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DESIGNING
CURRICUL
BASED ON THE STANDAR
Thestandardsprovidea commonset ofgoals, but incorporatingthem into a school's
curriculumrequiressomeplanning.
ransa
Imagining Selecting Selecting
Developing idea(s) (concepts, ideas, Choosing an artistic work to per- Choosing an artistic work and/or
feelings) form performance to experience
Interpreting Interpreting
Developing a personal interpreta- Developing a personal response to
tion of a work (an idea of its expres- the ideas of both the creator and
sive intent or potential) performer
Presenting Presenting
Presenting in performanceor exhibit- Performing work for others
ing completed work for others
them to meet the needs of our students lows: Students should be able to read now teach performing or composing
and community to representwhat we whole, half, dotted half, quarter, as a process that includes many stan-
feel students should know and be able eighth, and sixteenth notes and rests dards rather than teaching separate
to do in music. in 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 meter signatures individual standards. The act of per-
We began by reviewing and adapt- and eighth, quarter,and dotted quar- forming, for example, is more than
ing the achievementstandards.As one ter notes and dotted quarter rests in just accurately playing a piece of
example, the first achievement stan- 3/8 and 6/8 meter signatures. music in a group with appropriate
dard under Content Standard5 (read- Next, we organized the standards technique and expression. Performers
ing and notating music) says that into three artisticprocesses(see Figure also engage in reading, listening, ana-
fourth-grade students should be able 1). These processes were drawn from lyzing, and describingmusic; perform-
to read whole, half, dotted half, quar- the NAEP AssessmentFrameworkand ers must also understand music in
ter, and eighth notes and rests in 2/4, then further developed as we reviewed relation to history and culture. The
3/4, and 4/4 meter signatures.A large the draft of Connecticut's Guide to three artistic processes provide a
quantity of the literatureour students Curriculumin the Arts. framework to organize the nine con-
sing in the primarygrades,however,is Our goal was to stretch the stan- tent standards and the numerous
in compound meter, and we feel that dards to encompass these three achievement standards, and they also
our students should be expected to processes, which provide a vehicle for provide a structure that more closely
read in this meter. So we adapted the increasing the depth and breadth of resembles the actual instruction that
achievement standard to read as fol- our curriculum. Consequently, we occurs in music classes.
JULY 1997 35
The curriculumgrid in figure2 rep- and large ensembles. If we break this with ensemble skills.
resents this manner of looking at the into two parts, the standard is as fol- The separation of some achieve-
standards.Content Standards1 and 2 lows: students should be able to sing ment standards into assessment
deal specificallywith performing, and accuratelyand with good breath con- dimensions or task constructions is
Content Standards3 and 4 deal specifi- trol throughout their singing ranges not always clear cut, and it is an area
cally with creating. Content Standards (assessmentdimensions) and students that generatessome interestingdiscus-
5 through 9 have elements that deal should be able to sing alone and in sions. For example, is singing from
with responding as well as performing small and large ensembles (task con- memory an assessment dimension or
and creating.Components of standards struction). is it part of a task you ask students to
5 through 9 that apply to each artistic Some standards,however, are miss- do? If we make it an assessment
process should be entered into the ing one of the parts. The second dimension, it raisesits level of impor-
empty boxes in this grid. achievement standard in Content tance. Keeping it as only part of task
We also spent time breaking the Standard1 for twelfth-gradeproficient construction means that while stu-
standardsinto two parts:(1) assessment students--sing music written in four dents will sing some songs from mem-
dimensions--whatwe look at or listen parts, with and without accompani- ory, they will not be specificallyevalu-
to when determining what students ment-refers to the type of activity ated on their ability to memorize.
know and are able to do in music and students should engage in and is an Figure 3, the artisticprocess of cre-
(2) taskconstructions-thetype of activ- activity that is largelythe responsibili- ating at the eighth-grade level, is an
ities students should engage in when ty of the teacher.The language of this example of some of the results of this
we are determining what they know achievement standarddoes not clearly process for the achievement standards
and are able to do. Some standards specify what one should look at or lis- for Content Standards6 and 7.
contain both these components. For ten to when determiningwhether stu- After completing this procedurefor
example,the first achievementstandard dents have achieved this standard. So each individual achievement standard,
in Content Standard 1 (for fourth- that element had to be developed by we listed all the assessmentdimensions
grade students) says that students us, and this is what we devised: assess- and task constructions for each con-
should be able to sing accuratelyand ment dimensions--students should be tent standard. See figure 4, Content
with good breath control throughout able to sing accurately,with appropri- Standard 1 for fourth-gradestudents,
their singing ranges,alone and in small ate technique and expression, and for an example.
Figure2. Curriculum
grid
1
ContentStandard
Singing
2
ContentStandard
Performingon
Instruments
3
ContentStandard
Improvising
4
ContentStandard
Composing
andarranging
II I I
*m* 0 -I
Students will describe music events in a given aural or Students will develop criteriafor evaluating the effective-
visual example using appropriateterminology (6a) ness of music compositions, arrangements,and improvi-
AssessmentDimension sations and apply the criteriain their personal listening
* Accurateuse of terminology and performing (7a)
* Accuratedescriptionof musicalevents AssessmentDimensions
Task Construction * Appropriateness of the criteriato the style of music
* Studentswill describemusicaleventsin theirown * Effectivenessof the evaluativecriteriato addressboth
compositions,arrangements, and improvisationsand the quality(technicaland expressive)and the effec-
in the compositions,arrangements, and improvisa- tiveness(expressiveimpact)of the composition,
tions of others. arrangement,or improvisation
Task Construction
Students will analyze and demonstratea basic knowledge * Studentswill be askedto developcriteriato evaluate
of the uses of the elements of music, as well as tonality, the effectivenessof theirown compositions,arrange-
intervals, chords, and harmonic progressionsin aural ments, and improvisationsas well as the composi-
and visual examplesrepresentingdiverse genres and cul- tions, arrangements, and improvisationsof others.
tures (6b and 6c)
AssessmentDimensions Students will evaluate the quality (technical and expres-
* Appropriateanalysisof the use of musicalelementsas sive) and effectiveness(expressiveimpact) of their own
well as in variousgenresand cultures and others' compositions, arrangements,and/or impro-
* Understandingof the elementsof music visations by applying specific criteriaappropriatefor the
Task Construction style of the music and will offer constructivesuggestions
* Studentswill be askedto analyzethe musicthey com- for improvement (7b)
AssessmentDimensions
pose, arrange,or improvise. * Accurateuse of terminology
* Appropriate identificationof the strengthsandweak-
nessesof a composition,arrangement, or improvisation
* Appropriateness of the evaluationto the style of the
music
* Effectivenessof the suggestionsfor improvement
TaskConstruction
* Studentswill be askedto evaluatecompositions,
arrangements, and improvisationsand offersugges-
tions for improvement.
1 forfourth-grade
Figure4. Contentstandard students
-I
Im~l~
?Trri
a Accuracy (pitch, rhythm, steady tempo) * Students will sing familiar songs independently.
* Appropriatetechnique (timbre, diction, posture) * Students will sing a varied repertoirerepresenting
a Expression (dynamics, phrasing, interpretation) genres and styles from a variety of cultures.
* In groups * Students will sing some songs from memory.
Blending vocal timbres a Students will sing ostinati, partner songs, and
rounds.
Matching dynamics
* Students will sing in groups while being directed
Responding to the cues of a conductor
by a conductor.
JULY 1997 37
These assessment dimensions and
task constructions are directly related
forcontentstandard
Figure5. Samplecurriculum 3 forstudents to the standards, and they are very
in gradesK-2 helpful when determining the types of
activities students should engage in
Kindergarten and how students will be assessed.
They were also of greatassistanceto us
as we developed our grade-by-grade
* The student's sung answers to * Students will be asked to sing sim- scope and sequence in the same for-
simple questions are: ple answersto musical questions. mat (see figure 5, sample curriculum
Sung on pitch * Students will be asked to impro- for Content Standard3 for students in
In same tempo vise sound effects to stories and GradesK-2).
* The student's effective choice of musical selections. Designing our curriculum in this
sound effects for stories and * Students will be asked to
manner provides a vehicle for teachers
musical selections explore various sound sources to plan lessons more efficiently with
* The student's ability to maintain (body percussion, wood block, greater depth and breadth. It also
a steady beat while improvising
* The student's use of a varietyof hand drum, maracas,
m establishes criteria for assessment,
and which helps students focus on curricu-
sound sourceswhen improvising triangle)
lar priorities.As Grant Wiggins, a rec-
1stGrade ognized authority on curriculum
design, has recommended:
Begin ... designingcurricu-
* The student's improvised * Students will be asked to impro- lum "backward from the assess-
answers to given musical ques- vise answers given musical ques- ment task"-decidingwhat stu-
tions are in the same: tions within specified guidelines dentsshouldbe able to demon-
Meter (rhythmic, melodic, textual) strate they know and can do
Tempo using grade-level rhythms and before deciding what to teach
Tonality pitches. them....By doing so, teachers
* The student's effective choice of * Students will be asked to impro- will haveset criteriafor ordering
sound effects for stories and vise sound effects for stories and content, reducingaimless"cov-
musical selections musical selections.
erage"and adjustinginstruction
* The student's use of a varietyof * Students will use a varietyof sound in route; and students will be
sound sourceswhen improvising sources (grade-levelinstruments) able to grasp their priorities
when improvisingsound effects.
fromdayone.1
Note
1. Grant Wiggins, "Designing Perfor-
manceAssessmentTasks,"EducationUpdate
37, no.6 (1995):1.E
JULY 1997 39