This facet asks us to consider the ways that con- cepts and ideas are represented visually. In music, this could be written language but could also in- clude music notation. Musicians also rely on non- verbal cues such as those from a conductor. For many students with disabilities (as well as those for whom English is a second language), an aural [heard music] oral [sung/chanted/moved music] approach can open the door to music concepts and ideas.
• Multiple Means of Action and Expression: This facet is focused on the ways that we set goals for students and the ways that they can show what they know and can do. In most music classrooms, we offer a variety of ways for students to respond— moving, singing, playing an instrument, speaking, writing. Note that in UDL it is important for indi- vidual students to have multiple opportunities to respond and modes of response so you know what each student needs.
After you have read a student’s IEP, consider: How can I adapt my instruction to address the needs described here? Am I presenting this material in a variety of ways on dif- ferent days? Will anything on the list of accommodations above help this student meet the requirements of my mu- sic curriculum? Is there a part of my music curriculum that should be modified for this student? What changes could I make that would allow this student to continue on her music learning journey even as others in her class are working on other material?
Common ways to adapt instruction include accommoda- tions and modifications. Accommodation is when you keep the same goals/objectives/outcomes for the student with dis- abilities, but you change something about the means of rep- resentation, means of expression, and/or means of action and expression. Modification is when the curriculum is changed for this student. This student’s goals for music learning are different from those of the other students. This does not mean that we shift away from music learning goals to so- cial, emotional, and/or behavioral goals—although we know that these are likely areas that a child might be working on. We are still music educators who focus on music learning. Planned modifications to music curriculum should be either based on specific modifications already present in the IEP or specifically written into an IEP and created in collaboration with the rest of the team.
When you are planning your lessons, here are some com- mon ways to adapt instruction, with examples of accommo- dations and modifications.
Participation: changing the length or type of participation. • Accommodation: a student who is hypersensitive to certain timbres wears headphones to attenu- ate sounds. A student with fine motor issues plays the same part on a similar instrument with bigger bars.
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Modification: a student who becomes over-stimu- lated attends music for only 10 minutes, gradually increasing to 20 minutes over the year. A student with fine motor issues and cognitive deficits plays a simplified part on a different instrument.
Input: varying how information is given. • Accommodation: ensure that you have used kines- thetic, visual, aural, and other modes of represen- tation to present the goal/objective/outcome. Alter written materials (color coding, enlarging, simpli- fying) or read them aloud.
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Modification: use picture cards or sign language for a related but different, more concrete goal.
Output: finding a variety of ways for students to respond. • Accommodation: a student who has trouble with writing can respond verbally or by singing or play- ing an answer. A student who has trouble speaking can use an assistive communication device.
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Modification: sustained attention/eye contact and/ or vocalization are considered responses.
Difficulty level: consider how the difficulty level of a task can be separated from the goal/objective/outcome. • Accommodation: a student composing a song us- ing tonic and dominant harmonies could use a re- minder sheet with chord tones in the selected key, and/or the harmonic structure of the composition is predetermined by the instructor rather than left up to the student.
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Modification: both the difficulty level and the goal/ objective/outcome are changed.
Time: increasing the time a student has to work on or com- plete a task. Size of Task: changing the length of an assignment and/or giving “step by step” instructions, • Accommodation: a student creates an 8-measure rather than a 16-measure composition, and/or the student is given a checklist of each of the steps it will take to complete a task.
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Modification: the student is assigned a different task that can be achieved in the time allotted.
Accessibility: ensuring that we have thoughtfully considered physical components of access to instruction, for example by:
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