Paula Kluth, Ph.D. paula.kluth@gmail.com www.paulakluth.com www.differentiationdaily.com

1. “A Land We Can Share”: Creating Inclusive Classrooms that Promote Literacy, Learning & Belonging ---------------------The contents of these pages are intellectual property. This material may not be used, transmitted or reproduced unless in accordance with prior written instructions issued by Paula Kluth. Paula Kluth, Ph.D. paula.kluth@gmail.com www.paulakluth.com www.differentiationdaily.com Paula Kluth ------------------ 2011

2. …it is no surprise that high-functioning autistic people, unable to communicate with others above the ringing swirl, shout across the canyons of reality by writing. . . . There we find a peaceful world of art and order, a land we can share. Thus, writing was my salvation. I have said in the past, and I have since heard it repeated by other autistic people, that written English is my first language and spoken English is my second. Since I was five years old, I have written all the wonderful and terrible things that I could not bear to share. Dawn Prince-Hughes (2004, p. 25-26) Prince-Hughes, D. (2004). Songs of the gorilla nation: My journey through autism. New York: Harmony Books.

3. More attention on teaching literacy to everyone… (sort of) • Oprah: In your acceptance speech for the nomination, you said, “Too many children are segregated into schools without standards... shuffled from grade to grade because of their age regardless of their knowledge, and this is discrimination, pure and simple... We should end it.” How is it really going to end? • Bush: It's going to end by teaching every child to read... I have put it in a reading initiative in my state of Texas and it says: Every child is going to be taught to read. . . . Phonics needs to be an integral part of our curriculum around the country. . . . We are going to train teachers on how to teach reading. . . . If need be, we're going to have intensive reading laboratories, particularly for early grades. It starts with saying every child can learn.

4. My own story:no education,no staff development

5. What do we know about literacy & disability (e.g., autism, Down syndrome, cognitive disabilities)? • communication differences • movement differences • sensory differences • social differences • passions/fascinations

6. What kind of curricula & instruction have we traditionally used to teach students with disabilities in our schools?

7. Tim & Rai: The most at-risk readers in the school

8. Struggling readers need 600-1000 books in the classroom.How do large quantities of books have an impact on learners? On staff? Which library is most appropriate for the most at-risk learners in the school?

9. Reading Subtests Kurth, J. & Mastergeorge, M. (2010).  *Significant at .15; Large Effect Size

10. Writing Subtests *Significant at .15; Large Effect Size

11. 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

12. Recommendations-Teaching ReadingZemelman, Daniels, & Hyde, A. (2005). Best practice (3rd edition).

13. Perhaps workbooks and skill and drill sheets should be required to carry a warning: CAUTION: SUSTAINED USE OF THIS PRODUCT MAY CAUSE READING/LEARNING DISABILITIES. Conversely, books might carry this label: RESEARCH HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT REGULAR READING OF THIS PRODUCT CAN REDUCE THE RISKS OF ACQUIRING A READING DISABILITY Allington, 2006

14. 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.

15. How can we provide better literacy instruction to our students with moderate & significant disabilities?

16. Question: Why is Unexpected Literacy Unexpected?! What tenet comes to mind? What can the most struggling learners teach us about our practice?

17. 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

18. 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.

19. Provide Models of Literate Behavior • teacher • peers • autobiographies • digital technologies

20. “Clickety Clack, Clickety Clack”:everyone reads with AAC • an immersion approach to AAC: • -raises the “status” of the technology • -moves AAC from the margins to the center • -provides opportunities to see & use systems

21. www.storycorps.org

22. What it means for us: • Middle & high school: What is the plan for the readers most at risk- (lit. inst. for all) • IEP reviews & ?s at IEP time • Action research • Collaboration with general & special educators • Have teachers observe literacy-rich classrooms • Staff development- esp. secondary

23. See inclusion as a process • Presume competence • Burn the chair • Question everything • Only as special as necessary • Practice radical & relentless role sharing • Provide access to academics (challenge, rigor)

24. What Do Bruce Jenner & Dan O’Brien Know That We Need to Know? HAVE A VERY CLEAR VISION & WRITE IT ALL DOWN!

25. Specific. To help you move from the vague to the specific, describe the desired result to yourself. • Make it measurable. “Help Sara explore volunteer opportunities in pre-schools” probably won’t work but “Help Sara set up 10 volunteer hours at daycares or pre-schools” will. • Unconditional. Goals need to be simple, present tense, and affirmative statements of an outcome. Using conditional words and expressions such as “try to” and “if” set you up to fail. • Written down and reviewed regularly. By writing your goal down you are mentally committing to it. POST in a central location (your kitchen, a meeting room) or make copies for all to tote around (or better yet…Tshirts!)

26. Write down 1 or 2 specific goals that you could achieve by the month, end of the calendar year, or end of the school year. Examples: I will increase Joe’s time in general education environments from 6 hours a day to 7 hours a day by April 1, 2011. I will get Elle a job at the newspaper & find supports for her participation by March 15, 2011. All special education teachers will have staff development on state-of-the-art literacy practices by July 15, 2011.

27. IDEAS FOR KEEPING GOALS FRESH: • speak as if it has already happened • create a script of what it will sound like when you get there • create a visual of goal met • make reminder cards for all • revisit progress regularly

28. The school gave me all sorts of extra help with reading and I couldn’t 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 couldn’t 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 couldn’t wait to tell. I had picked up a copy of A Midsummer Night’s 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. Jackson’s advice for those working with students with disabilities is to “never give up on a child who seems unable to learn to read”.

29. www.paulakluth.com www.differentiationdaily.com

30. This talk is based on: “A Land We Can Share”: Teaching Literacy to Students with Autism(with Kelly Chandler-Olcott)