Star Rhythm Readers

I've got "goal-setting" and "data tracking" on the brain.  Lots of Leader in Me ideas floating around (big update on that coming soon).

I posted earlier about ways I intend to track student progress with my older kiddos.  I created this activity for my younger ones.  I haven't tried this one out yet - we'll see how it goes ;)

I want the kiddos to be "Star Rhythm Readers".  I've seen a lot of sight-word activities where the students mark each word they know (have read for the teacher) with an X.  I decided to adapt that idea for the music room.

Here's an example of a Star Rhythm Reader practice sheet. 

Level 2 Example

There are three levels:
Level 1 - quarter note and eighth note pair
Level 2 - quarter note, quarter rest, eighth note pair
Level 3 - half note, quarter note, eighth note pair

I decided to add to the challenge by creating mini-levels:
Mini-level 1 - Chant rhythms - Students will chant the rhythms on syllables.
Mini-level 2 - Chant and clap rhythms - Students will chant the rhythms on syllables while clapping.
Mini-level 3 - Clap rhythms - Students will clap the rhythms without chanting the syllables.
Mini-level 4 - Chant and play rhythms - Students will chant the rhythms on syllables while playing on an instrument.
Mini-level 5 - Play rhythms - Students will play the rhythms on an instrument.

Students will set a goal by choosing a color to write their name on the paper (for example, writing your name in purple signifies that you want to get all the way to level 5).




 Instructions for teachers are included:

I've also included a Student Achievement Tracking sheet.  Next to the student's name, I'll color in each level they complete (red to purple).  Here's a cute certificate to send home:

I also intend to send a copy of the rhythms home for extra practice.  When a student completes the entire level, they will earn their picture on a special bulletin board and their name on the announcements.  I'll be on the look-out for some sort of star sticker or token also (have you seen any?)

You can find this activity at my TPT store: Star Rhythm Reader.  All pages are in Word so you may edit them (change patterns if you'd like).  They are also included in PDF format.

Music Data Notebooks/Leader in Me

UPDATE: I am unable to share any of my 7 Habits resources.  I have left this page up for inspirational purposes (hehe) only.  Best of luck to all of you on the Leader in Me Journey!

My school will be using the 7 Habits this year.  If you haven't heard about the 7 Habits/Leader in Me, let me refer you to their website (you'll find all the information there): Leader in Me

The 7 Habits are:

One way to empower students to get involved in their own learning and set learning goals is to use "Data Notebooks".  In these notebooks, students set goals and graph data from assessment scores.  These notebooks are described in the book, "The Leader in Me" and most 7 Habits schools use them.

One great resource I've found for such notebooks are:
Montgomery Schools (lots of links to data notebook downloads)

I decided to create a Music Data Notebook for grades 3-5.  Due to space and resource constrains, I'm going to print out all pages ahead of time and staple them together.  They will be stored in a plastic page protector with the cover-page showing (cover-page has student name, grade, and homeroom teacher).  Depending on what their homeroom teacher chooses to do, I will either have them clip the page protector into their class data notebook or keep them in the music room.

Let me preface this by saying this is a new thing for me and not something I've tried out before.  We'll have to see how it goes.

Last year, when my 3rd-5th graders were working on various levels of Recorder Karate, I had a bulletin board (shown empty below) with all student names (separated by class) on it.  As students progressed, I colored in each square with a black marker.  To get a "black-out", they had to reach the black-belt level.  When they did this, I took a picture of them and put their picture on the bulletin board near their class.  It was SO motivating for so many of the kiddos that I realized - "I can use data in the music room too".

Here are some pages from the Music Data Notebook:

Table of Contents

Classroom Mission Statement

Each class will work together to create a short mission statement (first week of school).  In the mission statement we'll incorporate words like "leader" and "work together/synergize".

7 Habits Slips Log

The 7 Habits Slips (see below) are incentives given by teachers to students who are exhibiting a specific habit.  The students turn these slips into a box in the front of the school.  The principal draws names from this box and these students get a special "Leadership Lunch" with her and other staff members on the stage (so other students can see).  I intend to give these out to students who have achieved their learning goals, or if they didn't achieve it, can articulate why or why not and set a new goal for next time.

Here is the goal sheet.  It is pretty broad because, unlike a language class where students can make a goal to spell all 10 spelling words correctly by the test on Friday, the music class is less structured.  This year, I will assess older (3-5) students 6 times a semester (three melodic-based assessments and three rhythm-based assessments).  These assessments are not always a worksheet, composition, or test, but can use manipulatives (such as popsicle sticks to dictate rhythms) or performances/improvisations (for non-worksheet assignments, I have rubrics upon which the students are graded).  Therefore, I asked the students to pick a specific skill to focus on:

At the end of the Nine Weeks, will discuss their goals with their group as I go around and chat with them (Step Four).  If they reached their goal, they earn a sticker on the sheet.

The assessment graphs look like the one below.  After an assignment is passed back and graded, the students will color in the number of bars which correspond to their grade.  10 pts is the max for the assignments (either 10 questions or 10 points earned by certain criteria).  Then, they set a goal for the next assessment.

If you are at a 7 Habits school, what ways do you incorporate it into the music class?

More posts to come, I'm sure ;)