I would love to individually assess all of my students on rhythm reading. In reality, that isn't always possible during class because of limited time, shy students, and concert prep time among a million other things. Have access to iPads? The camera/video app can solve your assessment woes! You don't even need a whole class set for this to work!
During the 2nd quarter, I used my beginner Nutcracker rhythm composition kit with my 2nd graders. They were instructed to create a 4 beat pattern, read the rhythm using ta's/titi's/to-o, read the rhythm using the Nutcracker words, and then record themselves.
Tips for Videos
1. After students have pressed record, make sure you have them pause briefly before saying anything. Sometimes kids start speaking before they are recording without realizing.
2. In order to identify which recording belongs to which student, have them say their first and last name as well as their homeroom/classroom teacher before they start whatever part they will say for the assessment.
3. If you choose to have students email their assessments to you, organize the video files by creating a folder for each classroom teacher.
4. Don't have access to a full set of iPads? Use it as part of centers activity!
Gathering Student Work
My school is fortunate enough to have a Google Drive folder for each child. Students uploaded their videos to their folders. I was able to go into their folders after school to assess their videos. If you don't have a Google Drive system set up at your school, don't fret! These videos are small enough to be emailed. Here's how:
1. Go to the camera roll and select the most recent video. Then tap on the icon that's in the bottom left side of the screen.
2. Select the video you want to send. The current video will come up already selected.
3. Select the send via mail option. The video will automatically compress once you tap the mail icon.
Starting out lessons with a quick video is a great way to get students hooked on the day's lesson. Here are a few short videos to go along with singing games on musical opposite concepts high/low, fast/slow, and loud/soft.
High/Low
Videos:
Games:
Andy Pandy
Students march to steady beat and then freeze on high to reach as high as they can and low to touch their toes. Add another level by having students march in a circle.
Sigh High, Sing Low
Students stand in a circle and pass a dog (or other stuffed animal) to the student they call. In order to show who has had a turn, have students keep one hand on their head until the stuffed animal is passed to them.
Fast/Slow
Videos:
Games:
Rig-A-Jig-Jig
This song is sung slowly until the fermata. After the fermata, the song picks up in tempo.I like to drag the first part out to really show contrast to the second part. To play the game, students sit in a circle. One student is chosen to walk slowly around the circle while students sing. When the class reaches the fermata, the student taps the shoulder of whoever is in front of them. The chosen student then chases the student around the circle and attempts to tag him/her before the song ends.
I do not have much room for chasing in my small music room so instead of having students running/chasing, I had both students gallop around the circle without trying to tag each other. They enjoyed it just as much without the competitive part.
Loud/Soft
Games:
Grizzly Bear
Students sit in a circle while one student(the sleeping grizzly bear) sits outside of the circle facing away from the rest of the group. One student in the circle is chosen to "wake" the grizzly bear by tapping the grizzly bear on the shoulder during the last two lines of the song (please be very quiet....). When students sing the word mad, the grizzly bear turns around and has three guesses to find who tapped them on the shoulder.
This post is a part of Fermata Fridays! Click above for other great music education posts.
