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Teaching Students with Disabilities discussion forum for Elementary Music teachers

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Matthew Swickey
Matthew Swickey
Posts: 3


4/29/2020
Matthew Swickey
Matthew Swickey
Posts: 3
I currently have a student that has Cerebral palsy and is wheelchair bound. She lacks fine motor control and cannot efficiently or legibly write. When she needs to take any written assessment it is nearly illegible and takes her a extremely long time.
1. Use a voice recorder so she may verbally answer questions. This could be a tape record, a cell phone or a microphone on a computer.
2. She could use speech recognition software for speech to text into a Word document. When finished the document can be printed or emailed to me.
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Roxanne Simpson
Roxanne Simpson
Posts: 3


4/29/2020
Roxanne Simpson
Roxanne Simpson
Posts: 3
I had a student with a severe emotional/behavioral disability. I ended up allowing him to be my 'helper' and I let him hand out different items such as instruments, scarves, or whatever manipulatives we needed for the day and we were able to avoid many behavioral issues.
A while back I had a student with a severe physical and auditory disability and was wheelchair bound. I remember using the song ‘I can play on my big bass drum’ which is great for kids with special needs who have a physical and auditory disability.
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Alexandra Lopez
Alexandra Lopez
Posts: 3


5/1/2020
Alexandra Lopez
Alexandra Lopez
Posts: 3
  • Describe an example of adapted assessment you have successfully used in the fine arts classroom for students with disabilities.

When I teach Orff instruments, I give students a pre-assesment on steady beat and their ability to hold mallets/ hit the correct notes, etc. With the data collected from this pre-assesment, I am able to determine the students ability and assign them specific parts on the Orff instruments based on that ability.
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Antionette Schenck
Antionette Schenck
Posts: 3


5/5/2020
I have a student that has a physical disability. Most of the time students move to the carpet to play instruments. This particular student has a unique chair that is supposed to follow her to all classes. In music she sits in her chair and I bring her the instruments to play.
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Mary Wester
Mary Wester
Posts: 3


5/8/2020
Mary Wester
Mary Wester
Posts: 3
For a rhythm assessment, I gave the students cards with 8 different rhythms on them. They spread them out, then after I clapped one, they put the correct one in an envelope. With the inclusion class, the rhythm cards had just the notation on it for the general ed kids and for the students with the disabilities their cards had the notation with the rhythm syllables on it too. I then showed them the correct rhythm so they could also visually check their answer.
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Cathy Fant
Cathy Fant
Posts: 3


5/10/2020
Cathy Fant
Cathy Fant
Posts: 3
I looked at the Assessment Accommodations Checklist and found numerous accommodations that would have been helpful for a kindergartner with ADHD, who was in my class years ago. While I realize it's unlikely his IEP would include a list of the seven accommodations I noted, I will mention the two that would be most helpful, particularly if he was taking a test or assessment. These are both in the area of the "setting." One would be to provide a distraction-free space or alternative location for him. A study carrel is one suggestion given on the checklist. Another setting accommodation on the list that would be appropriate is to allow this student the freedom to move, stand or pace during an individualized administration of the test. Since sitting still would be such a strain for a student like him, I could imagine focusing on the test items would be more difficult. Therefore, giving him the freedom to stand or move as he completes the test would take some of the stress off this student and help him focus on the assessment.
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Rodney Brown
Rodney Brown
Posts: 3


5/15/2020
Rodney Brown
Rodney Brown
Posts: 3
Describe an example of adapted assessment you have successfully used in the fine arts classroom for students with disabilities.

I had a student that was autistic and she wanted to back to be part of the chorus. She was absolutely terrified of singing on her own. We were having auditions during class and she completely froze and was unable to do anything. We had he stay back and sing for just the of us, my co-teacher and myself. She did amazing. She ended up being one of my All-County Chorus students.
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Jency Meche
Jency Meche
Posts: 5


5/21/2020
Jency Meche
Jency Meche
Posts: 5
I have had a student since Kindergarten, he is now in 3rd grade, that is on the autism spectrum and is a selective mute. He only speaks at home to his parents and a few extended family members. Although this year, his classroom teacher has been able to get him to whisper things to her, but only when no one else is around. He is super bright and does perfectly fine in the music classroom in every aspect except singing, of course. I've not been able to assess his singing voice, but have been able to assess if he can identify what he is seeing in the music and how it is supposed to sound by giving him options for what he is hearing when I sing or play a melody - which one am I singing/playing? He also labels solfege perfectly and will play his recorder. As a second grader, he would not play his kazoo though - which would have required him to use his voice. With this student I have found that the assessments that work best for him are the response cards, manipulatives, pictures, and sometimes an alternate setting with quiet and one on one time with me. Plus, lots of smiles and encouragement.
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Ewa Anna Gupta
Ewa Anna Gupta
Posts: 2


6/2/2020
Ewa Anna Gupta
Ewa Anna Gupta
Posts: 2
I was teaching 2nd grade music class with two ESE students. The objective of the lesson was to identify four families of unpitched percussion instruments as skins, shakers/scrapers,woods, and metals. During independent practice of the lesson all students had a worksheet with pictures of instruments with spaces next to the pictures, to write the names of families of unpitched instruments. My two ESE students working together were selecting actual classroom instruments from the mixed pile and putting the instruments to four different containers.
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Gwenn Weston
Gwenn Weston
Posts: 3


6/3/2020
Gwenn Weston
Gwenn Weston
Posts: 3
I use assessment accommodation for many students with a variety of learning challenges. I read questions and answer options aloud to the entire class. I allow students to show me in several different ways. I adjust answer requirements to match student abiities
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Hannah Bergstrom
Hannah Bergstrom
Posts: 4


6/16/2020
I have had several students with specific learning disabilities in the last few years. For each of them I was able to provide extended response time and preferential seating, allowing the opportunity to alter their environment and response time. I also read questions out loud and repeat them when necessary.
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Kelsey Reynolds
Kelsey Reynolds
Posts: 3


6/25/2020
Kelsey Reynolds
Kelsey Reynolds
Posts: 3
In the past I have taught a student with hearing impairments. As an accommodation for teaching, I wear a device around my neck that has a microphone connected to an audio system that amplifies my voice for the entire class. This is helpful not only for my impaired student, but also for the rest of the class. For an assessment on instruments families and instrument sounds, I would give students a visual (either in paper format or displayed from a screen in the classroom) and have the identify the correct answer on their own paper or device. For the listening portion, students would hear the sounds through the same amplification system I use for teaching. If I felt the student was unable to hear clearly in order to identify the sounds, I would give him his own headset with the same sounds the rest of the class is hearing and he would be able to adjust the volume on his own.
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Anita Malcolm
Anita Malcolm
Posts: 3


6/26/2020
Anita Malcolm
Anita Malcolm
Posts: 3
I have taught several students with physical disabilities that prevented them from playing the recorder or limited the notes they could play. Examples are only one functional hand, broken arms, missing fingers, and a lack of the finger dexterity needed to move individual fingers and cover the holes. I have adapted recorder assessments by having students be responsible for fewer pitches, letting them play with right hand at the top (if the left hand is disabled), and having them play the same songs on xylophones rather than recorder. I assess students individually so that those who need to play at a slower tempo can do so.
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Kelsey Reynolds
Kelsey Reynolds
Posts: 3


6/26/2020
Kelsey Reynolds
Kelsey Reynolds
Posts: 3
An adapted assessment I have used in the classroom for a student is with technology. While other students needed to identify musical instruments by their sound, for a student with hearing impairments, the ability to hear sounds clearly in differs. Allowing this student to use his own headset during the assessment, hear the same sounds, but adjust the volume and go at his own pace was helpful!

Two other assessment options that would benefit this students are to allow for him to use pictures of instruments to identify musical families or to describe characteristics of different instruments to describe differences in sound, appearance, and family. This would help the student to be able to complete the same knowledge requirements as other children but with adaptations to fit his needs.
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Rodolfo Del Hoyo
Rodolfo Del Hoyo
Posts: 3


6/30/2020
I have been successful in utilizing adaptive assessments with students with disabilities by providing extra time (Scheduling) when performing on their recorders during performance assessments. I have also allowed students with Orthopedic Impairments on their left-hand to utilize their right-hand in order to successfully finger their recorder as needed for correct fingering notes and transition.
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Andrew W Smith
Andrew W Smith
Posts: 3


7/8/2020
Andrew W Smith
Andrew W Smith
Posts: 3
I have been able to successfully use adaptive assessments by allowing my students with disabilities to use an alternative instrument from the recorder. Due to fine motor skills not being developed yet they have issues with the fingering patterns. As an alternative they are allowed to go to an Orff instrument which does not require the same motor skills. This along with extra time allows them to feel and be successful.
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Valerie Smith
Valerie Smith
Posts: 3


7/8/2020
Valerie Smith
Valerie Smith
Posts: 3
When working on reading the notes of the staff. I use visual representations such as stairs to help the students understand how the notes function (going up and down). I often ask the students to point to the notes on the smart board so that they don't have to write down their answers and they are still able to demonstrate comprehension.
edited by Valerie Smith on 7/8/2020
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Tami Williams
Tami Williams
Posts: 3


7/15/2020
Tami Williams
Tami Williams
Posts: 3
An accommodation I made on an assessment that was successful for my SWD students was creating rhythm/note games out of classic board games after seeing my SWD students struggle with the typical pencil and paper assessment. I grouped students and had them rotate stations, but the focus was the same, note/ rest identifying and rhythm reading. The games included Don't Break the Ice, Twister, Jenga, Don't Spill the Beans and Kerplunk. Not only did my SWD students do well and have fun, but so did my general ed. students. This was a great way for me to walk around and assess them because they thought they were playing a game, when in reality, it was their assessment.
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Pauline Latorre
Pauline Latorre
Posts: 4


7/27/2020
Pauline Latorre
Pauline Latorre
Posts: 4
For the past several years I have had a student in an EBD cluster that was identified as a student with emotional/behavioral disability. He would get frustrated really easily and if he felt the task was too difficult, he would become overwhelmed. One way that helped when I assessed his understanding of rhythm was instead of creating a 4 measure rhythm patterns with pencil and paper, he used some erasers I had with Halloween pictures. He used these to show the rhythm pattern he created and was happy to clap it out afterwards. Another way he would be assessed was using technology. When being tested on note names and location on the staff, I would let him use an ipad and the MusicPlay website to manipulate notes and place them on the correct line. This engaged him and allowed a little fun with being tested.
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Michelle Smith
Michelle Smith
Posts: 6


7/29/2020
Michelle Smith
Michelle Smith
Posts: 6
An accommodation I have made for students in my classroom who were deaf and hard of hearing was to assign seating to be near the sound source such as the piano or a sound system. Children were able to place their hands on the source and feel the vibrations of sound. The same is true when student played a metal instrument and could stop the vibration of sound with their hand and feel the vibration. I have also provided them with a tuning fork and they could practice striking it against their wrist and then stop it with their hand to feel the vibration. The use of technology where they could visually see the vibration of sound that they produced with their voice during singing lessons was also very engaging for our deaf and hard of hearing students.
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