6/26/2018
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Lillie Gelfand
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I had several students in my 5th grade music class with autism. They are high functioning, however I adapted the way they accomplished the reading and performing goal in class. If they needed to write in letter names of the notes in order to play they were able to do that. If they needed extra time or time out to re-focus then they were able to do that. I found that the students did very well and were able to play and perform with the other students in the class.
In addition, I have a student in 4th grade with a range of disabilities. He has difficulty some days with too much noise, or too many distractions from the other students. I usually let him find the best solution for what he needs. He is very musical and can usually learn the music by listening to the other students play and watching the fingerings as they play. Then he will begin to play. He also has difficulty with anxiety performing in front of people. This year he specifically asked to play one of the xylophone parts on a song that his class was performing for their spring concert. I let his parents know that he made this request and encouraged them to go ahead and let me give him the opportunity. I had two xylophones, so he was on one and another student was on the other. Our first performance was for the school students and he did an awesome job. The evening performance was for parents. His parents spoke to me before the concert started and I told them what an awesome job he did that afternoon. I also assured them that if was not able to play this evening, it would be okay. I told them how much he really wanted to do it and I was confident that he would be able to. He did play the part and his parents, as well as myself were so proud of him. I try to adapt to each student and what they seem to be able to do. This has worked well and whatever they accomplish is wonderful. |
3/12/2019
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Lillie Gelfand
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Option 1: Describe 2 strategies implemented in music classroom:
The first one is task analysis: I used the strategy daily with almost every music class. When teaching a new song on the recorder, I begin with having the students identify the time signature, then clapping the rhythm and using rhythm syllables. This is followed by reading the letter names of the notes in rhythm following the steady beat. Identify any challenging measures and finger the notes on the recorder while saying the letter names of the notes in rhythm. I often follow these with demonstrating how to play it on the recorder. Then the students will play on their recorders in full group and then in smaller groups to work on any difficult measures. Students with autism, ADHD are helped by a student partner as well as myself. I will point to the notes and say the letter names as they are trying to play. I will also finger notes on my recorder individually for them as they are playing to help them with the correct fingering.
The second strategy is Letter Strategy: I use this strategy to help students learn the letter names of the lines and spaces on the musical staff. I also use it to help them memorize the order of the sharps and flats on the staff for the key signatures. |
3/13/2019
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Lillie Gelfand
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Describe an example of adapted assessment you have successfully used in the fine arts classroom for students with disabilities.
I had a student with two missing fingers on her left hand. When we begin the recorder I allowed her to use her right hand to play the notes B, A and G which usually use the left hand. As we moved ahead with learning more notes that required use of the bottom half of the recorder she was able to adapt by using her pinkie finger on the right hand for the first hole and then adapted with her other fingers to cover additional holes on the recorder. I never hesitated in helping her with coming up with ways to adapt so she could play the songs the class was playing. She did an excellent job and was very successful on playing the recorder. |