Improvisation and Assessment in Preschool Music
JamRound™ is a unique and essential component of every Kids’ MusicRound class and many Classroom Jamboree™ lessons. We make a big fuss of dumping a giant bag of instruments and musical toys on the floor, with lots of excited vocal play. We turn on their favorite upbeat song, and the music play begins.
It’s one of the most fun parts of our classes. It’s also a highly purposeful opportunity to differentiate instruction and assess student progress. I love how the children manipulate the instruments, creating their improvised arrangements. This freedom of musical expression allows children to explore, create, move, and develop necessary skills. JamRound™ time is a powerful chance to be careful observers and celebrate their growth.
Assessment
Certified KMR instructors constantly assess while they’re teaching. Our major goal is guiding the children in achieving the core basics of a strong musical foundation, which means keeping an accurate beat and singing in tune. We want everyone to feel confident dancing freely at a community event and singing their favorite song! During the JamRound, we watch how they respond to the beat without our leadership and delight in seeing the transition from one stage of music development to another.
Differentiated Teaching
Each child develops at their own pace, so we take this time to engage with them one-on-one through musical play. This allows us to help them experience accurate beats individually if they’re not there yet.
Some children are ready to experiment with improvisation related to pitch and timbre. We may sit near a child exploring different drums. Perhaps we’ll bring our drum to the musical jamboree to see how the child responds. Do they take the instrument and include it in their play? Do they make a face at our addition because it has upset their carefully crafted plans?
Cross-Curricular Learning
I always get a kick out of the children who stack the drums into a tower or flip them upside-down to see what new sounds they can make. Some children babble with the music, furthering their speech and vocal development. Still, others spend their time counting the number of jingle bells they can collect or experimenting with how far they can shoot a car.
While these experiences do not relate directly to music education, they provide a key learning opportunity for little ones. Nothing we do exists in a vacuum. In life, we must be able to pull from lots of experiences in order to succeed. Children are beginning to explore this concept in important ways when we allow this type of experience.
Developmentally Appropriate
Child development is not linear in all areas simultaneously. When we allow children to create and explore in the ways that work for them, we respect their developmental needs and notice where they are. As Maria Montessori says, “Play is the work of a child.” When we allow them to play, we allow them to flourish in their work and learning.
