Mann 1 Adina Mann Dr.

Monda-Amaya SPED 405 6 December 2012 Assignment C Question 1 Micha In the case of Micha, witnessing the violent death of a close family member is traumatizing and has lead to an emotional and behavioral disability that presents challenges in regards to effective teaching. According to Special Education for Todays Teachers: An Introduction, educators must be aware of students who manifest extreme and persistent affective disturbances such as a depressed mood, low self-esteem, withdrawal, emotional mood swings, and negative expressions about the future. Teachers should also be aware of significant changes in social behavior and academic performance (Rosenberg, et al. 177). In the classroom, Micha has fallen behind the other students and is having behavior trouble in the classroom interacting positively with other students in the classroom. The latest observation of Micha is cuts on his forearm that seem to be increasing. This is a warning sign of depression through the action known as cutting. Cutting is often linked with depression, and though depression is most successfully treated by psychologists and psychiatrists, there are still methods of effective teaching and behavior management that teachers can practice to provide assistance to the student academically. Depression is linked with other disorders, including conduct disorders and anxiety disorders, which would explain Michas misbehavior in conduct with other students in the classroom (177). Additionally, there has also been speculation that the academic deficits of some students with EBD may be the result of concomitant learning disabilities (LD). Although the precise prevalence of

Mann 2 concomitance is uncertain, studies of students with EBD have found that between 38 and 75% were also identified as having LD (179). The study shows that there is a high correlation between EBD and students with learning disabilities, which shows that although the student may not have a distinct learning disability, there are still challenges the student faces in terms to academic success, and accommodations should be made accordingly. Lizzy Lizzy is a perfect exemplification of a student who is acclimated to a school environment, through her investment in extra-curricular activities, yet also has the added stressor of having a severe reading disability. It is interesting to note that the most common area is which students with learning disabilities have difficulty is reading, which is a problem for approximately 80% of these students (167). With her established reading disability, as a teacher it is imperative to explore strategies to help Lizzy succeed academically. In order to facilitate an effective classroom with strategies integral to students with reading disabilities scaffolding can also be used to support reading instruction and instruction in other content areas (159). Scaffolding notes the idea that teachers work with students to facilitate learning in the most effective way by activating prior knowledge, using illustrations, and really attempting to interest students in the value of the educational experience at hand. Essentially, what this method does is use strategic instruction [which] is the explicit combining of what has already been learned with new learning so that the relationship between old and new learning is clear and results in more complete or new knowledge (160). It is established that Lizzy has a reading disability, but the question then becomes how can teachers use this knowledge and what Lizzy knows to enhance her learning experience at present. It is known that although Lizzy struggles with reading, her comprehension is improved when her

Mann 3 listening skills are engaged. The notion that listening positively influences her comprehension shows that there are definitely methods of teaching that can highlight this skill, and improve her reading along the way. Through her struggles, her motivation appears to be low, which is a similar situation with many students with disabilities. When students feel discouraged, their motivation to participate and engage with school activities diminishes heavily. The teacher has the opportunity to re-engage Lizzy and give her a meaningful education while improving her skills. Susan Susan is a student with a visual impairment that categorizes her as legally blind. Legal blindness refers to a central acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with the best possible correction, as measure on a Snellen vision chart, or a visual field of 20 degrees or less (352). The information presented here shows that though the student is not entirely blind, their vision is severely limited. It is important to note that hearing or vision disabilities alone do not impact the cognitive skills of a child, meaning that just because a student has a visual impairment does not mean they have a learning disability (353). However, for students with visual impairments it becomes critical to present information in a variety of ways so that they can learn alongside their peers (354). In order to appropriately accommodate Susan, the teacher must become familiar with what visual impairments are and what they mean for facilitating learning in the classroom. Teachers generally convey many social and learning cues in a visual way using body language or facial expressions, and these cues are not necessarily able to be received by students with visual impairments. Some successful presentation strategies used with students who are blind or visually impaired are designed to convey information in an auditory or tactile format (355). Meaning, explaining information to students

Mann 4 can be helpful as an auditory aid, but providing something tangible, like a model of a learning tool, is also a productive and effective strategy. For students who are blind, like Susan, hearing and feeling subjects are critical in developing a greater understanding. Yet, even for students who use common adaptations such as Braille, large print, assistive/adaptive technology, and audio, learning seemingly simple concepts can be a laborious process (356). Thus, it is important as a teacher to note that it is especially important to make sure that learning is achievable by all students, and when there is a student with visual impairments, proper accommodations must be made so that the student has every opportunity to an educational experience. Question 2: Lesson Plan Used: Objectives: By the end of class today, students will: Review and retain information on word choice Become acquainted with the use of proper verb phrases

Materials needed: Photocopies for the entire class of: word choice worksheet, verb phrase worksheet, and spelling pretest. Activities Give out spelling 16 pretest (15 minutes) o Read the word aloud, sentence, and word once more. o Have students write the correct spelling word in the next column o Mini-lesson on stressed syllable spelling Review Word Choice (15 minutes)

Mann 5 o Writing assignment In a short paragraph, write about the best present you ever got (from birthday, holiday, etc) using strong and appropriate words Show Scoring Guide to stress value of word choice

Lesson on Verb Phrases (15 minutes) o Teach Lesson on verb phrases using PowerPoint Hand out fill-in-the-blank notes corresponding to PowerPoint

o Have students do a short activity on writing verb phrases Create sentences using verb phrases

Writing practice with The House on Mango Street (10 minutes) o Mad-Libs stressing word choice and verb phrases o Have students write their own Mad-Libs and exchange

Mann 6 What I Need to Know Chart Question 1. Why am I learning this?

Response in relation to your unit/lesson In order to gain competency in a vast and meaningful academic world, that prepares students for successful lives in various professional endeavors, students must learn the basic tenets of study. After learning standard reading and writing, breaking down these skills to consciously improve is a necessary skill to gain through education. The lesson plan focuses on spelling, word choice, and verb phrases. The objectives of the lesson are that students should review and retain information in regards to word choice and learn how to use verb phrases appropriately. Each skill learned in this lesson are building blocks to more expansive activities, such as essay writing. When learning an instrument, one must often learn individual notes and the boring stuff before learning to play a challenging song. Similarly, before students are ready to write challenging and engaging papers, students must learn the basics. In the block scheduled period, students will be pretested on spelling words to gage their improvement over the course of the week. The spelling test is administered on a Monday and the post-spelling test is given on Friday after students have had practice with the vocabulary. Thus, students are exposed with the new words before they are explicitly learned. Following the spelling test there will be a mini-lesson on stressed syllables which directly relates to the spelling lesson and gives the students an introduction to the words they may have not known how to spell. As we transition to the related word choice, the students are expected to use the new words in a fun writing assignment that furthers the familiarity of these new words and concepts. The lecture part of this period will be on verb phrases, and through the lecture and corresponding worksheets students will learn and gain practice working with verb phrases, which is a known concept to them already in a less formalized way. Finally, students will pull together the whole lesson in creating Mad Libs which is an engaging exercise where students will learn how to apply different aspects of grammar and composition.

2. What am I supposed to learn?

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3. What do I already know about it?

Students have knowledge of many of what is being taught just from life experience, but they will be explicitly taught these puzzle pieces in the hopes that they will use these skills when compiling papers and arguments in the future. Students may have familiarity with words from the vocabulary list. Students have certainly heard verb phrases in sentences, but many do not yet know the rules involving this grammatical concept.

4. What ideas are important?

The most important idea of this lesson is that these are some of the foundations that build upon composition, reading, and learning skills that will be used in lifelong learning, one of the many emphases of the school. Specifically, the notion of giving students a pre-test and then practice in spelling to gage improvement as a good assessment strategy. The verb phrase powerpoint is engaging and meaningful (as it is Shark themed and teaches verb phrases in an exciting and energetic way.) and it is important for students to learn these skills in order to properly use these grammatical tools in their own composition.

5. How is the information organized?

The information is organized in the block scheduled period in such a way that each activity builds off of the previous one. The idea of setting up the lesson this way is that activities flow into each other and students will be constantly engaged (hopefully!) due to the fact that everything is organized and that there is a clear objective to each activity. With the building blocks method, students can instantly see value in what they are doing and could potentially be more motivated to learn and work.

6. How am I going to use it?

Whether students go to a higher learning institution or not, reading, writing, and comprehension skills are necessary in all aspects of a meaningful life. Whether it is simply for getting a job or writing a college entrance exam, the skills being taught in this lesson are

Mann 8 necessary components for success. Many students do not see a value to learning grammar, especially learning grammar in isolation. However, by using metaphors (such as the metaphor about learning an instrument used above) students can begin to see value in learning the minutia of the English language. 7. How am I going to remember it? The way that the lesson is organized requires students to continue to use the information that has just been acquired, thus, transferring new information from short-term memory into long-term memory. For learning BE verbs, there is a song that is sung to the tune of London Bridge that shows students all the BE verbs (am, be, is, are, was, were, been, and being). Teaching students a song to remember key ideas and concepts can be extremely productive in enhancing their learning experience by making it more interesting and engaging that rote memorization.

8. Where am I going to use it?

9. When am I going to use it?

Primarily in educational institutions, such as school and universities where students are expected to produce compositions with higher level English, including using verb phrases and strong and appropriate words. Students will also use these powerful writing tools when applying for colleges, jobs, and essentially, whenever students will be required to write various kinds of work. With all the concepts learned throughout this lesson, students will use it in future assignments, such as essays or any assignment that uses writing. It will make the students writing more complex, and give them an understanding of the intricate structure of the English language.

10. How do I apply it?

At the end of the lesson, the activity is a Mad Lib assignments which could be seen as more of a fun learning activity. However, this assignments requires the students to use many of the skills learned in class on that particular day, and combine them into one sneakily productive assignment. Students must use appropriate words for the mad libs, and when writing

Mann 9 their own they are gaining practice with composition. There are a number of learning skills that are put into this assignment, and this is merely one example of how students can apply the material learned in class. Students will use explicit grammar in everyday vernacular and in writing for the rest of their lives. Teaching them the tenets of good grammar is important for students to be successful and the skills of reading, writing, and comprehension can be utilized in almost all aspects of life-long learning.

Question 3 Micha Some key issues that Micha is having in class are that he loses his temper frequently at classmates, he has fallen behind academically, and now faces issues with depression. Though working on the depression issue in the classroom is not the key focus, as that is the job of a psychiatrist/psychologist, the role of the teacher is to identify the issues the student is having in the classroom and come up with accommodations to promote academic success for the student. In Michas case, among the accommodations employed for the adolescent boys during their reading and math assignments were (1) working with a peer tutor, (2) shortened work assignments, (3) self-monitoring worksheets, and (4) completing assignments on the computer (190). These are all accommodations that have the potential ability to help Micha succeed in the classroom as a student with EBD. Specifically, teacher based actions, typically guided by the results of an FBA, include consideration of task difficulty, instructional modifications, learning strategies, providing choices, and content enhancements are all modifications that can help Micha achieve (190). The accommodations above are primarily academic, yet in the case of Micha, the challenge is primarily emotional and behavioral. Thus, there is a necessity for

Mann 10 special behavior management accommodations to allow Micha to be successful in the classroom. In this specific lesson plan, in order to ensure Michas academic success there are a number of accommodations that can and should be made. The lesson plan is used in for a class that follows block scheduling, and thus it is a rather long period. The class begins with a spelling test, which can be both boring and daunting for students. However, the test is required by the school curriculum so it must be used. According to a study reported by Diane Trim of the Inside the School organization, strategies to help students with EBD regarding test taking is allowing for [t]est retakes. The study the researchers found was of 10-12 year olds who were learning math and spelling. Students who could retake a test scored higher than those who couldnt (Trim). Thus, giving Micha, and any other student who could benefit from this accommodation, the opportunity to retake the tests could help him greatly. Moving along in the lesson, for the lessons on stressed syllables as well as the writing assignment and verb phrase presentation, providing the student with a handout that corresponds to the presentation and perhaps being given the opportunity to work with another student on it to enhance motivation. The textbooks information explains that working on the computer is a motivating tool, so maybe giving Micha access to a net book to take notes right on the PowerPoint could be a helpful tool. However, my concern would be that other students would appreciate this tool, and as a teacher the class would need to be evaluated in that way. Working with a peer tutor is another way that can help Micha in class. Though Micha seems to have problems with positive engaging activity with other students, perhaps pairing the students up over a more direct, non-discussion based activity could be helpful. For this lesson in particular, Micha could work with a student for writing verb phrases. The assignment does not

Mann 11 lead to any controversial discussions and he could work productively with partners as the class has the option to work alone or with a partner. If there is an aide in the classroom, this would be a great time for Micha to work with an aide for some one-on-one attention. Finally, the Mad Lib exercise is supposed to be more of a fun, engaging learning activity, and in order for Micha to succeed the teacher could provide a guided worksheet, as the textbook suggests. The exercise is not very explicit, in the sense that students can really create whatever they wish, which could work for Micha, but it may not be the best for him to have a more guided worksheet as a guide to this activity. Thus, primarily all of the instructional help for Micha would be through modified worksheets and giving him opportunities to utilize different learning tools, such as a computer or an aide. Aside from instruction, behavioral accommodations must be made to ensure the success of Micha in the classroom. As he has been acting up and getting involved in confrontations with students, there must be rules and guidelines set out for all students in the classroom to promote a positive learning environment. Working with Micha as having an emotional and behavioral disability, it reflects [the] belief that the primary goal of teachers is to influence specific behaviors that impede student achievement (170). An accommodation that must be made to ensure that all students, including Micha, will be successful is that there must be an understanding, supportive, and structured environment. That way, some of the issues with behavior in the classroom could be confronted with a positive and effective approach. In general, the teacher must set up behavior management strategies such as a quiet corner for all students, including Micha, to practice appropriate behavior to enhance the classroom learning environment. An additional accommodation is that Micha should be seen by a school psychologist due to the depressive nature of his cutting or possible abuse.

Mann 12 Lizzy By identifying Lizzy as having a reading disability, the teacher now has the opportunity to develop strategies to help Lizzy succeed in both her academic studies and reading competency. In this lesson specifically, areas that may be particularly challenging for Lizzy are the spelling test, the writing assignment, the PowerPoint and worksheet for the lesson on verb phrases, and the Mad-Lib exercises. Each one of these exercises, which were created for an eighth grade level, focus heavily on reading skills to practice writing and comprehension of learned skills. It is known that Response to Intervention (RTI) is a strategy to take a recognized challenge for a student and translate that into productive and helpful accommodations. RTI provides assistance to students in a timely fashion and does not require that students wait to fail before assistance is provided. A second advantage of this approach is that it ensures that the students learning problem does not result from poor instruction (165). As the lesson plan uses reading as a prerequisite for many activities, it is imperative that Lizzy receives attention and assistance to ensure her success in the course. Lizzys learning disorder presents three primary challenges for her in this lesson. First, remembering the vocabulary for the spelling tests will be a difficult task due to the fact that students with learning disabilities also often have cognitive difficulties in areas such as memory, attention, and metacognitive skills (167). The fact that Lizzy finds it difficult to remember vocabulary information and information out of the textbook would imply that this lesson, which is based in remember vocabulary and retention of information, could be extremely challenging for Lizzy without any teacher intervention. According to the National Center for Learning Disabilities article How to Help a Child with Weak Working Memory by Annie Stuart, its really better to target their strengths to try to use visual aids to support

Mann 13 their learning (Stuart). Bearing this strategy in mind, so much of this lesson could be made visually appealing and helpful to students. For instance, with each vocabulary word there could be a picture portraying the meaning of the word. With the word choice lesson, when teaching about how to show and not tell while writing, the teacher could use pictures to enhance the visual experience of the presentation. Another way to compensate for poor working memory is to break up or chunk information. This way, it takes up fewer slots in working memory. Give one or two, not a long string of, instructions (Stuart). The idea of chunking works well with this lesson as each activity is broken down into small parts, and the teacher can take on the added responsibility of making sure that every activity has a short set of instructions that are easy to follow. Similarly, due to Lizzys low reading level and large amount of reading in the lesson, it may be worthwhile for Lizzy to be given the reading material (PowerPoint presentations, worksheets, etc.) ahead of time so that when she comes to class to complete them she is not overwhelmed. Additionally, if this option is unavailable for whatever reason, Lizzy could work with an aide, teacher, or peer and have them read out loud or pre-record something for Lizzy to listen to. According to the article Effective Reading Interventions for Kids With Learning Disabilities by Stanberry and Swanson, Traditionally, one-on-one reading instruction has been considered optimal for students with LD. Yet we found that students with LD who received reading instruction in small groups (e.g., in a resource room) experienced a greater increase in skills than did students who had individual instruction (Stanberry and Swanson). Similarly, studies have shown that giving students time to read for enjoyment boosts their reading competency enormously. In the classroom in general, it is important to give students time for independent reading to improve reading fluency and motivation. Second, Lizzy will have trouble comprehending multiple aspects of this lesson which

Mann 14 focus heavily on reading. Stanberry and Swanson suggest that the most effective approach to improving reading comprehension in students with learning disabilities appears to be a combination of direct instruction and strategy instruction (Stanberry and Swanson). Examples of this technique in reference to this lesson would be to have the teacher ask questions and prompt the students to engage in the activities. While teaching about word choice and helping verbs, it is important for students to see value in what they are doing, and by engaging them in discussion, it could be a good tool for Lizzy, and all students, to stay involved and further comprehend material. A good method to teach anything, especially in regards to grammar in this lesson, is to have the teacher first do the activity, then do the activity as a class, and then have the students individually work on each activity. With Lizzy, reading print is more of a challenge for her than her listening comprehension. In this lesson, much of instruction is a combination of visual aids (PowerPoint presentations, worksheets, etc.) and, thus, is very effective for Lizzys learning method. Lastly, capturing Lizzys attention and giving her the tools in order to succeed are imperative in keeping Lizzy motivated to learn. Due to discouragement, Lizzy feels less encouraged to engage in classroom discussions. This disengagement is a similar trend, as many students with learning disabilities progress through school, they are faced with increasing difficulty in successfully completing school tasks and making passing grades; and this may result in avoidance of academic activities, frustration, behavior problems, and, ultimately, disengagement from school. Thus, maintain student motivation becomes a key issue in ensuring that students with learning disabilities continue to adjust to school and make adequate academic progress (149). Keeping Lizzy motivated in school, and making sure that instruction is performed at a level that is encouraging rather than overly-difficult is crucial. In the breakdown

Mann 15 of the lesson plan, each part of the lesson builds on the previous part so that nothing should seem truly overwhelming. At the same time, activities flow into each other so that students will be less likely to get bored and disengaged from instruction. Susan Most of the lesson planned for this day use visual modes of conveying information to students which presents a challenge for accommodating Susan who has a visual impairment. However, fortunately most of the information will be conveyed audibly as well. First, there will need to be a spelling test with the option for Braille writing. The teacher will read the word aloud, use it in a sentence, and say the word once more. The students will then write the word in the next column. As long as Susan will be able to write using English characters or Braille this should be a doable task. For reviewing word choice, there will be a quick PowerPoint presentation on the value of words, and as this is a short assignment simply conveying the information audibly should suffice. However, if the teacher is describing a gift with great detail, it might be meaningful if there is a gift that Susan can hold to get the same kind of image. With students who have visual impairments, teachers must give verbal descriptions of visual information. Announce the obvious so that the student knows when someone comes and goes, when an unexpected event happens, or when there is a change in activity (367). The reason for explicitly explaining everything is so that Susan can be included in all aspects of the classroom environment, and that her impairment should not hinder her involvement in the classroom. For the lesson on verb phrases, though it will be audibly presented, much of the information is written down. One major accommodation would depend on if the school would allow for Braille notes to be printed. Obtaining notes for Susan in Braille would be extremely helpful. The fill-in-the-blank

Mann 16 notes are a valuable tool to help the students retain information, and Susan deserves access to this through a Braille accessible worksheet. Similarly, for the Mad Lib assignment, the success of the activity for Susan is dependent on having Braille copies so that she can follow along with something tangible rather than just listen to the work being read aloud. Lizzy desires to be a journalist, and helping her in class to increase writing competency and working successfully with accommodations is an important skill to garner. Question 4: Micha With Michas recent academic challenges, assessment should show his progress and academic improvement. Since Micha is already behind, it would be a disservice to Micha to give him less work than the other students in the classroom, as that would show a lowerexpectation for him. In this instance, he will most likely benefit from the challenging work he is given. However, as a teacher, one should never set up a student for failure and provide as much help and guidance as possible. With Michas particular situation, he is interested in the subject and is open to working with the teacher, which definitely helps the cause. With his recent trouble engaging with other students and dealing with his own emotional issues, it is a crucial time to take action in order to ensure that Micha will succeed. To assess this personal growth and improvement, there will be many formative assessments that are constantly assessing how Micha is doing, and testing if these methods are successful. This way, the teacher can have the opportunity to improve methods both behaviorally and instructionally. To assess behavior management, some common methods used for identification include direct, systematic observation of specific behaviors and commercial prepared behavior rating scales. Functional behavioral assessments provide the most useful information for instructional and behavioral

Mann 17 planning (Rosenberg, et al).

Lizzy In summary, the adaptations that can be used for Lizzy are (1) use pictures to enhance the reading material in spelling tests and in presentations (2) engage Lizzy with the content by making it relevant and engaging (3) making instruction meaningful so that all students, including Lizzy, are engaged and motivated in the lessons and activities. Simply because Lizzy has a reading disability, there is no reason that Lizzy should not be able to succeed in the classroom in the same way students without a learning disability can. First, by using the spelling tests, and enhancing the visual aids on the tests, the teacher can better determine if this strategy is helping Lizzy on the tests. Fortunately, these tests are weekly, so the hope is that early in the process it can be identifiable whether or not Lizzy is improving through this method. By giving Lizzy the opportunity to use audio material as an aid to reading comprehension, such as being read to or listening to an audio recording of material, there will be a number of formative assignments that will track her progress and see if her comprehension is improving. Susan The accommodations that will be made for Susan will primarily consist of creating Braille forms of worksheets and presentations used in class. The rationale behind this is so that each student will have an opportunity for both tangible and audible resources. Everything will be available audibly, and the teacher must be mindful of speaking with the intention that Susan will not be able to see non-verbal cues in the classroom. Like many of the other students, there will be formative assessments to constantly check how Susan is doing in the classroom. An important question to consider is whether or not Susan has all of the opportunities academically that the

Mann 18 students without visual impairments are allotted. Working closely with Susan and all of the students is crucial in monitoring their personal and academic success.

Supplementary Material - Corresponding Worksheets 1. Mad Libs The House on Mango Street MAD LIBS Minerva Writes Poems Minerva is only a little bit older than me but already she has two kids and a husband who (helping verb+ leave, past tense). Her mother (helping verb+raise, past) her kids alone and it looks like her daughters will go that way too. Minerva cries because her luck is unlucky. Every night and every day. And (helping verb+pray, present). But when the kids are asleep after she (helping verb+feed, past ) them their pancake dinner, she writes poems on (adjective, little) pieces of paper that she folds over and over and holds in her hands a long time, little pieces of paper that smell like a dime. She (helping verb+let, present) me read her poems. I (helping verb+let, present) her read mine. She is always (adjective, sad) like a house on fire - always something wrong. She has many (plural noun, troubles), but the (adjective, big) one is her husband who (helping verb+leave, past) and keeps leaving. One day she is through and lets him know enough is enough. Out the door he goes. Clothes, records, shoes. Out the window and the door locked. But that night he comes back and sends a (adjective, big) rock through the window. Then he (verb to replace is) sorry and she opens the door again. Same story. Next week she comes over black and blue and asks what she can do? Minerva. I dont know which way she (helping verb+go, future). There is nothing I can do. Minerva Writes Poems (original pg 84-85, by Sandra Cisneros) Minerva is only a little bit older than me but already she has two kids and a husband who left. Her mother raised her kids alone and it looks like her daughters will go that way too. Minerva cries because her luck is unlucky. Every night and every day. And prays. But when the kids are asleep after shes fed them their pancake dinner, she writes poems on little pieces of paper that she folds over and over and holds in her hands a long time, little pieces of paper that smell like a dime. She lets me read her poems. I let her read mine. She is always sad like a house on fire always something wrong. She has many troubles, but the big one is her husband who left and keeps leaving. One day she is through and lets him know enough is enough. Out the door he goes. Clothes, records, shoes. Out the window and the door locked. But that night he comes back and sends a big rock through the window. Then he is sorry and she opens the door again. Same story.

Mann 19 Next week she comes over black and blue and asks what she can do? Minerva. I dont know which way shell go. There is nothing I can do. NOW come up with your very own MAD LIBS! 2. Writing Practice Directions: In a short paragraph, write a story about the best present you ever received (from a birthday, holiday, or other celebration) using strong and appropriate words! ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Two positive examples of word choice the author used. 1.____________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 2.____________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ One piece of constructive criticism (something the author could work on to improve writing!) 1.____________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

3. VERB PHRASE Fill-in-the-Blank Directions: Please follow along with the PowerPoint and fill in the blanks! 1. Verb Phrases Simple Predicate, or verb: May consist of two or more words called the _____________________________. A verb phrase is made up of a ___________ verb and one or more __________________________________. 2. Main Verb A MAIN VERB can stand alone as the _______________________________________ of the sentence. Examples: (Underline the Main Verb in each example.) 1. Many different sharks live in the ocean. 2. The sharks are an endangered species. 3. Helping Verbs HELPING VERBS help the main verb _________________________________ or ________________________________________. Examples: (Underline the Helping Verb and indicate the helping verb and verb phrase below)

Mann 20 1. Sharks would enjoy swimming in murky waters. Helping Verb: Verb Phrase: 2. The fish may be frightened by the shark! Helping Verb: Verb Phrase: 4. Common Helping Verbs Forms of BE Am, be, is, are, was, were, been Forms of DO Do, does, did Forms of HAVE Has, have, had Others May, might, can, should, could, would, shall, will Watch Out! The helping verbs have to agree with the _________ of the main verb! The word NOT! o The word NOT is NOT part of the verb phrase. Not is an adverb making the verb negative.

4. Identifying Verb Phrases and Practice! Directions: Circle the main verbs and underline the helping verbs. Then, write the verb phrase next to the sentence. 1. The Sharks would swim as quickly as possible. _______________________________. 2. A shark was spotted near the shore. ________________________________________. 3. Though it is rare, sharks could attack. _______________________________________. 4. You would have loved sharks, too! _________________________________________. 5. Some people do eat sharks. _______________________________________________. Lets write our own! Directions: Write a sentence using verb phrases by adding a helping verb to each main verb below. Underline the verb phrase. Example: made Steven Spielberg has made a movie about sharks! 1. Play _____________________________________________________________________________ 2. Swim _____________________________________________________________________________ 3. Eat _____________________________________________________________________________ 4. Run _____________________________________________________________________________ 5. Take ____________________________________________________________________________

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Sample Slide from Shark presentation on Helping verbs

HELPING VERBS help the main verb express action or show time. Example: 1. Sharks would enjoy swimming in murky waters. Helping Verb: would Verb Phrase: would enjoy 2. The fish may be frightened by the shark! Helping Verb: may Verb Phrase: may be frightened

Sample slide for the SmartBoard involving Word Choice

Word Choice Applying Strong Verbs:
Example: When Jarod

saw

the skunk in his living room, he

went

upstairs and

went

under his bed.

Saw Perceiv ed Spotted Distingui shed

Went
Darted

Roamed
Disappeared

Plodded

Applying Strong Verbs: Think About: - Have I used ACTION WORDS? (avoid using am, are, was, were, be, being, and been) - Did I stretch to get a better word? - Do my verbs give the writing punch and pizzazz? - Do the verbs I chose make sense?

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Works Cited Rosenberg, Michael S., David L. Westling, and James McLeskey. Special Education for Today's Teachers: An Introduction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merill/Prentice Hall, 2008. Stuart, Annie. "How to Help a Child with Weak Working Memory." National Center for Learning Disabilities. N.p., n.d. Web. 2012. Swanson, Lee, and Kristin Stanberry. "Effective Reading Interventions for Kids With Learning Disabilities." Reading Rockets. N.p., n.d. Web. 2012. Trim, Diane. "Teaching Strategies That Work for Students Who Have Emotional and Behavioral Disorders." Inside the School. N.p., n.d. Web.

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Requirements

Possible
a. Points Earned

Points

1. What do you need to remember about this disability to provide appropriate accommodations for these students? What are the key areas you should focus on for each of these students to assure their success in your classroom? Describe each student separately. 2. Select a lesson or unit plan from your classroom instruction or from a previous course. Include it with your paper. Complete the What I need to know chart on the lesson (see attached). 3. What adaptations and accommodations do you recommend for managing behavior and for providing instruction for each student? Provide a clear rationale for each adaptation or accommodation described. Describe each student separately. 4. How will you assess each students performance on the unit and their overall success in the classroom to determine whether your adaptations (behavioral and academic) are successful? Describe each student separately.

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