Appalachian Folk Music Unit Plan Assessment

Day 1:
Pre-Assessment:
Students get into groups and discuss where they think Appalachia is and any
word-associations they may have with it.
Formative:
Students are asked to mention something surprising they learned about Lily May
Ledfords life from the short video they watched. They are also asked to share
about historical events they know about that happened during her life (history tiein).
Students are asked mention something surprising about they learned about Lily
May Ledfords life based on the short video they watched. They are also asked to
share about historical events they know about that happened during her life
(history tie-in).
Students complete exit slips after this class period. Two of the questions are to
self-evaluate what may be difficult about this piece/unit. The student may also ask
any questions they might have.
Summative:
On the exit slips, students are supposed to write one thing that they learned.
Day 2:
Formative:
Students will be asked questions about what they learned in the previous lesson
about Appalachian folk style singing. They will also be asked for suggestions on
how they could make their performance of Banjo Pickin Girl more authentic.
The students own ideas will guide the focus and interpretation of the music.
Summative:
After watching part of The Songcatcher, students will be able to discuss some of
their thoughts on the movie using discussion questions written by the instructor.
This will show how well the students paid attention to the movie. However, the
thoughts that each student brings to the group will add to the learning of the
whole. In this way, this part of the lesson is both summative and formative
because it is meant to hold students accountable for what they have learned after
just watching the movie, but it still allows them to learn from their peers. Also,
this assessment is informal since it is not graded.
Day 3:
Formative:
Students self-evaluate their performance of the first few verses of Banjo Pickin
Girl. Their feedback should be descriptive and discuss both strengths and
weaknesses of the performance.

Summative:
N/A
Day 4:
Formative:
Students evaluate their groups progress on their arrangement. They should
consider both their technical and stylistic preparedness and the necessary time
they will need to complete the assignment.
The teacher could ask students some questions about spirituals to see how much
the students already know and adjust the focus of the lesson based on this. Some
example questions could include: Can you name any spirituals? Where do
spirituals come from? Do you know of any arrangers of spirituals? What are some
typical topics of spirituals?
Summative:
N/A
Day 5:
Formative:
Students fill out evaluation forms for the other groups as they are playing. This
provides feedback for each group and also makes the evaluator more aware of
how they should shape their own performance.
Summative:
Students perform their small-group arrangements for the class and the teacher
assesses their performance based on a predetermined rubric.