Jill R. Donlon
Centers Overview
EDSP 202
Goal:
Disability Awareness Centers will:
Grade/Age: Kindergarten-6 years old
The students will be split up into 3-4 groups of 5 in each group.
Duration:
Day One
Reading the book, Danny and the Merry-Go-Round to help students understand Jake’s disability. Jake can also share his unique personality traits to the class if he would like too.
Day Two
Read books, A Very Special Friend, Knots on a Counting Rope, Keith Edward's Different Days. These books will help bring awareness to the students and help them understand what these different disabilities are.
Day Three
45 minutes, rotate every 15 minutes. Centers will be available all year for use if need arises.
Anticipatory Set:
Importance of Centers
As a teacher who has students with disabilities in the classroom, the teacher feels disability centers are important to guide students to understand differences. Jake has muscular dystrophy and needs extra help with physical activities. Some of the students don’t understand why Jake has problems writing his name, tying his shoes, etc. Jake’s mother and the teacher collaborate daily and feel the centers will help his peers understand his fine motor problems, along with other physical disabilities. All the parents are invited to participate in the disability awareness centers and to have to opportunity to meet Jake and his mother. The teacher thought it would be a good idea to invite the parents so that the students can ask those questions if they don’t feel comfortable in the classroom. Parental support is also important for students when they are feeling uncomfortable or out of the norm.
Center #1
What’s in the Bag?
Disabilities
Addressed:
Blindness, glaucoma, and other sight limitations
Objective:
Participants will develop an awareness of the barriers that challenge people who
have major sight limitations.
Materials Needed:
*Paper Bag
* Misc. Items
-Select Items that might require
the use of different senses (smell, touch, hearing)
*Blindfold
What To Do:
1. Place approximately 15 small items in a paper bag.
2. Have each student individually in the small group work together to blindfold
their peer. .
3. Instruct the students to identify the items in the paper bag using their
senses. (i.e., feeling, smelling, listening)
Assessment:
Students will be observed and questioned about the activity by parents, associates, and teachers. They will be asked if they are aware of the challenges a person with sight limitations might face. (Being able to label an object without sight) If students do not participate in the activity the teacher will have the child listen to book about children with disabilities. Parents, teachers, and associates will be looking for frustration and confusion when the students are trying to complete the activity.
Questions:
Following completion of the activity, ask and discuss the
following questions:
*What were some of the problems the blind person
encountered?
*What was the most difficult item for the blind person to identify?
*In addition to listening, feeling, and smelling; how else might a person with sight impairment identify different items and objects?
Source: "A Perfect Fit, 4-H
Involvement for Youth with Disabilities." 1996. Breaking New
Ground/National AgrAbility Project,
Center #2
Disabilities
Addressed:
Muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy
Objective:
This activity is designed to make people aware of the challenges faced by
people who have a muscular mobility disability.
Materials Needed
*Two Heavy Pairs of Socks (It is important that heavy winter type socks be
used.)
*Small (Snack-Size) Box of Raisins and/or Several Pieces of Tightly Wrapped
Candy.
*Pencil and paper
*Shoe lace board
What To Do:
1. Select a student in the small group to start the activity. (Or parent)
2. Ask them to place tow socks on each hand.
3. Instruct them to either remove ONE raisin at a time from
the box and eat it or unwrap a piece of candy and eat it. (You may wish
to have one person do the raisin activity and another person do the candy
activity.)
4. Or instruct the students to write their name with the tow socks on.
5. For a more challenging activity have to students write their name with the tow socks and their non-dominate hand.
6. Instruct the students to tie the shoe lace board with the tow socks on.
Variation:
Select a volunteer shoe is wearing shoes with laces or a button down
shirt. Ask the volunteer to place tow socks on each hand. Instruct
them to tie their shoes or button a shirt.
Assessment:
Students will be observed and questioned about the activity by parents, associates, and teachers. They will be asked if they are aware of the challenges a person with fine motor limitations might have. (Being able to use hands to complete some daily tasks) If students do not participate in the activity the teacher will have the child listen to book about children with disabilities. Parents, teachers and associates will look for frustration and confusion when trying to complete the activity.
Questions to Ask:
Following completion of the activity ask and
discuss the following questions:
*What were some of the problems encountered?
*What was the most difficult part of trying to eat a raisin or a piece of
candy?
*What are some other tasks that would be difficult for you to do on a daily
basis?
*Was tying your shoe easy or frustrating?
Source: "A Perfect Fit, 4-H Involvement for Youth with
Disabilities." 1996. Breaking New Ground/National AgrAbility Project,
Center #3
Hearing Disabilities-Communicating
Objective:
Students will start to understand that hearing disabilities can range from mild to profound and can produce difficulties in communicating with others.
Students will be able to simulate communicating with someone who cannot hear and understand speech by using sign language.
Materials Needed:
1. Hearing Disabilities Sign Language Alphabet
What To Do:
1. Please get me a drink of water.
2. Please get me three books to read.
3. It’s your turn to write on the blackboard.
4. I have three cats at home.
5. Learn to fingerspell
6. Try finger spelling your name
7. Then try ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’
Assessment:
Students will be observed and questioned about the activity by parents, associates, and teachers. They will be asked if they are aware of the challenges a person with hearing limitations might have. (Being able to use hands to communicate) If students do not participate in the activity the teacher will have the child listen to book about children with disabilities. Parents, teachers and associates will look for frustration and confusion when trying to complete the activity.
Questions to Ask:
1. How did they communicate using eye contact, gestures, pointing to objects, writing, etc.?
2. How did it feel to communicate silently?
3. What are some things to remember when communicating with someone with a hearing disability?
4. Could you remember all the different signs?
5. Did you talk (accidentally) when trying to communicate with your peers?
Girl Scouts - Mile Hi Council f:\ptraining\p\res.center\handouts\Disability Awareness Activities.doc
(A United Way Agency) Rev. 04/00 VS/jc
Center #1
Learning about Dyslexia
Duration: About
15 minutes
Goal: Fifth grade students will become more aware of common reading disabilities.
Objectives: 1. Students will understand what Dyslexia is like by participating in simulation activities.
1. Students will relate simulation experiences to real life situations.
2. Students will learn positives about people with Dyslexia and will ways to help people with Dyslexia.
Materials: Note cards with different ways of writing that people with Dyslexia possibly see words.
Mirror
2-3 Books (fifth grade level)
Notebooks for journaling or sheets of paper with questions on them
Procedures:
Anticipatory Set:
The teacher asks the students what they remember from the lesson yesterday. Remind the students of a couple of the facts about Dyslexia that were on the statistic handouts. Ask if students had ever seen anyone with Dyslexia write? The teacher should then say, “Now we are all going to experience what Dyslexia is like.” The teacher should always use enthusiasm.
Instruction (Teaching):
Because this is one center out of the three, the teacher will really only give directions at the beginning and then be walking between the three centers to ask questions when needed.
Questions:
Questioning:
1. “What do you remember from our lesson yesterday on Dyslexia?”
2. “Has anyone ever seen anyone with Dyslexia write?”
3. “Will everyone please read your note card out to the rest of the group? We’ll start with you and then please go around in the circle.”
4. “How did reading those note cards make you feel?”
5. “Please read out loud the books by looking at the mirror.”
6. Please journal on these five questions:
2. Did you have trouble reading?
2. Did you use your finger to keep your place?
3. Do you know anyone who sees words like these examples?
4. How could you help someone who sees words these ways?
5. What are some things that a person with reading difficulties could do well?
7. What is something new that you learned from the activities today?
Management:
Because there is more than one activity going on in the different centers, the teacher should constantly be walking around and checking on the different groups to make sure that everyone is staying on task and doesn’t have any questions.
If there are behavior problems, the students will receive one warning about being removed from the activity. If the behavior problems continue, the student will be removed from the group and given an alternate activity such as reading the note cards and journaling alone.
Assessment:
The students will journal on five questions that assess what they learned during the simulation activities. The students will also discuss how they feel immediately after they read the note cards which will show the teacher if they understood the activity or not.
Closure:
The journaling will be collected and the teacher will ask students to review what they learned during the activities.
Adaptations:
Amala has a hearing impairment, so when we do these activities, I will make sure to keep my face towards her and make eye contact with her while I am explaining. Her interpreter will work separately with her during the center because she will not be able to read the cards out loud to the other students, nor will she be able to hear the other students read the note cards out loud. If she works with her interpreter, they will be able to see that she understands the activities. She can read the book to herself with the mirror and then journal in the same group as the other students. Each center is only 15 minutes long and she will be able to be with the other students during most of the other parts of the unit.
Randi Green
October 2004
Including Everyone
I decided to design a center with the main goal of including everyone and helping students become more aware of reading disabilities. An objective of the center is to simulate various reading disabilities to give students the opportunity to feel what it is like to have a disability in the area of reading. I decided to focus on reading because I feel many children suffer because their classmates do not understand their differences. Approximately ten million school-age children (nearly one in five) have a reading disability (Miller p.236). I feel a person’s reading ability goes hand-in-hand with how many people perceive others, especially in the classroom environment. I wanted to develop a center that would help to discontinue this way of thinking and stereotyping.
This center was designed to be used within the upper elementary grades (third through sixth). The center is designed to be flexible with the amount of time it takes. However, a good estimate is ten to twenty minutes for each section. The questionnaire will take approximately five to ten minutes. Once again, the goal for this center is to create awareness for people with disabilities with an emphasis on reading disabilities.
The center is divided into three different sections with the option of a forth section and room to develop one’s own sections as well. The three sections are categorized by first-person stories and literature, which talks about and explains disabilities in reading; accommodations and technology that can be made to help people with reading disabilities; and activities to simulate what people with reading disabilities encounter on a daily basis and how this makes them feel. Another objective of this center is for students to develop empathy and understand the frustrations of someone with a reading disability.
There is also an additional section within the center. This additional section is a questionnaire. The questionnaire asks a series of questions dealing with disabilities and people with them. The questionnaire is to be taken once before exploring the center and once after completing the center. It can be used as a center itself or can be done during class time as an introduction/closure to the centers. The questionnaire serves as an assessment of students’ knowledge through the students’ statements and by comparing the before and after questionnaires. By comparing, one can see how the students’ thinking changed when encountering people with disabilities, especially in the area of reading. The teacher can assess the questionnaire based on the students’ reflections. An example of a possible comment the teacher may see is:
Keep in mind that the students who participate in the centers are not all homogeneous. By this, I mean that some students may need to have accommodations made for them in order to get the most out of the centers. It is my hope that someday these few sections will become just a section itself in a larger center that promotes disability awareness. In the future, my goal is to have sections which deal with every disability area. Plus, I also want to include sections explaining first person language and famous people with disabilities. Perhaps, the most important thing to remember while exploring the center is to have fun!
Danielle Heins
EDSP-202
Unit Overview
Including Everyone
Goal- The goal of this unit is for students to practice acceptance and understanding of differences in others and themselves.
Ages- 5th grade (can be adapted for older or younger students)
Duration- One hour a day for eight days
Objectives-
1. Students will use proper interview skills.
2. Students will write an excerpt on their partner.
3. Students will compose a picture of their partner.
4. Students will summarize and react to at least one piece of literature that deals with people’s feelings and/or differences.
5. Students will actively participate in community building activities.
Assessment-
1. Students will turn in interview questions and answers to the teacher. The teacher will check for completeness of questions and turned in on time. Students will each ask a guest speaker one interview question.
2. Students will write an excerpt on another peer. They have two revisions corrected by the teacher before handing in their final project. The final project must include their partner’s strengths, weaknesses, differences, likes, dislikes and family life.
3. Students will hand in a finished picture of their peer.
4. Students will complete the worksheet that is attached as Appendix B.
5. On day one of unit students will participate in community building activities and discuss how they feel when being part of the community, and relate to how it would feel to be left out.
End Project- Students will write an excerpt and compose a picture of one person in their class. They can write a one page essay, a poem, a narrative story, or anything else approved by the teacher. They will also compose a picture of their partner by painting, drawing, charcoal, or anything else approved by teacher. The teacher will collect the students work and compile them into a book of the class.
Exploratory Phase:
The teacher will introduce an exploratory phase a week before the unit is started. This will include literature of people with exceptionalities on a table in the back of the room that the students can read in their free time (a list of literature that will be on the table is included as Appendix A). They also will need to fill out a worksheet after reading one of the books or poems (this is included as Appendix B). The students will be required to fill the worksheet out with at least one book.
Day 1-
The first day of the unit we will do community building activities as a whole class. The teacher has included four to pick from as Appendix C. They will give a brief summary of how each of them is used with the unit. They are described in detail in the attachment.
Pieces of you- A note needs to be sent home to parents in advance to remind the students to bring in two objects that represent themselves. After the activity discuss the differences and similarities of the objects that were brought in.
All My Neighbors- This activity allows students to get to know similarities and differences between themselves and their peers.
Marching Energizer- After the activity, discuss why it was easy or hard for each individual person. Talk about why some people would think it was harder or easier then others. (Examples- Can’t hear the rhythm, broken limb, musically challenged, ect.)
Character Traits- Have students fill out worksheet and then share two things with the class. Teacher can chart the similarities and differences of the class.
Day 2
- The teacher will read the book Thank You Mr. Falker, to the class by: Patricia Polacco. They will start by reading a letter from the author to her teacher. (This is included as Appendix D.) After the letter is read the teacher will ask the class to predict what the book may be about. As the book is read they will stop and talk to the class about differences, and how they feel when others make fun of their differences. The teacher has a list of possible questions that can be asked throughout the reading as Appendix E. Discuss the characters in the book and form interview questions as a class to ask the characters. The teacher will talk to the students about what things would be appropriate or inappropriate to ask a certain character.
Day 3
-Students will form questions as a class to ask the guest speakers. The students will write them down on a note card. The guest will pull them out and answer them if they want to.
- As a class talk about the individuals and the disabilities that they have before they come into the classroom, so the students know what to expect. We will discuss how they will be expected to act when guests are in the classroom.
-The teacher will bring in several people from the community that have visible and non-visible
exceptionalities. The purpose of this is to make students aware of and
understand others differences. This activity will allow students to ask
questions and understand how these guests felt throughout school and what they
have accomplished despite their exceptionality.
Day 4
- The teacher will introduce the project to the students. They will be given several models of the project that they will be making. They are to look over these models to get ideas.
-As a class we will make a list of interview questions to ask their peer. They can add as many questions as they want if they are cleared by the teacher.
-In order to partner the students up, give each student a piece of paper with a peers name on it. (Make sure to purposely pair students up, but it will seem to be random) Student will be directed to look at their piece of paper and secretly write something positive down about that person that will be shared in class. The teacher and another adult will go first in order to role play. After this pick a student to share, and then the student will pick a peer to share and so on.
- Students will pair up with the person that was on their piece of paper on day 2. They will interview their partner, and be interviewed. After they are interviewed they need to share at least five things with their partner that makes them unique. This will be handed in to the teacher. The teacher will mark if the student completed the questions on time or not.
Day 5
- The teacher will write an example for the class book and we will critique it as a class. In the teachers example they may use words that will hurt others feelings, or are inappropriate. They will talk about how this would make your partner feel and what we could replace it with.
- Students will form an outline of what they want to include about their partner.
-An adult in the classroom or the teacher will meet with each individual student to discuss how they are going to present their peer in the class book. While the students are waiting to meet with an adult they can start to think of how they want to compose the picture of their partner.
Day 6
-Students will finish their first draft, and have it critiqued by a peer that is not their partner, and an adult in the classroom. Both people must sign the bottom of the first draft.
-After they have finished a first draft they are to continue working on the picture of their partner. This picture will need to be completed and turned in by day 7.
- Students will need to do a second draft for homework and have an adult at home critique and sign the bottom.
Day 7
-Students will complete their final draft, and have it approved by the
teacher.
Day 8 (may take longer then one hour)
-Students will present their final project to the class with their partner. They will discuss what they have learned about themselves and their partner.
-The class will have a party to celebrate our diversity and similarities as a class.
The teacher will get the book
bound together and make copies for each student in the class.
Name: __________________________
Date: ___________________________
Title: ___________________________
Author: _________________________
Directions:
After you have finished
reading write a summary of what you read and your reaction.
Summary-____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reaction-___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Literature for Acceptance Unit
-Andy and His Yellow
Frisbee
By: Mary Thompson
-Be Good to Eddie Lee
By: Virginia Fleming
-Giraffes Can’t Dance
By: Giles Andrae
Illustrated by: Guy Parker-Ress
-Ian’s
Walk: A Story About Autism
By: Laurie Lears
Illustrated by: Karen Ritz
-My Many Colored Days
By: Dr. Seuss
Illustrated by: Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher
-Talking to Angels
By: Esther Watson
-Tru
Confessions
By: Janet Tashjan
Read a selected chapter
-We’ll Paint the Octopus
Red
By: Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen
Illustrated by: Pam DeVito
-When Pigs Fly
By: June Rae Wood
Read a selected chapter
-Wish on a Unicorn
By: Karen Hesse
Read a selected chapter
-Selected collection
of Poems
-Selected collection
of Articles
Resources:
-Polacco, P. (1998). Thank you,
Mr. Falker.
-Dyches, T. T., & Prater, M.A.
(2000). Developmental Disability in Children’s Literature (3rd
ed.).
-Retrieved
Heather Ronek
Including Everyone
Disability Awareness Unit Plan
Goal: To raise the awareness of disabilities by having students experience and discuss the barriers people with exceptionalities live with.
Objectives:
1.) The students will experience a variety of different types of disabilities.
2.) The students will discuss how it felt to experience a different type of
disability.
3.) The students will discuss what they could do to remove barriers from school,
homes and the community.
Age: A fourth to sixth grade classroom.
Duration: Five different activities with one each day of the week, the times of each activity will vary by day.
Day 1: On the first day as the students come in the classroom there will be a table blocking part of the door way. There will be a small opening, students can either go through the opening or go under the table. On the board before the students get in the room, the teacher should write “Todayw ear egoingt odiscus sbar riers.” When all of the students are in the classroom discuss how they felt about not understanding what was written on the board and not being able to get in the classroom. Tell them that this week we are going to do different types of activities to see some of the barriers that people with disabilities face every day. The assessment of this unit will be if the student was able to tell how they felt because of the table in the door and the words on the board when they came into the classroom.
Day 2: On the second day the students will be broken into two separate groups. In the first group the students will all take turns going around school for the day in a wheelchair. The second group will all wear heavy winter socks on both of their hands for lunch, recess and math. The objective for this activity is for students to develop an awareness of the barriers people with physical disabilities face throughout their days. At the end of the day the students will be assessed by sharing with the class the barriers they encountered and the way they felt (e.g. did people look at them funny, did they view things differently sitting in a wheelchair instead of walking, did they become frustrated when they couldn’t get through a door or when they couldn’t use their pencil very well to write?).
Day 3: The students will again be broken up into two different groups. The first group will experience what it may feel like to be blind by doing two different activities. For the first activity the students will sit around the table with blindfolds on. Before they put the blindfolds on they will set up the materials to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Once they are blindfolded I will move the jars of peanut butter and jelly and tell them they can start. For assessment on this activity they will talk about how they felt when they couldn’t find what they needed to make their sandwich. The next activity for this group will also be done wearing blindfolds. There will be about 15-20 different small items in a bag and the students will each take one or two out and try to identify it without using their sight. For assessment the students will discuss what other senses they used to identify the object and how they felt if they were unable to identify it. The second group will experience what it may feel like to be deaf. These students will wear ear plugs during reading, recess and lunch. With the ear plugs the students may be able to hear some noise, but they will have to strain to hear or try to read lips. For assessment this group of students will discuss how they felt not knowing what people were saying or how difficult it was to try and read lips.
Day 4: Students will do two different activities today. First throughout the entire day they will go through school with an altered appearance. They may alter their appearance by wearing a sling, eye patch or large band aid on their faces. At the end of the day the class will discuss the way other people looked at them and how they felt throughout the day. The second activity is that the teacher will check out technical and unfamiliar books from the library (e.g. Beowulf) and have the students sit down and read the material. For assessment the students will discuss how it may feel to have a reading disability and not be able to understand what they read.
Day 5: On the last day to wrap up the unit the students will be given an assignment to write a paper describing their experiences throughout the week and what they learned by doing the variety of activities. The students will also discuss as a whole class what we could do to reduce the number of barriers that people with disabilities face in our schools, homes and communities. The class will go through the school and make changes (e.g. moving a table farther from the door to give room to get through) to reduce the number of barriers.
Resources:
Miller, N.B.
& Sammons, C.C. (1999). Everybody’s Different.
Publishing Co.
The
http://agrability.sdstate.edu/
Turnbull, R., Turnbull, A.,
Shank, M., Smith, S. & Leal, D (2002).
Exceptional Lives
Special
Education in Today’s Schools (3rd ed.).
VSA Arts (1999) Express Diversity an Educational Resource Guide.
VSA Arts.
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