Report Cards

Knowing that I teach over 600 students, I’m often asked, “How do you do report cards?  How can you really keep track of what each student knows?”

Just like in a homeroom class, it’s all about assessment.  Students learn, then receive feedback from the teacher, their peers, and their own reflections.  After working through this process, I provide an opportunity for “summative assessment”, which is a snap shot of what the students can do at the end of a project.  I then record their results in a spreadsheet, and compare it to their previous work to check on students’ development, and areas in which they may need support.

At the end of the term, I organize this data into categories which relate to the three “stems” (or descriptors) on the report card.  A description of these stems, along with examples of activities that might be assessed for each, is listed below.  

As you read through your child(ren)'s report card, it might be interesting to hear what they remember as highlights from their work in the music room so far this year, and celebrate all they have learned!

“Demonstrates technical ability with clarity and precision” includes assessments of:

                  - demonstrating skills or knowledge in isolation

                                    example: students take turns around the circle to read and perform a short melody or rhythm

                  - using effective technique when singing and playing instruments

                                    example: students bounce mallets when playing the xylophone 

“Analyzes, evaluates and responds critically to music” includes assessments of: 

                  - identifying properties of music and making a connection to an idea or emotion

                                    example: students indicate whether music is fast or slow,

                                                 and which emotion is expressed through the music

                  - analyzing music that they hear, and recording it using musical notation

                                    example: students listen to a melody played by a classmate, and write it on a musical staff. 

“Understands and expresses musical ideas” includes assessments of:

                  - demonstrating skills or knowledge in an aesthetic context

                                    example: students write and perform their own music

                                    example: students accompany a class song on the xylophone or drum

                                    example: students create a movement pattern to mark the beat of a song