Assessment: Using Book Creator to Assess a Composer’s Unit about Beethoven

During the winter trimester, the second graders studied the composer, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). We read the book Beethoven by Ann Rachlin, and listened and moved to several of his pieces. We then watched the movie Beethoven Lives Upstairs. Afterward, I grouped the students into four groups. The groups were labeled, “Beethoven’s Childhood,” “Beethoven’s Adulthood,” “Beethoven’s Music,” and “Beethoven Lives Upstairs.” Each group had to write down facts that they learned and it was OK if the groups had some of the same facts. For example, if they were in the group titled “Beethoven’s Childhood,” each member of the group gave a fact about his childhood. If they were in the group “Beethoven Lives Upstairs,” each member of the group gave a statement of what they learned about Beethoven from the movie. When they were finished writing their facts, they chose a piece of music composed by Beethoven to be as the background music or as listening selections for each page of their books. They also chose a pictures of Beethoven to be shown (from Google images that were saved to the iPad’s camera roll). We then used Book Creator app to have them create a book about Beethoven utilizing their facts, pictures, and music. They must write in complete sentences. This project incorporates many skills: writing, reading, listening, moving to music, presenting their knowledge, and art. I have done this project in my music classes for years and the students have thoroughly enjoyed it.