Inclusion

In 1975, the U.S. Congress enacted Public Law 94-142, or the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. This landmark law required all publicly-funded schools to provide evaluations and equal access to education to physically and mentally disabled children. The Act was revised and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990. Other countries, such as Sweden, had already recognized the importance of promoting educational equality among students of varying intellectual capabilities, and soon other nations began to follow suit with new legislation to address special education.

When I was in elementary school, special education students were present, but not much seen. Their classrooms were located in another part of the school, tucked away in a wing near the gymnasium. They seemed a bit mysterious, and our only glimpses of them were during lunch or at recess. The segregation started to fade in middle school, when special education students started increasingly appearing in mainstream classrooms, sometimes trailing aides, sometimes not. Now, of course, inclusive classrooms are the norm in many school districts. As a result, the typical classroom teacher now encounters children with a wide range of abilities, including those with special needs. Despite the challenges raised by their disabilities, special needs students can, and often do, thrive in the inclusive classroom. Lessons may need to be modified for their needs, and learning disabled students generally need more time to complete tasks.

Inclusive education can present significant challenges to teachers, particularly if they lack the presence of a special education teacher or aide in the classroom. Communication between the regular classroom teacher, special education teachers, and parents is key in order to ensure that everyone has the same expectations for the student and his/her learning environment. Most studies point out the benefits of inclusive classrooms to both special needs students and regular students, particularly regarding improvements in social skills, compassion, and tolerance.

My selections this week all focus on lessons or activities to be used with special needs students with varying abilities. Throughout the week, we’ll be featuring many more lessons and other special needs resources on our Facebook and Twitter pages, so please be sure to check in.


Connecting Letters and Memory
Subject: Language Arts
Grade: 1-6 Special Ed
This lesson plan is for those students who have difficulty in recognizing the oral letter to the visual letter. Some students may know the alphabet song but still may not know the letters by sight. This lesson is offered by Teachers.net, which offers lesson plans, job postings, and other resources for teachers.

Water, Weather, and the World
Subjects: Language Arts, Math, Science, Life skills
Grade: 1-12 Special Ed
This is a multi-sensory thematic unit which closely examines water and its properties; pollution and conservation; weather and safety; and water’s impact on the earth through hands-on scientific exploration and experimentation. This unit is intended for low functioning students with special needs, however, teachers for kindergarten through second grade may find this information appropriate for their students. This integrated curriculum unit will span many subject areas such as math, language arts, daily living skills, and art. This unit is a product of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, an educational partnership between Yale University and the New Haven Public Schools designed to strengthen teaching and learning in local schools and, by example, in schools across the country.

Real Estate Project
Subjects: Writing, Reading, Math, Life skills
Grade: 6-8 Special Ed
This unit on real estate is intended for special education students in grades 6-8, but can be used with regular education students as well. The unit addresses reading, writing, math, technology, and life skills. This resource was produced by the Regional Educational Media Center (REMC) Association of Michigan, which provides media and technology resources to educators in Michigan.

~Joann's Picks - 1/13/2011~

Reading and Writing IN Arithemetics?

We cooked our green eggs and ham and walked around school in red and white striped hats, all in the name of the love of reading. Our students were able to hear different adults reading some of their favorite stories aloud. NEA’s Read Across America was a success, but let’s not let our focus on literacy, a core 21st century skill, waver just because Dr. Seuss’s birthday celebration is over. A firm grasp on reading and writing is essential for our students success in many other important 21st century skills.


To encourage student writing, Reading Rockets and AdLit.org bring us the Exquisite Prompt challenge. This is a monthly writing challenge for K-12 students to respond to prompts inspired by famous authors and illustrators of books for youth. These prompts cover a wide range of topics that make students think about subjects they might not have written about before. The fact that they are writing for a competition with prizes may inspire the competitive side of your students, too.

The prompts provided each month guide students to use specific styles of writing, and these styles vary between the grades and change from month to month. This variety is very appealing to many students. Some of the prompts ask for advertisement copy, reviews of products (real and imaginary), fables, altering classic stories in different ways, and many others. This partial list does not do justice to the scope of material in these contests, so please check out the prompts for yourself to decide how you can integrate them into your teaching this week. http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-02-25.2930201486

Reading through all of the prompts inspired me to think about how we could incorporate creative writing into all different types of classrooms. We need to carry on the theme of creativity we gleaned from Dr. Seuss in the past week. The more we encourage our students to write for enjoyment, the more they will actually enjoy it! We don’t want our students to groan every time we want them to write. We should give them a chance to get creative and flex their writing muscles in all different subjects.

I don’t want to discount the importance of a five paragraph essay, or any other type of structured writing. One vital purpose of English is to learn the conventions of writing and how to use writing to convey thoughts to others. Understanding how to write in certain formats will allow the student to be a productive member of society. We need to also support all forms of writing in other subject areas not immediately connected to English class.

Math involves a lot of numbers, but there is a history behind the processes and many different methods for remembering and explaining these processes. A math teacher might be able to deepen students’ understanding of certain subjects by allowing them to write creatively on the subject. Perhaps students can explain how to multiply fractions in a Haiku or write catchy song lyrics to remember the order of operations in algebra!

. Writing is an important tool in teaching foreign languages. Students can write about all different subjects in the target foreign language to get good practice in writing and conjugating verbs. If you are tired of reading the same types of essays week after week, you might want to have your students translate their favorite recipe (and bring in a sample…even better!) Maybe they can write a review of their favorite movie in the target language or an illustrated guide explaining how to complete their least favorite household chore. They should be able to use some interesting adjectives there!

P.E. is another story. We can’t integrate writing in that class…or can we? We can encourage writing in P.E. just like we encourage it in other subjects. Students are learning about all different types of sports, sportsmanship, and things like body parts and muscle groups. Help them absorb this information with some fun writing assignments. Spice up your running routine by assigning students to write “Jodies” to sing while running as a class. They can vote for their favorites at the end to keep it competitive. Help them remember anatomy terms and other information better by allowing them to create their own mnemonics to help with memorization.

I don’t think I have ever heard such class-wide groans as the moments after I announce a lab report assignment. Lab reports are an important aspect of the scientific process, but science teachers may be able to judge their students’ comprehension of concepts using other forms of writing as well. You might choose to allow students to present their procedures and results more creatively, such as in a graphic novel or comic strip. They can create a Power point presentation, or use another web 2.0 tool to create a stunning online presentation of their understanding of the experiment. Refer back to one of Joann’s previously highlighted resources for more technology tools that can help you incorporate writing in your classroom. http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-02-04.5930943702/

Writing is an essential life skill, and creativity is the key to making the process of writing fun and enjoyable for students. One of our goals should be making writing a lifelong endeavor for our students. I urge you to use resources from The Gateway to help you make this happen. The Reading Rockets sites we have highlighted the past two weeks have wonderful, free material for you to use. Using the tech tools we mentioned in past columns can allow you to add a lot of variety to the types of writing your students are doing in your class. It takes a lot of time to come up with completely original ideas of our own. It is really nice to know we have a place to collaborate and find well-planned activities and ideas we can incorporate in our classrooms right away. Enjoy reading all the great writing assignments, and we look forward to hearing what you did!

~Peggy's Corner~

Search for more great resources on The Gateway.  http://thegateway.org/

Reading and Writing Strategies

I decided to expand on last week’s Read Across America column by featuring a few more resources from Reading Rockets. The Reading Rockets project is an educational initiative of WETA, the flagship PBS television and radio station in Washington, DC. The project is comprised of PBS television programs, available on videotape and DVD; online services, including the Websites ReadingRockets.org and ColorinColorado.org; and professional development opportunities.


Elkonin Boxes
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-02-24.5270491171
Subjects: Reading, Spelling
Grade: K-3

A few years ago, I was convinced that my kindergartner was a genius when I saw him sounding out words and drawing squares around each syllable of words he had written. How innovative! Well, while perhaps not a genius (he’s still pretty smart), I now know that he was practicing a strategy he’d learned in school. Elkonin boxes are squares drawn on paper or a chalkboard, with one box for each syllable of a word. Elkonin boxes help teach phonemic awareness by having kids listen for individual sounds in a word, and then marking where they hear each sound in its respective box. Each box, therefore, contains one specific sound, or phoneme. This classroom strategy explains how to create an Elkonin box, as well as providing blank templates and a list of suggested children’s books for students to use with their boxes. Additional ideas and adaptations are also provided for Spanish-speaking and other ELL students.

Writing Contest: The Exquisite Prompt
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-02-25.2930201486
Subjects: Reading, Writing
Grade: K-12

The Exquisite Prompt is a series of monthly writing challenges designed as a classroom activity for K-12 students. Each month, writing prompts are presented by two famous authors for grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. The prompts can be used exclusively in the classroom, or students can submit their writing for a chance to win prizes. Kids (and teachers!) can also view The Exquisite Corpse Adventure, an ongoing serial written and illustrated by notable authors and artists. As of this writing, 12 chapters have been published, with contributions from authors such as Lemony Snicket, Kate DiCamillo, Jon Scieszka, and others. I love the creativity of this resource – and the fun of tagging along on a rollicking adventure story as it unfolds.

Author Study Toolkit
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-02-25.6529194517
Subjects: English, Language Arts
Grade: K-12

This toolkit offers a series of resources to help students critically examine an author’s life and published writing. The kit provides tips on how to conduct an author study, research authors, ideas for supporting projects, and more. One of the things that I like about this resource is that it provides a comprehensive plan for a complete author study, from how teachers can create author study centers in their classrooms, to print and online bibliographies for additional research help. I also like that the toolkit truly is appropriate for the entire K-12 range, with suggested activities and projects aimed at different age groups. The ability to evaluate and discuss an author’s characters, themes, and writing style is not only essential preparation for higher levels of education, but is also an important component to appreciating – and loving – good literature at all levels.

~Joann's Picks~

Explore http://thegateway.org/ for more great resources

Imagination is the Key

In thinking about the importance of NEA’s Read Across America Day, I am reminded of The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins by Theador Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss). As teachers, we all wear many hats, and sometimes we don’t realize how many hats we are wearing and the sheer scope of what we are trying to teach to our students. No matter what “hat” we are wearing or what subject we are teaching at the time, reading is the fundamental skill for our students’ success in that subject. Reading is the most basic of the 21st century skills our students need today to excel in “The School of Life” after graduation. This March, let’s allow Dr. Seuss to inspire us all to bring the kind of fun and imagination into our classrooms that he brings into his stories. After all, “the brains in our head” are so important; we need to make sure to have fun filling them with important information in school!


Dr. Seuss was passionate about literacy. He created fanciful characters and imaginative stories to bring fun into reading for beginning and advanced readers alike. Reading Rockets, a national multimedia project for teaching kids to read, brings this passion for literacy and the love of reading to their programs and resources. Joann highlighted some of these resources this week in honor of Read Across America Day. They offer fun, cross-curricular activities that can be used to inspire readers in many different grades and subjects. The activities tie original and playful themes from Dr. Seuss’s books to important subjects our students are learning in class every day.

If you browse through the Reading Rockets site linked in Joann’s post, you will probably find a valuable Read Across America resource you can implement into your class to do your part to encourage the importance of literacy. In fact, you will most likely find lots activities you like. The hard part is choosing which one to use! There are numerous ideas for primary students. There are lessons to learn about phonics, rhyming, themes, and idea development in writing, to name a few. These activities are presented in fun, hands-on ways that can be very memorable for students. Reading Rockets also has a link to the AdLit site, which has a section with creative activities to engage secondary students. After all, nobody is too old for Dr. Seuss, right? Some of the secondary activities studied Dr. Seuss’s political and environmental views as portrayed in his stories, comparing his work to other authors, and using his themes for original student work.

What happens when we try to bring this focus on reading out of the English classroom? Can we successfully use books by Dr. Seuss in science, social studies, art or physical education? With the resources I looked at on the Reading Rockets site and by searching for “Seuss” on the main Gateway page, I say we can! We can all have fun using a little imagination and unconventional ideas in our classrooms. Here is just a beginning list of some of the activities I found in a search of The Gateway’s materials. There are too many resources to list here; I just wanted to give you a taste of what is out there. Search for yourself, and see!

In Social Studies, you can use The Sneetches to draw students into a lesson on diversity. You can create a mock trial in your classroom based on ideas from Yertle the Turtle. Community building and team work can be stressed in the story of Horton Hears a Who.

Science classes focusing on environmental issues and biodiversity can learn a lot by reading The Lorax. Science students of all levels seem to love making and playing with oobleck, a substance inspired by the book Bartholomew and the Oobleck. (Search oobleck on The Gateway for some recipes-don’t worry it’s easy to make, and I have had fun making it with kids from preschool to high school!)

For schools that are creating school-wide celebrations for Read Across America, or for P.E. teachers who want to tie into the theme in their own classes, there is a plan for an entire field day event based on Dr. Seuss books. On this topic, if any of you are P.E. teachers or know P.E. teachers, let them know about The Gateway, too. I have come across lots of great physical activities that could bring a little extra variety into these lessons, too.

The activities for secondary students went a lot more in-depth into the themes Dr. Seuss created. One involves writing an op-ed piece trying to convince someone to try a new, strange food ala Green Eggs and Ham. Another focuses on psychoanalytic criticism introduced in the book The Cat and the Hat (and we thought it was a book just for kids!) The Butter Battle Book can serve as a whimsical foray into the use of satire in writing.

If your students are like many others, the way to their heart is food! There are plenty of ideas for bringing food into the celebration. It can be as basic as serving goldfish while you read One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish to your class. Students can decorate cupcakes to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss. Maybe you can even whip up a batch of green eggs and ham (yum!). It can also be really fun to have students look through the books and find a food they would like to recreate. They can do this for homework and bring it in to share with the class.

Read Across America is a day is to celebrate reading, but the focus on reading and the imagination it can create will easily spread into all subject areas. As I searched The Gateway for the vast resources available on the subject, I realized that Dr. Seuss can still teach us just about anything! Let’s all try to incorporate this theme somewhere in our classrooms this week to spark some imaginations and put the FUN back in reading.

~Peggy's Corner~

Explore http://thegateway.org/ for more resources.

Read Across America

March 2, 2010 marks the 12th year of Read Across America, the innovative reading awareness program created by the National Education Association. Schools, libraries, community centers, and other organizations celebrate the day by hosting events that promote children’s reading. March 2 was chosen as the annual date as a way to honor beloved children’s author Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. At our local schools, students (and many teachers) dress up, don striped Cat in the Hat head gear, listen to visiting authors, hold readers’ theaters, and otherwise fete the sheer joy of reading. Reading Rockets, whose resources are featured this week, is a national multimedia project offering information and resources on how young kids learn to read, why so many kids struggle with reading, and how parents and teachers can help. The project is an educational initiative of WETA, the leading public radio and television station in Washington, DC. Reading Rockets is a national partner of the Read Across America project.


Read Across America Resources
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-02-12.6758088739
Subjects: Reading, English, Language Arts
Grade: Preschool – 4th grade

This collection of resources offers plenty of activities and ideas to help celebrate the pleasure of reading on Read Across America Day (and every other day of the year, too). There are classroom strategies to incorporate Dr. Seuss books into literacy-building activities; e-cards; bookmarks in English and Spanish; videos of the Hooray for Diffendoofer Day authors who were inspired by Dr. Seuss; a video interview with Theodore Geisel's wife, Audrey; and activities to celebrate Dr. Seuss at home.


Family Literacy Bag: Where the Wild Things Are
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-02-18.3590056362
Subjects: Reading, English, Language Arts
Grade: K-1

This kit allows teachers to create a take-home "literacy bag" so that parents can read and engage with their children. The topic of this particular kit is Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, and features the classic children’s tale. The kit also contains lists of nonfiction titles about nighttime and fiction titles that emphasize concepts such as dealing with feelings and using your imagination. I like that the kit’s activities and suggested companion book selections are so well-thought-out: combined, the titles completely capture the spirit of Max, his anger, creativity, and the mysteries of night. Nonfiction selections focus on night animals or how nightfall occurs, while the fiction selections offer tales of young children’s changing emotions and their endless capacity for imaginative play and creation. The kit (available in Spanish as well as in English) also contains various resources to encourage hands-on activities for kids and parents to share.

Beginning Readers: Look! I Can Read This!
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-02-18.0527943194
Subjects: Reading, English, Language Arts
Grade: Pre-school-1st grade

This brief article provides information on emergent readers, and gives a few tips for parents on how to support their children’s early reading efforts in a positive way. The article describes some literacy-related traits of beginning readers, as well as how to read with a beginner. This article - available in Spanish, MS Word, and PDF formats - may be reproduced in newsletters prepared by preschools, elementary schools, or parent organizations.

~Joann's Picks~

Explore http://thegateway.org/ for more resources.