Our music class meets only once a week for 50 minutes. If there is a holiday, the class is simply missed.
The Specials and Music schedule is adjusted for assemblies that take place during the school day.
You can find my weekly newsletter on my school webpage under Classroom News. It has a brief description of class activities. There are times when we don’t complete all the lesson activities so they will be moved to the following week. There is a lot of repetition and practice with hands on activities such as dancing or playing instruments, improvisation, composing, and singing activities.
Homework is usually to apply what we have been learning in class to the music the students like to listen to away from school. Students will get the song words to practice when it is closer to their program presentation date.
Students earn their music grades through class participation and discussion, using the musical supplies correctly, using the music skills they have been learning in class, using music vocabulary, etc. Students are graded on their effort and mastery of new skills after several opportunities to practice. Most grades are teacher observation at this level. Students show what they know! Class participation grades are affected when students choose not to participate in a portion of the activity that they should be working on. Program practices during the school day count toward their grade, but never the evening performances. Grades are usually entered into the computer as averages from a two – three week time period.
Specials class grades use a different scale than the homeroom class grades. You see a number grade in
Parent Center until the report card is created. Then the number grade turns into a scale grade of Excellent
Achievement (95) - E, Satisfactory (80) - S, Needs Improvement (75) - N, Unsatisfactory (60) - U. The number equivalent is set by the District and can be misleading in classes that use an Alpha Scale – E, S,
N, U. The grade reporting program has changed and they may be taking the numerical grade off soon.
The Music Grading Scales are listed below. They are from the Judson ISD Elementary Grading Handbook, pages 14 and 15. Comment Codes are found on page 16.
Children who receive an "S" or “80” are right on track with their grades in the Music. Please see the Clarifying Statements below . I know seeing an 80 or S is a red flag that there may be a problem, but not in Specials.

To summarize –
"S", - Satisfactory Achievement in Music (80)
- Student is on track with mastery of the music class content normally expected at the grade level
- Participating in all class activities and working at the level of class peers
- Correct Use of Music Skills in class activities,
- Specific music skills are different at each grade level. Please see the TEKS list on my website.
- Most students are at this level.
"E", - Excellent Achievement in Music (95)
- Students show advanced mastery of music content above what is normally expected of a student
at the same level - have to go beyond what is normally expected
- Participate 100% in every activity without hesitation,
- Have an advanced understanding of the concepts above their peers,
- Use correct music vocabulary every music class period
- Specific music skills are different at each grade level. Please see the TEKS list on my website.
“N”, - Achievement Needs Improvement in Music – (60)
- Student doesn’t show mastery of one or more skills
- Student refuses to participate in all class activities
“U”, - Unsatisfactory Achievement in Music – (50)
- Student fails to perform at the instructional level
- Student refuses to participate in class activities
Students who consistently miss their Music class may not receive a grade on the Report Card. “To receive credit or a final grade in a class, a student in Kindergarten through 12 grades must attend at least 90 percent of the days the class is offered.” JISD Student Handbook and Code of Conduct – page 18.
I contact parents either through a Music Discipline Notice, a note in the planner, a phone call, or unfortunately an Office Referral when a child is having a difficult time in my class. Students who are having difficulty with Conduct or student behavior are also given a Comment Code on their Report Card.
Students who are doing a great job in Music class earn a “Happy Note” for their classroom teacher to display and may receive a “Great Day in Music” note to take home.
If your child is not able to participate in class activities due to religious or moral conflicts, a written notice must be sent to Mrs. Tilton and his/her participation in those activities will be excused. Please be specific as to what your child is not allowed to do. We typically follow all the major U.S. holiday and calendar events connecting music to Social Studies themes. Students are required to listen to and perform music from other cultures at all grades. This includes non-English language selections and dances. The child may bring a book, drawing paper, or additional classroom practice work to Music class in lieu of the excused activity.
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions regarding this information at jtilton@judsonisd.org
or 210-945-1210. My conference time is 11:50 a.m. – 12:40 p.m.
Mrs. Tilton
Music Teacher
Converse Elementary School