Formative Assessment Tool – Diagnostic Assessment (MUSIC)
For each of the unit objectives below indicate your current level of knowledge/skill/comfort from a scale of 1 to 4, 1 being the least, 4 being the most. Item numbers are provided at the end of this diagnostic. An answer sheet is provided.
II. HARMONY IN COMMON PRACTICE—The Diatonic Vocabulary.
A. Four-Part Vocal Writing.
1. Write four-part harmony for voices using correct voice leading and conventions of musical notation.
B. Primary Triads in Root Position.
2. Identify root position triads visually.
3. Identify root position triads aurally.
4. Write root position triads correctly using the conventions of music notation.
C. Primary Triads in First Inversion.
5. Identify first inversion triads visually.
6. Identify first inversion triads aurally.
7. Write first inversion triads correctly using the conventions of music notation.
D. Primary Triads in Second Inversion.
8. Identify second inversion triads visually.
9. Identify second inversion triads aurally.
10. Write second inversion triads correctly using the conventions of music notation.
E. Secondary Triads.
11. Identify secondary triads visually.
12. Identify secondary triads aurally.
13. Write secondary triads correctly using the conventions of music notation.
F. The Harmonization of Melodies I
14. Given a melody, harmonize it using primary and secondary triads in various inversions, using correct voice leading and conventions of musical notation.
G. Nonchord Tones
15. Identify visually a passing tone.
16. Identify aurally a passing tone.
17. Incorporate passing tones into four-part harmony.
18. Identify visually a neighboring tone.
19. Identify aurally a neighboring tone.
20. Incorporate neighboring tones into four-part harmony.
21. Identify visually a changing tone.
22. Identify aurally a changing tone.
23. Incorporate changing tones into four-part harmony.
24. Identify visually an appoggiatura.
25. Identify aurally an appoggiatura.
26. Incorporate appoggiaturas into four-part harmony.
27. Identify visually an escape tone.
28. Identify aurally an escape tone.
29. Incorporate escape tones into four-part harmony.
30. Identify visually an anticipation.
31. Identify aurally an anticipation.
32. Incorporate anticipations into four-part harmony.
33. Identify visually a suspension.
34. Identify aurally a suspension.
35. Incorporate suspensions into four-part harmony.
H. Diatonic Seventh Chords.
36. Identify seventh chords in all inversions visually.
37. Identify seventh chords in all inversions aurally.
38. Write seventh chords in all inversions correctly using the conventions of music notation.
I. The Harmonization of Melodies II.
39. Given a melody, harmonize it using triads and their inversions, non-chord tones and seventh chords in various inversions, using correct voice leading and conventions of musical notation.
J. Writing for the Piano.
40. Write a short (8 bars) piano score using the proper voice leading and conventions of musical notation.
H. Standards
41. I know how to read and notate music
42. I can describe and analyze music using appropriate terminology.
43. I can sing and/or play an instrument alone using correct form.
44. I can sing and/or play an instrument in groups using correct form.
45. I can describe and analyze music from different cultures.
46. I can connect musical concepts to other fields of study.
Diagnostic Assessment Answer Sheet
Indicate your current level of knowledge/skill/comfort from a scale of 1 to 4, 1 being the least, 4 being the most. Item numbers are provided at the end of this diagnostic.
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Rationale
I have taken the boldface headings within the unit from chapter titles in The Practice of Harmony, 5th edition, by Peter Spencer. I created the numbered objectives to reflect what I considered to be important skills that my students would gain having finished this unit. Before we begin the unit, I would hand this diagnostic to my class and have them write on a separate sheet of paper how well they thought they could accomplish each of the skills listed. At this point, the Music Theory class will have finished the first unit, which covers clefs, basic pitch notation, scales, key signatures and scale degrees, intervals, triads, and the notation of rhythm. They will have mastered some of the vocabulary required to complete this diagnostic. I am diagnosing what the students may already know about the unit based on prior experiences the students may have, including study of the previous unit, instrument or voice lessons, and/or participation in ensembles that would make them familiar with some of these musical concepts.
I would expect answers to the diagnostic begin fairly confidently and gradually become less so. Students should be confident with the first question having finished the first unit. The chapter on four- part vocal writing (A) ties together all the various concepts they have learned in the first unit. It also relates directly to one of the content standards. Sections B through E build on each other and the students will gradually write more complex four-part harmonies. Sections G through I cover material that is totally new unless the students have encountered it in other musical settings. Sections F, J, and H cover the standards of music education as defined by the state of California. Giving this diagnostic will allow me to ascertain if my students have come across any of these concepts before, which would allow me to spend less time on them in class. I will also see how comfortable my students are with the state standards for music, and can cater my curriculum to improving the skills of those areas where they are less proficient.
This assessment tool is aligned with my objectives, because each of the questions are my objectives. I have related my objectives for each part of the unit directly to the content standards for music, so the tool is aligned with the standards as well. The objectives show that my students are meeting the standards of learning how to read and notate music, listen to and analyze music, create and participate in music, compose music, and understand the applications of each musical concept.
This assessment tool avoids potential RSVP issues. It is reliable because all the students must answer in the same fashion, with a scale of 1 through 4. There should also be very little anxiety affecting how they respond, because I will have told them it is a diagnostic and not going to be graded. The diagnostic is also very standard, because the students will complete it at the same time, and they will be given the same directions in the same way. Absent students will be given the same amount of time to complete it as the other studetns, and will be given the same directions. If a student has a question about the diagnostic, I will repeat the question aloud and then give the answer so that all students may benefit. I believe the diagnostic is also valid, because each of the items is asking how much the students know about each objective, so what they know is directly related to what I want to teach them. The diagnostic is practical in that it may save me instructional time later, it pinpoints what I may have to spend extra time on during the unit, and does not take much time or thought to complete. The diagnostic also aligns well with CIAS. The diagnostic is essentially asking the students about their knowledge of aspects of the curriculum. It helps with my instruction because I will find out what my students know and don’t know. It is a type of formative assessment, because I am assessing what my students already know, and it relates directly to the students, because I am asking my students directly what they know about the material.
After my students complete the diagnostic, I will share the results with the class. I will share what concepts they seem to have more confidence in, and where we might have to spend some extra time. If a particular section had results that I did not expect, I would ask the students to share what they know about that particular topic, to see if they may have some misconceptions about a certain concept. Some of the vocabulary describing non-chord tones can get very confusing. Music uses a lot of Italian words to describe things, and my students may have trouble remembering what an appoggiatura is. They may have trouble remembering the difference between a changing tone and a passing tone. To help students, I might spend extra time in class devoted specially to recognizing the differences between a few specific types of tones. If a particular student continues to have trouble, I might suggest he study with a friend who is more confident with the material, or to come work with me during office hours or tutorial period. This is a particularly long unit, so much of the time I will scaffold the information to help my students recall all the different concepts. We will review often concepts we have already learned and relate them to new ones, such as if some terms are opposites of each other, or very closely related.
Much class time will be spent learning to write these aspects of four-part harmony correctly, and to recognize them aurally. It is especially important to make sure the students have mastered the concepts both aurally and visually. Many times students will be better at one than the other. If my students respond in the diagnostic that they can identify these concepts rather confidently on paper, but have no idea how to recognize them aurally, then I will devote more class time to aural exercises than visual ones. The AP test, which the students will have the option of taking, will include aural exercises, and my students will need to have practice trying those types of exercises, which include interval training and harmonic and rhythmic dictation. This unit is essential for this, because the students are learning about aspects of four-part harmonic writing that they will need to know to correctly write the harmonic dictation.