M.E102

Improvising a Consequent Phrase

This assessment has two parts. For Part 1, in between repetitions of the song “High, High Hill,” students will improvise a consequent phrase in response to an antecedent phrase that was performed by the teacher. For Part 2, they will reflect on their performances by circling a smiley face that reflects how well they felt that they did on their improvisation performance. The performance of each student will be video–recorded for teacher scoring later using the Teacher Scoring Rubric found on page 8 of this Teacher Booklet. For this assessment, no Student Booklet is needed.

This assessment may be easier to implement if someone other than the teacher supervises the video recording of the performances. If this is not possible, the teacher should be careful to ensure that students who are performing stay in the video frame during the recording process.

This item has been voluntarily field-tested by Michigan teachers with a non-representative sample of students.


This is an analytic rubric. The column on the left shows the dimension that is being measured in the student’s performance. The levels across the top row indicate the performance level in the dimensions. Occasionally all dimensions and performance levels are exemplified by multiple students in a single recording.

TEACHER SCORING RUBRIC

  • Dimension
  • Tonal Cohesion

  • Rhythmic Cohesion

  • Creativity

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • The student did not use singing voice or did not sing in the tonal center of the antecedent phrase.

    N/A at this time.
  • The student used singing voice. At least part of the consequent phrase was in the tonal center of the antecedent phrase.

    View Exemplar
  • The student used singing voice. The consequent phrase was mostly in the same key center and tonality as the antecedent phrase.

    View Exemplar
  • The student used singing voice. The consequent phrase was solidly and consistently in the same key center and tonality as the antecedent phrase.

    View Exemplar
  • The student did not perform in the tempo or meter of the antecedent phrase.

    N/A at this time.
  • At least part of the consequent phrase was in the tempo and meter of the antecedent phrase.

    N/A at this time.
  • The consequent phrase was mostly in the same tempo and meter as the antecedent phrase.

    View Exemplar
  • The consequent phrase was solidly and consistently in the same tempo and meter as the antecedent phrase.

    View Exemplar
  • The student does not attempt to sing a phrase that was different from that of the teacher.

    N/A at this time.
  • The student attempts to sing a phrase that is different from that of the teacher, but the performance does not “work” musically.

    View Exemplar
  • The student sings a phrase that is different from that of the teacher that works musically, but the musical vocabulary used by the student is limited.

    View Exemplar
  • The student sings a phrase that is different from that of the teacher that works musically, and the musical vocabulary used by the student is rich and varied for the grade level.

    View Exemplar
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