ASSESSMENT
The Issaquah School District created a music curriculum that we are very proud of. This curriculum spans K-12 in all areas of music. In Orchestra classes students will be performing Orchestra music for performances. In addition to performing as a group, each student will need to work on their essential skills and projects that will meet the areas of content and benchmarks for their level.Practice Time: Students should practice a minimum of 90 minutes a week to be a productive part of the Orchestra team. Please set aside a quiet place in your home for this practice time and try to divide the time into the most days that you can. A shorter practice for 3-5 days a week is better than two hours in one day. Students who do not have a cello or bass at home may come in before or after school to a practice room and/or take your school rented instrument home to practice. You will need to have it back to school for the next rehearsal.
Playing tests: Students will be graded on in class playing tests on short excerpts of the repertoire we are working on or on a playing technique(scale, bowing style, harmonics, vibrato). Tests will be each Friday.
Extra Credit: Students will be awarded extra credit for joining a youth Symphony(such as Bellevue Youth Symphony, Seattle Youth Symphony), attending concerts(at school or professional; including musical theatre) and movie reports.
Ensemble work: All students will work in an ensemble group of their choice during 2nd trimester. These groups can be from 2 - 12, and be cross graded if they choose. This will culminate with a performance during class and 300 points for the project. You are highly encouraged to perform at the Eastshore Solo and Ensemble festival on March 15th. You will receive extra credit for the festival, (you may perform solo in addition to the ensemble) and it looks great on your resume and college applications!
Written work: work we will be doing may include music theory, a listening journal, investigating 3 careers of your choice that are music related, history of some composers, how the instruments evolved, making a transcription of a song, and a composition for their own instrument.