Rhythm+Blocks


 * CITATION AND GENERAL INFORMATION**
 * Rhythm Blocks
 * Craig Gonci
 * The Music Interactive ([|www.themusicinteractive.com])
 * Copyright 2008
 * Designed for Macintosh
 * Requires no peripherals
 * Early Childhood Early Elementary
 * General Music


 * TEACHER SUPPORT**
 * This software doesn't provide any teacher support.


 * INSTRUCTIONAL CONTENT**
 * Works on rhythms from quarter rests up to sixteenth notes. Rhythms organized into groups of 2 beats per block with 4 blocks per exercise, totaling 2 full measures of 4/4 time. Levels 1-4 begin simply in Level 1with a quarter rest, quarter notes, one beat of eighth notes, and a half note. In Level 2 it moves up to 2 beats of sixteenth notes, quarter notes and eighth notes. No matter what level, however, each exercise is always 2 full measures of 4/4.
 * National Standards:
 * 5. Reading and notating music. (Helps students understand notation.)
 * 6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music. (Helps students learn how to interpret what they hear.)


 * INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN AND PEDAGOGICAL SOUNDNESS**


 * Teaching strategy appropriate for student level and is based on best-known methods
 * The presentation of this game is fun and simple. Students can easily figure out what is expected of them and how many more times they can play the exercise. Each block is a different color to help students easily identify the block they wish to select, and the spaces where the blocks belong are well defined. The "play" button and the "check answer" button are placed really close together which may cause students to accidentally select the wrong button, but it is clear which button is which.
 * The language and font used in Rhythm Blocks is appropriate for elementary school students. The words are short and simple, words that elementary students should be able to understand.
 * The graphics prove entertaining and helpful. Each block being a different color helps students identify the correct block more easily and creates a pleasing aesthetic for the game which elementary students love.
 * The user has full control over the movement in the program. With each use, the user selects Level 1-4 herself and plays that level until she feels comfortable with the material. Once comfortable with the material of a certain level, the user can quit the level and chose the next level herself.
 * Program Structure: Drill and Practice
 * For each level, the program has 4 exercises. Each exercise can be played rhythmically or melodically, the user chooses.
 * For Levels 1-3, the program will play celebratory music for correct answers, and sad music for incorrect asnwers, providing the user with auditory reinforcement. Level 4 does not play music.
 * The program does not provide feedback, merely states if the answer is correct or incorrect.


 * RECORD KEEPING**
 * There is no form of recording keeping in Rhythm Blocks.


 * OVERALL EVALUATION**
 * Rhythm Blocks is a fun, simple game to introduce rhythmic dictation. It allows students to test their knowledge of note values within a musical context rather than just a flash-card-drill form. It may not be the most challenging, however, because it allows students to select their own levels, thereby making it quite easy for a student to stay on one level without forward movement if the student chooses to remain on that level. It also only has 4 examples per level; there aren't any variations in the exercises each time a student plays each level except for the order the examples are played. It is a great program for an introductory purpose, though. It is fun, colorful, and the examples are very fun to listen to. By allowing students to select either rhythmic or melodic examples, the program perpares the student for different ways to hear rhythmic patters.
 * **Rating** -- Fair: **

Reviewed By: Erin Levine (10/28/10)