MS Music Guide

Choral/Vocal Music Effective Practices

Skill

Canyons District Best Practices (Instructional Priorities) Actively engage ALL students in learning; students are active when they are saying, writing, or doing. Pace instruction to allow for frequent student responses. Call on a wide variety of students throughout each period.

What it looks like in Choral Music

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● Students are actively stretching, breathing, playing, fngering, verbalizing, or silent rehearsing with their instrument. ● Students count or tap rhythms out loud. ● Students sing their part. ● Choral response ● Cold calling ● Thumbs up/down ● Fist tofve ● Specifc verbal or written peer feedback Students are assigned appropriate voice parts dependent upon their range and abilities (e.g., tenor, soprano, etc.) ● Listening/observational data is used to make immediate corrections. ● Groups rehearse specifc defcits as whole group, section (ie: basses), or individually as needed throughout the rehearsal (could be any period of time depending upon need). Instructional Agility: Rehearsals move at a quick pace, playing time is maximized, teacher makes constant corrections/feedback based on listening and observation. Examples of Feedback cycle: ● Whole group: Most of you missed the repeat sign. Where do we repeat to? (Choral response) That is right, measure 35. Let’s try that again. Good, you remembered to repeat! ● Section: Sopranos, you sang incorrect rhythms at measure 67 & 68. Can you tell me what was incorrect? Yes, hold the dotted notes longer. Let’s sing that again. Good, that was correct! ● Individual: Sam, you sang the melody at measure 16. What should the correct part be? That’s right, you should be higher than the melody! Sing that again with all the tenors. Good, you did it correctly. ● ● Observations and feedback should be immediate and can be left unrecorded. ● Target individuals or small groups of students to ensure meaningful feedback. Feedback can be verbal and/or written. Use daily outcomes/objectives to guide verbal feedback. ● Use rubrics with specifc criteria for written feedback. ● Provide positive reinforcement of individual strengths. ● Provide constructive comments about areas requiring further development. ● Provide whole group feedback that summarizes your observations. ● Provide opportunities for peer feedback. ● Provide opportunities for student self-assessment that can form the basis of discussion and feedback. Provide meaningful feedback: ● Examples: (Since playing an instrument is all about skill development, AAA is done throughout rehearsal) ● Teach skills through demonstration, explanations, examples on the board, teacher modeling ● Students practice whole group, sections, or individually ● Students apply skill to piece of music Strategies for observations: ● Base observations on learning outcomes.

OTRs

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Present information at various levels of diffculty. Use data to identify needs and create small groups to target specifc skills. Frequently analyze current data and move students within groups depending on their changing needs.

Scaffolded Instruction & Grouping

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Instructional Agility: Teacher makes appropriately paced intentional corrections and feedback constantly based upon listening and observations. Feedback cycle: ● Provide timely prompts that indicate when students have done something correctly or incorrectly.

Instructional Agility& Feedback Cycles

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Give students the opportunity to use the feedback to continue their learning process. End feedback cycles with the student performing the skill correctly and receiving positive acknowledgement.

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Provide clear learning intentions for students daily. Share rubrics, exemplars, models prior to student work time. Assess to identify who needs further support.

Teacher Clarity& Assessment

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Formative Assessment should be focused on observing students as they learn and provide feedback to them to assist progress towards outcomes. Observe students with criteria in mind. Provide timely feedback. Summative Assessment: is comprehensive and records the extent to which students have met the outcomes for a period of work.

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Explicitly teach a skill to students by explaining, demonstrating, and modeling. Build the skill through practice and use, to gain automaticity. Provide students with multiple opportunities to apply the skill.

Instructional Hierarchy: AAA

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