For my Impact on Student Learning project I decided to focus on building music literacy,

more specifically rhythm recognition and notation, with my fifth and sixth grade general music
classes. Since many of the students had little to no experience in reading or notating music, I felt
that this would be an appropriate content area to hone in on. While the overarching goal was to
solidify the students’ general knowledge of simple rhythms, a major point of focus and end goal
for the unit was also the understanding difference between rhythms in 6/8 and 4/4 in terms of
notation and feeling. The rhythms we worked with primarily included: quarter notes, eighth
notes, eighth note pairs, and half notes in 4/4, along with sets of three eighth notes and quarter
note eighth note combinations in 6/8.

Applicable VA SOLs
- 6.15 The student will read, count, and perform rhythmic patterns.

- 6.12 The student will read and notate music.

Pre-test and structural information

My primary method of gauging learning and delivery of content were through the use of
written exercises that we call our Daily Practice. The Daily Practices were primarily formatted in
one of two ways: three to four questions asking to notate a given rhythm (most commonly used)
or a written melody line where students are tasked with drawing shapes around different rhythms
within the line (drawing squares around quarter notes, etc.). Below are some examples of Daily
Practices that were completed in class.

- Example 1:

Name: 2/7/23

1. Draw a quarter note (Ta)

2. Draw an eighth note pair (TaTi)

 3. Draw a half note (Ta-Ah)

- Example 2:

Name: 2/1/23

Instructions: Put a rectangle around all of the TaKiDa’s, Circle Ta’s (quarter notes), and
put a triangle around any single eighth notes.

Hint: Check the board to see what all of these look like.

As seen in example one, I frequently asked students to notate essential beginning

rhythms. To help make sure the questions were appropriately suited for the class, I made sure to
utilize rhythm syllables that the students were already somewhat familiar with from previous
study. Additionally, there were times where I would accompany these kinds of questions with a
task to write a combination of listed known rhythms. Students would then share their
compositions on the white board for the class to work on rhythm reading together. For practices
like example two, I always made sure to pull the melody from a piece of popular music that I
assumed or knew the students were familiar with (the above example being from Glimpse of Us
by Joji). This proved to be a great way for the students to make relevant, real world connections
with the foundational principles they were practicing in class.
However, in full transparency, I made a bit of an error in my sequencing. In an effort to
keep the class engaged, I implemented practices like example 2 too early for the students’
musical development at the time. Students were still familiarizing themselves with their known
rhythms, and adding in complicated symbols they’d never seen before made them confused as
opposed to being appropriately challenged. Looking back I would have incorporated these more
difficult activities later in the placement, this way students would have a more natural
progression of fundamental learning and real-world application. Additionally, moving forward
new rhythms in 6/8 were incorporated in a fashion that aligned with principles of Sound Before
Symbol methodologies. This helped to remedy some students’ previous confusion.
Nonetheless, results of the initial daily practices were roughly as expected. About half of
the students were able to identify or notate simple rhythms with minimal error, and the rest were
willing to receive help. Students showed particular strength in writing and identifying quarter
notes and eighth note pairs, which I suspect is due to past music teaching they received. Initial
areas of struggle were in remembering the notational difference between eighth note pairs and
sets of three (TaTi vs. TaKiDa) and in recalling newly learned rhythms in 6/8. In terms of
grading, students who gave their best effort and were willing to receive help / in-class corrections
received strong scores in the first grading cycle (first 5 daily practices) as I aimed to keep the
focus on progressive learning, in opposition to correctness on the first try. This said, most
students received positive grades in the first cycle and were actively seeking to correct their
understanding in class. Along with this, there were a few students who received lower grades for
the cycle. This being due to them either not turning in their Daily Practice or showing minimal to
no effort in completing the tasks asked of them.

Post-test / evaluation of progress

In order to gauge student learning from the duration of the unit, I formulated a cumulative
assessment in a similar style to our daily practices. It encompassed all but one rhythm that was
covered during my time teaching the class. My focus remained on gauging whether or not
students could identify and notate given rhythms. We’d done enough practice at this point to
where I felt confident in the students’ ability to write their rhythms on a staff, I now just wanted
to see what they remembered / latched on to. Below is a copy of the cumulative assessment that I
implemented in class.

- Final Assessment:
Name: 3/8/23

1. Draw a quarter note (Ta).

2. Draw an eighth note (not a pair, just one small note).

3. Draw a TaTi / Eighth note pair.

4. Draw a TaKiDa (think of the number of syllables to help you).

5. Draw a TaaDi (long note short note pattern)

6. What symbol on our music tells us about the rhythm (looks like two 4s on top of each
other)?

7. What do the top and bottom numbers mean (we just learned this so don’t stress, just try
your best :) )?
 As you can see I formatted questions one through five in a way that mimicked the
practices that we had been working on in prior classes. This way I could keep my formatting
controlled and allow for less stress on the students by giving them a format that they had already
been familiarized with. I made sure to preface the assessment with some classroom expectations
in order for students to treat this one with a bit more time and care as well. In regards to
questions six and seven, I made sure to include these to help transition into the classes next unit
on time signatures. By doing this students were able to solidify older information while
continuing to grasp new concepts.
The results of this assessment were as expected. Many of not all students showed a strong
and clear understanding of quarter notes and eighth note pairs. Additionally, all students were
able to identify and correctly notate the TaKiDa rhythm (a set of three eighth notes). I am happy
with this, as understanding and remembering the difference between pairs and sets of three
eighth notes was a previous struggle for both classes. Most students were able to remember the
look of a single eighth note, and the rest of students who struggled with this were able to recall
with some slight prompting from myself and /or my cooperating teacher. A point of struggle that
persisted was in the combination rhythm, colloquially referred to as the long TaaDi. It is made up
of a quarter note followed by a single eighth note. Roughly half of students struggled to recall the
look of this rhythmic pattern without prompting, but most were at least able to remember the
sound of the rhythm when demonstrated. When informally quizzed on the half note, the one
rhythm not included on the assessment, most students were able to recall the look and sound of
the note.
Similarly to my last grading cycle, students who put forth an honest and complete effort
to finish the tasks were given a positive grade, and, again, students who received lower scores
either did not turn in the assessment or put forth a minimal effort. All in all, I am happy with the
progress that the class made. Through my grading I was able to see that many of the initial errors
that the class faced with confusion / conflation of old and new rhythms had been sorted out
through formal practice (daily practices, class rhythm reading, etc.) and informal activities (call
and responses, informative games, etc.). In retrospect, I would have made a few key changes to
my sequencing of content (as previously mentioned) to give a natural flow of learning and
success for the students, however, I feel confident in my ability to implement unit lessons.
Moving forward, I will use my knowledge gained from this project to work harder on my pacing
and planning, thus ensuring that I am setting my students up for the most rewarding experience
possible in my class.