In preparation for our annual Concert Festival Performance Assessment, 7th and 8th grade orchestra students must sight-read a new piece of music for the adjudicator for a rating. They have 10 minutes to learn the music without being able to play anything aloud! This experience can be daunting, so to prepare them, they practice sight-reading simulations. I give them a piece of sheet music they have never seen before, and we go through the 10 minute process: we learn the piece only using silent methods and perform it while being recorded (audio).
I like to give the students the chance to be their own adjudicators: I let them fill in the adjudication rubric with their own scores. In previous years, I have printed out copies of the SCMEA Orchestra Division Concert Festival Adjudication Form for them to use. This year, I was able to upload it into a VoiceThread so the students could input their scores and be able (for the first time) to see what their classmates thought of the recorded performance.
SCMEA Concert Festival Evaluation Form
The 8th grade orchestra performed a “surprise” performance in the lobby for Mrs. Mazyck in honor of National Bosses Day on October 14, 2014. The students are accustomed to reflecting on their performances, but never with the use of a padlet. Thanks to Mr. Abernathy, the students were able to showcase their performance feedback into a padlet. For the first time, students were able to see what their peers had to say about their performance. They really thought it was neat to watch their classmates type while they were typing!
Students were given the opportunity to compose their own piece of music using the free website noteflight.com. All compositions had to be 8 measures long. 6th grade students had to use three different kinds of rhythmic notes: quarter notes, half notes and eighth notes. 7th and 8th grade students had to incorporate slurs, dynamics and sixteenth notes into their compositions. This piece of evidence is an example of the redefinition level: the technology not only allows the students to compose their music easily on their chromebooks, it allows a playback feature for them to hear their own masterpiece. Students can also select the instrument they would like to hear play their piece. This would not be possible without the use of this incredible technology!
Students were given the challenge of figuring out the melody to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. They were allowed to use their instruments to assist. As they figured out the notes to this familiar tune, the students typed the notes into the noteflight website.
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