Music Classroom Expectations, Citizenship and Participation Grades

Music Classroom Expectations

1. Be Prepared for Class

2. Be Respectful toward Yourself, Others, and School Property

3. Be Cooperative with Others

4. Be Responsible for your Words, Actions, and Belongings

5. Be Engaged in Class

A child’s cooperation, participation, and preparedness are essential to a thriving classroom community. As a Catholic school community, we need to be the salt and light of the world as Christ has called us to be. We must show others the love of Christ by our example. Therefore, citizenship is vital to our school and community at large. It is also very important for a child to come prepared to class in order to make our learning community productive. Due to the cooperative learning atmosphere in St. Clement’s music classroom, high emphasis is placed on both the citizenship grade and the participation grade.

Citizenship Grade

The Citizenship grade is based on the student's ability to use respect towards others and to the classroom. Students who are following the rules will receive an excellent Citizenship grade. If a student fails to comply with the school rules, he/she will receive a less than excellent Citizenship grade. At the beginning of the year, a student will be warned if there is a failure to comply with the classroom expectations. Once the student is fully aware of the classroom and school expectations, but still chooses to act in discordance with those rules, a card will be issued. Respect Cards are issued if the student is intentionally disrespectful toward others, class time, or property. The purpose of the cards is to allow the student to reflect on his/her own choices, and to consider better choices for the future.

The student will be expected to fill out the card and turn it in to Mrs. Gardner. A copy will be sent home in grades K-4. In grades 5-8, the calendar will be signed when a card is given.

Citizenship Grading Scale

Students will begin each quarter with an VG (K-2nd) or an A+ (K-8th). The following is a countdown chart that the students are familiar with (this is given to the students for ease of understanding, rather than giving the students a percent, so a grade of 3 is not 30%, but it is a 70%). Each student begins with a 10, but each time a card is issued, it drops down one number. Please review the chart to see how the grades are determined. The grades will be entered as a percent (please see parenthesis for details). The Citizenship grade will be worth 50 points. If a student were to receive one card during the quarter, then his/her grade would be entered as 46.5 out of 50, which would be a 93%.

K-2nd

10=VG (100%)

9=VG (93%)

8=VG (89%)

7=S (85%)

6=S (82%)

5=S (78%)

4=NI (74%)

3=NI (70%)

2=U (60%)

1=U (50%)

3rd-8th

10=A+ (100%)

9=A (93%)

8=B+ (89%)

7=B (85%)

6=C+ (82%)

5=C (78%)

4=D+ (74%)

3=D (70%)

2=F (60%)

1=F (50%)

Please see the handbook for the school rules. Music classroom expectations are posted in the classroom and on the music website. Please refer to the grade specific consequences given by the student’s homeroom teacher to understand further consequences. Alternate consequences in music will be given as needed. Examples of alternative consequences: class activity privileges removed, field trip privileges removed, right to participate in music programs, etc. A detention and possibly suspension will automatically be given to a student who violates another person or school property.

Participation Grade

Students will receive a daily grade for class participation. Students who are choosing to be involved in music class activities will receive an excellent grade. The grade will fall from excellent if the student chooses not to engage in classroom activities. Please see the grading scale below for details. The participation grade will be worth 75 points. Each class where a student fails to participate will be recorded. For every mark given, the grade will be lowered a percentage (please see the rubric and grading scale below).

Participation Rubric

Excellent (10 or 9): Consistently involved in music classroom activities

Good (8 or 7): Mostly involved in music activities, but may fail to engage in every task

Average (6 or 5): Sometimes is involved in music activities, but may not always be on task

Below Average (4 or 3): Very rarely is engaged in music activities

Unsatisfactory (2 or 1): Fails to engage in any type of music classroom activites

Participation Grading Scale

K-2nd

10=VG (100%)

9=VG (93%)

8=VG (89%)

7=S (85%)

6=S (82%)

5=S (78%)

4=NI (74%)

3=NI (70%)

2=U (60%)

1=U (50%)

3rd-8th

10=A+ (100%)

9=A (93%)

8=B+ (89%)

7=B (85%)

6=C+ (82%)

5=C (78%)

4=D+ (74%)

3=D (70%)

2=F (60%)

1=F (50%)

Music Skill Grading Criteria

Students will be assessed on the following for each musical skill assignment:

• Participation
• Technique
• Steady Beat
• Rhythm
• Pitch (if applicable)

Students will be graded on the following musical skills. Students' technique will be assessed using the bulleted criteria below.

Vocal Technique

• Pitch
• Posture
• Tone
• Diction

Drums and Auxiliary Percussion Technique

• Hold Instrument Properly
• Alternate Mallets or Hands When Necessary
• Tone
• Posture

Barred Instrument Technique

• Resting and Ready Position
• Let Mallets Bounce (use your wrist, not your index finger)
• Alternate Mallets (use crossover, if necessary)
• Posture (back is straight, body is centered, arms form a triangle when mallets are in playing position, proper sitting/standing position)

Recorder Technique

• Holes Covered (think "recorder warts")
• Posture, Resting and Ready Position (sitting up straight, recorder forms a 45 degree angle with your face, left hand on top)
• Articulation (think "doo, doo, doo")
• Tone (think "Pacific Breeze" not "Arctic Blast")

Students will be assessed based on a 10 point grading scale. Each Criteria (see very top of this page) will be worth 2 points. Please see the following scale for specific letter grades and percents. Please note that each Musical Skill assignment will be worth 10 points (the 10 point scale is used for ease of student understanding, rather than having a percentage chart, so if a student were to get a 3 on an assignment, his/her grade would not be a 30%, but a 70%, or the letter grade of D). Grades will be entered in such a way that the desired percentage is achieved. For example, say that a student gets a 7 {S (K-2nd) or B (3rd-8th)}, the grade would be entered as 8.5 out of 10, thus giving the student an 85%.

K-2nd

10=VG (100%)

9=VG (93%)

8=VG (89%)

7=S (85%)

6=S (82%)

5=S (78%)

4=NI (74%)

3=NI (70%)

2=U (60%)

1=U (50%)

3rd-8th

10=A+ (100%)

9=A (93%)

8=B+ (89%)

7=B (85%)

6=C+ (82%)

5=C (78%)

4=D+ (74%)

3=D (70%)

2=F (60%)

1=F (50%)

Students will also receive written assignments in the following categories. Each assignment will have its on criteria and number of points.

• Form/Symbols
• Notation
• Improvisation
• Composition
• Cultural Context
• Historical Context