LEARNERS:
SPECIAL NEEDS
Attention Issues:
- Any students that have difficulty focusing, or have attention issues, I will give them preferential seating in the class, allowing them to sit with a friend I knows they can handle helping them stay focused. Ensuring students are near the front to limit surrounding distractions, near the door in class they need a break or need to step out quickly
- I will give these students brain breaks or provide them with an outlet that allows them to relax for a moment or two so they can regain their focus and come back into the lesson (examples: doodle pads, stress balls, worksheets with lesson notes or questions to channel their thinking and help them stay on track
- Provide these students with a break, chunking the tasks in each class so to reduce the length that their brain needs to be in constant thinking mode
Learning Disabilities/Learning Styles
- Though this is a university preparation course and discussion and analytical thinking are prominent concepts, allowing for a variety of learning styles to come through each lesson will be taken into consideration. There will be choice in the assignments that will accommodate the maximized amount of learning styles in the class.
- Have certain students moving, it is something as small as moving their group to the other side of the class, at least that student has one or two minutes of moving, lifting, stimulating their muscles so sitting for 75minutes is not the case every single class
- If there are specific students that have difficulty reading, I will meet with them outside of class to discuss options or under certain circumstances (IEP students) provide them with resources or summaries of key chapters so they can still contribute to class conversations and discussions
Physical
- In the event that there are physical needs that need to be addressed – preferential seating will take precedence, ensuring this student is located strategically in class so their learning is maximized
- Arranging desks in the class that coincide with their limitations (having ample space for potential wheelchairs and other assisting devices)
Universal Strategies
- Give all students brain breaks during each class to ensure everyone has equal opportunity to rest, and so that specified students to not feel singled out
- Give everyone extra paper in their Silver Lining Playbook to doodle in, jot random notes – have that stimulation so they are not merely listening and talking for the entire 75 minutes of the class
- Give everyone a Success Sheet during each class – so that they can work more closely to their own pace of learning – students that do not feel comfortable talking in class can still participate in discussion questions. Pass out chapter notes at certain times to ensure that those having difficulty reading or keeping up can still have an understanding of what is going on in the plot of the book.
Diversity Issue:
- Due to the nature of this book and some of the material discussed. One accommodation that will be the right to pass, students that have emotional difficulty can vacate at any time when discussions get intense. If certain lessons trigger thoughts or feelings in students, they can chose an alternate activity or research assignment to be done in the library during class time and that will be handed in at the end of the period.
- Understanding mental illness is difficult for some teenagers because of how prominent it is within the school system – to accommodate this concern, I will be ensuring that students are fully prepped on the content that will be discussed in class (especially during the introductory lesson) – the book will be introduced before the unit begins to ensure that if parents have concerns, they can be addressed and I can give appropriate rationale towards why we are reading this book and discussing this specific topic in an university prep English class.
- Only in the event that direct concerns come from parents will I entertain the option of an alternate book. An alternate reading to the Silver Lining Playbook would be It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini.
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