Planning and Developing Units of Work for Students with Special needs

1. Planning and Developing Units of Work for Students with Special needs A thematic/ genre based approach

2. Teaching is complex because teachers need to get into the minds of all the students they teach – minds that are different in knowledge, interest and confidence. And they seldom teach fewer than 30 at a time…it is our responsibility to communicate this complexity to our students and to prepare them as best we can to navigate it with compassion, wisdom, knowledge and skill.

3. Charters, W.W. (1912). Methods of Teaching. Row, Peterson & Company: Chicago Teaching is complex because teachers need to get into the minds of all the students they teach – minds that are different in knowledge, interest and confidence. And they seldom teach fewer than 30 at a time…it is our responsibility to communicate this complexity to our students and to prepare them as best we can to navigate it with compassion, wisdom, knowledge and skill. Assoc Prof Graeme Aitken, Dean, Faculty of Education R

4. Learning Intention • We will incorporate Effective Pedagogy & the NZC as a change of emphasis from assessment driven unit planning • We will co construct a thematic and genre approac • We will consider how AS and US sit together in a program • We will incorporate a writing initiative in our planning based on asTTle writing R

5. Effective Pedagogy • Activity: Structured overview. • Place the headings diagrammatically on the A3 paper then list HOW each of these characteristics can be represented in your classrooms

6. Resources Sharing: How can you use these resources/tools to help you to know your learners and their needs?Any other? • NZC • ELLP • asTTle • LLP

7. Literacy • The ability to communicate effectively in our everyday world • Outside of school • Inside school

8. Literacy across the curriculum: National Examiners’ Report Implications for teaching & planning

9. Literacy across the curriculum: National Examiners’ Report • Failure to read the question • Use of dated/incorrect vocabulary/terminology • Inability to answer briefly: vague/repetitive/wordy • Need more practice at paragraph writing and expressing ideas/concepts clearly • Inability to give full explanations when asked for specific detail • Need more familiarity with instructional terminology • Spelling/proofreading • Need practice linking concepts/definitions to real examples • Reading of curriculum material needs more accuracy/care/practice • Planning and structure in answers and essays is needed • Using inappropriate style/slang

10. Key Messages: Scaffolding learning Effective teaching and learning • Make the nature and purpose of the task clear - share learning goals/language goals • Break task into manageable chunks, give enough time to complete task • Make explicit the way a text works • e.g. Report - language features/structure • Provide opportunities to co-construct a new text/complete a new task co-operatively • Provide opportunities for practice • Learning is more effective when a link is made between a familiar topic or context and an unfamiliar one

11. Lessons • Should include repeated but varied opportunities to engage with the same material • Learners need to experience a variety of interactions in the lessons - whole class, structured group, pairs and independently • Experience based learning promotes understanding and engagement. Tap into prior knowledge. • Key Vocabulary/academic vocabulary needs to be taught

12. Discuss these comments • If I use group work I will have less control of my classes • This is maths - it has nothing to do with language. As soon as we take the language out we’ll be able to do our job properly. • I don’t understand what the language focus of my lessons would be • In pair or group work students might be passing on wrong information • We’ve got a very full curriculum. I can’t tack anything else on to what I’m doing

13. Students need specific help with • Specialist vocabulary • How to read and understand the texts • How to communicate • How to communicate knowledge and ideas in appropriate ways • How to listen and read critically (NZC 2001:16)

14. Genre/text types/ language functions used across the curriculum

15. 7 language functions/text types • Describing • Explaining • Recounting • Persuading • Responding • Negotiating • instructing

16. Different text types • Students are expected to write for a wide variety of purposes and to use different text types in different subjects. • To be successful in their writing students need to understand the specific criteria for the task.

17. Writing Teachers who limit students’ opportunities to write complex texts contribute to the ‘Mathew Effect’ where ‘the rich get richer and the poor get poorer’

18. Spoken language v’s written language • Speech is usually more informal and repetitive • People often speak in phrases rather than complete sentences • Speakers can use gestures, tone and facial expressions to help express themselves • Speakers can get immediate feedback from their audience about the effectiveness of their communication

20. Making ‘teacher talk’ morecomprehensible • Provide ‘scaffolding’ • Keep language simple yet challenge the students • Provide thinking time • Break up talk into chunks with activities • Reinforce the oral with written prompts and visual cues • Use strategies to check regularly for comprehension

21. Evaluation On a piece of paper write • What I learned today • What I need to do in my department (share)