Content Standard:
1. Singing and playing instruments
Achievement Standard:
1a. Children use their voices expressively as they speak, chant, and sing
Assessment strategy:
The teacher and the child chant a short, familiar poem together. The teacher then asks the child to try using different kinds of voices (e.g., high, low, funny, scary, whispery) in reciting the poem. The teacher invites the child to suggest other kinds of voices, and the child again chants the poem, using other kinds of voices.
Description of response:
Basic Level:
1. The child can offer a few suggestions, but the suggestions tend to be derived from the teacher's examples and reflect little originality.
2. The child is willing to try using the various kinds of voices, but the distinctions are minimal and unconvincing.
Proficient Level:
1. The child can demonstrate several kinds of voices that have not previously been suggested by the teacher. Some of the suggestions may be derived from the teacher's examples, but others are clearly original.
2. The child can offer a convincing demonstration of each kind of voice suggested.
Advanced Level:
1. The child can demonstrate a wide variety of voices that cover most of the possible categories. Many are clearly original.
2. The child shows flexibility and imagination in demonstrating a wide variety of voices.
Achievement Standard:
1b. Children sing a variety of simple songs in various keys, meters, and genres, alone and with a group, becoming increasingly accurate in rhythm and pitch
Assessment strategy:
The teacher asks the child to sing a favorite song. The singing is unaccompanied, and the child chooses the starting pitch. The teacher then asks for another and another, as long as the child can think of different songs. If the songs are lacking in variety, the teacher asks, "Do you know this one?" and sings the first line. The child finishes the song if he or she knows it. In this way the teacher seeks to determine to what extent the child's repertoire includes folk songs from around the world, ethnic songs, patriotic songs, game or nonsense songs, and seasonal or other topical songs.
Description of response:
Basic Level:
1. The child can sing a half dozen rote songs, representing at least three of the following categories: folk songs, ethnic songs, patriotic songs, game or nonsense songs, seasonal or other topical songs.
2. The child's rhythm is generally satisfactory, though there are some errors.
3. The child's pitch follows the contour of the melody, though there are frequent errors in
actual pitches sung.
Proficient Level:
1. The child can sing a dozen rote songs, representing at least four of the following categories: folk songs, ethnic songs, patriotic songs, game or nonsense songs, seasonal or other topical songs.
2. The child's rhythm and pitch are generally good, though there are occasional errors.
Advanced Level:
1. The child can sing two dozen rote songs, representing all five of the following categories: folk songs, ethnic songs, patriotic songs, game or nonsense songs, seasonal or other topical songs.
2. The child's rhythm and pitch are very good. There are almost no errors.
Achievement Standard:
1c. Children experiment with a variety of instruments and other sound sources
Assessment strategy:
The child is placed in an environment with many classroom instruments and other sound sources, including electronic sources, and is instructed to see how many different sounds he or she can make with the instruments. The teacher makes an occasional suggestion, such as, "Can you think of a different way to play that instrument?" Vocal sounds and body sounds are also suggested. Uses of the various sounds are discussed: "What does that sound remind you of?" "Can you make a sound like a thunderstorm?" "A gentle rain?" "A squeaky door?" The child is encouraged to produce a variety of sounds from a variety of sources, to make at least one valid and relevant comment concerning each sound, and to describe imagined sounds.
Description of response:
Basic Level:
1. The child hesitates frequently, but eventually is able to produce an appropriate sound or response to each suggestion from the teacher. Some of the sounds are similar to sounds produced earlier. Many suggestions from the teacher are required. The child takes no initiatives.
2. The child can make at least one accurate and relevant comment concerning some of the sounds produced and some of the imagined sounds, but in other cases the comments are inaccurate, irrelevant, or repetitious.
Proficient Level:
1. The child is able to produce an appropriate sound or response to each suggestion from the teacher and to take one or two initiatives.
2. The child can make at least one accurate and relevant comment concerning most of the
sounds produced and most of the imagined sounds.
Advanced Level:
1. The child not only responds promptly and effectively to every suggestion from the teacher but takes the initiative to produce three or more other sounds. The child demonstrates imagination in producing new sounds and in discussing the possible uses of the various sounds.
2. The child has no difficulty in making at least one accurate and relevant comment concerning every sound produced and every imagined sound and can make several comments about many of them.
Achievement Standard:
1d. Children play simple melodies and accompaniments on instruments
Assessment strategy (both tasks are required):
TASK A: The child is asked to use a keyboard or mallet percussion instrument to play a "song" (i.e., a melody) for the teacher.
TASK B: The child is asked to strum an accompaniment to a familiar melody on a chorded zither (e.g., Autoharp or ChromAharp) while the teacher presses the chord buttons, to accompany a song by strumming the strings of a guitar or ukulele while the teacher holds the instrument and fingers the chords, or to play a very simple ostinato pattern on a mallet percussion instrument. The child is encouraged to sing along with the teacher and other children, who sing the melody.
Description of response, TASK A:
Basic Level:
The child plays a series of pitches approximating a "song" (i.e., a melody), though the playing is disjointed or hesitant and is not song-like in structure.
Proficient Level:
The child plays a series of pitches approximating a "song." The playing is smooth, with only a few hesitations, and is song-like in structure.
Advanced Level:
The child plays a series of pitches approximating a "song" or, perhaps, plays a recognizable children's song. The playing is smooth and confident, with no hesitations, and is song-like in structure.
Description of response, TASK B:
Basic Level:
1. The child strums the song or sustains the ostinato, but the playing is hesitant and the beat is disrupted at several points.
2. The child attempts to sing along but can sing only a few of the words while strumming or playing.
Proficient Level:
1. The child strums the song or plays the ostinato without hesitation, and the beat is generally steady.
2. The child sings along with many of the words while strumming or playing.
Advanced Level:
1. The child strums the song or plays the ostinato confidently and with a steady beat throughout.
2. The child sings along throughout the song while strumming or playing.
Content Standard:
2. Creating music
Achievement Standard:
2a. Children improvise songs to accompany their play activities
Assessment strategy:
The child is given a set of blocks and a set of animal figures. The teacher suggests building a zoo and engages the child in a singing dialogue in which the teacher encourages the child to make up a song about the various animals in the zoo. While building the zoo, the child is asked to improvise a song in which each "verse" is about a different animal. The teacher helps out when the child hesitates or stops.
Description of response:
Basic Level:
The child requires much encouragement from the teacher but can improvise briefly about an animal.
Proficient Level:
The teacher has to encourage the child occasionally, but the child continues the song and improvises three additional "verses"--each about a different animal--with little help.
Advanced Level:
The child improvises five additional "verses"--each about a different animal--with almost no help from the teacher.
Achievement Standard:
2b. Children improvise instrumental accompaniments to songs, recorded selections, stories, and poems
Assessment strategy:
The teacher reads a story or poem to the child and asks him or her to identify some of the objects and actions in the story that can be represented in sound, to devise appropriate sounds for those objects and actions, using a variety of sound sources, and to produce the sounds at the appropriate times while the teacher reads the story again. For example, walking can be represented by evenly spaced sounds on a woodblock; sleeping can be represented by an excerpt from a lullaby; a clock striking the hour can be indicated by a chime; and counting can be represented by strokes on a drum.
Description of response:
Basic Level:
1. The child identifies only a few of the most obvious objects and actions that lend themselves to representation in sound.
2. The sounds used by the child include only the most obvious. They are limited in variety. Some of the sounds are inappropriate.
Proficient Level:
1. The child suggests several objects and actions that lend themselves to representation in sound but may omit certain obvious possibilities.
2. The sounds used by the child are appropriate to the object or action they represent. The sounds are selected from a variety of sources.
Advanced Level:
1. The child identifies virtually all of the appropriate objects and actions that lend themselves to representation in sound.
2. The sounds used by the child are all appropriate to the object or action they represent. In some cases the connection between the object and the sound is subtle but logical. The sounds are selected from a wide variety of sources and some show imagination.
Achievement Standard:
2c. Children create short pieces of music, using voices, instruments, and other sound sources
Assessment strategy:
The teacher reads a story in which one of the characters sings a particular song several times. The words to the song (but not the melody) may be provided in the story, or the teacher may create words to fit the story where none are provided. After learning the words, the child is asked to use them to make up a song to be sung in the story, and to sing it the same way each time the character sings it in the story.
Description of response:
Basic Level:
1. The child needs assistance but can create a song.
2. The child is able to maintain some of the rhythm and pitch characteristics of the song during the repetitions.
Proficient Level:
1. The child can create a song without assistance.
2. The child is able to maintain most of the rhythm and pitch characteristics of the song during the repetitions.
Advanced Level:
1. The child can create a song without assistance. The song is appropriate and appealing.
2. The child is able to maintain all of the rhythm and pitch characteristics of the song during the repetitions.
Achievement Standard:
2d. Children invent and use original graphic or symbolic systems to represent vocal and instrumental sounds and musical ideas
Assessment strategy:
The child is asked to make up a piece of music, to write it down on paper or on a chalkboard, using symbols to represent the various sounds, and to perform it. The child is also asked to explain the symbols.
Description of response:
Basic Level:
1. Several different sounds are used, each represented by a different symbol. There is no consistent one-to-one correspondence between most of the symbols and the sounds they represent.
2. The child can perform the piece represented by the symbols but cannot explain or demonstrate the sound that each symbol represents.
Proficient Level:
1. The child uses several different sounds, each represented by a different symbol. There is a consistent one-to-one correspondence between most of the symbols and the sounds they represent.
2. The child can perform the piece represented by the symbols and can explain or demonstrate the sound that each symbol represents.
Advanced Level:
1. The child uses several different sounds, each represented by a different symbol. There is a consistent one-to-one correspondence between the symbols and the sounds they represent. The representation includes distinctions in one or more elements of music (e.g., pitch, rhythm, dynamic level).
2. The child can perform the piece represented by the symbols. The child can explain and demonstrate the sound each symbol represents and can describe how the specific sound is represented by the symbol.
Content Standard:
3. Responding to music
Achievement Standard:
3a. Children identify the sources of a wide variety of sounds
Assessment strategy:
Pictures are displayed of instruments or other sound sources with which the child has had direct experience (i.e., he or she has observed the instrument or sound source while the sound was being produced, live or on videotape). These may include pictures of a piano, a guitar, a saxophone, a clarinet, a trumpet, a trombone, a tuba, a violin, a double bass, a drum, a man singing, a woman singing, a balloon bursting, a baby crying, children laughing, a door closing, a package being torn open, a bird singing, a cow mooing, a dog barking, a cat meowing, an automobile (representing a car horn), lightning and storm clouds (representing thunder), a siren, or other common sound sources. Recorded examples of sounds from the various sources are played, and the child is asked to identify the picture representing the source of each sound.
Description of response:
Basic Level:
1. The child is able to identify the source of five nonmusical sounds (e.g., car horn honking, balloon bursting, baby crying).
2. The child is able to identify the source of five musical sounds (e.g., piano, guitar, violin, drum, female singer).
Proficient Level:
1. The child is able to identify the source of nine nonmusical sounds.
2. The child is able to identify the source of nine musical sounds.
Advanced Level:
1. The child is able to identify the source of a dozen nonmusical sounds.
2. The child is able to identify the source of a dozen musical sounds.
Achievement Standard:
3b. Children respond through movement to music of various tempos, meters, dynamics, modes, genres, and styles to express what they hear and feel in works of music
Assessment strategy:
The child is given a prop such as a scarf, a streamer, or a wand and is asked to move to two pieces of music, one slow and one fast, using the prop. The child is not told the title of the music nor how to move but is merely asked to move as the music suggests and to reflect the beat in his or her movements.
Description of response:
Basic Level:
The child's movement reflects the character of the music in a general way. The movement to the slow piece is slow. The movement to the fast piece is fast.
Proficient Level:
The child's movement reflects the character of the music. The beat is evident through the movement. Some effort is made to represent the melodic, rhythmic, or dynamic features of the music in the movement.
Advanced Level:
Not only does the child's movement reflect the character of the music, but the various movement patterns suggest repetition and contrast to reflect the formal structure of the music. The child is able to represent clearly at least one of the melodic, rhythmic, or dynamic features of the music in the movement.
Achievement Standard:
3c. Children participate freely in music activities
Assessment strategy:
The child is encouraged to follow the example of the teacher in improvising songs or sounds to accompany the activities of daily life. The child has access to song books, picture books depicting folk tales and musicians, and a bin with various music instruments. There is enough space for movement, and there is a collection of props for movement improvisations. An electronic keyboard with headphones and a listening station with a cassette player and headphones are available for the child to use when desired.
Description of response:
Basic Level:
The child occasionally takes the initiative to participate in music activities but often seems to prefer other types of activities.
Proficient Level:
The child often takes the initiative to participate in music activities.
Advanced Level:
The child regularly takes the initiative to participate in music activities and frequently becomes engaged in them.
Content Standard:
4. Understanding music
Achievement Standard:
4a. Children use their own vocabulary and standard music vocabulary to describe voices, instruments, music notation, and music of various genres, styles, and periods from diverse cultures
Assessment strategy:
The teacher plays several pairs of short examples of music selected to show clear contrasts in one of the following: tempo, dynamic level, pitch level (i.e., register), style (e.g., smooth or bouncy, calm or excited), instruments/voices, solo/large ensemble. After each pair is played, the child is asked to explain how the two pieces differed.
Description of response:
Basic Level:
1. The child needs prompting or a second hearing to respond, and cannot respond to every pair of examples.
2. For some of the examples, the child can describe the differences in vague, nonmusic terminology.
Proficient Level:
1. The child can respond to every pair of examples.
2. For many of the examples, the child can describe the differences, using appropriate music terminology.
Advanced Level:
1. The child can respond quickly and easily to every pair of examples.
2. For all of the examples, the child can describe the differences, using appropriate music terminology.
Achievement Standard:
4b. Children sing, play instruments, move, or verbalize to demonstrate awareness of the elements of music and changes in their usage
Assessment strategy:
The teacher plays several excerpts of music featuring sudden and gradual changes in loudness, tempo, or pitch level (i.e., register). The child is asked to indicate by movement or gesture the changes he or she hears. For example, to indicate changes in loudness the child may move the hands apart or bring them together; to indicate changes in tempo, the child may move the feet, arms, or head in time to the music; or to indicate changes in pitch level, the child may stand up straight or crouch down. (If administering this assessment strategy in a group, the children may be asked to close their eyes to reduce the tendency to copy one another.) [Note: In this strategy the child responds by moving; parallel strategies should be created to provide opportunities for the child to respond by singing, playing instruments, or verbalizing.]
Description of response:
Basic Level:
The child responds by appropriate movements to some of the sudden changes in loudness, tempo, or pitch level, but for other changes, the response is slow, uncertain, or missing.
Proficient Level:
The child responds by appropriate movements to most of the sudden changes in loudness, tempo, or pitch level, but does not always recognize a change when it is gradual.
Advanced Level:
The child responds promptly by appropriate movements to both sudden and gradual changes in loudness, tempo, or pitch level.
Achievement Standard:
4c. Children demonstrate an awareness of music as a part of daily life
Assessment strategy:
The teacher engages the child in conversation about "where we hear music": "Where have you heard music today?" "Yesterday?" "Last week?" The teacher does not directly suggest where the child might have heard music, but does inquire about what the child did and where the child went. When the child recalls having heard music in a particular setting, the teacher asks why music was used in that setting.
Description of response:
Basic Level:
1. The child can identify two or three settings in which music was present in his or her life.
2. For a few examples, the child can give a reasonably satisfactory explanation of why music was used in that setting, but for other examples, he or she tends to miss the point.
Proficient Level:
1. The child can identify four or five settings in which music was present in his or her life.
2. For many examples, the child can give a good explanation of why music was used in that setting.
Advanced Level:
1. The child can identify six settings in which music was present in his or her life.
2. For most examples, the child's explanation of why music was used in that setting reflects knowledge and insight.