differ from yours, so be attentive to your students’ behavior; they could be signaling that they want to repeat an activity or need to move on to some- thing totally different.
Movement needs to be an integral part of all lessons whenever possible. Both locomotor and nonlocomotor movements are essential for chil- dren to retain the material you pres- ent. Locomotor movements are any movements that can take the child through space, skipping, walking etc. and nonlocotmotor movements are those that can be done in place, seated or standing, twisting, bending etc. American Sign Language, ASL is a great tool in the special needs class. Using sign for words and colors gives those students who don’t have aural skills the means to communicate with you. Take the time to learn some basic sign for colors, greetings, and simple lyrics to help your students participate. DHH classes always come to music with an interpreter, but if you can learn some basic ASL, the children will love it. They can even help you learn to sign songs that you could then teach to your general population.
All children enjoy using scarves for creative movement. This tool is especially helpful with the special needs child. Movement can help these children develop their imagination. Using movement CDs and books with accompanying music can be very successful. Using the scarves with Camille SaintSaëns’ Carnival of the Animals and with Dr. Seuss’ My Many Colored Days encourages students to use their imagination in interpreting music, poetry and art. The physical expression of mood and understanding is often easier than verbal expression for these students. For some special needs students the realm of physical movement is limited and the use of the scarves can help expand their range of expression.
Be sure to plan your transitions well; each activity needs to flow into the
next, and down time can be disastrous. Consider keeping a journal of activi- ties that each class enjoys, observa- tions on student ability, and general comments that will help with future planning.
Support Staff
Make time to meet with the special needs teacher. Ask about physical limitations, verbal ability, cognitive ability and anything that may distract or upset their students in your room. Take a look at each student’s IEP; this can give you their classification, but the teacher is still your best source of information. Become familiar with the special needs classroom teacher’s curriculum and try to align activities in your music curriculum that will support it. Reinforcing the classroom teacher’s curriculum through music will help the students retain both the musical skills and the literacy skills being taught. As previously mentioned creative movement with scarves to the poetry of My Many Colored Days, by Dr. Seuss, using accompanying music for each color is enjoyable and educa- tional.
Try to develop a relationship with all professionals working with the stu- dents: occupational therapist, speech therapist, psychologist, etc. The more insight you have on each student, the better prepared you will be to teach them. The paraprofessional who accompanies your students into the classroom can be a terrific asset. She or he spends all day with the children and can give valuable information on day to-day challenges as well as behavior management. Share the challenges and the successes of your students with their teacher every time they have music. You are a team and need to work together.
Teacher attitude and mindset Be flexible! You may find yourself tossing all your plans out the window some days in favor of what is going to work at that moment. Keep smiling; you need a positive attitude. These
children are very sensitive to the mood of the adults around them. Have fun and they will too. Children learn through play and we can really play a lot in music class! So get right to the activity and teach through it.
Patience required, is what you will hear from many of the staff that work with special needs children. They re- quire consistent repetition of material over a long period of time, much more than the general student. Your reward will be hearing them singing a song you have done all year on their way out to the bus or in the hall or when they are playing in their classroom. Enjoy the light that comes to their eyes and their expressions of joy when they are exposed to music.
The rewards of teaching music to spe- cial needs children are often counted in small successes, and large doses of ‘feel good moments.’ Music can pro- vide a window into the mind of special needs children that nothing else is able to open. Through that window they can learn so many new things, find ways to communicate, develop rela- tionships, and have positive learning experiences.
References
Delfine, D., Drake, P., Howey, K.,et. al., (2012). A paraprofessional’s guide to understanding specific disabilities, Special Education Administration and Compliance. Wayne RESA,
www.resa.net/ specialeducation.
Maritsa Madias-Kalasz: BME, Eastern Michigan University; MM-Harp Perfor- mance, University of Michigan; BA-Voice, Eastern Michigan University; Total Learning Institute, Teacher Trainer for Arts Education Ideas, Norwalk, Conn. Orff Level I, II, II; Vocal Music Educa- tor, Dearborn Public Schools PK-12, H.S Choral and 1998 to present teaching general music PK-5; guest lecturer Wayne State Univ. Music Ed. Classes. Contact info:
madiasm@dearborn.k12.mi.us
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