Why Music?
- Research supports connections between speech and singing, rhythm and motor behavior, memory for song, and memory for academic material.
- We also know that music enhances mood, attention, and behavior to optimize students' ability to learn and interact.
- Gross motor skills such as mobility, agility, and coordination can be improved with rhythmic movement.
- Rhythmic movement can also help with breathing patterns and muscular relaxation.
- Music can be a vehicle for inclusion.
- Music can provide distraction from pain, discomfort, and anxiety.
- Music is processed in a different part of the brain than speech and language. So, a child may be able to learn something presented with music that he or she might not otherwise learn.
Here are a few links to resources related to music, students with special needs and technology
Very nice British website which provides a unique range of free online music resources. They also have a blog which you might like to follow. Full Pitcher Blog
Inclusion is a group of 7 people from Campbell River, British Columbia who play music to promote awareness that people are more alike than different. Four of the members have developmental disabilities. Their motto is "We all have gifts". They're terrific!
The center's mission is to promote the full inclusion of audiences and artists with disabilities into all facets of the arts community. The NADC is a leading consultant in the arts and disability community, and the only center of its kind. Their information is aimed at artists with disabilities, arts organizations, museums, arts administrators, disability organizations and agencies, performing arts organizations, art centers, universities, arts educators, and students. The NADC is a project of the University of California, at Los Angeles, Tarjan Center. |
This is a very interesting website. Traquitanas Musicais are electronic musical instruments designed for people with and without disabilities. The idea is to allow anyone, including the disabled, to play, discover sounds and have fun. Electronic instruments allow for more flexibility in terms of physical properties, like shape and size, than acoustic instruments do. This opens the possibility of creating instruments based solely on human body characteristics, leaving designers with no reasons not to include persons with disabilities. Traquitanas Musicais is a project by multimedia artists Eiko DoEspiritosanto and Rivaldo DoEspiritosanto. Their sculpture-like instruments are in fact MIDI controllers connected to a microprocessor and a synthesizer. Since it is impossible to create one single instrument that works well for everyone, the artists experiment with different designs, building diverse instruments to meet diverse needs. Below is a diagram of an accessible musical instrument. |
This websites features a different classical composer every month. It also has a section that allows students to make their own radio show.
Sing Up is an awesome website. Its mission is to help kids find their voice. Features include a Song Bank, Teaching section with tutorials and lesson plans, and Voice Box which provides warm-up activities to help kids find their "groove".
Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, gaiety and life to everything. It is the essence of order and lends to all that is good and just and beautiful.
Thank you for stopping by!
