Quaver’s Marvelous World of Music… a one stop shop for all your
music education needs? I’ll let you read through the evidence and form your own
opinion!
Curriculum Overview: Aligned with
the national standards and customizable with state and district standards, the
curriculum’s content will enhance student learning through tech integration and
higher order thinking skills in connection with Blooms Taxonomy. Each lesson incorporates singing, moving,
playing, composing, listening to, analyzing, and describing music with consistent
updated content. Moreover, students will be exposed to relevant current popular
trends as well as exposed to real world experiences through creating and
composing with enhanced digital learning tools.
In
my classroom, I strive to provide my students with current music content. Quaver’s team is on target with this request
and consistently updates their content based on feedback. The curriculum offers students the ability to
transfer teacher-led instruction toward student-created tasks. With the
Quaver’s Marvelous World of Music curriculum, students will be completing
authentic tasks that align with those of professionals in music production and
composition. With the connection of mobile devices built into the curriculum,
the implementation of iPad sets per classroom, students can create projects and
collaborate in groups to manipulate interactive websites in a meaningful way
that aligns with state and national standards. In addition to participate in
connected assessment pieces built into the curriculum to collect data and
measure student growth.
So,
how will students demonstrate achievement?
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Through this tech
tool with modern tracks to folk music, Quaver original tracks, and the quirky lovable character Quaver himself, students show increased engagement in the
learning process and retain more knowledge.
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Due to the
increase in interest, there is a decrease behavior problems.
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Through
ClassPlay, which is also included as part of the curriculum, multiple
intelligences are included through visual, kinesthetic, tactile, and auditory
skills in each lesson. The curriculum
incorporates listening, moving, playing, and singing options for each piece in
connection to the content.
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The curriculum
boasts of including blooms taxonomy, or higher level skills in their lessons
which is evident through the Class Toolbox. Teachers are able to dissect music
theory within each song for a microscopic look at a piece of music. The
ActivBoard in conjunction with the curriculum’s draw function makes writing on
music easy. This increases student’s
ability to analyze and evaluate written music.
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The curriculum
has assessments built into the curriculum as well as customizable options to
include additional resources. These assessment pieces include music theory,
analysis opportunities, as well as auditory listening examples. All of the assessments, whether Quaver made
or teacher made are linked to the Teacher Admin Panel and can be easily sent
out to mobile devices using a QR code. Tracking student data in a timely manner
with over 700 students will be manageable and enable higher measurable student
achievement. In addition, at the completion of the assessment, students are
able to view and review their responses either individually or as a class for
feedback in the moment.
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Through Quaver’s
website and applications, students can complete project based learning &
compositions at all levels and submit them through the teacher panel. The
curriculum also supports project based learning in the upper grades with built in
assignments that tie into the curriculum with tools available through the
website providing students with real world, authentic tasks to better train
them for future careers in music.
How
can the curriculum build student self-esteem?
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The curriculum
incorporates a teacher administrator panel in which teachers can enroll
students, assign work, and grade work.
Data is stored in the teacher’s grade book. For each grade, a section is listed for
instant feedback with the ability to add detailed descriptions pertaining to
the student’s work. Students are then able to resubmit their work. This type of mastery and quick feedback
instills a sense of self-worth and ultimately builds self-esteem.
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The program
provides a new modern way of composing and sharing digital arrangements of full
scores at all levels in addition to traditional compositions on instruments.
This will help with student choice enabling self-expression and interests that
build pride and self-confidence.
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Building a sense
of community and pride for polished student performance pieces or project
demonstrations. Students will be able to share via the ActivBoard their digital
synthesized compositions or if able, play their compositions for each other on
a classroom or orchestral / band instrument.
How
will collaboration will be impacted?
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Students will
pair and share tech tools for a hands-on approach following the release method
of teacher-led to student-led classroom management based on diagnostic
assessments and informal assessments through the unit on a daily basis.
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Student group
projects, or project based learning assignments included in the curriculum will
offer students the ability to work together in groups for a common goal.
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With the option
for printing or saving work as well as downloading MP3 version of student work,
final presentations or compositions can be posted online for parent and
homeroom teacher collaboration and feedback.
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As commonly
practiced, Skype calls from Quaver and his team are available to aid in
providing the professional perspective to student concepts.
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Quaver himself
offers a monthly webinar for teacher collaboration through UStream which allows
for real time chat sessions to ask questions and get answers or feedback as
needed.
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Screencasts and
Tutorials for teachers and students are available through a host of many
websites, blogs, or venues all located their main page.
Competitions
and gaming opportunities are also incorporated through the website to
demonstrate student knowledge and skill. These competitions are with the entire
Quaver community nationwide.
A
highly functioning music room is one that encompasses all aspects of music
making including singing, moving, playing, creating, listening, imitating,
exploring, experiencing, analyzing, classifying, sharing, and performing. What
is missing from my current content driven classroom is a unified way to bring
these pieces together in an engaging, relevant way that provides opportunities
for my students to reach out to the real world and create authentic tasks. Quaver’s Marvelous World of Music Curriculum
sequences and paces each of these tasks in a logical pattern that includes all
facets of learning. My students would be
missing out on a wonderful opportunity for a unique, individualized learning
environment without access to this project.
I am so excited to say that my school will be a part of the “Quaver
nation” through our purchase of the Quaver Curriculum thanks to the Altanta
Families’ Awards of Excellence in Education!
Still
worried about “too much screen time”? J
With products like these, students are not only learning music, but having FUN!
Here’s to hoping for a musical future for our young learners through molding
these young musical minds!
Until
next time!
Megan
Endicott
