INTEGRATING THE ARTS WITH
SPECIAL POPULATIONS
STUDENT POPULATION STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
SPECIAL EDUCATION
Special needs learners often use the arts to share their feelings and ideas when their limitations wouldn ’ t typically provide that opportunity .
USE TEXTURES .
Use textures to support any arts integrated lesson , but particularly with visual art . Try using sand , rice , puffy paint , etc .
INCORPORATE PATTERNS AND REPETITION . Highlight the patterns and repetition in a piece of music , dance or other art . Isolate these items and provide students with an opportunity to explore it in more detail .
DEVELOP SEQUENCING .
Chunk the listening / viewing experience and the lesson into a sequence where learners each have a specific role or task . This eliminates overwhelm !
ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
ELL students thrive in arts integrated classrooms because the emphasis is taken off the language barrier and placed on a different way to communicate : through the arts !
TRY SHADOW PUPPETS .
These can be used to create and enact scenes in both the native & English language . The performance behind the scene makes the show about the puppet and not the individual student .
USE SOUND RECORDINGS OF JAZZ CHANTS . Carolyn Graham suggests helping students distinguish phonemes and practice with rhyme and sound patterns through poems , songs and jazz chants .
DANCE THE DIRECTIONS .
Students respond with their bodies to spoken directions ( similar to Total Body Response ). Use the elements of dance to explore energy levels , body positions and tempo while working on stage or classroom directions .
GIFTED AND TALENTED
G / T students ( or advanced level learners ) have specific needs not typically met during regular class instruction . Integrating the arts is another way for these students to take on new challenges .
PROVIDE CHOICE .
Whenever possible , offer G / T students with choice boards , project maps , and the ability to choose how they will explore a lesson in and through the arts .
UTILIZE VISIBLE THINKING STRATEGIES .
Using strategies like “ See , Think , Wonder ” provide G / T learners with a way to slow down their thinking process and dig deeper into more challenging content .
INSIST ON RISK .
Advanced level learners are often afraid to fail . Provide opportunities for students to take risks that support success . If they fail , they can learn to transform their failure into a new composition or artistic work .
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