My third graders have finished their personal learning projects on the orchestra and composers. Just a recap from the beginning: we started first getting used to the technology and resources on our iPads through Schoology, then students were given goal sheets to help them stay on task with what they wanted to learn about during each music class. Students were also given sample learning targets to choose from to help them create a goal for themselves. As time went on, students were asked to choose one area of study to focus on for a project, using instrument(s) from the orchestra or choosing a composer from the list to study (Amy Beach, Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn, Mozart, William Grant Still, Scott Joplin). They were able to work either independently or in a small group, and they were able to choose the medium in which to present their information as long as they met the proficiency requirements in the rubric (which I conferenced with them individually on to help ensure understanding of expectations and vital information to include). Finally, students got to work and after about 2.5 months (much of which by the way was trial and error and trial again on my part) we finally completed it. Below I have provided some of the final projects that were created with a digital medium. Many were very creative!
| You can download the file to the right as an iBook. The author went into a lot of detail about the trumpet and french horn! It was such a good read from a third grader! | 
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Above is a page from a student's work using explain everything to demonstrate knowledge and understanding about the Tuba!
I was thoroughly impressed with the work of my students and I will definitely continue to use this unit in years to come, but obviously with changes to meet the learning that my future students would like to accomplish. I hope that this provided a little more concrete evidence of how awesome personalized learning can be and how meaningful it can be for students!
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