Patricia Morrison

Larkspur Middle School

2/9-2/12
Summary Reflection on Impact on Student Learning Project

For this project, I used note reading for my subject. I was lucky to have the opportunity to start a
new beginning orchestra class. None of the students could read music. My cooperating teacher was using
musictheory.net in previous classes to assign the students to complete the “note reading challenge” and I
used the same set-up she used. The students select their instrument and complete 20 note identification
examples. The quiz is set up to only include natural notes - no accidentals. The students took this quiz
once every day and I recorded their results. With a mixture of in-person and virtual learning, I felt this
was a great way to assess their progress.
I started the first day of my project with this pre-assessment. The students were anxious at first
because they did not know how to read music, but I assured them that they’re not expected to know this
information yet! Once they completed the assessment, I recorded the results and started our first lesson. I
created a document that included the names of the notes for the lines and spaces on each clef. I wrote out
some silly acronyms for each of them. I wanted to present information in a way that would be relatable
for the students. I called the note names on the staff their homes - a note on the first line in treble clef will
always be E’s home. A note in the second space in alto clef will always be B’s home. They seemed to
enjoy that connection. The students also love playing Gimkit, a new learning technology similar to
Kahoot, but much more engaging and personable. I created a Gimkit with questions on note reading and
the students really enjoyed that. After this, we learned where our open strings were on the staff and on our
instruments. The last thing I had the students do was to come up with their own acronyms for their
instrument and post it in a discussion board that we would go over at the end of the week.
On the second day, I started with two great videos that explained notes on the staff for treble, bass
and alto clef. We also reviewed the document with the acronyms. I created my own examples on a
notation software and wrote numbers above each note. I wrote the same notes in each clef, and I had all of
the students' names on a “picker wheel” and it randomly picked a student to read out a note name. This
worked very well because I was able to customize the exercise in a way that had every clef represented.
Even when a student was answering the question - the other students can look at their clef and apply the
connection. We then did the same Gimkit for practice and played on our instruments. The class ended
with them taking the note reading challenge again and I recorded their scores. After one day, there was a
53% increase in scores.
 On the third day, we practiced reading and playing on our instruments. We also learned how to
hold our bows on this day. We did another note-reading challenge and reviewed notes on the staff in
preparation for our final assessment tomorrow.
On the last day of this unit we reviewed the document I created again. I’ve learned that repetition
is the key to improving. After we reviewed the acronym document, we read over the discussion board
where the students posted their own acronyms. They really enjoyed this activity, not only because they
got to create their own mnemonics, but they got to listen and read what their peers came up with. This
weekend was Valentine’s Day, and I found this cute musical alphabet worksheet we completed as a class.
I used the “pickerwheel” again and each student selected one “heart” to fill in. I really like using the
wheel because it keeps all students engaged since they don’t know who will be called on. We then used
an exercise on musictheory.net that randomly puts up a note on a clef, and each student answered one. I
wouldn’t use this again in this setting because if there was a note in treble clef, the cellos or violas seemed
to drift off in la la land. We then continued to work our way through the Essential Elements book - slowly
adding new notes. After playing, and reviewing note reading, the students took the same assessment and
scores increased by 73%.
I am pleased with their progress, and every day they continue to improve. With half the students
in-person and half online, I tried to use exercises and activities that included and engaged everyone. With
the students that I noticed were having a little more of a challenge, I would think of examples and
indirectly announce reminders towards their instrument, rather than towards themselves. I did not want to
single anyone out. I know when I was learning how to read notes, I needed a lot more time and practice.
Repetition and practice is key.