I'm partnering with Creative Teaching Press to bless one of my followers with their ENTIRE LINE of Bold and Bright products!  Nope!  Not kidding!  Interested in getting a great big box of goodies?  Enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway