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Praxis Percussion · Assessments

Level 1 Playing Checkpoints Kit

Six playing checkpoints for a beginning percussion class, one for the end of each six weeks

Each checkpoint scores only what Level 1 has taught by then, on one sheet per student that covers every instrument taught so far. Each comes with the music to play: Form A for the checkpoint and a matched Form B for a retake.

  • Coming soon · not on sale yet
  • Printable and fillable PDFs
  • Each criterion scored 1–5 or N/A

What's in the kit

One kit, eight sets of files: one for each checkpoint, one for the tracker and one for the run guide.

  • The scoring sheet for each checkpoint, to print one per page or two per page, and a fillable PDF to complete on a computer or tablet
  • The music for each checkpoint: a student copy and a teacher key with the counts and sticking, for Form A and Form B
  • Pass-off cards, four to a page, and a one-page director quick-fix reference of common problems and fixes
  • A self-check and partner card for students to rate themselves and each other on the same criteria before they play
  • A next-step and retake card to fill in for each student after a checkpoint
  • Projector slides for each checkpoint: an editable PowerPoint file that opens in Google Slides, PowerPoint or Keynote, and a PDF to project as is
  • The Level 1 Checkpoints Tracker: a class tracker, a growth chart for each student, and a page on reading the tracker
  • The Level 1 Checkpoint Day run guide: how to run a checkpoint in one class period, with a station plan
  • The sheets, cards, quick-fix references, tracker and run guide come in color and in black and white
The Level 1 Checkpoint 3 quick-score sheet: six criteria for snare and keyboard, each with observable cues, a 1–5 or N/A score box and notes. The Checkpoint 3 student copy, Form A, Part 1: four bars of quarter, eighth and sixteenth notes for snare or pad, with the sticking below. The Level 1 Checkpoints Tracker class page: a row for each of fifteen students, with a first-try and retake score for each of the six checkpoints.

Coming soon

The six checkpoints

Checkpoint 1

Setup, grip, stroke and steady pulse on pad or snare, reading quarter and eighth notes and rests.

Checkpoint 2

Adds keyboard: mallet grip, tone, and finding and reading the notes C to G.

Checkpoint 3

Sixteenth notes, the first four rudiments, and the C, F, B♭ and E♭ scales.

Checkpoint 4

One-drum timpani, suspended cymbal with triangle or tambourine, three more rudiments and a scale review.

Checkpoint 5

Reading in 3/4 on snare and keyboard, three more rudiments, and an ensemble entrance and release.

Checkpoint 6

A review of every instrument in Level 1, with the last three rudiments.

Fits

End-of-six-weeks playing checks in a first-year percussion class, and retakes on a form the student has not seen.

What it is not

It does not score playing for you: the cues say what to listen and look for, and the score is your observation of one performance. No student accounts. Names and scores you enter can be saved in your completed PDF. Follow your school’s policies for storing and sharing completed assessments.

License

One teacher's license. Print, copy and fill in the forms for your own students, every year you teach, and edit the projector slides for your classes. Do not give the files to other teachers or post them publicly; a school buys one copy for each teacher.

The Level 1 Playing Checkpoints Kit is not on sale yet, and this page will say so until it is. Questions: email taylor@backwerdrimshot.com.