8/26/2019
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Kristina Benson
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A few years ago I had a student with high functioning autism. He struggled to play the recorder because of the sound and because of his fine motor skills. He was eager to play and learn but had trouble with certain pitches. If his fingers were not placed correctly, the note squeaked which bothered him. We tried providing him with headphones or ear plugs to help with the sound but he did not like to wear them. In order to help accommodate him, I modified some of the music to include notes that he could play confidently and without squeaking. This allowed him to keep playing with the class and continue to work on reading music but it avoided the frustration that certain notes caused him. |
10/21/2019
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Kristina Benson
|
One strategy that I can use in my classroom is learning centers. Learning centers provide a great opportunity for students to either work in groups with students that are on the same level as them or work in groups with multiple levels. Creating groups with students all on the same level would allow students to work at their own pace and would provide more complex tasks for students that are progressing faster. Working in groups with multiple levels would allow for student leaders and may have a similar effect to peer partners. Students may be more receptive to feedback coming from their peers rather than a paraprofessional or teacher. Learning centers could be used in lessons for learning to play recorder, learning to read note names and in composing. In all situations, students could work with their peers in order to advance their learning. Learning centers could also provide me time to work with small groups as one of the rotations.
The other strategy that I can implement in my classroom is task analysis, specifically chaining. Task analysis is a great way to learn new songs on recorders and other instruments. Students can begin with a small section of the song and clap the rhythm first. Then students can clap the rhythm while saying the note names out loud. Students then can say the note names out loud while "fingering" the notes on their recorder or using "air mallets" on barred instruments and the final step would be to play the song. This strategy can help students of all abilities break down a song into simpler tasks. It can also provide students with steps that they can repeat if they need more practice before progressing to the final product. |
10/21/2019
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Kristina Benson
|
I had a student with autism that had a difficult time connecting written music to what she was playing on the recorder. She could identify the notes on the staff but had trouble translating that to fingerings on the recorder. To help bridge the connection, I put colored dots next to each of the holes on her recorder. She highlighted the notes in her music to correspond with the colored dots. B - yellow, A - green, G - purple. This allowed her translate the written music to the recorder while still demonstrating knowledge of the note names and demonstrating the recorder playing skills. This method also still required her to understand that she had to cover multiple holes for each note and the colors were just a guide to which fingers to add. |