Benchmark – Language Disabilities and Assistive Technology Unit Plan

Benchmark – Language Disabilities and Assistive Technology Unit Plan

Grand Canyon University: SPD 560

PART 1

Gabriella’s individualized education program team consist of;

A speech pathologist

A special education teacher

An instructional assistant

A general education teacher

Gabriella’s PLAAFP

Gabriella is in fourth grade. She attends the general education fourth grade class for language arts instruction daily for nighty minutes. She has been attending the class since the second grade. She, however, needs to be accompanied to class with an instructional assistant. In general education settings, she requires frequent breaks and one-on-one support. Apart from the language arts instructions class, she attends art, PE and music classes and lunch and recess with the fourth graders.

She receives the services of a speech pathologist for her speech and language needs for at least forty minutes three days a week, with a special education teacher catering for her language need the rest of the time.

Her oral expression skills range from low to average. Her speech and comprehension abilities are limited to literal thus she has difficulties with sarcasm, synonyms and the use of figurative speech. Her reading ability is at a low first-grade level, reading simple materials at a Lexile level of 300-450. Gabriella writing ability is limited to simple sentences having a subject and a predicate, she, however, depends on picture clues and rewriting strategies for the planning of her sentences.

Gabriella’s measurable IEP goals

1 .Gabriella will be able to achieve a reading Lexile level of 500 to 600 at least eight times in ten trials tested by weekly quizzes of reading, The Frog and the Toad by Arnold Lobel by September 1st, 2018. She will increase her reading exile level of the same book to 600-800 in at least eight times in ten trials tested by weekly quizzes by December 1st, 2018. This will be achieved through the incorporation of talking word processor installed with her reading materials and programmed to relate the reading materials with the appropriate pictures and convert them into audio. The progress will be monitored using the special student’s data worksheet.

Baseline. First-grade reading level with a Lexile reading level of 300 to 450.

2.Given five short texts with words with multiple meaning, figurative speech, and sarcasm, Gabriella will be correctly decoded and comprehend the texts with an eighty percent accuracy by December 1st, 2018, measured by weekly specialized formulated quizzes and the progress recorded weekly in the special education teacher worksheet. During this period, a tape recorder fitted with a variable speech control will be incorporated into her learning process. This is to enable her to record the class discussions and interactions and listen to them later in the most suitable speed for better comprehension.

Baseline. She has a ten percent accuracy on correct decoding and comprehension of texts with multiple meaning words, figurative speech, and sarcasm.

3.Gabriella will be able to utilize display cards with basic instructions such as thumbs up for “I agree” to actively participate in four of her five weekly general education class and peer discussions by December 21st, 2018. The measurement of the extent of her participation will be done using a worksheet with a scale ranging from very active to dormant, recorded by her instructional assistant after every class and reviewed weekly by the special education teacher.

Baseline. Gabriella class participation and peer interactions range from average to dormant.

PART 2

First lesson plan.

Lesson summary and focus: Class reading of an article of underground railroads. The focus is to equip the students with research skills and the ability to identify and comprehend key information from a written text.
Classroom and student factors: The class consists of students with varied intellectual capabilities. A point of special focus is a student named Gabriella who is under IEP. To facilitate learning of all students, I will incorporate a specialized plan of teaching and assessing Gabriella based on her capabilities
National / State Learning Standards: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.1-RI.4.6
Academic Language: Key vocabulary: ArticleComprehensionResearchEssay Function: These terminologies are aimed at introducing the students to research methods and writing skills.These skills are aimed at improving their reading, comprehension and writing which are crucial for the next lessons. Form: I will introduce the different skills on a logical manner ie reading, comprehension and reproduction of information.In each of the steps, I will incorporate class discussion whereby the students can hold peer discussions on the key elements of that stage.
Instructional Materials, Equipment and Technology: Writing materials, copies of articles on underground railroads, display cards with basic instructions such as thumb up to mean “I agree”, a taking word processor and a data worksheet.
Grouping: The students will be grouped in pairs for discussions during the lesson.
Prior knowledge connection: This lesson is a buildup on writing and reading classes covered the students’ education journey.
Anticipatory set: The development reading, comprehension and reading skill are paramount to the learning processes, in its entirety, of the students.
Students Do Differentiation
1 Students will write short notes on the three stages of reading.2 The students will read the article on underground railroads and a one paragraph of the article.3 The students will submit the written assignment for grading. 1 She will listen to an earlier prepared audio tape on the stages of reading using her tape recorder, the speed of the recording having been adjusted appropriately.2. She will listen to the audio of the article using her talking word processor, which also incorporates visual representations of the text to enhance comprehension and connectivity of the ideas.With the help of her instruction assistant, she will participate in the peer discussion using the display cards, i.e. pointing to the thumbs up card when she agrees with an idea,3 The instruction teacher will administer a reading test using a Lexile scale.The instructional assistant will evaluate and record her class participation.
Summative Assessment: The summary of the article will be graded out of ten. The areas asses will be the students’ ability to connect the ideas logically and the students language use skills e.g. mastery of grammar rules. These two areas will both carry five points. Differentiation: The two assignments are aimed at evaluating her reading skills and level of class participation. Her instructional assistant will evaluate her reading skill against the Lexile scale.Her class participation will be measured against a scale ranging from very active to dormant. This will be based on the extent in which she can utilize the display cards to convey a message.
Closure: The ability for the students’ to comprehend and reproduce information is vital in all their activities, e.g. following instructions in other subjects and real life situations.
Homework: The students will be required to write summaries of a separate article of their choice by the next lesson.

Lesson 2 and 3 plan.

Lesson summary and focus: This lesson is aimed at introducing the concept of the underground railroad. The focus being the factors that lead to their establishment. The second lesson will capture the first two tasks while the third lesson will consist of the last task.
Classroom and student factors: The class consists of students with varied intellectual capabilities. A point of special focus is a student named Gabriella who is under IEP. To facilitate learning of all students, I will incorporate a specialized plan of teaching and assessing Gabriella based on her capabilities.
National / State Learning Standards: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.1-RI.4.6
Academic Language: Key vocabulary: Cultural diversityHuman rightsSlavery Function: These terminologies are aimed at introducing the student to a comprehensive view of the factors and underlying principles that lead to the establishment of underground railroads.To demonstrate their understanding, the students should be able to write and define these terminologies. Form: To ensure students understand the lesson, I will introduce these terminologies chronologically, based on the relation to the lessons objective.The definition will be basic to the level of a fourth grade students.
Instructional Materials, Equipment and Technology: The map of the USA, a chart with the picture of the different races, a picture of the statue of liberty, a picture portraying slaves working in a farm, writing materials, a plain drawing paper, a worksheet, display chart with visual representation of basic instructions such as thumbs up and thumbs down.
Grouping: The class will be pair into twos for consultations during the class discussion
Prior knowledge connection: This lesson is a buildup of the students’ knowledge on the history of the USA
Anticipatory set: . The objective of the lesson is aimed enabling the student to appreciate diversity in their environment and be tolerant and accommodative of different cultures
Students Do Differentiation
1 Student will match the pictures displaced with the respective races and write down their answers.2 The students will use their drawing materials to draw the statue of liberty, coping from the picture I will display and provide small notes on its significant.3 The students will write down their reaction of the picture after a brief discussion with their peers. 1 With the help of her instruction assistant, she will match the pictures displayed with their corresponding races using display cards i.e. cards with thumb up to agree and thumbs downs to disagree.2. She will arrange various sketches provided by the assistant based on their resemblance to the picture of the statue of liberty.3 Her instructional assistant will measure the extent of her participation in the peer discussion
Summative Assessment: The students write ups on the three issues will be graded out of ten, depending on the accuracy of their matching, their ability to connect a concept to the corresponding picture and their language use. Differentiation:Her evaluation will be based on her ability to connect two visual representations, and the results recording in each of the exercises as being good, average or poor.Her peer discussion participation will be revaluated based on the accuracy of her usage of the display cards to express the correct answer. The accuracy will be represented as a percentage of the total trials and perception judged against a scale ranging from very active to dormant.
Closure: I will urge the students to discussion the issues of cultural diversity with their peers in school and identify the cultural representatives within the school and their neighborhoods.
Homework: I will ask the students to identify icons of cultural diversity in USA. This is a research skill based exercise aimed at making the students interact more with issues on cultural history in USA. This assignment will be given in the second lesson but submitted at the end of the third lesson.
Lesson summary and focus: This lesson is aimed at analyzing the operations of the underground railroads. The focus is to highlight the interactions of the various factors that made the underground railroads a success,
Classroom and student factors: The class consists of students with varied intellectual capabilities. A point of special focus is a student named Gabriella who is under IEP. To facilitate learning of all students, I will incorporate a specialized plan of teaching and assessing Gabriella based on her capabilities
National / State Learning Standards: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.1-RI.4.6
Academic Language: Key vocabulary: AgentsConductorsWay stationsStation mastersPassengersTickets. Function: These vocabularies are aimed at creating an analogy between the operations of underground railroads and the regular train network.This analogy will help in creating a mental picture of its operations to the students thus boosting their understanding of the concept. Form: To make the students understand the lesson, I will start by explaining the general meaning of the key vocabularies expected in the lesson. I will presents the concepts in logical manner i.e. chronologically.I will incorporate question and answer sessions in the course of the lesson to ensure the students are understanding.
Instructional Materials, Equipment and Technology: The map of the USA, a chart with the picture of the different races, a picture of the statue of liberty, writing materials, a plain drawing paper, a worksheet, display chart with visual representation of basic instructions such as thumbs up and thumbs down a taking word processor.
Grouping: The class will be pair into twos for consultations during the class discussion
Prior knowledge connection: This lesson is aimed at building on the second lesson introduction of underground railroads and discussions on slavery and cultural diversity. It also requires the skills on research and writing covered in lesson one.
Anticipatory set: The objective of the lesson is aimed enabling the student to appreciate diversity in their environment and be tolerant and accommodative of different cultures
Students Do Differentiation
1 Sketch the map of the underground railroad network based on the chart I had displayed.2 Ask questions on the areas not clear.3 Read the article using the reading skills covered in lesson one.4. Participate in the oral question and answer session and do the written assignment. 1 With the help of her instructional assistant, Gabriella will examine various sketch of the underground railroad network prepared earlier and arrange them based on the their accuracy to the one I had presented.3 The instruction teacher will administer a reading test of the article using a Lexile scale4 With the help of her instruction assistant, she will participate in the question and answer session using the display cards, i.e. pointing to the thumbs down card when she opposes5 The instructional assistant will evaluate and record her class participation
Summative Assessment: The written assignment is aimed at evaluating the students’ mastery of reading and writing skills addressed in lesson one but in the context of a complex article, analyzing a complex interaction of factors.It is also aim at testing the students understanding of the concepts covered on slavery and cultural diversity and evaluate their understanding of how the two interact. Differentiation:The assignments are aimed at evaluating her reading skills and level of class participation. Her instructional assistant will evaluate her reading skill against the Lexile scale.Her class participation will be measured against a scale ranging from very active to dormant. This will be based on the extent in which she can utilize the display cards to convey a message.The participation in the oral exercise aims at evaluating her ability to engage in complex deliberations.
Closure: The lesson aims at instilling the in students the importance of appreciating cultural diversity which is vital in their day to day interactions.It also aims at sharpening their communication skills.
Homework: The students will write a short essay on the key things they have learn in the course of the three lessons.

PART 3

The ability for a student to effectively communicate, both in a classroom setting and routine interactions with other students, is pivotal for the student’s learning process (Dell et al, 2008). The objectives of Gabriella’s IEP goals are aimed at enabling her to integrate into the general school’s environment, both in the classroom setting and outside the classroom for example in the cafeteria and during recess, through her mastery of appropriate augmentative and alternative assistive technology devices and systems.

The adoption of visual display cards with basic instructions as Gabriella main tool of conveying information is informed by the simplicity and effectiveness of its usage. Display cards having universally recognized but basic symbols such as thumbs up are appropriate for her since her disability limits her spoken and written language use and the comprehension of complex messages. The simple messages are also easily understandable for her fourth-grade classmates, thus facilitating their communication. The choice of the inclusion taking word processor capable of converting the written material to audio is based on Gabriella limited reading ability. The audio accompanying the written material displayed on the screen with corresponding visual aids aimed at easily helping her internalize the information and ideas being conveyed easily thus improving not only her comprehension ability but also her capability of arranging ideas logically(Dell et al, 2008). Moreover, the use of a tape recorder with variable speech control is anchored on her limited intellectual capacity which inevitably slows down her learning ability thus the need of her to record class discussions for future revision in the most suitable speed for in-depth comprehension. Gabriella’s differentiated activities and assessment in the lesson plans are founded on the need for her inclusion in the general education class setting in order for her to learn firsthand skills to interact in a general setting (Dell et al, 2008). However, her form of participation in such setting should be subject her abilities, monitored and evaluated on regular basis.

The differentiated activities in the lessons’ plans should be consistent with the objectives of the IEP, as is the case above. To achieve this, all the members of Gabriella’s IEP team should be included and clear monitoring and evaluation strategies formulated. In addition, the activity differentiation strategy and the assistive technology used should aim at maximizing on her capabilities and enabling her to work around her disabilities (Purcell and Grant, 2002).

References.

Purcell, S. L., & Grant, D. (2002). Assistive Technology Solutions for IEP Teams. Attainment Company Inc., PO Box 930160, Verona, WI 53593-0160.

Dell, A. G., Newton, D. A., & Petroff, J. G. (2008). Assistive technology in the classroom: Enhancing the school experiences of students with disabilities. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.

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