Triangulation of Assessment

Observations 

I would add in a teacher demonstration prior to students beginning their coded compositions. The teacher can demonstrate how to use the musical cryptogram, BeepBox and/or the music notation software. Going through the task with the students before they begin, will help learners visualize and conceptualize how they are going to complete the task. Then, the teacher can answer any outstanding questions students might have. 

Conversations

I would add the following guiding questions to the Slidedeck as a minds-on to the lesson and have students discuss it in small groups. “What might be some reasons a composer chooses to encode a message in their music?” And, “if you had the opportunity to embed a secret message into music, what would you try to convey?” Groups who are willing to share their answers can do so to a larger class discussion. This is meant to supplement the plus/minus/interesting exit-ticket conversation strategy that is done at the end of the project. 

Production 

An extension of this lesson plan could be to have students present their compositions to the class. This way, they can learn from one another and see what their peers created. For students that would rather not present in front of their peers, I can make accommodations and have the student share their work with me one-on-one, or they can present in pairs.

Toronto, December 2023