8/30/2016
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Christina Torrez
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I have a student who is in fourth grade. His name is Samuel. Samuel has a speech impairment as well as other health impairments. He has a one on one para who travels with him to his specials classes and he uses an iPad to communicate. Samuel does as he is told and is usually on task. It does take some encouragement to have him participate in hand signs or playing instruments. I did learn that he loves movement activities. Last week I used the parachute to demonstrate the form for William Tell Overture. Samuel practiced the motions in his seat and was very excited to hear the music. It was like he was a different student. When we actually went to the parachute he listened and had so much fun using the parachute. He doesn’t let his disability hinder him in class. You can tell that he really enjoys music and loved moving around instead of just sitting and using instruments. |
8/31/2016
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Christina Torrez
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The first strategy I could use in my classroom is Task Analysis. This is great for breaking down activities on Orff instruments. I have a lesson this week focusing on performing Mi, Re, Do on the instruments with fourth grade. We would begin by my demonstrating a song then echoing it back phrase by phrase. Once we learned our song I would ask the students where Mi, Re, Do was in in the song and they would do hand signs only on that part. Then we would practice on our laps playing Mi, Re, Do while alternating our hands. Then we would go to the Orff instruments and just use our fingers. And then we would finally be able to use mallets and sing at the same time. This would give all students, especially students with disabilities, multiple opportunities to practice before going to the instruments. I would also use graphic organizers in my classroom. The use of a story map would be great for introducing a new song. Let’s say we are listening to Romeo and Juliet by Tchaikovsky. Students could depict the entire story through the song. You could hear the love theme or the sword fight. This would allow students with disabilities to not just be able to perform music, but have a guided map to assist them when listening to music, especially music that tells a story. |
8/31/2016
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Christina Torrez
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I had an autistic student who was unable to write or speak. They loved to participate in movement activities and play instruments. We were learning about the different instrument families of the orchestra. Students were given a sheet of paper and asked to write which instrument family the pictured instrument was in. For my autistic student, I had print outs of the instruments and four small buckets. Each bucket was either brass, woodwind, string, or percussion family. They had to put the pictured instrument in the correct bucket. It worked out great. |