GarageBand Project, Instructions and Music Assessment Rubric

Easily extended beyond a few lessons, this resource includes two Projects that meet learning outcomes for Music while building strong content knowledge through purposeful reading, writing, viewing, listening, and research. GarageBand software makes music composition easy for middle school aged students. Meaningful and active learning can easily be experienced through these fun activities. Ease of navigation also makes it appealing to students and teachers (who could easily learn to use it alongside their students). Since music can be listened to, played, and seen through GarageBand, it also presents it through different modes of learning. Multiple modes of presentation and the need for student choices, creates a more meaningful learning experience.
Your students will respond to varying demands of audience, task, purpose, and discipline by taking notes, making notes and selecting convincing evidence. Students can use their own creativity in completing projects that are authentic. The Projects also reinforce the right use of repetition, adjusting tempo (speed), key, dynamics (volume), melodic flow, etc.
For your program:
Students will also be introduced the concepts of
• meter,
• beats per minute,
• time signature, and
• musical patterns/repetition.
By the end of the two Projects students will be able to:
• know the basics of using music technology for fun & the Garageband software
• insert loops into a project to create a simple composition of their own
• and with extended time they will be able to change the tempo and time signature of a song
Teachers can assess by:
• Listening to a students’ composition and reading their written work to see if they have understood how to create a musical pattern within the Garage band software.
• Checking to see if the students can identify patterns within other students’ work.
• Listen for precise vocabulary to describe rhythm and metre as well as their music.
• Students are able to talk about similarities and differences in rhythmic patterns.
checking for understanding through simple note taking and note making rounds off the exercise!
NESA Australian Professional Standards for Teachers
Know students and how they learn:
1.5.2 Develop teaching activities that incorporate differentiated strategies to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities
2.1.2 Apply knowledge of the content and teaching strategies to develop engaging teaching activities
Know the content and how to teach it
2.2.2 Organise the content into coherent, well-sequenced learning and teaching programs