5/5/2021
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Stephanie DeVilling
|
Several years ago I taught an early elementary-aged class that included a student with ASD. He was very sweet, and loved the color red. In preparation for a holiday concert, I chose a song for my students to play varying instruments, and I knew I wanted to incorporate a hand-bell choir into the mix. My little guy was assigned the red bells, which he loved, and he knew to stay focused on the cue cards so he wouldn't miss his chance to play his red bells when the red codes came up. This was a very simple way to incorporate a student who may not have been able to focus on a more technical instrument, but certainly could watch for his favorite color and play his bells at the right time. |
5/7/2021
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Stephanie DeVilling
|
Back when I was leading a youth choir, I would use both mnemonic devices and peer partners or peer-led small groups. In preparation for competitive environments, we knew we would not be permitted to use our sheet music or any cue cards, so my students and I would come up with specific hand signals to note whether a piece of the music would be sung in unison or in two-part or three-part harmonies. I also used hand signals for what was coming up next in the song, a verse, the chorus, a repeat, etc. My students who may have gotten lost mid-way through the song were grateful to have those visual cues when they couldn't rely on the sheet music any longer.
For my small-group instruction, I often would call upon my best harmony singers in each section - sop/alto/ten - to lead a smaller rehearsal time with their vocal sections. This would allow for review to happen simultaneously while I visited other sections, and it gave my struggling singers a go-to peer to ask for help when they were having a difficult time finding the part of the music designed for their vocal section. These were both middle and high school aged students, and the student leader wasn't always the high schooler in the group. It was really cool to watch some of my more musically-inclined grade 8 students lead their older peers. |
5/7/2021
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Stephanie DeVilling
|
I had a mentor suggest to me to associate colors with keys on elementary instruments (keyboard, xylophone, etc) for those struggling to read beginning music. I used this technique with one of my students who was recently diagnosed with dyslexia. Her ability to focus on the "music" was made so much easier when she wasn't worried about getting the note wrong because she struggled to determine what "letter" she was looking at. It was simple for her to recognize the color, and we eventually were able to bridge the color system into the notes and where they fell on the staff. |