University  of  Wisconsin-­‐Whitewater’s  37th  Annual  Early  Childhood  

Conference    

The  Power  of  Music:  Amazing  and  Workable  Musical  Approaches  to  Teaching  Children  with  Special  Needs  

 Presented  by  Alena  Holmes,  PhD.  and  Emilee  Deck  

holmesa@uww.edu DeckEA12@uww.edu

Overview of Different Abilities:

• Autism Spectrum Disorders • ADHD/ADD? • Genetic Syndromes -­‐ Down Syndrome -­‐ Prader-Willi Syndrome -­‐ Williams Syndrome • Mental/cognitive Disorders • Hearing Impaired

Autism Spectrum Disorders

• Withdrawal • Social skills challenges • Preoccupation with objects • Self-stimulating behaviors • Emotional isolation • Resist change. Structure very important (Hello/ Goodbye songs) • Wide range on the spectrum

ADHD/  ADD  

• Sensory  Processing  is  compromised  • Sensory  seeking  behaviors  • Developmentally  inappropriate  inattention  •  Impulsive    

 Commonly  seen  areas  of  need      

• Short  attention  span  •  Easy  distractibility-­‐  lack  of  attentionfocus  •  Inattention/  non-­‐compliance  • Attention  demanding  behaviors  

• Poor  implulse  control  Poor  self-­‐concept  • Excessive  irratabilit  or  anger  • Disorderliness  • Disorganization  • Immaturity  • Social  aggressiveness  •  Uneven  academic  development  •  Physical  coordination  problems  •  Low  frustration  tolerance  •  Axiety  

     WHY  MUSIC?  

• Rhythmic  nature  • Basic  human  behavior  • Social  Behavior/  Event  • Physiological  Response  • Flexible  • Motivation  and  nont-­‐threatening  • Emotional  art  • Real  Structure  Reality  • Organizing  force  –  it  can  help  to  set  up  an  inner  control  •  Can  be  caliming  •  Moving  •  Provides  safety  in  social  setting  •  Communication  

 Random  TIPS  for  Learners  with  special  needs    

v Routine  and  Structure  v  Vary  activities  between  moving  and  sitting  and  DO  NOT  stay  too  long  on  one  

activity  v Repetition  and  small  steps/  chunks  v Visuals  (  if  possible  multiple  colors)    v Activities  with  personla  choice  v One  or  two  step  directions  v  Hands-­‐on  apporoach  v Present  material  in  a  variety  of  learning  modes    v Present  information  clearly  but  with  minimum  directions/  talking  v  Set  up  a  “  buddy”  system  if  possible  v Look  for  evey  possible  opportunity  to  succeed.  

 

SINGING      

o The Hello and Goodbye songs: § Begin and end the music classes § Consist of a puppet singing to each student individually in a call-

and-response pattern. For example, if “Forte” the frog puppet said “He-lo, Nan-cy,” Nancy would respond: “Hel-lo, For-te.”

§ The pattern of notes sung is used in respect with Curwen hand signs:

§ SOL to MI are the first pattern to introduced to children. § Hand signs are also encouraged and work well for visual and

kinesthetic learners.

o Welcome Songs

o Brown Bear, Brown Bear: § Have students sit in a circle and hand each student an animal

figurine from the classroom. § Demonstrate with your animal (ex. Blue horse). Make your animal

look around the circle for one of the student’s animals, and sing to them “Blue horse, blue horse, what do you see? I see a ___________ looking at me.” In the blank, a student’s animal was stated. Now, you the teacher will ask them. “_______, _______, what do you see?” The student must now select another student and sing “I see a ____________ looking at me.”

§ The song is used with alternating SOL and MI notes, just like the Hello and Goodbye songs.

• BOOK RESOURCES:

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? My First Reader by Bill Martin (Author), Eric Carle (Illustrator)

o Apple Tree Song: § “Apple Tree, Apple Tree, will your apple fall on me? I won’t cry, I

won’t shout, if your apple knocks me out.” § Pass an apple around the circle, and whoever it stops on when the

song says “out” is “out.” HINT: Give “out” students a boomwhacker to hold and play ONLY when they hear the word “out!” It will raise the tension and give them something exciting to do as the group of boomwhacker-players increases, and the kids in the circle decrease.

§ This song can be sung using the SOL-MI pattern again. For an extension, the word “out” can be DO.

o Doggy Doggy Where’s My Bone?: § One child in the middle must crouch down and close their eyes as a

child in the circle is given the “bone” to hide behind their back. All other students also put their hands behind their back.

§ Once the student hears this song, they can open their eyes: “Doggy Doggy where’s my bone? Somebody took it from my home.”

§ The student in the middle must go around asking the other students: “Do you have my bone?” in a SOL MI pattern. The child with the bone will then take their turn and so on.

o Elephant song: § Students sit in a circle. The following song is sung: § “One elephant went out to play, in the pre-k class one day. He had

such enormous fun that he asked another elephant to come.” § The teacher, marching around the circle, taps on a student. They

now become part of the elephant parade around the room. This can also be used with hand scarves having students use one scarf as their trunk, and the other as their tail that the student behind them holds, etc.

§ Great game for inclusion and practicing waiting your turn! o Ghost Song

§ Tell students a friendly ghost visited the class and sang like…this!: then draw squiggles going up and down on the board. Then, have kids follow with their voices the contour of the lines.

§ Have student come up to chalk board and draw lines going up and down, like hills. Then, have them sing as they do it. Have students follow them and sing their song.

o The Car Song: § Have students buzz with their mouths like a motor (this may be

hard!) § Be creative and give a story of how you got up in the morning, and

went to start your car. When you go to turn it on, it doesn’t start right away. Finally, it started to go “vroooom!”

§ Now, as you drive to school, emphasize the bumps you went over on the road by changing the pitch of your buzzing and showing the ups and downs with your hands. Let the students follow this contour of ups and downs.

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear

o Teddy bear, teddy bear turn around, Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground, Teddy bear, teddy bear, climb the stairs, Teddy bear, teddy bear, give big stares, Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn out the light, Teddy bear, teddy bear, say “good night”.

Movement/Improvisation

Free  creative  movement  -­‐  the  child  moving  any  way  he/she  wants  to  move  to  the  music  -­‐  is  a  successful  way  to  incorporate  movement  into  music  instruction.    “It  is  the  doing,  in  addition  to  the  listening,  that  offers  the  greatest  positive  benefit  in  all  aspects  of  learning,  especially  in  music”  (Wilcox,  1999).      Moving  with  the  Scarfs:    GREAT  RESOURCE:  My  Many  Colored  Days  Kit  (Scarves,  CD,  &  Board  Book)  by  arts  education  IDEAS  

IDEAS:

o Children  love  to  play  “statue”  where  they  make  a  pose  with  their  bodies  and  freeze  the  position  when  the  music  stops.    When  the  music  starts  again,  the  children  continue  to  move  and  make  poses  with  their  bodies,  again  freezing  into  their  musically  created  statue  when  the  music  stops.  Gradually  the  children  move  to  more  choreographed  movements  modeled  by  the  teacher.      

o Peek-a-boo (with hand scarves) o Hide your scarf, throw and catch your scarf, make circles, “what other

shapes could we make?” o Animal play: elephant trunk, bird flying, snake, airplane (with hand

scarves) o With scarves, make large circles for slow songs, zig-zags for fast,

high/low, moving the pitch up and down more visually o Conducting (3-4 year olds)- allowing them to explore moving their rhythm

stick to the music and can be used alongside an instrument exploration unit. Make sure to tell them that when they hold the baton they are now leaders of the orchestra. Emphasize their importance and they will feel inclined to behave with their baton in hand.

o The fast-slow-freeze game:

§ Play notes randomly on the glockenspiel or piano, and students must move their scarves to how fast the notes are moving. When the music stops, they freeze.

Movement  Stories  

• Enhance  education  by  engaging  the  body,  the  imagination  and  a  sense  of  play  in  the  learning  process  

Resource:    Helen  Landalf      Movement  Stories  ISBN:  1-­‐57525-­‐048-­‐9    

Movement  with  Classical  Music    Purpose:  To  enable  students  to  experience  the  form  of  expression  of  classical  music  using  their  bodily/kinesthetic  intelligence      Process:  Use  music  that  has  a  clearly  defined  form.  Analyze  the  music  for  formal  structure  and  expressiveness  Create  movements  that  reflect  the  formal  structure  and  expressiveness  and  are  easy  to  follow.  Examples:      

1. Sabre  Dance  from  Gayane  Suite  #  3  by  Aram  Khachaturian  (  fighting  with  sabers  and  oriental  dance  movements)    

2. In  the  Hall  of  the  Mountain  King  from  Peer  Gynt  Suit    Op  46  #1  by  Edward  Grieg.        (  head  ,  shoulders,  knees  and  toes  movements)    

3.  Sylvia  (Pizzicato  Polka  )  by    Leo  Delibes.      (  Giant  Clock  movements)    4. Berceuse  from  Firebird    by  Stravinsky..  (  Lullaby  movements)      5. Italian  Poka  by  Sergei  Rachmaninoff  ….  (  Movement  with  yarn  or  string)    

Development of the Rhythm

o Passing games: passing an item around the circle as the music gets faster and faster. This can also emphasize a steady pulse, having older kids wait to pass the item until the next beat happens.

o Steady beat tapping on the ground § Have students tap their egg shakers on the group and copy you § Have students tap their egg shakers while speaking “stea-dy-beat-____.” On the

fourth syllable, you can change what word to say (ex. “Shh”, freeze!) and even let students be creative and think of a word; the word has to happen as part of the steady beat pattern, though!

o Teaching steady beat and rhythm with Chave syllables used in Kodaly Approach (Ta, titi, and rest for preschoolers)

§ In terms of music notation, a quarter note would be “ta,” a pair of eighth notes would be “titi,” and a quarter rest would be “rest.” Ta’s are shown by a single hit on an instrument. Titi’s are a faster two-hit, and rests must show no sound at all.

§ This simple combination of three foundational rhythms can provide endless activities

o Creative exploring with the rhythm sticks: rolling, tapping, animal imitations, etc. Call on students and ask “what else can we do with our rhythm sticks?”…I always get a kick out of their creative pronunciations of “rhythm stick”…

§ This can be used as an initial activity once rhythm sticks are passed out to create engagement and draw students in to the activity.

o “Who’s gonna play the…djembe?” (rhythm creation game): Students can come up to the front and play for the class their created rhythms.

o Call and response exercises with simple rhythms are great for 4 year olds. These rhythms can be a combination of tas, titis, and rests. 4-year

   Materials for the Pre-school Music Classroom

• Hand Scarves o Movement, improvisation, exploring, high/low sounds, fast/slow, up/down

• Rhythm sticks o A must have- the most versatile of instruments for pre-schoolers o Rhythm, movement/improvisation, exploring

• Egg shakers o Rhythm o Can be used interchangeably with rhythm sticks for variety

• Hand drums o Rhythm o Isolating children who are behaving (good behavior earns a chance to play

their rhythm on the big drum in front of the class) • Boomwhackers (pitched plastic tubes)

o Great for teaching pitch and helping with foundational singing skills o Positive behavior reinforce for games (winners/good behavior get to hold

a boomwhacker) • Glockenspiel

o Great for showing high and low sounds, and for students to have a chance to make music

• Animal puppet(s):

o These act as musical guides that start and end music class. They define the structure.

o They are also used to instill good behavior. For example, my frog puppet “Forte” hides behind my back when students are being too noisy. They quickly adjust when they notice.

o Puppets sing to students and help shy/frustrated students become more relaxed in a large group

o Puppets can be used to collect instruments for easy activity transitions. For example, students who are behaving can feed their eggs to Forte the frog (now I have all eggs back in my bag quickly and efficiently.)

• Musical books: o There are many great music books out there, but here are a few ones I

have found my students love: § The Crabfish by John Feierabend (leading early music education

name) § The Tailor and the Mouse by Feierabend § The Frog and the Mouse by Feierabend § Zin Zin Zin a Violin by Lloyd Moss (great for teaching the

instruments for 3-4 year olds) § So-Mi series § Music for Little Mozarts Series by Alfred (great for teachers new

to music in the classroom. Comes with CDs, animals, tote bags, and curriculum books).

• MUSIC!: o Have an Ipod or CD available at all times! Without the music, music time

will always fall short. o Make sure to have “fun” excerpts of various instruments o Songs that vary: fast, slow, loud, soft, opera, jazz, waltz, various cultures,

a few movie songs o Some suggestions to get started (bolded are my kids favorites):

§ In the Hall of the Mountain King by Grieg § Personages with Long Ears from the Carnival of Animals § The Aquarium from the Carnival of Animals § Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin § Rodeo- Hoe, Down by Copland § Russian Dance by Tchaikovsky § Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimsky-Korsakov § Hittin’ on All Sixes from the Legand of Korra § The Blue Danube Waltz by Strauss § “Gayne” Sabre Dance

§ "Bandinerie" from Oveture No. 2 in B Minor by Bach § “Sanctus” From Requiem by Verdi § “Cortege” From Petit Suite by Debussy § O Mio Babbino Caro by Puccini § La Donna E Mobile by Verdi § Fossils from the Carnival of Animals § Four Scottish Dances, Op. 59: III. Allegretto by Arnold

USEFUL WEB SITES FOR STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

http://www.autismone.org/ http://www.autism.com/ari/ http://www.autism-society.org/ https://www.autismspeaks.org/ http://www.nas.org/uk/ http://www.deafblind.com/ http://www.aadb.org/ http://www.deafblindinternational.org/ http://www.deafblindresources.org/ https://nationaldb.org/ http://www.aph.org/ http://www.seegreatthings.com/ http://lighthouse.org/navh http://www.nbp.org/ https://nfb.org/ http://www.seeingeye.org/ http://deafchildren.org/ http://www.deafhomeschool.com/ http://www.cid.edu/ http://jdsde.oxfordjournals.org/ http://nad.org/ https://www.aap.org/ http://www.devdelay.org/ http://www.mychildwithoutlimits.org/ http://www.firstsigns.org/ http://www.zerotothree.org/ http://www.aacap.org/ http://www.cec.org/ http://www.mentalhealth.com/home/ http://mental-health-matters.com/ http://www.nami.org/ http://www.seriweb.com/ http://www.aamr.org/ http://www.thearc.org/

http://www.ndss.org/ http://www.specialolympics.org/ http://www.parentcenterhub.org/nichcy-gone/ http://www.pamis.org.uk/ http://www.tsbvi.edu/ http://www.aasep.org/