OSMOSIS JONES - He's one cell of a guy!

Osmosis Jones is a popular Hollywood movie shown in many science and health classes. And with the wonderful technology we have, the internet can help our students. Here is a wonderful site called, The Internet Movie Database. This can be used in all content areas. The site has a search engine. You can search by movie tittles, companies, characters, and more! You can find photos, trailers, plot summaries, and even cast overviews.

I think the trailers are wonderful. It provides some background knowledge in pictures to what they've been learning in class. For students who struggle remembering the movie, the trailers can be used as a review.

The photos can be printed by right clicking on the picture and saving it on your computer. Depending on the level of your student, the pictures can be used for sequencing or triggering memories to write a sentence about an isolated event in the movie. They can even be used by mildly impaired students to get them started in the writing process of a summary or report.

Please remember that your school has to purchase copyright permissions to use movies in your classrooms.

Spelling

If a student has access to a resource room or special education classroom during the day, IEP spelling goals can be taught there. Usually children with moderate to severe disorders are working on sight words or phonics.

What to do in the general education setting?

Option 1:

Have a copy of the list. The student simply copies the words.

Option 2:

Choose 5 or more words, depending on the student, that he should learn to read by memory. On test day, put those words in a word box at the top of the page. The student has to identify the word and write it on the appropriate line. For attention reasons, the paper should be numbered according to his words. For example, if the student memorized words 3, 7, 8, 10, and 12, then his paper should be numbered accordingly. If you mix up the words on the test, his paper may look like 2, 5, 6, 8, 11.

Option 3:

This works best for students who also have a physical handicap with the cognitive impairment. Choose 5 or more words, depending on the student, that she should learn to read by memory. On test day, list the words that she memorized. When she hears the word, she identifies it from the list and writes a number by the word. Teacher says, #4 is "language". The student would write the #4 by that word on her list.

These options give the student access to and exposes her to age appropriate instruction.

Communication Tip - Time

Many special education students, especially those who are challenged with autism and cognitive impairments, can learn to tell time literally. However, their language impairments make this skill a huge challenge in the community and in general education classrooms.

The test will start at quarter after one.
For a student with a language impairment, a quarter represents a coin. Rather saying "quarter after one", try saying "one-fifteen".

You have 15 more minutes until you go to lunch.
For a student with a language impairment, elapsed time is an advanced skill. Rather than saying "you have 15 more minutes", try saying the exact time. "At 12:30 you will go to lunch."

Do you have an assignment that needs to be modified/altered?

You may send copies of your assignments via email. Please give at least 3 days notice and I will gladly help you. As of right now, I'm on short term disability, so that time frame may increase in the future.

Email: inclusionteachers at hotmail dot com (written that way for safety measures)

IN THE NEWS

LifeTown in southeast Michigan is an AMAZING indoor city. Each visit has a lesson prepared for the students. My favorite one is the pre-planning... What will I do 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc. Then unusual things happen. The banks opens late. The movie theater "breaks down". The idea is to find alternative activites while waiting or advocating for themselves by asking for a refund. They do their own banking and make doctor's appointments. They also follow traffic rules.

Here's the link to this very creative center made for special needs children and adults. You don't want to miss the TV report. You will see students in the village. I've been there many times. It's amazing.

You can click on the link here ----> LifeTown

Edited: Thanks for letting me know that the link wasn't very visible at the bottom of the post. I need to figure out how to change the color of links.

The American Revolution in Pictures

Students who struggle with academics often learn by seeing and doing. There are some great history sites that history teachers around the country know of. Now let's take it one step further using them for the pictures to tell the stories. Use pictures of people and events. Students can make a time line with the pictures. When testing knowledge, students can match the picture to the correct event. Here are just some of the pictures that can be used by students.



The History Place

The American Revolution

Paul Revere






Paul Revere's Ride












George Washington








George Washington takes commend of the Continental Army.

















The signing of the Declaration of Independence.








The Declaration of Independence is read from the east balcony of the State House in Boston, Massachusetts.

Inclusion in Secondary Math

Special education students will struggle in math for one of three reasons.

1. The student has not mastered the skills required to do the math.
2. The student is unable to keep up with the pace of the class.
3. The student is a concrete learner and needs direct instruction in a rule based method curriculum.

Here's one idea for a modified lesson.

Have a worksheet available instead of using the text. Have 2-4 problems that the general education students are doing. Each problem is written twice. One with all the steps and answer provided. The student simply copies the steps and answer to the problems. The student is given access to and exposed to age appropriate instruction. The remaining work should be focused on the IEP goals. I suggest having a mixture of mastered skills and new skills at the student's learning level. This encourages independence and confidence. It also allows the paraprofessional to help other students in the class.

IN THE NEWS

October 2008

Florida State University Special Education program received a $800,000 visual impairment grant.

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Question Words

Who?
What?
When?
Where?
Why?
How?

Many students with disabilities have trouble answering questions because they don't know what kind of answer they are looking for. Although this is commonly worked on in special education classrooms, having a clue sheet will decrease anxiety and increase comprehension. This clue sheet can be placed in a classroom folder, binder or an agenda. It can even be made into a poster on the wall.

Who? (person, animal, cartoon character, etc.)
When? (time: calendar time, clock time, a year, an era, etc.)
Where? ( place: inside or outside - Examples are in the kitchen, at school, in Florida)
Why? ( because.....)

What is a tricky one. You have to look for other clue words.

What happened to... (event)
What time are we going to... (time)
What will he do to help.... (do... an action/verb)

How is another tricky one. You have to look for other clue words.

How do you.... (list the steps you have to do... actions/verbs)
How many.... (a number)