4/3/2018
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Michelle Tredway
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Option 1: Provide/Describe one or more examples of adapted or alternative assessments you have successfully used in the music classroom for students with disabilities. Be sure to identify the student's disability. Share your response in the threaded discussion.
Students in Beginning Chorus Class with Specific Learning Disabilities, when writing a key signature/interval identification quiz, have been given a larger written staff to facilitate the identification/reading process. Students had a 'key' at the top of the quiz, showing note names and scale numbers for quiz facilitation and completion |
4/3/2018
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Michelle Tredway
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My middle school choruses are partitioned into sections, each with Section Leaders. This Peer Partner Strategy allows for the stronger sight-readers to lead others through new music. It also allows for voice quality to be reinforced. Of course, it also engages the students on a very human level, showing them how to use what they have been given to help others. |
4/3/2018
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Michelle Tredway
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A Chorus student in the Autism spectrum chose chorus as his elective in the 6th grade. Because loud, sudden noises were a hindrance to his participation level, and because sudden changes in routine negatively affected his progress, he was placed in the top tier of the riser - next to his peers, but certainly not in the midst of the vocal sounds which filled a classroom of 60+ beginners. This placement was near the chorus office, which allowed him to 'escape' if the volume level became too high. I have taken the habit of cuing the class before I change activities. |
5/29/2023
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Michelle Tredway
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I had a student with Mild Hearing Loss in a 6th Grade mixed beginning Chorus Class (46 students). This hearing loss was NOT known, nor identified by me, nor by his parents until the end of his 6th grade year. His vocal folds were already quite thick, so his speaking and singing voices sounded already 'changed', unlike his other 6th grade colleagues. His singing was consistently over an octave below the class, and was limited to an interval of a 3rd. My modus operandi was to just continue to sing the class without attention to this individual, to discover how he responded to instruction, and for me to discover his abilities, along with everyone else's. He, along with his like-gender friends, were placed together according to strength of pitch-matching. Since I had an assistant, I had her work with the male singers as a group to work with to determine range and vocal facility. At no time during the semester was the student singled out, nor discouraged from singing. The student participated fully in every class. When it became evident that the student's range was still limited and quite low, I contacted the mother to determine a further course of action. The mother decided to have his hearing evaluated, and it was discovered that he had a mild hearing loss. This led to a change in where he sat in the classroom to be completely surrounded with strong singers, and to be closer to the front for hearing instructions. We secured the help of a voice teacher who worked with the student one-on-one. This teacher found where the student sang, played that pitch on the piano, and worked with him to move his voice upward and back down until he 'felt' the vocal movement. This student continued to sing in chorus, moving from beginning to intermediate chorus. The success of our collective tenacity was observed in the student's 8th grade year when he sang a solo for Solo/Ensemble Festival, which meant singing his own part completely independently, with piano accompaniment. The adjudicator was not aware of anything that had gone before, nor of the students hearing disability. The adjudicator awarded him a rating of 'Superior', as student sang confidently, and accurately! |
5/29/2023
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Michelle Tredway
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Regarding the STRATEGIES prompt in the Students With Disabilities Fine Arts Course: PROMPT 1 below: Strategy 1: Mnemonic Strategy to teach the Order of Sharps: Fat Cats Go Down Alleys Eating Bugs. A funny way for any student to remember something without having to find each line/space on which a sharp rests on a given staff. Strategy 2: Reflection Strategy: Asking each section (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) to circle up after working a section to discuss/re-sing sections they feel could be better performed. Guide circles to answers by addressing dynamics, phrasing, breathing, unified vowels, etc.)
PROMPT 2 below: Sight-Reading Factory assignments set up. Students with help, are given an individual account to practice assignments at their pace, doing 10 minutes of sight-reading per week. The SRF is set up to log time. Students are given the opportunity to work on ASSIGNMENTS which are set up sequentially, from easiest to most difficult.
- Describe how two of the strategies discussed could potentially be implemented in your classroom. Be sure to identify the two strategies by name and describe how they could be used to address the needs of a student with a disability.
- Describe at least one way you have used technology to meet the needs of a student with a disability in your classroom. Be sure to describe the specific technology and how it assisted the student with a disability.
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5/29/2023
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Michelle Tredway
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Regarding ASSESSMENT prompt: I have used the RESPONSE CARDS in the way of write on/wipe off White Boards of lap size to check names of notes, music vocabulary, drawing notes in treble/bass clef. This allows for quick assessment without embarrassment to the students who are not demonstrating mastery, and allows me as the teacher to be able to individually help the student to master the material in a time frame best suited for the student.
Fine Arts educators (choose ONE):- Describe an example of adapted assessment you have successfully used in the fine arts classroom for students with disabilities.
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