Do you have students with special needs in your general education class?
I work with middle school teachers every day (well, not weekends) that are in this boat. They each have a subject area that is their specialty but struggle with what to do to help kids with special needs.
As an ELA and Special Needs Inclusion Teacher, one of my jobs is to help the teachers find ways for students to be successful. So then this week I thought, why not share these ideas on my blog too?
That's how the idea of #SPEDspot was born!
That's how the idea of #SPEDspot was born!
Each Sunday I plan to share a quick inclusion idea for a specific subject area.
This week, I am focused on ELA. The teachers at my middle school honestly do a great job explaining things in class. I know because I visit them often as an inclusion/facilitator teacher. Plus the textbooks are consumable so kids can write in them. So why aren't the SPED kids being very successful?
They don't make connections. They don't really see how all the lessons connect to the final embedded assessment essay. They need structure to tie it all together.
This week, I am focused on ELA. The teachers at my middle school honestly do a great job explaining things in class. I know because I visit them often as an inclusion/facilitator teacher. Plus the textbooks are consumable so kids can write in them. So why aren't the SPED kids being very successful?
They don't make connections. They don't really see how all the lessons connect to the final embedded assessment essay. They need structure to tie it all together.
So what do teachers do to help?
They use graphic organizers! This doesn't mean just the traditional Venn diagram or web. I'm talking about checklists, interactive notebook flipbooks and foldables.
Let's just start with checklists. I was just working with an 8th grade Language Arts teacher who wanted his students to edit and revise their rough drafts. He thought they would just read each other's papers, use the proper proofreading marks and voila! editing would be done. (Not so much with SPED students.) So I gave him this:
Let's just start with checklists. I was just working with an 8th grade Language Arts teacher who wanted his students to edit and revise their rough drafts. He thought they would just read each other's papers, use the proper proofreading marks and voila! editing would be done. (Not so much with SPED students.) So I gave him this:
This gives the SPED students some structure to follow. I made sure I went to his most challenging class to see how it worked. I saw kids who would normally just sit and look at the paper actually working with the checklist and proudly showing me what they were able to check off. (I just wish I had remembered to take pictures!)
You can get an editable copy by clicking {here}.
Next week, I will post about interactive notebook flipbooks and foldables. However, in the meantime, please check out this great giveaway with a $25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift certificate and a chance to win a bundle of 17 ELA products!
You can get an editable copy by clicking {here}.
Next week, I will post about interactive notebook flipbooks and foldables. However, in the meantime, please check out this great giveaway with a $25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift certificate and a chance to win a bundle of 17 ELA products!
