A MUSICAL PASSPORT
An Adapted Music Curriculum
Music is meant to be enjoyed by all students, giving them a means of self-expression, enjoyment, and set of skills. I have a heart and passion for students with special needs, especially the necessity of their inclusion in the music classroom. To learn more myself as well as help other teachers, I researched adapted music strategies and characteristics of students with special needs, using this research to write a curriculum for a middle school life skills music class. "A Musical Passport" focuses on developing fundamental musical proficiences while increasing social and communicative skills. Keep scrolling to see how my curriculum uses singing listening activities, interacting with instruments, moving, group activities, and more to help students with special needs grow as musicians and people, using music as a life skill to thrive in society.
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PROJECT BACKGROUND
The Story Behind the Curriculum
During my junior year of college, I was enrolled in an Inclusion Practices course - a class designed to help future educators learn strategies to include students with special needs in the classroom. Simultaneously, I was in a field placement where I had the opportunity to teach music to a self-contained life skills class. These experiences fueled my love for students with special needs and curiosity for how to most effectively teach them.
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After seeing my work in class, the professor of my Inclusion Practices course suggested that I take on an honors project to challenge myself academically. When considering potential research topics, the intersection of students with special needs and music immediately came to mind. While teaching life skills at my field placement, there was little direction and objectives for teaching these students. I felt that music could be so much more than fun for these students - it could be a way to gain new skills, self-regulate, and reinforce social skills vital to thriving in society. This combination of ideas resulted in research, with the end goal of designing a curriculum for students in a self-contained, life skills class.
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I spent two semesters on this project - one researching adapted music and education strategies and characteristics of students with special needs, and the other writing and designing the curriculum. In December 2018, I gave a lecture presentation to colleagues and professors, sharing my research and curriculum.
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Creating "A Musical Passport" was not only an experience of academic growth and learning, but a truly fun one. I loved creating this curriculum and am excited about the final product. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed creating it!
CURRICULUM OUTLINE
Themed "A Musical Passport," my curriculum is based on the idea of travel, connecting destinations around the world to musical and social goals. There are seven destinations, with an informance at the end to share learning learnings with family, friends, and administrators, as well as give students the social skill of performing. Throughout the curriculum, students are assessed informally via a "passport," comprised of a checklist of destination goals, an area for teacher-parent communication, and more. Scroll through to check out details of each destination, or scroll further down the page for more on assessment, curriculum artifacts, and sample lesson plans!
Our journey around the world begins where every trip starts – at home. Home is where the heart is; it’s wherever the core of your being resides. Similarly, the very core of music exists in its heartbeat, or pulse. Students will begin their musical journey by learning how to identify and demonstrate the beat in music, experiencing it in auditory, kinesthetic, and visual ways, interacting with one another and technology.
Destination 1: Home is Where the Heart Is
PROJECT ARTIFACTS
Passport Assessment
Sample Lesson Plan: Destination 1, Lesson 1
Sample Lesson Plan: Destination 5, Lesson 1
Sample Lesson Plan: Destination 5, Lesson 2
Mood Music Song List Worksheet
Mood Music Worksheet
Class Rules Poster
Wheel of Emotion Poster
CONTACT
Want to see more of my curriculum?
Feel free to contact me at:
(908) 625-5772
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Or, reach out to my project advisors:
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Dr. Rachel Cornacchio, Professor of Music & Director of Graduate Conducting at Messiah College: rcornacchio@messiah.edu
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Dr. Melinda Burchard, Associate Professor of Special Education & Special Education Coordinator at Messiah College: mburchard@messiah.edu
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