From Story Kits to Speak N Write: 10 Ideas for Including Students with Disabilities in Literacy Inst

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From Story Kits to Speak N Write 10 Ideas for
Including Students with Disabilities in Literacy
Instruction

• Paula Kluth, Ph.D.
• pkluth_at_earthlink.net
• www.paulakluth.com
• ------------------
• Inclusion Works!
• 2008

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Adapting the read aloud

• Think of a student with disabilities who has a
  hard time participating in a teacher read aloud
  (cant sit on the rug, vocalizes during story,
  doesnt have a way to communicate or
  participate)
• Create some adaptations for that student.

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• What kind of
• curriculum have we
• traditionally used to
• teach students with
• autism and other
• significant disabilities
• in our schools?

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Two Contrasting Views of Literacy (Karen
Erickson, Ph.D., The Center for Literacy
Disability Studies)

• Current/Emergent View
• Literacy is learned through interaction with and
  exposure to all aspects of literacy (i.e.,
  listening, speaking, reading, and writing).
• Literacy is a process that begins at birth and
  perhaps before
• Literacy abilities/skills develop concurrently
  and interrelatedly
• All children can learn to use print meaningfully.

• Readiness Model
• Literacy is learned in a predetermined,
  sequential manner that is linear, additive, and
  unitary.
• Literacy learning is school-based.
• Literacy learning requires mastery of certain
  pre-requisite skills
• Some children will never learn to read

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Traditional Methods of Supporting the Literacy
Development of Students with Disabilities

• Direct teaching of sight words
• Discrimination trials of familiar and functional
  words (e.g., bathroom, exit, yes, no)
• Functional academics
• Phonics-based published programs

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• And Beloin (1995) found in her
• observation of special education
• classrooms (mostly for students labeled
• with autism and MR), that it was more
• typical than unusual to see students with
  disabilities
• involved in rote copying of
• --letters
• --their name
• --the date
• as their primary, if not exclusive, experience in
  
• writing.

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Colasent Griffith (1998)

• 3 students speech was largely echolalic
• test scores were low (from untestable to a
• high of Grade 3)
• Intervention
• Teacher read three fiction books used whole
  language strategies
• Results
• Students bloomed when given opportunities to
  listen to and discuss
• thematic lit-- all of them demonstrated the
  ability to state a title, state
• their favorite character, and describe their
  personal feelings after
• listening to the target texts
• All three wrote longer passages and longer
  sentences, using more
• sophisticated vocabulary, after interacting with
  the three stories than they
• had in the context of their past (functional
  skill) instruction.

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By the end of one year, Jay had access to an
expanded set of 80-100 curriculum-related
messages on the DynaMyte. He demonstrated the
ability to use Boardmaker symbols and switched
easily between the DynaMyte, computer, and paper
overlays. He --communicated single words and
word combos using the VOCA to make requests --he
also demonstrated the ability to recognize words
in print (recognizing 8 words with 100 accuracy
and 13 with 75 accuracy) ------ We are
beginning to realize that Jays performance is
linked to how well we perform. If we dont
support Jay well, we wont do well.

• Sonnenmeier, McSheehan, and Jorgensen (2005)
• a multi-year case study Jay (10 years old),
  autism
• --seen as having an 18-24 months academic level
  before the study
• --receptive language below the first percentile
  for his age
• Treatment
• augmentative communication, technology,
  curriculum adaptations, teaching strategies,
  personal supports (e.g., peer assistance)
• an immersion approach with Jays voice output
  communication aid
• all of the students were given the same overlay
  to use during class activities
• the classroom teacher used an enlarged copy of
  the core vocabulary overlay during whole class
  instruction used the VOCA and/or paper overlays
  to provide modeling, restatements, etc.

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• How can we adapt
• literacy instruction
• to meet the needs of
• ALL?

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1-Expand Definition of Literacy

• An ideological model of literacy expands the
  definition
• of literacy from the ability to read and write to
  the
• practice of construing meaning using all
  available signs
• within a culture, including visual, auditory, and
  sensory
• signs (Neilson, 1998 Gee, 1996 Eisner 1991).
  To
• become literate, then, students must develop a
  critical
• awareness of multiple texts and contexts
  (Neilson,
• 1998 Gee, 1996). This involves an ability to
  understand
• how social and cultural ways of being and
  understanding
• affect how meaning is construed and conveyed
  (Gee,
• 1996 Brown, 1991 Eisner, 1991). (p. 1)
• Edwards, Heron, and Francis (2000), AERA Annual
  Conference

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• Traditionally, literacy has been conceived as a
  rigid commodity acquired during childhood through
  individual exposure to direct instruction in a
  series of subskills arranged hierarchically
  (Kliewer, retrieved 2006 http//www.uni.edu/inclus
  ion/index.html).
• We argue for a social model of multiple
  literacies that are dynamic and constructed in
  interaction among individuals
• (Kliewer, retrieved 2006 http//www.uni.edu/inclu
  sion/index.html).

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Invite Students Into the Literate Community
(Kliewer,1998)

• In classrooms where all students are accepted in
  the literate community all children are
  considered active participants in the
  construction of literate meanings within specific
  contexts. This assumption of literate value then
  serves as the core from which literate capacities
  are realized (Kliewer, p. 100).
• In such classrooms teachers
• challenge and question school practices that
  marginalize learners (e.g., exclusion, tracking)
• create communities that encourage all students to
  teach each other, to showcase talents, take
  risks, to create, to collaborate and to see
  themselves as readers, writers, and thinkers.

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2- Invite Students into Literature Circles
Book Clubs

• Feature books written by people with disabilities
  -some are excellent choices for literature
  circles.
• Typically students are encouraged to bring
  written or drawn notes to their circles. If a
  student is not able to create notes on his or her
  own
• provide teacher-created notes
• have the student work from notes of a peer
• have the student write notes or highlight
  passages on copies of the pages) so the text can
  serve as notes for discussion.
• Create a new role for a student who cannot
  participate in the group as it is typically
  structured topic changer, discussion recorder,
  graphic note-taker, etc.
• Show a videotape of a book club before students
  participate in the structure some students will
  do better with an informal and open-ended
  activity when they have visual examples of what
  it should look like.
• Be explicit about what types of comments,
  feedback, and interaction you expect from
  students. If you want students to ask
  clarifying questions, provide a list of
  examples.

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3-Adapt Personalize the Standards
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(No Transcript)
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4- Adapt the Text
for an article on how 10 ways to adapt text, see
my website http//www.paulakluth.com/articles/tex
tbookadapt.html
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(No Transcript)
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Adapting Of Mice Men

• A high school English teacher needed to adapt Of
  Mice and Men for a student that read on a
  2nd-grade level. Among other supports, she used
• a dictionary of vocabulary related to the text
  (e.g., depression, acres)
• illustrations of several concepts the class
  discussed including threshing machines, farms,
  mules and an orchard
• graphic organizers related to the story (e.g.,
  timeline, Venn diagram comparing Lenny and
  Curly)
• periodic summaries of the story (page by page or
  chapter by chapter) and
• book on CD and a DVD of the movie.

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• Use Active Collaborative Structures

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5- Say Something!
Say Something is a paired reading strategy for
constructing meaning from text-based
information. Through structured exchanges,
participants develop relationships between new
information and what they all ready know or
believe.

• Using the Strategy
• Partners look over a piece of text and decide
  together how far they will read silently before
  stopping to say something. The something
  might be a question, a brief summary, a
• key point, an interesting new idea or a new
  connection.
• 2. Once they have reached the chosen stopping
  point, both partners say something.
• 3. Partners continue the process until the
  selection is completed.
• 4. The whole group engages in a discussion of the
  text.

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Adaptations to Say Something(from Udvari-Solner
Kluth, 2007)

• Say Something can be used with non-text material.
  Students may be partnered with one student
  examining text on a topic and the other examining
  visual media (photos, pictures). At an agreed
  upon time frame (e.g., after examining the
  materials for 3 minutes) students can stop and
  say something.
• Students may also be paired with readings on the
  same topic but at different reading levels. At
  the stopping points students share what they have
  gained from their own specific reading.
• Say Something can be implemented with one person
  in the partnership reading aloud.
• For students who read at a different pace, the
  student who completes the reading first can write
  down her say-something comment while her partner
  completes the reading.
• If a student uses a communication board,
  pictures, or symbols to communicate, that
  individual can select a picture or response to
  share at the end of the section (e.g., That was
  interesting I didnt understand that That
  was silly). To teach and reinforce the new
  communication system, the peer might be
  encouraged to use the system as well.

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6- 4 Corners Comprehension
Figure 5.9. Mystery in the Night Woods
collaborative 4 Corners Comprehension
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7-Write Around

• Example Write Around- Haiku
• Haiku combines form, content, and language in a
  meaningful, yet compact form.
• Haiku doesn't rhyme.
• A Haiku must "paint" a mental image in the
  reader's mind.
• Haiku poets, which you will soon be, write about
  everyday things. Many themes include nature,
  feelings, or experiences.
• Usually they use simple words and grammar. The
  most common form for Haiku is three short lines
• five (5) syllables
• the second line seven (7) syllables
• and the third line contains five (5) syllables.

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• Create Writing Supports Scaffolding

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8- Collaborative Writing
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9- Speak Write Kluth Chandler-Olcott, K.
(2007). A land we can share Teaching literacy to
students with autism. Brookes.

• Breanna was crying yesterday, Mom, he told me.
  She was really upset.
• Oh, uh-huh? I said, distracted Mom, really,
  Blaze went on. She cried and it
• was like a stormshe didnt make any sound but
  there were all these clouds and rain
• in her face.
• This I paid attention to. Blaze, why dont you
  write that down?...Just like you told
• me.
• Oh, okay, he said, as if this was a good idea
  that hadnt occurred to him. Blazes
• difficulty with the physical act of writing
  included him toward brevity, so he was
• finished very soon after he started. When he
  gave it to me, I had the same surge of
• joy that I felt whenever I had read anything
  particularly good.
• When Breanna cried it looked like a storm
• She didnt make any sound
• but there was rain
• and clouds
• and sun
• and darkness in her face
• Blaze hadnt used any punctuation, so I added a
  couple of commas and periods. That

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10- Story Kits Kluth Chandler-Olcott, K.
(2007). A land we can share Teaching literacy to
students with autism. Brookes.

• Use to remind students to cover elements in a
  retelling
• Use to give students a choice of writing topics
• Use as an adaptation for those w/o reliable
  communication
• (What should we write about next?)

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Access to Literacy in the Inclusive Classroom
More Ideas

• READ- every teacher, every day PROMOTE FLUENCY,
  vocabulary development comprehension success
• Give students opportunities to read, write,
  speak, listen daily (e.g., pair-shares, morning
  message, daily fun fact)
• Provide a text-rich environment and text-rich
  materials (even if you are not sure if the
  student is a reader)
• Find materials that relate to students lives and
  fascinations
• Use a range of materials (TV, magazines)
  especially those the student seems to prefer
  (e.g, catalogs, comic books)
• Capitalize on unique interests suggest in-depth
  projects that require the development of new
  skills
• Use visuals (diagrams, photos, charts)
• Read aloud/audio tapes of stories for ALL ages
• Encourage written conversations/e-mail, and
  structured note passing
• Have students write their own stories- including
  their own experiences and their own photographs
  or illustrations
• Help students to use technology to increase
  literacy skills (e.g., web site design, using new
  computer programs, instant messaging)
• Ask parents for ideas interview them about HOW
  their child is literate

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• The school gave me all sorts of extra help with
  reading and I couldnt even
• remember one letter from the other. However much
  anyone taught me, it just
• would not sink in. I had an assessment by an
  educational psychologist when I
• was seven years and eight months old and my
  reading age was not assessable
• because I just couldnt read anything. The next
  day Mum got a phone call from
• the school asking her to come in and see them.
• She told me that she was very worried as that
  usually meant that I was having a
• massive tantrum, but when she got there the
  teacher had something that they
• just couldnt wait to tell. I had picked up a
  copy of A Midsummer Nights
• Dream, which the teacher was using to show how
  plays are written. It seems
• that I opened the book and began to read it
  fluently. How weird is that?
• (Jackson, p. 117)
• Jackson, L. (1998). Freaks, geeks, and Asperger
  syndrome. Kingsley.

Jacksons advice for those working with students
with autism is to never give up on a child who
seems unable to learn to read.
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Literacy Disability ResourcesBooksDo
wning, J. (2005). Teaching literacy to students
with significant disabilities. Corwin
Press.Keefe, C.H. (1996). Label-free
learning Supporting learners with disabilities.
York, Maine Stenhouse.Kliewer, C. (1998).
Schooling children with Down syndrome. New York
Teachers College Press.Kluth, P.
Chandler-Olcott, K. (2007). A land we can share.
Baltimore Brookes.Moline, S. (1995). I see
what you mean Children at work with visual
information. York, Maine Stenhouse. Oelwein,
P.L. (1995). Teaching reading to children with
Down syndrome A guide for parents and teachers.
Bethesda, MD Woodbine House.Parker, K.
(1997). Jamie A literacy story. York, Maine
Stenhouse.

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Literacy Disability Resources

• Useful Websites
• The Center for Literacy and Disability Studies
• http//www.med.unc.edu/ahs/clds/index.html
• David Koppenhavers Personal Website
• http//www.gac.edu/dkoppenh
• Koppenhaver, an education professor at Gustavus
  Adolphus College in
• Minnesota is a pioneer in the area of literacy
  and disability. His website
• includes several useful links to articles,
  resources, and research.
• Currents in Literacy
• http//www.lesley.edu/academic_centers/hood/curren
  tshome.html
• The Centers mission is to promote literacy
  learning and use for
• individuals of all ages with disabilities. It is
  the belief of the CLDS that
• disabilities are only one of many factors that
  influence an individual's
• ability to learn to read and write and to use
  print throughout their life
• and across their living environments.
• Paula Kluths Personal Website
• www.paulakluth.com

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see http//www.paulakluth.com/literacy.html

• for articles on adapting the read aloud,
• teaching literacy to students with
• autism, using visual supports in the
• teaching of reading and many others