670 Portfolio Essay 6 3-1

Assessment is a vital part of the classroom. Assessments help teachers gauge

how well the students are grasping and understanding the material; as well as to

what degree we are being efficient at teaching the content. There are many different

types of assessment in a teacher’s toolbox, and it is prudent to use various types in

the classroom since students learn and interpret information in diverse ways. Some

varying methods I have used are checklists, informal, and formal assessments.

Formal assessments are useful to check to the level of comprehension for

specific content. Informal assessments are useful for grading a performance. In the

world of music, informal assessments and rubrics (analytical rubrics specifically)

are useful in giving students direct feedback so they can identify what needs to be

improved. Possibly the most important, and most difficult, type of assessment is

self-assessment. As teachers, it is our goal to get our students to be able to assess

themselves and work to improve based off of their observations. Based on our

students' cycle of self-assessment, we can tell if we taught the content well

enough and gotten the students enjoy the content so that they put forth the effort

to better themselves at it.

I spent several lessons teaching my unit in an elementary classroom. The

concept, key signatures, is a challenge for fifth-graders to grasp but it is within

their zone of proximal development. Throughout the unit, I did a number of

assessments, both formal and informal. Throughout every lesson I would

regularly call on students to answer questions, come up to the board to write the

answers in, and explain the process of how they found the answer. This helped me
understand how successfully the students grasped the material and if they

could accurately demonstrate the process of finding the correct answer. I also had

two formal assessments during the unit, which let me know whether it was time to

move on in the unit or gauge where students still struggled. This consisted of

constructing as well as identifying the key signatures that were covered in class. At

the end of the unit, I had the students partner up and answer questions I had on the

board (using dry erase markers and white boards). This was the final checkpoint of

informal assessment to evaluate the learning of the students for this particular

content.

Artifacts are on the next page

 Artifact 1

7. Joy to the World

Objective: By the end of the lesson, the students will improvise a body percussion
movement according to which chord is being played.

- The teacher will play the recording again and tell the students to stomp their feet
when they hear the 1 chord, snap when they hear the 4 chord, and clap when they
hear the 5 chord
- The teacher will tell the students to improvise these body percussion movements,
but to only stomp during the 1 chord, snap during the 4 chord, and clap during the 5
chord

Assessment: The teacher will grade based on student participation and accuracy of
knowing when to stomp, snap, and clap

Artifact 2

Objective: By the end of the lesson the students will be able to aurally and visually
acknowledge the chord changes in When the Saints Go Marching In through a
physical jumping activity in which the students also sing the root of each chord (1, 4,
5).

Checklist:
Students land on the down beats of the chords
Students land on the correct note
Students accurately sing each pitch

Assessment: The teacher will grade the students based on the checklist.

Artifact 3 on the next page

Artifact 3: