Assessing quarter and eighth notes, or any other concept in elementary music, can be tough. When I first started being intentional with assessments and tracking student data, it was overwhelming. I see hundreds of students every day. How am I supposed to track assessments for every single kid?! That is definitely not something we learned how to do in college. I want to share a few ways that I assess quarter and eighth notes in elementary music class. To get started, here are some free pre and posttests for assessing quarter and eighth notes. These are perfect for summative assessments and collecting data if you track SLO’s. Make sure you check out this blog post where I list some of my favorite activities to teach before assessing them with the ideas listed here!
Quarter and Eighth Note Videos
YouTube has videos that are perfect for assessing quarter and eighth notes in elementary music! Music with Mrs. Gibbs is one of my favorite creators. She has made videos for almost every season and holiday you can think of! My kids really enjoy her videos because they’re more interactive than just playing rhythms. In her Snowball Splat video, for example, my students got a kick out of throwing snowballs at the trees. Some kids were even ducking away from other kids’ snowballs!
I typically have students play on rhythm sticks, but it would be easy to assess students on drums, too. I can typically watch one group of about 5 students per rhythm. Once they’re done with that activity, I’ll either have them clean up, have free play, or do another video while I quickly jot down the students who were above or below average.
Assessing Quarter and Eighth Notes with Games
Using games as an assessment is always my favorite way to collect data! One of my favorite games to play to assess students is Musical Toes! I learned this game from some other music teachers in my district. Before you can play, you have to create a class set of rhythm pattern (these foam sheets work perfectly!). I also add a number 1-30 (or however many cards are in the set) to the back of each card. Then, on a small piece of paper, write each of those same patterns and the corresponding number that you put on the back. These are the cards that you’ll draw out of a bag.
To play, put on music for the kids and let them dance around the room. When you pause the music, they have to put their toes against one of the cards. Make sure none of the students are sharing cards! I draw one of my cards out of the bag, and whoever has that same pattern on their foam sheet is out! Those little numbers you put on the backs of the foam sheets and on your calling cards come in handy when the students can’t figure out who has the card you’re calling. If they can’t figure out the pattern, simply tell them to look on the back of their card for the number.
Now here’s the assessment piece of the game: When a student gets out, they get to start and stop the music, and then they get to call out the next calling card. You can assess them as they’re calling out the card, and they don’t even realize that you’re grading them!
Assessing Quarter and Eighth Notes with Digital Games
If you’re looking for a digital way to practice or assess quarter and eighth notes, this Space Mission rhythm game is great! There are two games involved, and both are offered in stick notation and standard notation. For one game, students will listen to the pattern and pick the pattern that was played out of three options. I like playing this one as a whole class to practice, but it can certainly be played individually or in centers.
The second game is a great assessment. Students will listen to a pattern and then drag the quarter or eighth notes down to notate the pattern they heard. This is perfect for individual work, and I have my students submit it to me through Canvas (our Learning Management System) so I can grade it.
Quarter and Eighth Note Flashcards
Okay- this last one might be a little boring, but I think it’s the easiest to grade. You know those times where you’re in a pinch and you haven’t gotten an assessment done in a while? (No? Just me?) Flashcards are perfect for that. Just give your kids rhythm sticks, drums, or even have them clap the rhythms. Sometimes videos are either too fast or there aren’t quite enough of the patterns. By the time I see what pattern is next and then look back at the kids I’m assessing, they’ve already started playing. Flashcards go at your own speed, and you can do as many or as few as you need.
Flashcards are perfect as a whole group activity, or you could do it as one center of several. Consider using FlipGrid to have students record or play the flashcards in a certain order so that you are free to walk around the room during centers.
Take a look at this Quarter and Eighth Note Unit Plan if you want full lesson plans and resources to teach quarter and eighth notes! This unit plan is great because it comes with six lesson plans plus all of the resources for the songs. I love knowing that I have six classes completely planned out for me and ready to go!
So tell me- what is your favorite way to assess? For me, it has to be easy to grade and quick. I only have 25 minutes with my younger grades, so I don’t have a ton of time to spend writing and grading during class! Of course I want the kids to have fun, too! What questions do you have about assessments? What is the hardest standard for you to assess? Let me know in the comments below!
