DP Music - Summative Assessment
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DP Music Guide: Summarised
My Subject Coordinator told me to start with the exam and to work my way backwards. In the file below, I've summarised everything important in the guide into two pages, and then have put a bullet list of the exam structure. | ||
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Here is an A3 printable poster showing the kids how they'll be assessed at the end of grade 12.
(When viewed in Firefox, this document is a strange cyan colour. It looks great in Safari, though.)
(When viewed in Firefox, this document is a strange cyan colour. It looks great in Safari, though.)
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My Long Range Plans
Over the past four years, it has become my opinion that in order to survive - nah, thrive - in a DP Music programme, you must have a growth mindset. Students who can conquer their fears, can do well. Those who are overcome with fear, will have the educational equivalent of 'failure to thrive' syndrome.
Why is this? We are still working on the current guide. Let's look at Section B of the exam: Listen to a small excerpt from any part of any music from any culture and any genre in all of music history. Analyse it by ear and then write it's societal, historical, and cultural contexts. Yup. That's scary for sure.
Thus, I have found that the kids who are resilient, brave, and have perseverance do very well. Those who panic and shut down, really struggle. Thus, my first units are all about making the kids feel comfortable. Figuratively holding their hands as they go into the next 2 years.
Why is this? We are still working on the current guide. Let's look at Section B of the exam: Listen to a small excerpt from any part of any music from any culture and any genre in all of music history. Analyse it by ear and then write it's societal, historical, and cultural contexts. Yup. That's scary for sure.
Thus, I have found that the kids who are resilient, brave, and have perseverance do very well. Those who panic and shut down, really struggle. Thus, my first units are all about making the kids feel comfortable. Figuratively holding their hands as they go into the next 2 years.
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Year 1, Semester 1
Medical, Renaissance, & Baroque (inc. stylistic techniques) 5 teacher provided active listenings per week 1 Global music activity per week 20 minutes of live music performed & recorded Year 1, Semester 2 Classical & Romantic (inc. stylistic techniques) 5 teacher provided active listenings per week 1 Global music activity per week 20 minutes of live music performed & recorded Introduce the MLI |
Year 2, Semester 1
Modern & Jazz (inc. stylistic techniques) Prescribed Scores begun 5 teacher provided active listenings per week 1 Global music activity per week 20 minutes of live music performed & recorded 1st Draft of MLI complete Begin own-choice composition tasks Year 2, Semester 2 Finish prescribed scores 5 teacher provided active listenings per week 1 Global music activity per week Choose 20 minutes of music for live performances Choose compositions for portfolio Submit MLI Do mock exams and revision work for exams |
Active listening for Section B
Here's an example of an active listening checklist I've made up for myself (which I put in the students' OneNote folders). We know that the exam is going to be Western Art Music, Jazz, or Global, with more emphasis put on Global, so I need to make sure that I hit those three topics and as many sub-genres as possible.
A truly great educator-mentor, Sally Davis, advised me to teach my kids how to complete Section B using the same template that the IB examiners use. This way, the examiners can very quickly and accurately assess the students' work because it will show up exactly like the provided answer keys. I renamed the section, "Active Listening," so that they know it's more than just having a fun bit-of-a-listen, and taught them the template structure. The image below is their OneNote schedule with their template & instructions.
NOTE: In case you are wondering what the asterisks are in my schedule, I always repeat through the prescribed scores. I want the students to listen to them so much that they are engrained in their psyches. Thus, * was Dances of Galanta, then Brandenburg movements 1, 2, and 3, and then the asterisk showed they'd be going back to Dances again.
My Favourite Theory Resources
Toby Rush is my go-to-guy for music theory. He has really amazing one page crib notes on a variety of different topics. Everything is provided for free, though you can also purchase poster sizes. Whenever we have a big topic that needs to be condensed quickly, this is where I go. For example, we go through aaaaaaallll the rules of species counterpoint. Tones of memorisation. But then we glue in Toby Rush's counterpoint crib sheet into our process journals for when it comes time to do stylistic techniques. Please do check out his site - it's become my theory life-line!
"Merryman" is the name of the author, but I simply call the entire book that. When I did my masters at Boston University, this was on most course lists. It's like a crib-sheet for theory, except it's not pretty. It's fast and efficient.
Need information fast? Grab Merryman. "Hey, is that a wrong note or is that a non-chord tone?" Merryman has a single paragraph that shows 5 types of non-chord tones, examples of each, and a table of how they are approached and left. "Okay, that's an unusual appoggiatura. I'll accept it. Let's move on..." Book goes back on the shelf until the next emergency arises.
Need information fast? Grab Merryman. "Hey, is that a wrong note or is that a non-chord tone?" Merryman has a single paragraph that shows 5 types of non-chord tones, examples of each, and a table of how they are approached and left. "Okay, that's an unusual appoggiatura. I'll accept it. Let's move on..." Book goes back on the shelf until the next emergency arises.
My favourite Books
Cambridge's Investigating Musical Styles
by Roy Bennett It goes through each of the Western Art Music time periods with readings and listening exercises. At the end of each chapter, the students are then given popular and Global activities that are related. For example, in the Classical chapter, the students are asked to analyse Bohemian Rhapsody and then explain why it is in Sonata form. Qualifier: It doesn't just ask them to do it - there are a series of questions and activities that lead students to realise it is in Sonata form. Great book. |
World Sound Matters
by Jonathan Stock This is a great way to prepare students for Section B. There is a student activity book, a transcriptions book, and a CD of all the music given (which is extensive). After doing the readings (cultural, historical and societal contexts!), the students are asked to listen only and to answer questions (Hello Section B of the exam!!!). Next, they are give the transcriptions with more questions. At the end, they are asked to compare and contrast some Element of Music with a different Global music found in the same book. This is my go-to-book for Global music. The students do 1 Global music per week and we work our way through the book. The only thing I don't like about the book is that the teacher's guide doesn't come with an answer key, so there's been many a time when the students are, amongst themselves, arguing over answers, and nothing really gets resolved. |
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IBO Posters by Amy Keus are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.