Quaver's Marvelous World of Music!!!!

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?

-          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.

-          Due to the increase in interest, there is a decrease behavior problems.

-          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.

-          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.

-          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.

-          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?

-          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.

-          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.

-          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?

-          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.

-          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.

-          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.

-          As commonly practiced, Skype calls from Quaver and his team are available to aid in providing the professional perspective to student concepts.

-          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.

-          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