This Assessment project is aimed to teach students about a very prominent, but less talked about, musical genre:
Jazz. Students will connect
to the music by listening to varieties of Jazz styles, analyzing jazz through mathematics, and diving deeper into the history of the musical genre
and its cultural significance through time. Students will be engaged with fun lessons and activities leading up to a final summative project that
allows creative control over how to express what they learned, catering to the students choice to create something that is best for them while
Sarah, Wes, Jade following an open-ended rubric.
CDE High School Accomplished Standard 4- Aesthetic Valuation of Music :
Evaluate and assess the quality of musical performances or compositions and
defend those aesthetic choices using valid criteria.
Learning Targets: Students will familiarize themselves with the many different
styles within the Jazz genre by listening and comparing 3 different Jazz tunes
using musical terminology and ear training.
1. Take 5 - Brubeck Take 5 - Video
2. Rhapsody in Blue - Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue - Video
3. Fly Me to the Moon - Howard Fly Me to the Moon - Video
Formative Assessment:
🎵 Ya like Jazz? - Students will find a new jazz piece that they enjoy and create a
short 3-5 slide PowerPoint with details about interesting musical techniques and
sounds used in the music. Also include one slide with the background of the
piece and the composer and any significant history.
🎵 Improvisation Games! - In class, every student will get a chance to improvise on
a keyboard instrument along with a simple 4 bar progression using the tools
provided.
Colorado Social Studies Standard 1b: Gather and analyze historical information to address
questions from a range of primary and secondary sources containing a variety of perspectives.
Learning Targets: Students will.analyze primary sources to create a biographical portrait of
notable musicians in American Jazz Music.
Students will use technology to create a digital timeline of the major events of the Jazz era.
Inquiry Questions: What historical events influenced the production and popularity of
American Jazz?
What voices are often left out of what is remembered of mainstream Jazz? Why do you think
that is?
Formative assessments:
🎵 Tiki-Toki Timeline: Students will create an interactive, online timeline of the Jazz era
with 8-10 events described within it, including both specific songs of the Jazz era and
historical events within the periods of the Roaring 20s and Great Depression.
🎵 Gallery Walk: Students will create a visual, biographical portrait of a historical Jazz
musician of their choosing to display to their classmates.
CDE Colorado Mathematics Standard CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSG.MG.A.3: Apply
geometric methods to solve design problems (e.g., designing an object or structure to
satisfy physical constraints or minimize cost; working with typographic grid systems
based on ratios).
Learning Target: Learners analyze jazz music mathematically and are able to
categorize/classify different jazz pieces according to their rhythmic and tempo patterns.
Anticipatory Set: What common denominators do music and math have? How might we
go about creating a mathematical model that represents the significant aspects of a jazz
composition? What features of a musical piece increase the difficulty of doing this?
Formative Assessment:
🎵 Student Choice Analysis: Students will use the piece from their Ya Like Jazz?
activity to analyze the the music mathematically (i.e., rhythm/beat breakdown).
🎵 Kahoot!: After a robust discussion on the mathematics of music, in specific jazz,
students will be invited to participate in a Kahoot! session to assess their
understanding. Students will be asked questions that require them to identify and
classify various jazz compositions through a mathematical lens.
Summative Assessment Description
♪ Students will create a MindMap using the topics taught from the three disciplines to link
together key concepts of Jazz Music.
♪ The rubric is assessed by a proficient, developing, and emerging classification
corresponding to specific point values. There will be a fair amount of flexibility in the
grading process and final assessment. The summative project is worth 32 points.
Mind Map Features:
♩ Each student will show how jazz music (theme) can be described through the lenses of
music theory, mathematics, and social studies by creating a MindMap.
♩ MindMaps should have a minimum of three branches (i.e., music, math, social studies)
and five offshoots from each branch (e.g., music⇒harmonic progressions, rhythm,
theme, syncopation, repetition).
♩ While the project guidelines are open-ended, no matter the style they choose to
present in, students should demonstrate beyond surface level knowledge of each
subject area and be able to draw connections between each area. This should be
shown visually in their project
♩ With the creative control up to the student, it lets them choose what presentation style
is best for them to accurately show what they have learned.
🎵 MindMaps should have a
minimum of three branches (i.e.,
music, math, social studies) and
five offshoots from each branch
(e.g., music⇒harmonic
progressions, rhythm, theme,
style, repetition).
🎵 Student demonstrates
knowledge through in-depth
descriptions using academic
language.
🎵 There should be at least 6
cross-subject connections (i.e
music to math, music to social
studies) using any of the topics
from the branch offshoots.
Connections should be
described using academic
language to make clear
connections across subjects.
🎵 MindMap should be easy to
follow and visibly show
branches and connections in a
creative way.
The student’s MindMap has three
branches with five or more offshoots for
each branch.
Topic descriptions and 2 or more
paragraphs using academic language
relevant to the subject area
demonstrating sufficient knowledge
Students show 6 or more connections
across subjects with a clear and
in-depth description of how they connect
to one another
Project had clear branches and
connections that were easy to find and to
follow. The visual presentation was
pleasing to the eye and showed creative
control of the project
The student’s mind map has only 1-2
branches and/or less than five offshoots
per branch.
Topic descriptions are 1-2 paragraphs
using some academic language
demonstrating some deeper level
knowledge of subjects
Students show 2-6 connections across
subjects with insufficient clarity and
depth to how the topics connect across
subjects
Project had clear branches with
connections that were less clear and
hard to distinguish. The visual
presentation was pleasing to the eye and
showed effort in the visual aspect
The student’s MindMap has <1 branch
with <5 offshoots.
Topic descriptions are <1 paragraph long
using little to no academic language and
demonstrating little surface level
knowledge of subjects
Students show <2 connections across
subjects with very little to no descriptions
of how the topics connect across
subjects.
Project had unclear branches and
connections that were undefined. The
visual presentation was bland and
showed little effort in the visual aspect