sutton062

Sometimes all a student needs to be successful are a few accommodations to make the assignment/requirements more accessible for them. I have compiled a few accommodations I do in my classroom as well as things I share with the general education teachers I work with to support our students. There are so many things you could do but I wanted to share some of my favorite! (Some pictures shown contain resources I have found from other TPT sellers as well as ones I have created. Please click the pictures for the links :)) * Highlighters are my best friend!!-  Using a highlighter is probably one of the simplest accommodations I do. It is so easy to stock your paras, volunteers and general education teachers with this tool. I use highlighters in all subjects for a variety of things. Check some out here: I used a highlighter to point out where the student could find the information in the text. The student was still required to find the matching picture, cut it out and glue it. The highlig...

Let's face it, research writing sucks! Don't get me wrong I absolutely love my job, my students and accommodating materials to meet my students needs but research writing is challenging. You have to be able to tie all of your core academic knowledge into one assignment....writing, reading, understanding the content and more!!! Every year when it comes to research writing I usually use a shared writing approach. The students are still exposed to researching, taking notes and writing but we do it together. This year I really wanted to challenge my students and give them a lot of independence with this assignment. When reading this, know that I did this with 5 of my 5th graders who are cognitively at a K-1st grade level. The students had the support of myself and one additional para professional during this unit. For this entire series I will be referring to my  Arctic Animal Research Writing Unit  but you could do this with any research assignment if you wish. Here is what we wi...

This is a long post but it is so worth reading if you are struggling or want to improve the way you teach literacy to your students with significant disabilities. In the short time I have been doing this I can already see the benefits and wish I would have started this sooner. Teaching reading and writing to our students with significant disabilities can be tricky. You may often think, do they get this? Is this worth my time? How do I get them to interact if they are non verbal? No worries, I have had these same thoughts until recently. I attended a training at my local ISD and left feeling so inspired. Before diving into this I want you to know I have 11 students on my caseload. I have 3 students who I use this method with and it takes about 45-60 minutes a day. All 3 students are non verbal. One has a communication device, can spell and will hold a writing utensil for 5 minutes or longer. The other 2 students do not have a communication device, cannot yet identify letters and before ...