Reply To: Differentiated Instruction in the Music Classroom

[nafmeadmin]

I do- (well- no students at the moment- I’m finishing up a DMA) and I teach Strings/Orchestra, not General music. There was a really interesting Thesis on using DI/Kodaly teaching techniques that would be worth reading (so here’s one I remember off the top of my head- using the rhythm beach balls- but ALSO having the simpler and the more difficult beach balls as necessary for groups of students needing either less or more challenge). If you only see your students once a week you might want to streamline some things- like learning profile testing possibly…. Part of what you’re aiming for is flexible grouping so maybe see how it works to let the students make appropriate choices. Composition and Improvisation are two ways to expand their horizons as well as differentiate instruction- short written exercises that are open-ended/flexible can also do so (especially if they allow for students to evaluate themselves/compositions etc- allows those capable of moving up Bloom’s Taxonomy) Even having them respond to music in a manner of their choice- either tell the story (written if they’re old enough) with movement or by drawing a picture of what they think is happening. Those responses connect directly to their prior knowledge, interests, imagination… Feel free to drop me a note- off to conference first thing in the morning 🙂
Anne Bell abell@su.edu