Graduate Handbook for
MA Special Education: Learning Disabilities
2013-2014
This is a small assortment of quotations from Sally L. Smith’s personal collection written in
her own handwriting with none other than her signature purple pen.
Table of Contents
Section One: General Information MA Special Education: Learning Disabilities at AU
Welcome Letter………………………………………………………………………4
Philosophy of the School of Education, Teaching & Health (SETH) …….....5
Message from the Dean……………………………………………………………7
SETH Goals & Outcomes……………………………………………………………8
MA Special Education: LD Philosophy…………………………………………...9
Program of Study…………………………………………………………………...10
SETH faculty adjuncts & staff……………………………………………………..12
Important Dates………………………………………………………………….…14
Student Responsibilities……………………………………………………….…...15
Requirements for Graduation…………………………………………….……...16
Teacher Licensure Information………………………………………….…….…18
Section Two: Internship at The Lab School of Washington
Objectives of Internship……………………………………………………………20
History of Sally L. Smith & The Lab School of Washington…………………...20
EDU 792 (Internship) Syllabus…………………………………………………..….24
Attendance Policy………………...……………………………………….25
The Lab School 2009-2010 Calendar……….………………………….………..27
Intern Computer Training Session Schedule……………………………………27
Teacher Responsibilities…….…………………………………….………………..28
Intern Evaluation Form…………………………………………..………………….29
Section Three: Appendix
Work Samples from EDU 645: Learning Disabilities I
Task Analysis………………………………………………………………...35
Final Task Analysis…………………………………………………………..41
Important Phone Numbers………………………………….…………………….64
2
Section One:
General Information on the Graduate Program in
Special Education: Learning Disabilities
at American University
3
Welcome to your Lab School Internship!
We can promise you not only an intense, unusual and exciting year, but also a great opportunity
for you to put into practice the theories you’ll be learning in the American University classrooms. We
have made every effort to place you with an appropriate age group and master teacher with whom
you will be compatible. The master teachers with whom you will be working have had both extensive
training and experience in the field. Much of what you’ll learn in your internship will be by observation
and osmosis, through day-to-day working with professionals, and through your own work with the
students, so give this your best effort: the rewards will be great. The Lab School has been running a
unique internship program for The American University for over thirty years, and virtually all of our
interns have gone on to obtain excellent positions in the field of special education.
An internship at The Lab School entails a solid commitment from you to your program. You must
realize that there will be children’s futures on the line. Your students will rely on your punctuality and
presence. Please schedule medical, business, and university appointments after your internship. The
continuity of your presence is vital to the students and to the master teacher. Your attendance and
punctuality is also critical for you to gain the most from this experience. Internships begin at 8:00 am
sharp, and your master teacher is ready to go with information she wants to give to you before the
students arrive at 8:25 am. The academic day begins at 8:30 am, and for the students, continues until
3:00 pm.
You will be introduced to traditional teaching methods as well as innovative approaches. You will
become keenly aware of how to teach using the diagnostic-prescriptive method of teaching in which
you determine a child’s areas of strength and weaknesses and teach step-by-step by building on the
student’s strengths. You will also receive exposure to and experience with individualized education
programs, record-keeping procedures, and informal assessments.
You will receive full guidance and support most directly from your classroom teacher. We will also
schedule formal evaluation meetings with your teacher to provide you feedback and help you
improve your teaching skills. Additionally, an observer will be observing you five times during the
school year after which she will meet to discuss the lesson, offer feedback on your lessons and
management issues, and provide alternatives for what “just isn’t working” for a particular student.
I am here for you on The Lab School campus to act as your advocate and your guide. I have an
office on the Intermediate floor of the Reservoir campus and one across from the library at the Foxhall
campus. Both offices are open to you to pop in and discuss ideas, frustrations you may be
experiencing, questions you may have, or simply to chat. This is an intense program and a tough year,
so use the support available to you! Jennifer Durham’s office phone number is (202) 454-2251 and
email address is jennifer.durham@labschool.org. Please feel free to call or email so that we may be
available to you. I am concerned about you, your internship experience, your classroom experience,
and your welfare in general.
Keep in mind, though, that as graduate students you are responsible for monitoring your status at
American University. It is up to you to make sure that issues such as add/drop forms or incomplete
grade forms are submitted on time and to the correct office. You have to fill out a form to take your
Comprehensive Exams and another form for graduation. The program graduate assistant, Abby
Himmelrich can help you with some of these details. She will be on hand to assist you Monday,
Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in the fall and every day in the spring with office hours in Gray Hall at
American University. Please respect these hours and avoid asking her work related questions during
the morning internship or class times.
The internship will follow the Lab School calendar, not American University’s academic calendar.
This means that you will have a different spring break from American University and will continue at
The Lab School past The American University graduation until the final day of school for The Lab
4
School. We count on you adhering to the Lab School calendar, and in return we offer you the best
experience possible!
As an intern, you are expected to maintain a professional attitude. You are a teacher in training
and are expected to exemplify the highest standards of professional ethics. This includes dressing
appropriately and being discrete with regard to professional information. Confidentiality is critical! In
conversations outside the Lab School, do not mention names or records that you have seen.
Children’s lives can easily be affected by a casual, misplaced remark. You have a professional
responsibility to protect the students.
A final word: The Lab School is a uniquely creative and engaging place. You are an integral part
of making a difference in children’s lives and without your assistance we could not provide them the
specific teaching that they need. You may find that you have some differences of opinion with your
Master Teacher, but learn all you can this year from her and take it with you to your own classroom.
Remember that I am here to do whatever I can to make this the best possible year for you! It will be a
tough year but you will make it and be well trained to do a very important job, changing the lives of
children for the better.
I am sincerely looking forward to working with you this year.
Yours truly,
Jennifer Durham, PhD
Curriculum Coordinator, The Lab School of Washington
Sarah Irvine Belson
SETH Dean
5
PHILOSOPHY and Conceptual Framework: SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, TEACHING & HEALTH
The School of Education, Teaching & Health Vision and Mission Statement
The faculty of the School of Education, Teaching & Health contributes to the
development and support of socially responsible and change-oriented education and
health professionals and the motivation for theorized professional practice.
At the center of this mission is a belief in a democratic society. As such School of
Education, Teaching & Health is dedicated to the development of critically literate,
reflective, caring, highly skilled professionals, who through advocacy research, and the
development of programs predicated on the principles of participation and equity,
contribute to social change and the promotion of a socially just society in a linguistically
and culturally diverse, rapidly changing, and increasingly technological world.
Shared Values and Educational Philosophy
Four interrelated organizing principles that guide the curricular, instructional, research,
and professional service activities of the School of Education, Teaching & Health
faculty, inform the SETH conceptual framework. These principles, which were derived
from our mission statement, are, equity, community, diversity and excellence. These
principles represent our shared values and educational philosophy.
Organizing Principles
We make clear to our students that we expect them to understand and appreciate the
implications of a professional commitment to equity, community, diversity, and
excellence. We help them understand that the meanings of these terms are not static
and with time and varied circumstances we may negotiate the meanings and
implications of these principles both for our programs and for themselves, and in
keeping with the continuously changing world around us.
Mission Statement of the Professional Education Unit
The School of Education, Teaching & Health (SETH) is committed to advancing theory
and professional practice through its programs and the scholarly activities of our
faculty. The faculty recognizes the significance of education in contemporary life, the
potential of education for each individual, and our special responsibilities to produce
individuals prepared for the twenty-first century. The School seeks to achieve its goals
though creative teaching, rigorous research, and professional service. It is committed
to ongoing social change, societal improvement, and advancing individual welfare
and potential. Graduates of its programs act as agents of social change through work
as health professionals, teachers, researchers, managers, and administrators. They
share a professional belief in working towards excellence, equity, community, and
diversity.
Beyond SETH’s fundamental commitment to its students and alumni who work in the
community to advocate for the individual, both domestically and internationally, it also
6
prepares candidates to build a learning society in many diverse environments and for
many diverse populations. The mission is to equip graduates of SETH programs to meet
individual needs, to nurture the strengths and talents of those they serve, and to provide
leadership in public policy arenas.
The teacher education programs in the professional education unit are anchored in a
knowledge-based, research- and values-informed conceptual framework. The
framework was developed and adopted by the faculty through almost two years of
deliberations. The mission of SETH reflects and reinforces this conceptual framework,
which is derived from the teaching, research, professional service, and value
commitments of the faculty. It is illustrated below.
The conceptual framework for the School of Education, Teaching & Health has at its
center the core value of Reflection, which is supported through the professional
commitments and activities evoked by teacher Beliefs, Knowledge, and Practice. The
conceptual framework is organized by the concepts of Community, Diversity, Equity,
and Excellence, and is made operational through the 10 INTASC standards.
7
A Message from the Dean
Greetings Interns!
I so pleased to have the opportunity to offer my encouragement and support as you
begin your year as an intern at The Lab School of Washington and our local school
partners. I know you will enjoy this year as you develop your knowledge and skills to
support intelligent, active children, who need intensive, caring and quality teaching. I
commend you for your dedication and hard work.
I also wanted to share some of the background of the long-standing relationship
between University and The Lab School of Washington. Sally Smith’s legacy for both
institutions was a commitment to provide an intensive graduate program for those who
want to work with students with the unique needs and talents that come along with
having a learning disability. In the School of Education, Teaching & Health at AU, we
are proud to offer a program that provides the intensive and quality preparation
leading to teacher licensure that Sally envisioned. Our program, the Master of Arts in
Special Education Learning Disabilities, accredited by both the Council for Exceptional
Children (CEC) and the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education
(NCATE), provides the opportunity for advanced study in the field of learning disabilities.
Our program will be enhanced this Fall by a new faculty member, Dr. Lauren McGrath
Lauren joins us after completing a post doc program at Harvard University and is
focused on studying the Neuropsychology of Learning Disabilities. We are excited to
have Lauren on board and well as the faculty of the Lab School who teach in the MA
program.
This year will be intense. You will balance your internship and full load of graduate
courses. We will attempt to challenge you in the classroom to not only provide an
excellent education for students, but also to engage as you develop your professional
knowledge and theoretical toolkit. I know you will look back at this year as exhausting,
intense, and, hopefully, a time when you grew professionally and personally. I hope
you’ll take the time to reflect regularly on your growth, keep a journal, and share with us
what you are learning. We are all so proud of you.
This will be a great year, full of challenges, successes, and learning. Enjoy it!
Best,
Sarah Irvine Belson, Dean
School of Education, Teaching & Health, American University
Voice: 202/885-3714 email: sarah@american.edu
8
Goals and Outcomes
Beliefs
Demonstrate
understanding of
how teacher
beliefs and
expectations
influence teacher
and pupil
classroom
relationships and
behavior.
Knowledge
Obtain broad
knowledge in
liberal arts,
sciences and
humanities.
Practice
Develop
knowledge of
social
constructivist
perspective.
Obtain in-depth
knowledge in
specific teaching
area.
Participate in
construction of
knowledge.
Understand the
difference
between
knowledge and
beliefs.
Develop a
coherent
philosophy of
education based
on current
research.
Examine own
belief systems t
expose biases and
misconceptions.
Apply attitudes,
expectations and
processes to
promote
productive
classrooms.
Listen and respond
positively and
respectfully to
diverse attitudes,
values and cultural
patterns exhibited
and articulated by
students from
varying
socioeconomic
and cultural
Examine theories
of learning,
human behavior,
child
development
and classroom
management.
Apply theories to
educational
settings.
Develop
supportive
learning
strategies,
considering
diverse
experiences of
learners.
Analyze how
knowledge
conceals or
distorts social,
political and
economic status
quo.
Develop the tools
to plan,
implement and
assess teaching
and learning.
Engage in
conversation and
reflection about
impact of
membership in
differing discourse
communities on
learning.
Develop
curricular and
instructional
materials
Observe and
converse with
practicing
classroom
Reflection
Participate in
ongoing
conversations with
self and others
about teaching,
values and goals.
Apprehend and
transform beliefs
and curriculum.
Interact with
problems,
experiment with
solutions and
examine
outcomes and
implications of
trials.
Think critically
about and
develop a vision
of the role of
schools in shaping
society.
Examine the past
to develop more
effective present
and future
educational
processes and
outcomes.
Understand how
one’s role as
teacher can
inspire
development of
9
backgrounds.
Demonstrate the
importance of
conveying positive
expectations for all
pupils.
appropriate to
needs and
interests of diverse
learners.
teachers and
participate in
professional
development
events.
Construct
curricular
practices that
provide equitable
support for all
learners through
consideration of
relationships
among learners,
context for
learning and
knowledge
systems.
critical reflection
skills in students.
Develop
understanding of
teaching as social
practice
grounded in
values,
established
knowledge, myth,
research and
professional
customs.
10
MA Special Education: Learning Disabilities
Program Philosophy
The graduate program in Special Education: Learning Disabilities at The
American University is based on the educational philosophy that all individuals have the
ability to learn and succeed. The learning disabled population requires special
teaching, and it is the aim of the program to prepare learning disabilities specialists who
can structure creative learning environments for these individuals through diagnosticprescriptive teaching.
This method of teaching emphasizes the need for teachers to be sensitive to the
individual needs and learning styles of each student in their classroom. Graduate
students in the program learn how to diagnose the specific strengths and disabilities of
individual students in order to plan effective programs. The good teacher uses a variety
of instructional approaches to teach to students’ strengths while remediating
weaknesses.
Graduate students in the program need to know normal child development so
that they can recognize any lags in this development and be prepared to teach to the
student’s developmental level. Graduates of the Special Education: Learning
Disabilities program go on to practice diagnostic-prescriptive teaching as school
specialists in learning disabilities, resource room specialists, and as teachers working with
learning disabled students in contained classrooms.
The program recognizes the impact of cultural background and environment on
the individuality of the student and is designed to prepare teachers who can embrace
such diversity. By increasing the awareness and appreciation of cultural diversity in its
graduate students, the program can prepare teachers who can differentiate between
behaviors caused by cultural or environmental issues and behaviors caused by learning
disabilities.
These principles of acknowledging, understanding, and embracing differences
are reflected in The American University’s School of Education, Teaching & Health’s
goals and objectives for all its Teacher Education Programs.
Description of Required Courses
MA Special Education: Learning Disabilities
Course
Number
EDU 502
EDU 545
Course Title
Methods of
Managing Pupils
with Behavior
Disorders
Overview of All
Exceptionalities:
The Arts in Special
Education
Credit
Hours
3
3
Course Description
Psycho-educational methods of understanding and
managing inappropriate classroom behavior.
Techniques such as groups, problem solving, role
playing, functional behavior assessment and applied
behavior analysis. Usually offered every fall & summer.
An experiential course treating a variety of
handicapping conditions and introducing a panoply
of art forms. Students learn to program for success in
each art form by building on the abilities, strengths,
and interests of each disabled person, systematically
programming academic material into arts activities,
and teaching socialization and life skills. Usually
offered every fall.
11
EDU 605
Methods of
Psychoeducational
Assessment
3
EDU 606
Theories and
Methods in
Diagnostic and
Remedial
Mathematics
3
EDU 607
Research
Seminar in
Special
Education
3
EDU 620
Theories of
Educational
Psychology and
Human
Development
3
EDU 644
Language
Development
and
Remediation
3
Develops the special educator's knowledge of
critical issues and concepts in the use of
standardized tests in psycho-educational
assessment, theoretical and operational
definitions of cognitive abilities and "intelligence"
familiarity with a variety of achievement tests,
and introductory practice in test administration
and interpretation. Usually offered every spring.
Prerequisite: EDU-645.
Materials and methods for teaching
mathematics to students with learning disabilities.
Analysis of current reform models in curriculum,
assessment, and instruction, including techniques
of error analysis and flexible interviewing.
Required tutorial experience. Usually offered
every spring.
A case study approach using interdisciplinary
research with focus on a specific child with
learning disabilities. Includes interviews with
professionals working with the child, review of
confidential files, and research from
contemporary journals on remediation
suggestions summarized in a comprehensive
report. Usually offered every spring. Prerequisite:
permission of instructor.
Surveys research literature in learning and human
development with an emphasis on the role of
educators as decision makers and change
agents who are knowledgeable about diversity
and multiculturalism. Emphasizes the role today's
educators play on advancing knowledge about
instructional technology, human relations, time
management, principles of growth and
development, and the processes of memory and
cognition. Usually offered every term.
How does one learn to use language to express
thoughts and feelings? How does one teach a
learning-disabled child to communicate
effectively? This course discusses the
developmental sequence of language learning,
the nature of language disorders, diagnostic
assessment of language disorders, and remedial
techniques. Usually offered every fall.
12
EDU 645
Learning
Disabilities I
3
EDU 646
Learning
Disabilities
II
3
EDU 671
Foundatio
ns of
Reading:
Diagnosis
and
Remediati
on
In-Service
Training
Project:
Internship
in
Education
3
EDU 792 (2x)
3
(x 2 =
6)
Examines neurological and developmental aspects
of learning disabilities. Gives an overview of the
field, emotional and social implications of learning
disabilities, and how current brain research can
impact teaching and counseling this population.
Emphasis is on seeking the strengths of the child or
adult with learning disabilities, how to foster the
different intelligences, and informally diagnose the
weaknesses. Usually offered every fall. Prerequisite:
permission of instructor.
Develops diagnostic capabilities in order to select
and design materials and programs for learningdisabled children and youth. Diverse methods of
teaching are introduced. Special problems of
learning-disabled adolescents and adults are
studied in depth. Postsecondary education, career
awareness, and career development approaches
and programs are represented. Counseling
techniques for parents and mainstream teachers
are also addressed. Usually offered every spring.
Prerequisite: EDU-645.
Broad considerations underlying the teaching of
reading with emphasis on reading disability and
problems of the disabled reader. Usually offered
every fall and summer.
A two-semester (fall and spring) internship.
13
School of Education, Teaching, & Health Faculty
Alida Anderson, Ph.D., University of Maryland, has a research a focus in literacy and
language disabilities and in the use of Response to Intervention (RTI).
Sarah Irvine Belson, Ph.D., Arizona State University, serves as Dean of the School of
Education, Teaching & Health, conducts research and teaches about integrating
technology into teaching and the uses of technology in the classroom.
Frederic Jacobs, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, is interested in higher education,
educational administration, graduate and professional education management in
higher education, and experiential education.
Robert Karch, Ed.D., American University, in the Director of the MS program in Health
Promotion Management and is the principal investigator for the USPS health promotion
program, research areas include worksite health and global health issues.
Pete Mehlert, M.Ed, American University teaches several of the undergraduate health
and fitness course offerings and former Men’s Soccer Coach at AU.
Stacey Snelling, Ph.D., R.D. American University, is an Associate Professor of Health
Promotion, with a concentration in nutrition. Her research interests are in the area of
school food service programs and nutrition and behavior change.
Stacie Tate, Ph.D., Michigan State University, is an Assistant Professor of Curriculum and
Instruction, with a concentration in literacy. Her research interests include critical
literacy and critical pedagogy.
Charles Tesconi, Ed.D., University of Cincinnati, is a leading scholar on the relationships
among social philosophy, public policy, and educational opportunity. His recent book
Good Schools focuses on the policy environments of public high schools that are
unusually successful with economically poor students.
Vivian Vasquez, Ed.D., Indiana University, researches negotiating critical literacies with
children, critical literacy in practice, cultural literacy, early literacy, inquiry and social
justice, teacher education, and school reform.
Stephen Vassallo, Ph.D., Michigan State University, is an Associate Professor who studies
critical educational psychology and philosophy of education.
Elizabeth Worden, Ph.D., New York University, is an Associate Professor of International
Training and Education. Her research interests include education reform in the Soviet
Union, and the internationalization of American higher education.
14
MA Special Education: Learning Disabilities Faculty
Dr. Alida Anderson
(202) 885-6299
EDU 645 and 646 Learning Disabilities I and II and EDU 545 Overview of All
Exceptionalities: The Arts in Special Education
Professor Rosemarie Russo
(202) 965-6600
EDU 606 Theories and Methods in Diagnostic and Remedial Mathematics
Jennifer Durham
(703) 237-5549
EDU 605 Methods of Psychoeducational Assessment for Learning Disabilities and
Emotional Disturbance and LSW Placement Coordinator and LSW Intern Supervisor
Professor Evelyn Novins
EDU 671 Foundations of Reading: Diagnosis and Remediation
Professor Kimberly Palombo
EDU 644 Language Development and Remediation
Professor Leila Kramer
EDU 607 Research Seminar in Special Education
Dr. Sarah Irvine Belson
EDU 502 Managing Pupils with Behavior Disorders
MA Special Education: Learning Disabilities: American University Staff
Abby Himmelrich
Graduate Assistant & Admissions Coordinator
sarah.baracks@gmail.com
Valerie Rauenzahn
Graduate Student Coordinator
amalieg@american.edu
Gray Hall 117
Gray Hall 115
15
Important Dates
Academic Calendar 2014-2015
***Be advised: as an LSW intern, you will follow the academic calendar for your
placement site, not AU**
Fall Semester
August 18th
Orientation Dinner with Faculty at LSW
August 18 – 22nd
Intern Training at LSW
August 25th
AU Classes begin
th
August 26
LSW first day of school
September 7th
Labor Day; school closed
November 26th-30th
Thanksgiving Holiday
th
December 4
Fall classes end
December 10th-14th
Final Examinations
Spring Semester
January 11th
AU Classes begin
January 18th
Martin Luther King Jr Day; school closed
th
th
March 7 – 14
AU Spring Break (NOT Lab School)
April 26th
Spring classes end
April 28th – May 5th
Final Examinations
th
May 9
Commencement
June 4th
Lab School interns work until June 24th
Important Dates in Lab School Calendar 2014-2015
Wednesday, August 27th
Monday, September 7th
Monday, October 12th
Thursday, November 26th- 30th
Monday, December 21st – January 4th
Monday, January 4th
Monday, January 18th
Monday, February 15th
Monday, March 22nd – 26th
Monday, May 31st
Friday, June 4th
First day of school
Labor Day; school closed
Columbus day; school closed
Thanksgiving Holiday
Winter Break
Classes resume
Martin Luther King Jr Day; school closed
Mid Winter Break; school closed
LSW Spring Break
Memorial Day; school closed
Last day of school
Student Responsibilities
As a graduate student, you are responsible for monitoring your bureaucratic status at
the American University. The following will describe the key items to keep in mind.
Programs of Study
The Program of Study document helps you plan out the courses you’ll take throughout
the program and in what order you will take them. (Refer to the course descriptions).
16
Your Program of Study will be set by Director of the Special Education program, Dean
Sarah Irvine Belson and can be accessed through the goed.american.edu system. If
you need help with adjustments to your program, contact the Graduate Coordinator in
the School of Education, Teaching & Health by setting up an appointment through
SETH, 202.885.3731.
In addition to planning out required courses, your initial meeting with the director will
reveal three other things:
• If you have not met with the minimum subject requirements for The American
University, the Coordinator will help you select the courses you have to take in
order to qualify.
• If you have previously taken courses that fulfill standards of a required course in
the program, the director will discuss options for elective courses. (Even if you are
exempt from a 3-credit course, you need to take another 3-credit course to
complete the 36 credits American University requires for a degree.)
You will access your program of study via goed, and will also check in with the director
each semester before you enroll in your next set of courses. This allows American
University to plan for enrollment of courses and lets you know exactly what is required of
you in the program.
American University sets a one semester limit on completing your Program of Study, but
please understand: It is easier for everyone if you complete the Program of Study as
early as possible.
Registration
You are responsible for registering for your classes before the start of each semester
online. Your registration for each semester for internship (EDU 792) is completed on
paper. You will need a signature from Jennifer and Dean Sarah and then you need to
take the form to the Registrar’s Office in the Asbury Building. You can pay in person or
the bill can be sent to you.
You must register prior to the first day of classes, otherwise there is a $50 late fee and
you are required to pay in full when you register.
Making Changes in Registration
You need to fill out an online ADD/DROP EGISTRATION FORM if you:
• Add a course
• Drop a course
• Change to a different section of a course
• Change the title of an Independent Study
• Please observe the deadlines for such actions so you are not charged
unnecessarily for class credits.
Student Identification (I.D.)
Identification cards (I.D.s) are required to check books out of American
University’s libraries and provide proof that you are a student when registering your car,
signing a lease, or getting discounts in many area businesses and restaurants. To get a
17
card, all you have to do is go to the Anderson Building and then to the Office of
Housing and Dining Programs at the beginning of your first semester and smile for the
camera.
Incompletes
At the discretion of the professor, an “Incomplete” may be given to a student who,
because of extenuating circumstances, is unable to complete the course during a
semester. You must make arrangements for an “Incomplete” with your professor before
the final examination is given in the course. You must be in good standing, passing, in
the course to qualify for an incomplete.
Maintaining Matriculation Fees If You Take a Semester Off
Students enrolled in a graduate program at The American University who don’t register
for at least one course in a Fall or Spring term must pay a MAINTAINING MATRICULATION
fee for that term. (Not registering for a summer course poses no threat to your
continued studies.) The matriculation fee is equal to the cost of one graduate credit
hour. Failure to comply with this regulation may jeopardize the completion of the
degree. The fee can be paid at the Office of Student Accounts in the Asbury Building.
Requirements for Graduation
Final Comprehensive Portfolio
All students enrolled in the MA Special Education: Learning Disabilities program must
complete a final comprehensive portfolio to graduate. Students generally begin the
portfolio throughout the program and finish during the final semester they are in the
program (whether it is fall, spring or summer). Your responsibilities are:


After the announcement about the specific dates of the exams, get an
APPLICATION FOR COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION FORM from Sarah Baracks in
the School of Education, Teaching & Health.
Fill out the application with your current mailing address. Be sure to include your
student identification #. The title of the exam is “MA: SELD”.
Praxis I and II
All students must pass Praxis I, for admission, and two Praxis II tests, for graduation
according to the standards set forth by the District of Columbia Public School system for
teacher education.
Praxis I: Reading (#5710), Writing (#5720) and Math (#5730)
Praxis II: Education of Exceptional Students: Core Content Knowledge (#20353)
Principles of Learning and Teaching (for Early, Elementary, Middle or High school
To register, visit www.ets.org/praxis and select “District of Columbia” for score
requirements.
18
Application for Graduation
All students must apply for graduation online though their my.american.edu account.
The application can be found under the “Academics” section.
It is no longer possible to participate in the commencement ceremonies if you have not
completed all requirements of the program, even if it is only one requirement that you
need to fulfill.
Portfolio instructions are available via goed.american.edu under Important Documents.
TEACHER LICENSURE
The Teacher Education Program at American University is nationally accredited by the
National Association for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and approved
through the District of Columbia. To teach in the public school system, you must be
properly licensed. You are eligible for initial licensure after completing your program at
American University and passing the proper Praxis exams. However, teacher certification is
a state responsibility; it is not granted by any university.
Licensure is not an automatic process. It has detailed procedures, some of which are timebound. You should plan carefully to complete the certification process in a timely fashion,
working with an advisor to complete the necessary steps. The process outlined below will
help you get started.
Licensure in the District of Columbia
To apply for an initial license in DC, submit the following documents to the Teacher
Certification Office once you have completed your program and passed the appropriate
Praxis exams. Make sure to have your Praxis scores sent electronically to American
University. Our test code is 5007.
PLEASE SUBMIT:
● FORM I – Complete sections I, II and III of the District of Columbia Application for Initial
License and Added Endorsements (you can obtain this form from the Teacher Education
Office or it can be emailed to you).
● Official PRAXIS I and all PRAXIS II scores. Students must earn a passing score (as set by the
District of Columbia teacher licensing agency) on the PRAXIS I: Academic Skills Assessment,
subject-specific Praxis II exams and the PLT.
● A $50 payment in the form of a cashier’s check or money order made payable to the DC
Treasurer. DCPS will not accept personal checks.
● Copy of your AU transcript (this can be an unofficial copy).
Once you have met the above requirements and submitted the requisite forms and
documentation, the Teacher Education Office will confirm your eligibility and forward all
19
documents to the District of Columbia Office of Academic Credentialing and
Accreditation.
Licensure in Other States
Through an interstate reciprocity agreement, you are eligible for reciprocal certification
in over 40 states. Some states may require additional courses or national teacher
examinations. Students should contact individual State Departments of Education for
the most recent information on current state requirements. Also, be sure to consult the
ETS website (www.ets.org/praxis) for information on specific tests required by each
state.
20
Section Two:
The Internship at The Lab School of Washington
Objectives of the Internship
Students enrolled in the American University’s Masters in Special Education:
Learning Disabilities fulfill their internship experience at the Lab School of Washington.
The School, founded in 1967 by Professor Sally L. Smith, provides educational
opportunities for 400 intelligent students with learning disabilities who have had difficulty
learning in traditional classrooms.
The internship, which lasts for two semesters, fulfills 6 credits towards the Masters
program and is designed to help graduate students:
1. Understand and value their roles as professional educators of individuals with
learning disabilities.
2. Establish rapport with students and be better able to motivate them.
3. Gain the structure, the creativity, resourcefulness, and problem solving skills
necessary to prepare and implement instructional plans.
4. Use a variety of teaching techniques and materials, which suit the learning styles,
behavioral styles, and individual interests of students,
5. Learn to do diagnostic-prescriptive teaching with specific academic and social
goals.
6. Integrate educational technology into classroom instruction.
7. Become well acquainted with excellent teaching materials and games to be
used in the classroom.
8. Manage individual and group behavior problems in the classroom.
9. Develop and maintain cooperative working relationships with teachers, other
professionals, and the parents of the children they teach.
Facts about The Lab School of Washington
In September 1967, Sally L. Smith founded and designed The Lab School under
the aegis of the Kingsbury Center, a diagnostic and tutoring center for children with
learning problems. For its first fifteen years, this day school, for children of average
superior intelligence with learning disabilities, was located on Phelps Place, NW in
Washington, D.C. By August 1, 1982, The Lab School of Washington (LSW) was
incorporated as an independent non-profit educational institution with its own Board of
Trustees headed by Ann Bradford Mathias. The school retained the same administrators
and staff, the same program and the same student body. It remained on a lease basis
for one year in the three small Phelps Place Kingsbury buildings and in the nearby
Quaker Center on R Street. Mitchell Park served as the children’s playground for sixteen
years.
With 90 children crowded into small rooms and the school confronting a long
waiting list, a move was necessary. In July 1982, The Lab School became a separate
entity from the Kingsbury Center, known as The Lab School of Washington. On May 17,
1983, the trustees of The Lab School of Washington bought the former Florence
Crittendon Home and property of 3.6 acres at 4759 Reservoir Road, NW, Washington,
DC 20007. In 1992, The Trustees bought a house on the adjoining property to become
the International Training Center and home for the Development Office.
21
In September 1983, in its eighteenth year, The Lab School of Washington opened
with 123 children, ages 5 to 16. Now we have 330 students, ranging in age from 5 to 19.
A Primary Program for five and six ear olds was inaugurated, along with a Diagnostic
Clinic and a small Tutoring Service. Special services such as occupational therapy and
speech and language therapy were vastly expanded. A Night School for adults with
Learning Disabilities began as a result of an April Trust Grant in January 1984, and now is
a thriving institution. An after-school horseback riding program and a series of school
trips led to the development of a formal After-School program, which began during the
1984-1985 school year. The annual Summer School has grown from a few children to
275-280 youngsters with outdoor activities and swimming included. In 1988, The Dole
Foundation gave LSW a grant to star a Career Counseling Program for adolescents and
adults with learning disabilities. A College Counseling Service specifically for this
population began in the fall of 1989 and is flourishing. An Adult Services Department
now exists so that adults can attend the Night School and be tested, tutored, given
various therapies, and advised on college and career choices.
Since 1976, Sally L. Smith also headed the Masters Degree Program in Learning
Disabilities at The American University. The Lab School is the primary training site for
most of the graduate students (many of whom have taught for years). Each year,
fifteen to twenty American University graduate students serve their practicum under
master teachers at LSW four hours per day. Often, Howard University and George
Washington University also send students for highly supervised training. Nine films, a
slide-tape show and two videotapes were made to document the teaching
methodology of the school. Now we are engaged in producing a new set of teaching
videos. In addition, The Lab School served as a model site for the National Committee
on Arts for the Handicapped. The 1983 International Conference of the Association of
Children with Learning Disabilities was held in Washington and attended by 6,000
professionals. “A Visit to The Lab School” was featured to introduce administrators,
regional supervisors, and school board members to a “Model School”.
The pioneering and innovative teaching techniques used at The Lab School
have earned it an international reputation as a leader in the field. In 1994 the school
was identified by the U.S. Department of Education as a National Diffusion Network
(NDN) Modal Education Program. The NDN validation means that public school
systems are encouraged to use The Lab School as a resource and to replicate some or
all of our practices. Ours is the most comprehensive learning disabilities program ever
to be validated, and its the only learning disabilities private school ever to reach this
distinction. In 1996, The Lab School was selected by the U.S. Department of Education
as a Blue Ribbon Secondary Program, - an exemplary school! In 1997, the elementary
school of LSW was chosen as one of the two outstanding special education schools in
the country at that time to receive a Blue Ribbon from the U.S. Department of
Education’s School Recognition and Improvement Programs.
Ms. Smith was an elected member of the Professional Advisory Board of the
Association for Children with Learning Disabilities. She had been a Member of the
Professional Advisory Board of the National Center for Learning Disabilities. The
Encyclopedia Britannica’s 1985 Medical and Health Annual published ten pages of text
on learning disabilities written by Ms. Smith. In 1985, The Lab School and its Director also
received an award for Excellence in Education from the District of Columbia’s City
Council. The Lab School of Washington is known around the nation and abroad for its
high quality education, its outstanding remedial instruction, and for teaching academic
22
skills through the arts. The CBS Magazine Show, “West 57th”, featured The Lab School in
April 1988, and a flood of letter and 700 phone calls came in from every state within the
Union asking for Lab Schools in their communities. On September 17, 1995, the CBS
Sunday Morning Show produced an eight and a half minute piece on The Lab School
called “Another Way”. In the fall of 1996, The Lab School was featured in a 29-minute
documentary on dyslexia as part of a series called The Doctor Is In, produced by the
Department of Visual Media of the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. The local
NBC station provided a six-minute film of The Lab School in the spring of 1999, featuring
a high school student who is a professional dancer. In May 2001, the National Public
Broadcasting System filmed Lab School teacher training and teaching approached in
The Lab School. Eighty-four hours of shooting produced four 60-minute films to share the
uniqueness of The Lab School approaches with teachers and parents everywhere. The
four films, entitled Teach Me Different with Sally Smith are being sold by National Public
Broadcasting and might also be shown on national television. These films won the TELLY
AWARD for first place in the Education category in 2002. In 2003, the films won the
SILVER INTERNATIONAL CINDY (Cinema in Industry) AWARD, - from the International
Association of Audio Visual Communicators.
In 1991, the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools granted
institutional accreditation to The Lab School including all grades and levels for ten
years. In March 2001, The Lab School underwent institutional accreditation again. Also,
The Lab School received one of four Computerworld Smithsonian Awards for state of
the art use of technology in education.
At the 1993 Learning Disability Conference, Sally L. Smith received the LDA award
from the Learning Disability Association of America, - the highest honor given in learning
disabilities in recognition of outstanding leadership in the field. In March 1995, she
received the New York Orton Society’s Margot Marek Book Award for Succeeding
Against the Odds. In May 1995, Professor Smith was honored by American University
where she received Faculty Award for Outstanding Scholarship, Research, and Other
Professional Contributions. In 1997, she also received, from the Learning Disabilities
Association of Georgia, the Celebrating Abilities Award for Outstanding Contributions to
the Field of Learning Disabilities. In May 1999, she received the 1999 Woman of
Distinction Award sponsored by Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham, Alabama.
In November 1999, The Washington Post awarded her the honor of Principal of
Excellence. Brookes Publishing Company published Professor Smith’s book, The Power
of the Arts, in February 2001. Her latest book, Live It, Learn It: The Academic Club
Method, was published by Brookes in July 2005.
On September 13, 2000, The Lab School of Washington, Baltimore Campus
opened with 18 students, ages 6-11. We are proud that this school succeeded and is
very much like the DC Lab School. In September 2001, it had 32 students; in September
2002, the school called Baltimore Lab: A Division of the Lab School of Washington
expanded to 56 students ages 6-13, grades 1 through 7, followed by an enrollment of
104 students, grades 1 to 9, while in 2005-2006, we were up to 123. This year we will
have about 135 students and our first graduating class will take place in spring 2008.
The Board of Trustees has the goal to continue to replicate The Lab School so a
third school using the Sally Smith and Lab School Methodologies opened in Philadelphia
in September 2006. “The Academy at Manayunk, in conjuction with The Lab School of
Washington” had approximately 30 students in grades 1-7, and now has 50 students.
Sally and other members of The Lab School of Washington staff worked closely with the
23
leadership and staff of the group in Philadelphia to assure that our standards are met.
Sally helped hire staff, train staff, model for and back up administrators. Club leaders,
headed by Noel Bicknell, have educated the Philadelphia Staff on Academic Club
Methodology and physically helped set up Gods Club, Knights and Ladies Club, and
Renaissance Club rooms. Two former members of The Lab School Staff are employed in
the Philadelphia school. Now there is a school being formed in Delaware that is about
to sign a licensing agreement with LSW; it will be a charter school for 144 students to
open in 2009.
The Academic Club Teaching Service (ACTS) worked with a staff from a school in
Oklahoma City helping them to establish Academic Clubs there last summer. This
summer ACTS will be working with a school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and two groups in
Wyoming wanting to build an after-school program using Academic Clubs. A learning
center in Idaho, and groups in Wilmington, Delaware and San Diego, California are
asking The Lab School to do Academic Clubs and replicate the school in their environs.
The Board of Trustees is encouraging us to become more of a National Demonstration
Center and to do long distance learning.
In 2004, Professor Smith was awarded the Educator 500 President’s Award for
educational innovation from the West Chester University’s School of Education and the
Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. In May 2006, Sally Smith was on the
Today Show for seven minutes, which evoked 420 emails, countless letters and phone
calls. You can see the show by going to our website, www.labschool.org. In
September 2006, articles about Sally and LSW and Baltimore Lab appeared in Child
Magazine and in American, the AU Alumni Magazine, on the spread of Sally’s ideas all
over the country and on to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and India; the Washington Times
Magazine featured us in their September 2006 issue.
On September 25, 2006, The Lab School of Washington celebrated their 40th
year. The children celebrated by creating a 14-foot giraffe residing near our entrance
with the motto “Stand Tall”. An inauguration took place on September 25, 2006, with
music, dance, stories, and the requisite cake. For the 40th birthday, in 2007, LSW hopes
to host forty alumni.
On December 1, 2007 Sally L. Smith passed away due to health complications. It
was an enormous loss to the community she built and nurtured for over forty years. She
was truly a visionary in her field; a great, boisterous and loving woman who trail-blazed
the field of special education for all of us.
Sally L. Smith, May 2007
The Lab School of Washington is unique in that it uses the arts as a means of
providing the neural organization students with learning disabilities lack and must learn
to order to succeed academically. The arts are treated as organizers, each having
their own discipline. The student can concentrate on the product or the performance
24
while faculty concentrate on the specific teaching process, which include visualizing,
sequencing, following directions, remembering, and predicting. There are critical
organizational skills, which must be directly taught to students with learning disabilities,
skills which other students are able to learn more “naturally”. In addition to perceptual,
cognitive, and academic learning that takes place in the arts, there are many
opportunities for creativity and success. The exhilaration when a student recognizes “I
can do it!” builds self-esteem, which has often been damaged by school failure. Being
taught the approach to a task is as important as any task a learning disabled student
can learn.
It is the philosophy of The Lab School that a child’s failure to learn means the
teaching staff has not yet found a way to help him or her. It is up to adults to seek out
routes by which each child learns best, to discover each child’s strengths and interests,
and to experiment until effective teaching techniques are found. By programming
children for success, defeat and failure are countered with confidence and
competence. Then, and only then, can the student experience the true pleasure of
learning.
The philosophy points to the absolute necessity of extraordinary teachers. The
Lab School prides itself on its top quality staff, talented teachers who respect and care
deeply for their students. With the central role of the arts, a number of artists and
teachers with arts backgrounds form a core for the school. Their often-untraditional
approaches and high creativity make them extremely well equipped to work with
students who do not learn traditionally and often puzzle adults. It is the goal of The Lab
School to nourish the strengths of its teachers so they, in turn, can nourish each student
they teach.
In summary, The Lab School of Washington exists to educate intelligent and often
gifted children with moderate to severe learning disabilities so they can return to the
mainstream as soon as possible and become productive citizens. The primary goals:
1. To provide quality education for a lifetime of thinking.
2. To provide intensive remediation.
3. To teach socialization skills explicitly.
4. To pioneer in new methods and techniques.
5. To train extraordinary teachers to go into the teaching community.
6. To disseminate its programs to improved education.
The Lab School provides the following programs:
The Day School in Washington
Primary Program
Elementary School
Intermediate School
Junior High School
High School
Summer School Program
After School Recreation Program
The Day School in Baltimore
Baltimore Lab
2220 St. Paul Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21218
25
410-261-5500
Night School for Adults
Tuesday and Thursday Classes 5:30pm to 9:30pm
Night School Day School for Adults
Clinical Services
Tutoring Services
Diagnostic and Psychological Services
Speech and Language Therapy
Occupational Therapy
College Counseling
Career Counseling
Training Programs
Site for Graduate Students of The American University Special Education: Learning
Disabilities Program
Annual Tutor Training Program
Institutes
International Workshops for Teachers and Administrators
Workshops for Inner City Teachers
Lecture Series for Parents
Outreach Programs
Partnership with the Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in Anacostia and
Cleveland Elementary School
The Lab School has also provided professional development to the Archdiocese of
Washington as well as to other private and parochial schools. Through D.C. Title I funds,
LSW has provided professional development to: Archbishop Carroll HS, Holy Redeemer
School, and Our Lady of Victory School.
The Annual Scientific Workshop in Late October
The Power of Art Annual Workshop, done with the Master Artist Robert Rauschenberg
(until 5/2007)
EDU 792: In-Service Training Project Syllabus
Instructor:
Jennifer Durham, Ph.D.
Work: 202- 454 -2251
Jennifer.durham@labschool.org
COURSE CATALOG DESCRIPTION: Internships in cooperating school systems, colleges,
and universities, and other agencies and organizations is an integral part of degree
programs in the School of Education. May be repeated for credit. Usually offered every
term. 3 credits per semester.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
*To develop an understanding of the student with learning disabilities and to learn to
provide individualized instruction.
26
*To develop thorough knowledge of programs, techniques, methods, and materials
available in reading and math instruction.
*To select, adapt and use instructional materials according to the characteristics of the
learner.
*To develop an understanding and use of the diagnostic-prescriptive teaching
approach.
*To develop strategies for behavior management.
GENERAL INFORMATION FOR SCHOOL OF EDUCATION COURSES:
Incomplete Grades [Online]
Faculty members must approve student requests for an incomplete grade, and must do
so before the end of the semester. Students must complete and submit an Incomplete
Contract Form to the faculty member, but only in emergency situations.
Academic Integrity Code [Online]
Students are expected to conform with the regulations of the University in regard to
academic integrity, especially in regard to plagiarism, inappropriate collaboration,
dishonesty in examinations, dishonesty in papers, work submitted for one course and
then submitted to another, deliberate falsification of data, interference with other
students' work, and copyright violation
1
Services for Students with Disabilities [Handbook, pp. 81-88]
Appropriate modifications to academic requirements may be necessary on a case-bycase basis to ensure educational opportunity for students with disabilities, and individual
faculty members may need to modify specific course requirements to permit equal
participation by students with disabilities.
Using Appropriate Documentation Formats
The School of Education permits the use of two formats for research citations, footnotes,
list of references, and layout, and all written work must adhere to those guidelines:
Turabian, Kate. A Manual for Writers, Fifth Edition Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press, 1982.
OR
1 The copyright laws of the United States contain specific guidelines about fair use and what can be reproduced
without permission, and what constitutes legal violations. Each student is responsible for understanding what is appropriate, and
for securing any necessary permissions. For those in the education profession, compliance with these laws has singular
importance because teachers and administrators are often regarded as role models by students.
27
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fourth
Edition Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1994.
* Failure to use the format selected appropriately and accurately can result in a grade
penalty.
ATTENDANCE POLICY:
An internship is a day-to-day experience in which your greatest learning comes through
your time spent in the classroom with your Master Teacher and your students. Therefore,
it is imperative that your attendance be regular. Absences should be limited to
emergencies. It is the responsibility of the intern to notify his/her Master teacher as soon
as possible if an absence is required.
You and your classroom Master Teacher will complete formal evaluation forms (Form F)
four times a year. The early October and early February forms will be used as goal
setting and instructional conversations. The early December and early May evaluation
Forms (Form F) will be used as part of the process to determine your semester internship
grade.
The forms will be completed in:
(1) Early October
(2) Early December (complete grading section)
(3) Early February
(4) Early May (complete grading section)
American University and The Lab School of Washington are responsible for
documenting that you complete 720 hours over the course of the school year in order
to clear you for teacher certification. This means that you will follow the schedule of The
Lab School, including their scheduled Spring Break and remain in your internship at The
Lab School until the end of the Lab School calendar. Your days will begin at 8:00am
(7:45 am one morning per week) and end at 12:20 pm.
You are allowed to miss a maximum of 20 hours per semester, beginning at 7:45am
once a week for your early scheduled meeting, at 8:00am the other four days, and
going until 12:20 pm every day. This amounts to roughly the equivalent of five mornings,
which should allow you time for things you cannot avoid during school mornings. You
are asked to sign in and sign out each day to document your hours for certification.
Late arrivals or early departures will count towards these 20 hours. As your time in the
classroom is the most important and valuable venue for your learning this year, your
semester grade for the internship class (EDU 792) is related to your attendance.
After the initial 20 hours of absence per semester that you are allowed, your grade for
the internship will drop by one-half a letter grade for each additional four hours that you
are absent. Extenuating circumstances can be discussed with the University Supervisor.
28
OBSERVATION AND EVALUATION PROCEDURES:
Evaluation will be a continuous, educational process for both the intern and the Master
Teacher as they work together in the classroom throughout the school year. The intern
and the Master Teacher will meet each morning at 8:00 am with the teaching team
(once a week at 7:45 am), and on a rotating basis during lunch (11:50 am-12:20 pm) in
a one-on-one situation. These meetings allow for communication between the
members of the teaching team as well as allow time for the Master teacher to provide
instruction to you related to your internship experience.
A formal evaluation form will be completed by the intern and the Master Teacher in
early October to establish goals and areas of improvement and in early December to
review these goals and the fall semester overall. The same process will take place in
early February and early May during the spring semester. The evaluation in early
October and in early February will not be for a grade, but rather to meet with the
teacher and establish goals. The evaluations in December and in May are to provide
information towards the semester grade.
The interns will also meet weekly with the University Supervisor at 11:50 am on Mondays
in the Front Reception Room of the Castle Building at The Lab School of Washington.
These sessions will be used to touch base as well as for instructional time.
Each intern will have five scheduled observations per school year. The University
Supervisor will schedule these with you ahead of time. She will sit in the classroom and
observe as you work with a student for a class. You and she will then schedule a
meeting time to review the observation. These meeting times will generally be at 11:50
am.
Intern Journal/ Portfolio:
You will be observing and learning so much each day in your internship experience that
it will be overwhelming to remember and hold on to it all. Therefore, you are asked to
keep a journal/portfolio of your experience. This can take whatever form works best for
you, but must include a daily entry of your questions, thoughts, ideas, concerns,
challenges, accomplishments, etc from your classroom experience. It can be
handwritten or on the computer. This is also a good place to record questions for your
Master Teacher so that you can remember them when you and she meet. You can
include papers, articles, copies of lesson plans or anything else that you feel would be
helpful in the future if you would like - keep these in a separate folder, tape them in a
notebook, or whatever works for you.
These journals/portfolios will be private, except that you will show them to the University
Supervisor as a part of the requirements of the internship course (EDU 792). These
journals/portfolios may also be a valuable tool in communicating with your Master
Teacher should you choose to share them with her.
General Time Line of Fall and Spring Semester:
September
29
Observe as well as jump-in! You will be learning through participation, conversations
with the teachers and students, observation and osmosis! Learn what diagnosticprescriptive teaching is and how to establish a positive, but appropriate relationship
with your students. Observe the behavior management techniques employed by your
Master teacher. Begin to look for what may be unique about these students as
opposed to those with whom you may have worked within the mainstream setting.
Participate in administering informal classroom diagnostics.
October/November/December
Begin to take over the classroom for some Friday mornings (minimum of five Fridays
before you have your take-over week in the spring). This will typically be the regular
instruction for Fridays, but may sometimes be a group instruction activity.
March/April/May
Schedule your take-over week with your teacher. You need to begin to plan this week
in advance so that you will have plenty of time to meet with your teacher and consider
her suggestions for changes that may be necessary. You need to complete these
meetings and finalize your week’s plans AT LEAST ONE WEEK PRIOR to your take-over
week.
Take over the classroom for one week. During this time, the classroom teacher will be
out of the room and the University Supervisor will be in and out to observe. You will meet
with the University Supervisor after the week is complete to review the week.
2014-2015 CALENDAR
Including Noon Dismissals & Staff In- service Days
MONTH
DAYS OFF/IMPORTANT DATES
August
Staff ORIENTATION Thurs. Aug. 14- Tues. Aug 25
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF RETURNS- Tues. Aug. 18
FULL STAFF RETURNS Wed. Aug. 20
STUDENTS FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL Wed. Aug. 27
September
LABOR DAY Mon. Sept. 7
1/2 DAY STAFF IN- SERVICE- Wed. Sept. 23
October
COLUMBUS DAY Mon. Oct. 12
RESEARCH CONFERENCE AT LSW Fri. Oct. 23
November
NOON DISMISSAL Tues. Nov. 3
NOON DISMISSAL Wed. Nov. 25
THANKSGIVING Thu. Nov. 26
30
DAY AFTER Fri. Nov. 27
December
NOON DISMISSAL Fri. Dec. 18
WINTER BREAK STARTS Mon. Dec. 21
January, 2010
RETURN FROM BREAK Mon. Jan. 4
MARTIN LUTHER KING BIRTHDAY Mon. Jan. 18
NOON DISMISSAL Thurs. Jan. 28
February
NOON DISMISSAL Fri. Feb. 12
PRESIDENT’S DAY Mon. Feb. 15
March
NOON DISMISSAL Fri. Mar. 19
SPRING BREAK Mon. Mar. 22- Fri. Mar. 26
FULL STAFF INSERVICE DAY Mon. Mar. 29
(Not a school day/ Can be used as a make up snow day)
STUDENTS RETURN FROM BREAK Tue. Mar. 30
April
NOON DISMISSAL Wed. Apr. 21
May
MEMORIAL DAY Mon. May 31
June
GRADUATION Fri. Jun 4
NOON DISMISSAL LAST DAY OF CLASSES Fri. Jun. 4
INCLEMENT WEATHER MAKE UP DAYS:
Mon. Jun. 7, Tue. Jun. 8, Wed. Jun. 9
31
Teacher Responsibilities for Working With and Training Interns and Tutors
* Make sure that intern/tutor is signing in and out each day in order to document their
attendance and punctuality. Arrival is at 7:45 am on the day of your early meeting and
8:00 am the other four mornings. The interns’ day is over at 12:20 pm, except for
Mondays when they meet with University Supervisor at 11:50 pm.
* Meet with Interns/Tutors each morning from 8:00am – 8: 25am
Meet once a week at 7:45am
*Use these meetings as instructional time – for the morning ahead as well as “big
picture” ideas such as materials and concepts
* Dedicate one day a week at lunchtime to meet with your interns/tutors in a one-onone meeting. During this time, the intern/tutor(s) with whom you are NOT meeting will
be responsible for managing the kids at lunchtime. You can meet with the intern/tutor
with whom you are working at your desk or just outside the door in the hallway. This is a
good time for your intern/tutor to learn some group management skills, although you
may need to keep a close eye initially. Please be consistent with these weekly
meetings.
*Complete Evaluation forms and MEET WITH intern/tutor to review in
(1) Early October
(2) Early December (complete grading section)
(3) Early February
(4) Early May (complete grading section)
* Have at least one period per month during which you can be free to observe each
intern/tutor and then meet with them about this observation. These can be times when
a student is absent and you reshuffle the kids so that you are free and someone may
have two students. You can meet with them about these observations during your
scheduled weekly lunch meetings.
*Institute the following schedule of training for your interns/tutors:
-Allow your interns/tutors to complete some of the initial fall diagnostics so that they
have the opportunity to learn from these experiences.
-Take over on some Fridays beginning in mid-to-late October (This can be with the
interns and/or tutors together initially, but then interns must begin to do some Fridays
independently.) An intern must have a minimum of five Friday take-over experiences
before their take-over week in the spring. These will typically be a continuation of
regular instruction. You will stay in the room and observe during this time, so that you
may offer feedback to the intern/tutor.
-Require interns/tutors to meet with you at least twice before their take-over week in
order to review plans. These meetings must be at least two weeks prior to their takeover week.
32
-Require interns/tutors to begin to plan for at least one student in reading or math in
early February and increase to planning for at least one student in both subjects by the
end of March. Please use your regularly scheduled individual lunch meetings to
maintain your oversight of the student’s curriculum and to offer feedback on your
intern’s planning such as suggesting that they begin to bring in some of their own ideas.
Benefits to Teacher:
(1) 15 CEU units for each year of intern/tutor supervision
(2) An Honorarium of $150.00 per semester; $300.00 per year.
* As per the rules of NCATE certification of the American University Masters Program, a
teacher must be in his/her third year of teaching in order to supervise an American
University Intern.
Grade Determination for End of the Semester Evaluation:
The grade is determined each semester by a consensus of the intern’s self-evaluation,
the Master teacher’s evaluation and the University Supervisor’s input. There are a
possible total of 245 points on the evaluation and there are 49 categories. Therefore the
range of scores as corresponds to letter grades is as follows:
100 – 94%
93 – 90%
89 - 87%
86 - 82%
81- 78%
77 – 75%
74 – 71%
70% or below
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
(245 – 230 points)
(229 – 220 points)
(219 - 213 points)
(212 - 201 points)
(200 – 191 points)
(190 – 184 points)
(183 – 174 points)
No Credit
All supervision forms can be found at and must be submitted via goed.american.edu
33
Section Three:
Appendix
34
Sample Work from EDU 645: Learning Disabilities I
Task Analysis
Part 1: What is involved in writing a poem?
Part 2: What is involved in playing hopscotch?
A poem is “verbal composition” that artistically expresses thoughts, emotions or stories
“in a vivid and imaginative way, characterized by the use of language chosen for its
sound and suggestive power and by the use of literary techniques such as meter,
metaphor and rhyme”(dictionary.com). The poem “The Crocodile,” by Lewis Carroll, is
a good example:
OW doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!
How cheerfully he seems to grin!
How neatly spread his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in
With gently smiling jaws!
There are a variety of tasks involved in reciting a poem; and, one must keep in mind the
definition of a poem throughout these tasks to recite a poem properly. The tasks can be
divided into three main categories:
Reading, Memorizing and Reciting
________________________________________________________________________
Reading – Reading involves receptive language skills. It is the process of obtaining
meaning from print.
Decoding – Linking visual symbols with sounds (visual and auditory)
VISUAL
Visual Perception – Using visual skills to recognize letters and words and
to assign meaning to these symbols and representations. Child is
able to make sense of information that is received visually.
Visual Acuity – Child must be able to see the poem on the page.
Visual Discrimination – Child must be able to see the difference
between letter and words to read the poem.
Visual Tracking – Child must be able to follow each line of the poem.
Whole-Part Relationships – To read, a child must be able to break
down the parts of each word and sentence into manageable
35
sections and then put the parts together to get meaning from
letters and words.
Visual Memory – Child must form a memory of what words and various
sentence structures look like. This is important in developing rapid
automatic decoding, which is in turn, vital to the process of
comprehension. (Meaning is often lost while a child tries to sound
out words so it is important that a child is able to visually recognize
words.)
AUDITORY
1. Auditory Perception – recognizes sounds and is able to put together
sounds in a meaningful way. Child is able to make sense of sounds.
2. Auditory Acuity – Child is able to hear.
3. Phonemic Awareness – Child recognizes words are made up of
sounds. Knows alphabet and sounds that letters make. For this
particular poem, it is also important to identify words that rhyme
because rhyming is essential to the flow of the poem.
4. Discrimination – Child can hear the difference between sounds.
5. Whole-Part Relationships – Recognizes phonemes (parts) and is able to
blend together to form entire words.
6. Auditory Memory – Child remembers how a word sounds without
having to sound each phoneme out. The child is able to store
information about how a word sounds and retrieve that information.
This is also important to comprehending the poem and reading the
poem with the intended rhythm
Comprehension – Understanding what has been read, obtaining meaning
Morphology – combines phonemes to form and recognize basic words
and word parts.
Syntax – Child understands grammar and the structure of written
language. This is important for understanding how words are put
together to form the lines of the poem. Child must understand nouns,
verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
Semantics – Child understands the vocabulary that makes up the poem.
Child recognizes words and knows the meanings of the words.
Rapid Automatic Decoding/ Fluency/ Recognition – To truly comprehend
the meaning of written words, a child must be able to quickly decode.
If too much time and energy is put into the decoding process, fluency
and comprehension are sacrificed.
Background Knowledge/Schema – Child is able to draw on own
knowledge and experience to assist in comprehension and true
appreciation of what the poem is about. Knowledge about Egypt
might assist the child in assigning meaning to the phrase “water of the
Nile.” Background knowledge would also help the child paint a picture
in his or her own mind of a crocodile and the crocodile’s various parts.
36
Imagery is a large part of poetry so without background knowledge a
child would lose much of the poem’s meaning or intent.
Spatial and Temporal Awareness – organizing space and time.
Sequencing – letters, sounds, words and lines are read in their intended
order. This is necessary for decoding and comprehending the
poem. Understands beginning, middle and end.
Location – child understands that the location of phrases and words in
space gives them meaning.
Laterality - Child knows left from right and understands that written
language is read from left to write.
Directionality – Child knows up from down. This is important so that the
child knows that when he or she reaches the end of a line, the
poem continues on the line that follows below.
Rhythm and Timing – Rhythm and timing are essential to poetry. To
comprehend and get the real flow of the poem, both are
necessary.
Attention – Ability to focus on task
1. Child must be able to sustain attention when decoding and
comprehending. Attention is also crucial for eventually committing the
poem to memory.
Memorizing – Memorizing means storing information in organized way and making
that information retrievable.
Short Term Memory – This is where the poem is placed while a child is learning
a poem and it is also where the poem would be placed when the child is
recalling the poem in an attempt to recite it. Also called working memory.
Long Term Memory – Information is transferred to this area from short-term
memory for permanent storage. Visual memory and auditory memory
make word recognition possible and make committing words to memory
possible.
Rehearsing and Repeating – techniques a child may use to commit
poem to long-term memory.
Grouping – Child must be able to break the poem down into
manageable chunks to memorize the poem. This will also involve
understanding part to whole relationships.
Organizing and Sequencing – Child must be capable of organizing
and sequencing the poem if they are to memorize it and recite it in
the correct order.
37
Checking – Child is able to confirm that poem is memorized and that
retrieval is possible. The child may practice to figure out whether
they have been successful at memorizing the poem.
Reciting – Reciting involves using expressive language skills. It means to repeat
something that has been memorized and rehearsed to an audience.
Speech – Child is capable of articulating and saying words of the poem.
Retrieval – Child is able to retrieve poem from memory.
Sequencing – Child is able to remember and retrieve the poem in the correct
order and then express it in the correct order.
Pragmatics – The child is able to communicate effectively with the audience.
Understands the relationship between performer and audience.
Behavioral/ Socialization Skills – Child makes eye contact and projects
voice. Understands that they are giving a performance and
behaves in an appropriate way.
Spatial – Child recognizes and makes good use of space. Realizes
where they are in relation to the audience, direction to be facing,
etc.
Temporal – Timing and rhythm. Is able to effectively communicate the
poem using appropriate pauses and inflection.
Attention and Distractibility – Child must be able to focus on the task to
retrieve and perform the poem.
38
While hopscotch seems like a game that anyone could just join in on, there are many
complex skills that a person must be able to perform in order to play. The following tasks
analysis will explain what is necessary to play hopscotch in each of the following areas:
Knowing the Rules of the Game
Understanding the Hopscotch Playing Surface
Organizing the Body and Physically Playing the Game
Following the Rules and Appropriate Behavior
________________________________________________________________________
I. Knowing the Rules of the Game
A.
Memory – There are many steps and sequences to playing
hopscotch. A child must be able to retain and retrieve the basic rules if they
are going to play the game.
1. Short-Term Memory/ Working Memory – Child is capable of being
conscious about the rules of the game and about subsequent step. When
the child is thinking about how the game is played they are partly using
their short-term memory.
2. Long-Term Memory – The child remembers the rules of the game and is
able to retrieve information about those rules.
B.
Sequencing – For the rules to be helpful, the child must be able to
remember the order of the rules. Must understand that there is a first step,
steps in between and a last step.
C.
Comprehension – The child must understand what the rules mean.
As Janet Lerner says in Learning Disabilities, “to know something is not only to
have received information but also to have interpreted it and related it to
other knowledge” (Lerner 204). Ex: Understanding, first, last, up, down,
forward, left, right are necessary for playing hopscotch. A child may
understand these terms by relating them to the awareness they have about
their own bodies.
II. Seeing and Understanding the Hopscotch Playing Surface
A.
Visual – Hopscotch is an extremely visual game so the child must be able
to receive information visually.
1. Visual Acuity – The child must be able to see the lines and numbers that
make up the hopscotch.
2. Visual Discrimination – The child must be able to tell the difference
between lines and numbers and must also be able to tell the difference
between different numbers.
3. Visual Perception- The child is able to organize and make sense of the
information they are visually taking in.
39
4. Figure-Ground Perception – Child must be able to focus on hopscotch
and be able to see the difference between sidewalk and hopscotch.
B.
Visual-Spatial Relationships – The hopscotch-playing surface is organized
by location and space. If a child is to understand what they are seeing, they
must be able to organize and perceive location and space.
1. Contrast – There are borders and boundaries in the game of hopscotch.
Therefore, the child must understand such concepts as in/out, here/there,
and outside/inside.
2. Directionality – The child must understand forward and backward to
understand how the board is connected and used.
3. Order and Placement – Child must understand that location has meaning.
Ex: One square alone means one foot, the 10th square is the last square a
person jumps into before they turn around, etc. In other words, the
hopscotch area is an organized space.
4. Size of Space – Child must be able to perceive how large or small a space
is.
5. Laterality – The child must be able to understand which is the left side of
the hopscotch and which is the right side of the hopscotch if they are to
match their bodies to the correct side.
6. Whole-Part Relationships- Child must be able to see and understand that
there are parts that make up the whole hopscotch. For example, there is
only one hopscotch but there are 10 squares that make up the
hopscotch.
III. Organizing the Body and Physically Playing the Game
A.
Body Awareness – A child must have a sense of their own body if he or she
is going to be able to organize it in all of its parts and then organize it in time
and space.
1. Body Image – Child is comfortable with his or her own body and the
actions it is capable of making.
3. Whole-Part Relationships – Child understand different body parts; That
there are legs, arms, fingers, toes, trunk, etc. and that all of these parts
can be manipulated and controlled together and separately. A child
must understand this if the child is going to use different body parts at the
same time for different movements. Ex: Certain squares of the hopscotch
require that a player separate their legs, with the left foot in one box and
the right foot in another.
4. Vestigial Movement – This is in line with the above example. Hopscotch
requires that different body parts are doing different things. If a child uses
both hands or both feet for some movements, they will not be capable of
playing hopscotch correctly. They must only use the body parts that are
required for the particular step of the game.
5. Directionality – Directionality is extremely important in hopscotch. A child
must understand and be capable of moving forward through the
40
6.
7.
8.
9.
B.
hopscotch, switching directions and returning back to their starting point.
Front, behind, forward, backward, up and down are all important.
Laterality – The child must know their left from their right to place their
body in the correct position. The child must “match” their body to what
the squares require; whether it is using the left foot, the right foot, or both.
Crossing the Midline – The child should be comfortable with crossing the
midline. There will be some tasks that require this of the child. Ex: In some
positions, it would be difficult to maintain balance while balancing on one
foot and trying to pick the stone up off of the ground with a particular
hand. The player should be able to cross the midline in case particular
situations call for it.
Postural Feedback – The child must be able to keep their balance. If they
don’t they will fall down or fall forward. They must be able to stay with the
boundaries of the squares and balance on one or both feet.
Spatial – Child must understand the concept of space and size. This is
necessary if the child is to keep their feet within the boundaries of the
hopscotch squares.
Motor Skills and Planning – Child must be able to plan movements and
make appropriate movements for the situation. In hopscotch, a child must,
jump, balance, throw a stone, pick up a stone, turn around and switch feet.
1. Fine Motor Skills – Child must be able to pick up the stone, toss the stone
and release it.
2. Gross Motor Skills – Child must be able to jump and be capable of postural
control.
3. Eye-Hand-Foot Coordination – Child must be able to see where their feet
are supposed to be landing and coordinate their movements. They use
visual signals and coordinate their body together.
4. Controlled Purposeful Movement – Must try to eliminate superfluous
movement. If the child is incapable of controlled purposeful movement,
they will be clumsy and will have a hard time progressing through the
game of hopscotch. Ex: Child must use controlled movement when
tossing the stone. If they throw it to hard, they will never be able to land it
within a square.
5. Timing – Child has a sense of timing and rhythm. This is essential to
balancing, jumping and landing, releasing the stone at the correct time,
etc.
6. Coordinating – Child must use sense of time, awareness of their own body,
visual cues and motor skills together to be successful at hopscotch.
C.
Kinesthetic and Tactile Perception – Child is able to feel muscles working
together to perform tasks of jumping and balancing. Child must be able to
perceive how far and how hard to jump. Child is able to touch the stone, feel
the size and judge wit what strength it should be thrown.
41
Following the Rules and Appropriate Behavior
Sequencing – Child understands how players progress through the hopscotch
board: what it takes to progress, continue and eventually win.
Cognitive – Child is capable of thinking through steps and rules. Checking the
steps of the task at hand and evaluating whether they are being
successful and strategies for being more successful.
Attention – The child must be able to focus on the game if they are going to
keep up with the sequence and how all players are progressing.
Temporal Awareness – The child should be aware that there is not an
unlimited amount of time. There is a certain pace to the game. Timing is
also relative to the sequencing of events – first, next, last. This would also
be important for understanding when it is another child’s turn.
Socialization
Language – Expressive, Receptive, Nonverbal – Child should be able to
communicate with other children about how the game is going.
Patience and Frustration. Child should take turns. Have fun and not get too
frustrated. Let others have a chance and encourage others.
42
Final Task Analysis for LD I
There are an innumerable amount of challenges involved in writing a research
paper and creating an accompanying Compact Disc. From something as small as
knowing when to click the mouse to something as large as having no visual acuity,
anything and everything can come in between a student and their final product. Using
the library and researching on the Internet are two major skills that many people are
accustomed to and use on a daily basis. Very rarely, if ever does anybody stop to
think about how much actually goes into being able to navigate through space in the
library, or being able to scroll up and down on a computer screen. Each component is
important and each contributes to the success of every child in school. By breaking
down the tasks of writing a research paper and creating an accompanying CD, we as
teachers can begin to understand how valuable each life skill is and how necessary
they are to our day-to-day functioning.
UNDERSTANDING THE ASSIGNMENT: Before the student can begin to research and write a
paper about the War of 1812, they must first understand what is being asked of
them. The student will need to process and comprehend the directions, the
teacher’s expectations and the concepts behind war so they can in turn write a
successful paper with an accompanying compact disc.
Auditory Processing: Recognizing and interpreting surrounding sounds.
Listening skills: The child must be able to maintain attention while the
teacher is giving directions in order to comprehend the main ideas
behind the assignment.
Schema: Allows children to relate what they are hearing to prior
knowledge to make new information meaningful.
Functioning Temporal Lobe: Located above the left and right ears. It
enables hearing, memory and language. It will also help in the
visual-auditory connection.
Acuity: Child must have hearing skills in order to have heard the
directions/assignment clearly in the first place.
Discrimination: Ability to distinguish sounds into words in order to hear
and comprehend the directions.
They need to be able to
discriminate between words that sound similar.
Perception: Must be able to identify and interpret the sounds of the
directions.
Memory: ability to store and recall information absorbed by listening.
Information needs to be stored properly to be retrieved properly.
Sequencing: Child needs to remember the order of the words and
components of the project to ensure that it is done in the correct
order.
Beginning: Research and take notes
Middle: Outline and plan
End: Write paper and make accompanying CD
Visual Processing: Analyzing and interpreting visual information
Acuity/ Central vision: The child must be able to clearly see, and
distinguish the letters on the directions sheet, which make up words.
43
Discrimination: Differentiating between letters and words.
Functional Occipital Lobe: Process visual information (text and
graphics)
Functioning Temporal Lobe: Connects the visual and language areas
to allow the child to “see” and visualize what they hear.
Perception: The child must be able to make a mental picture in their
mind of what the War of 1812 looked like, what the time period
looked like, what the lifestyle was like during the war and what
types of people were involved in the war.
Memory: The directions need to be seen and filed correctly in the mind
so that they can be retrieved when it comes time to make the
outline, write the paper and make the CD.
Sequencing: The ability to visualize what happens in the beginning,
and in the end of the project.
Beginning: The child not only needs to conceptualize that in the
beginning of the project, they will be researching and taking
notes, but they also need to understand that the events in
the war need to be sequential. They should be able to
visualize that the Treaty of Ghent cannot be signed until the
Battle of York has taken place etc…
Middle: Envision the outline and how the CD might look
End: Visualize the final product
Receptive Language: In order to comprehend what is being asked of them, the student
needs to have functioning receptive language skills. The student needs to differentiate
between sounds and words and understand the vocabulary.
Pragmatics: The child needs to have an understanding of the
language in the correct context in order to absorb the directions.
Semantics: The child needs to understand the meaning of the
directions while they are being told, in order to comprehend
appropriately
Cognitive Skills: The mental processes involved in understanding the assignment. The
student needs the abilities to know, reason, evaluate and synthesize all while thinking
about what is expected of them. The student needs cognitive skills to allow them to
think about American history and the War of 1812.
Identify: Recognize the requirements
Sequence: Understand the steps behind a research project and the
order in which they come
Evaluate: Examine each component of the assignment (research,
compose an outline, write a paper, create a CD
Metacognition: Thinking about thinking. The student needs to ask themselves questions
such as: Do I understand this assignment? Do I know what it means to research in the
library or on the Internet? Do I know how to create an outline?
Part-Whole Relationships: The student must be able to understand that the whole project
is made up of many components. The student needs to be able to break down the
44
project into parts such as research, planning, outlining, and writing, and then put it all
together to make a complete assignment. It is plausible that without this knowledge,
the project will be disorganized.
Comprehension: The student must understand what the project is asking for. They need
to be able to apply the information learned throughout the project to making a
successful final product.
Conceptual: The student needs to understand the meaning behind a
research project.
Vocabulary: New vocabulary used in this assignment need to be
comprehended by the student so they can understand the
context.
Students will come across new words such as: coercion,
merchants, declaration, territory, invade, and blockade
The vocabulary of the project needs to be understood: outline,
search engine, card catalog (library) etc…
Schema: The student should be able to draw on his/her own
knowledge to make the project more meaningful.
Attention: The student must be able to focus on the teacher’s directions about the
assignment.
Distractibility: The child needs to focus on the assignment and not on
what is going on in the surrounding environment.
Selective attention: The ability to collect information and filter out
irrelevant information.
Sustained attention: The student needs to be enthusiastic about
researching, writing a paper, and creating a CD.
Memory: Recall the directions for the assignment and in what order they happen. The
prefrontal cortex of the brain is responsible for working memory.
Short term: Activate a functioning parietal lobe and store directions
about the assignment.
Long-term: Store vocabulary from assignment and depending on how
long the research process takes, the directions may need to be
stored in long term memory.
Sequential: This type of memory requires that information needs to be
recalled in a specific order. The assignment needs to be executed
in a specific order.
READING: In order to effectively research, the student must be able to read books
and articles whether it be in the library or online. Meaning needs to be obtained
through reading and the student needs to have functioning receptive language
skills as well.
Decoding: Linking sounds and symbols
Visual: Analyzing and interpreting visual information
Acuity/ Central Vision: The student must be able to see the text
Discrimination: Ability to differentiate between letters and words
to gather information
45
Perception: The student needs to recognize letters and words
while assigning meaning to them.
Tracking: The student must be able to follow individual lines of
text without jumping around the page.
Functioning Temporal Lobe: Connects the visual and language
areas to allow the child to “see” and visualize what they
hear.
Functional Occipital Lobe: Process visual information (text and
graphics)
Part-Whole Relationships: The student must be able to decode
words, sentences and phrases into manageable parts and
then have the ability to put them back together to obtain
meaning.
Visual Sequencing: It is important that the student understand
the order in which information is read. Switching this order
will change the meaning behind the text. For example: The
Treaty of Ghent, the official document that ended the War
of 1812 could not have been developed and signed before
the war started.
Visual Memory: Visual memory is incredibly important while
reading because it helps students to rapidly decode words.
Eventually, this automaticity will help with fluency and
comprehension because meaning is often lost when a child
takes an extended period of time sounding out. It is
important that sight words are being stored in visual memory
as well as high frequency words. It would be extremely
helpful if related vocabulary words (such as: coercion,
merchants, declaration, territory, invade, and blockade)
were memorized as well to help students gather more
meaning while reading.
Auditory: Recognizing and interpreting surrounding sounds.
Acuity: Child must have hearing skills
Discrimination: Ability to distinguish between sounds
Perception: The child needs to recognize sounds and put them
together to make sense of them.
Functioning Temporal Lobe: Located above the left and right
ears. It enables hearing, memory and language. It will also
help in the visual-auditory connection.
Phonemic Awareness: Recognizing that words are made up of
sounds and understands the sounds that the letters of the
alphabet make.
Part-Whole Relationships: Ability to blend phonemes into words
Auditory Sequencing: The student needs to hear sounds in the
order in which they are meant to come so that meaning is
retained.
Auditory Memory: Student should be able to remember how
words sound instead of having to sound out each phoneme
46
every time the word is being read. This information needs to
be stored properly so it can be retrieved as such.
Language and Comprehension: A grasp on language and its main components will
allow research to go much smoother. Fluency increases as children become more
confident and comfortable with the ideas of language.
Syntax: The structure and grammar involved in sentences
Word endings
Morphology: Combines phonemes to form basic words
Ordering words, phrases, and sentences
Semantics: The meaning of linguistic expression
Words
Sentences
Vocabulary: While researching, students should be grasping
and understanding information read about key people,
places, and battles. Some of the information that students
should come across and recognize are:
Key people (such as):
William Henry Harrison: ninth president, fought in
the War of 1812 at the Battle of the Thames
River
Isaac Brock: captured American Fort Detroit
without firing a shot
James Madison: fourth president, was president
during the War of 1812
Tecumseh: Shawnee chief, was against American
expansion, joined Britain during the War.
Francis Scott Key:
Wrote America’s national
anthem
Places and battles
Fort McHenry: Britain bombed the fort and its
survival inspired Francis Scott Key to write the
Star-Spangled Banner
Battle of Lake Erie: American victory over British
ships.
Washington: Britain burned the Capitol, the White
House, the War Office and the Treasury.
Treaty of Ghent: Officially ended war of 1812
Concepts: The student must understand the basic concepts behind a
battle, a treaty and a war in order to really obtain meaning from
the texts.
Rapid Automatic Decoding/ Fluency: The student must be able to
quickly decode in order to truly comprehend the meaning
conveyed by the literature.
Schema/ Prior Knowledge: Student is able to access own knowledge
and experiences to assist in the comprehension and enjoyment of
what the research is about.
47
Metacognition: Thinking about thinking. While reading, the student would be able to
reflect and ask themselves questions about the text and the underlying concepts. If the
student is not comprehending while reading or they notice that the information is not
making sense, they may ask themselves some related questions:
What is war? What is the War of 1812 about?
What would I do in this situation?
Why would Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun and the rest of the War Hawks
want to fight Britain and the Native Americans?
Spatial/ Temporal Awareness:
Sequencing: letters, phonemes, words, lines, phrases, and paragraphs
are read in the correct order. Without sequencing, information will
appear scattered and disorganized.
Laterality: The inner awareness of left and right is important while
reading because the child needs to understand that our text is
read from left to right.
Location:
Text: The location of words on a page is important. Example:
The title of an article would not appear on the bottom of the
page.
Body: The student needs to be aware of their own body in
relation to the book or computer.
Directionality: Students need to be aware that they start at the top of
a page, read each line from left to right, and then move down to
the line below, read left to right, move one line below etc… without
directionality, the student would not understand what to read first.
Attention: The student must be able to stay focused while reading or meaning will be
lost and will not get stored correctly. The distractible child will have a difficult time
reading for meaning if they cannot stay focused on the text.
RESEARCH:
Using the Library: The library is structured according to genre, numbers and letters of the
alphabet. If a student cannot sequence correctly therefore unable to navigate through
alphabetized books, working in the library will be very challenging. Directionality is
incredibly important when talking about books that are above or below, right or left, or
next to any particular object or shelf. The student needs to be aware of facts such as
these before attempting to locate the right books and articles.
Visual: Analyzing and interpreting visual information
Acuity/ Central Vision: The child must be able to see the books,
the shelves, and the card catalog in order to locate a book.
Discrimination: The student must be able to tell the difference
between symbols and letters in the library.
Perception: The ability to make sense of the surrounding
information. Differentiating between books, magazines or a
newspaper can alter the effectiveness of research.
48
Tracking: Tracking is critical in a library when trying to locate
books by their Dewey Decimal number. The student’s eyes
need to be able to scan in an orderly way.
Part-Whole Relationships: When using an encyclopedia or
another type of series, it is important to know that each book
only makes up a portion of the whole set.
Visual Sequencing: The child needs to understand the order in
which books appear in the library in order to grasp the
meaning. For example: The student should not read the last
book in a series before looking at the first and the second.
Especially when studying the War of 1812 because so much
of it is based on cause and effect.
Visual Memory: Visual memory in a library is a necessary skill so
that the child does not have to relearn the setup of the
environment every time they enter the library.
Spatial: Understanding the surrounding space and having the
capability to move around, in, and through that space effectively.
Directionality: Organization in the library depends heavily on
directions especially since books appear in numbered order.
If a book has a higher number, it will be to the right of a
book with a lower number. The student will need to
understand up and down, right and left, forwards and
backwards when maneuvering through the library.
Order: The library is based on organization, alphabetization,
and categorization. In order to find the way through the
library, the student must be able to utilize the space
properly.
Laterality: The inner awareness of left and right is important
when locating material in the library and navigating through
the space.
Part-Whole Relationships: There are many different parts and
sections to a library such as: fiction, non-fiction, romance,
science fiction, fantasy and biography. The student needs
to understand that even though there are numerous
sections available to research in, that they all make up one
library.
Body Awareness: The child needs to know which parts of their body
are moving, why they are moving, and when they are moving.
Vestigial Movement: The student should be able to make
purposeful movements when reaching for a book, opening
a book and flipping pages.
Directionality: Moving around the library in the correct direction
is important in order to obtain the necessary information.
Laterality: Needed when locating resources and reading.
Crossing the Midline: When reaching for books and using them,
crossing the midline should be something that the student is
comfortable doing.
49
Spatial: Where the student is in relation to the tables, chairs,
books, shelves, and other people are all things that need to
be taken into account.
Motor Skills and Planning:
Fine Motor Skills: Student must be able to turn the pages of
articles and books as well as the ability to pick up books.
Gross Motor Skills: Student must be able to reach for books,
move body around the library and be able to support their
own weight.
Eye-Hand Coordination
Controlled Purposeful Movement: Without this, the student will
have an excess of vestigial movement and they will have a
very hard time organizing and staying on task while reading.
Coordinating: The awareness of one’s body will make utilizing
the library much more successful.
Cognitive Skills: The mental process of knowledge, opinion, awareness,
perception, judgment, memory and reason. Cognition is the
thought process behind any task that enables decision-making,
which assists in completing tasks.
Sequencing: Sequencing is the base of order and organization.
It is a critical skill because it determines what happens first,
second, last, before, and after.
Locating books according to reference and Dewey
Decimal system.
Searching for information
Table of Contents
Index
Glossary
Alphabetized (encyclopedia or dictionary)
Identify: The student needs the ability to prioritize and locate
important information in the text, such as key people and
important places. (William Henry Harrison, Isaac Brock,
James Madison, Tecumseh, Francis Scott Key, Fort McHenry,
Battle of Lake Erie, and the Treaty of Ghent)
Reviewing Information: While researching in the library, the
student must consistently check what they are reading to
ensure that they are following the guidelines of the paper.
Conceptual: The student should be making meaning while
reading and thinking about how each piece of text read
and each book contributes to the paper and CD as a
whole.
Decision Making: Decision-making is a cognitive process, which
lends itself to the selection of a final choice that is among
other alternatives. The selection of books, articles, sources
and authors to include and not to include requires intact
decision making skills.
Metacognition: Asking reflective questions to oneself while reading is
critical to the researching process especially when there is a final
50
product like a paper and or a CD. Some questions the student
may ask themselves are:
Analysis:
Is reading about James Madison important? What does
he have to do with the War of 1812?
Do I have the information I need about weaponry used
during the war?
Do I understand what I should be reading to meet the
needs of the project?
Synthesis:
How does all my reading come together?
Do I have the overall picture of the War of 1812?
Attention: The student must be able to stay focused while researching
in the library or meaning will be lost and will not get stored
correctly.
Distractibility: The child needs to focus on their reading and not
on what is going on in the surrounding environment.
Selective attention: The ability to collect important, purposeful,
information and filter out irrelevant information.
Sustained attention: The student needs to be enthusiastic about
using the library, researching, writing a paper, and creating
a CD in order to focus for long periods of time.
Memory: The information read needs to be stored correctly so that it
can be retrieved when it is time to write the paper, outline and
make the CD.
Temporal Awareness: The student must be able to organize their time
during the research process.
Communication: Open lines of communication and having the ability
to communicate in the library can help facilitate research. The
student should take advantage of the librarian and all of the
resources available.
Using the Internet:
Visual: Analyze and interpret visual information.
Acuity/ Central Vision: The student must be able to see the
computer screen, keyboard, and the mouse.
Discrimination: The student needs to tell the difference between
various symbols and graphics on the Internet and between
the keys on the keyboard.
Perception: The student needs to understand the difference
between different Internet related icons such as: back,
home, forward, refresh, and print. It is also important to note
the different types of Internet sites:
Search engines (such as):
Yahoo
Google
Wikipedia
51
Web sites: Informational/ educational sites that can be
used to access information about the War of 1812
(such as):
www.kathimitchell.com/1812war.html
www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/warof1812.
htm
www.worldalmanacforkids.com/EXPLORE/us_histor
y/warof1812.html
Tracking: While scanning the Internet, it is important that the
student be able to track correctly because many Internet
sites have links to other sites on them and a student could
click on the wrong line if their eyes do not track correctly.
Many websites have confusing pages filled with many text
blocks. It is important to have tracking skills so that the
student can read the correct information line by line.
Figure-Ground Perception: The student must be able to see the
difference between text and background on the Internet
especially because there are so many distractions like popup ads, colors and animation.
Functioning Temporal Lobe: Connects visual and language
areas allowing the child to “see” and visualize what is heard.
Functional Occipital Lobe: The student needs to process visual
information while using the Internet because it is an
incredibly visual tool.
Visual Memory: It is important that the student remembers how
to use the Internet so that it does not have to be relearned
each time the student needs to do research. It will also help
so that a child remembers which websites are useful and
which sites are not.
Auditory: Recognizing and interpreting surrounding sounds. Auditory
skills are important when using the Internet if the child is working
with websites that include audio/sound. Certain forms of Assistive
Technology such as the Kurzweil program require hearing skills
because text (that can be accessed online) is read to the student.
Acuity: Child must be able to hear.
Discrimination: Ability to distinguish sounds into words in order to
hear and comprehend. If listening to sound bytes relating to
the War of 1812, the student may have to discriminate
between the different sounds that weapons make, or
maybe the sounds in the Star Spangled Banner.
Perception: The student must be able to identify and interpret
sounds.
Functioning Temporal Lobe: Located above the left and right
ears. It enables hearing, memory and language. The
Temporal Lobe can also help with the visual-auditory
connection, which is helpful when listening to, and seeing
information on a computer screen.
52
Phonemic Awareness: The student should be able to recognize
that words are made up of sounds.
Spatial:
Directionality: When using the Internet, the student needs to be
able to scroll up and down, click to go backward and
forward, and read left to right.
Order: The Internet can be a very confusing tool for research
because it has so many uses and can display so many
different spaces. The student needs to make order of the
Internet before it can be used properly.
Laterality: Reading information on websites requires the ability to
move from left to right.
Body Awareness: The child needs to know which parts of their body
are moving, why they are moving and when they are moving,
when researching on the Internet.
Vestigial Movement: The student should be able to make
meaningful movements when using the mouse and typing.
Directionality: The student should be comfortable and capable
with scrolling up or down, reading from left to right, and
clicking on different links.
Laterality: The student’s inner awareness of left and right is
important when researching especially if there is a tutorial
involved. If the teacher is demonstrating how to use a
particular site and she says, “the button that leads to the
timeline on the War of 1812, is to the right of the button
leading to the Civil War,” the student would need to locate
information based on direction.
Crossing the Midline: This action is required when moving the
mouse or if the screen is a touch screen and buttons/ links
need to be pushed on both sides. If the student is looking at
numerous websites at once, they will need to cross the
midline to access each site depending on when it is
needed.
Handedness: When using the mouse, the student should know
which hand they have a preference for using.
Spatial: The concepts of time, space, and size when searching
the internet are important because each material used
requires its own space and the child needs to be aware of
how their body relates to the:
Mouse:
Where does my hand have to be?
When do I click?
Keyboard:
How do I place my fingers on the right keys?
Which key needs to be pushed first, second, and
last?
Computer:
Where do I sit in relation to the computer?
53
How long does it take for each website to
appear?
Buttons/plugs:
Which hole do I put the Ethernet cord in?
Which button needs to be pushed first?
Motor Skills and Planning:
Fine Motor Skills: Student must be able to type and control the
mouse in relatively small areas like the menu bar.
Gross Motor Skills: Student must be able to support own body
weight at the computer and have the arm strength to
support the hands.
Eye-Hand Coordination: Moving and clicking the mouse while
looking at the computer screen requires much eye-hand
coordination especially when it is necessary to click on a
small area. Some websites can be adjusted so that the text
and graphics are bigger, however, many sites do not have
that capability and it is important to be able to control
where the mouse needs to be.
Controlled Purposeful Movement: To avoid hitting the wrong
keys while typing, the student must display controlled and
meaningful movements.
Timing:
Mouse: Clicking the mouse at the correct time is
important when doing Internet research.
Dates: When looking at different articles, the dates
relating to the War of 1812 will vary from as early as
1810 (causes of the war) to as recent as today.
Taking this into account is important when looking at
various perspectives on the war.
Coordinating: The awareness and planning involved in using the
body is critical to success.
Cognitive Skills: The mental process of knowledge, opinion, awareness,
perception, judgment, memory and reason. Cognition is the
thought process behind any task that enables decision-making,
which assists in completing tasks.
Identify: The student must be able to identify reliable sources on
the Internet and be able to pull meaningful information from
those websites.
Analysis: Each portion of the paper needs to be about a
specific topic and the child needs to ensure that all the
small parts are intact. The child also needs to distinguish if
there are any gaps in the research.
Synthesis: The child must be able to effectively summarize what
was learned as well as think about how all of the research
comes together. When using different websites, how can all
the information be woven together to create a purposeful
“big picture”?
54
Conceptual: Understands what all the research means when
combined. The student can conceptualize the various
battles in the war and the key players who helped execute
the battles after doing thorough research.
Decision Making: Decision-making is a cognitive process, which
lends itself to the selection of a final choice that is among
other alternatives. The student needs to decide which
websites to use, what keywords to search with, which
websites not to use, and which authors are acceptable to
use for the assignment.
Metacognition: The student’s inner awareness and understanding of
own thoughts will contribute significantly to Internet research
especially when trying to filter out unimportant details. The student
should be asking themselves questions such as:
Did I type in the website properly? Is this site going to work with
my assignment?
Do I have too much information about Tecumseh and not
enough about the Battle of Lake Erie?
Attention: The Internet can be very distracting at times because of
how much is on each website. It is important that the student be
able to focus on the information needed as opposed to the popup ads, or the graphics next to the text.
Memory: With our ever-changing technological society, knowing how
to use the Internet as communication and research tool is an
important skill.
Short Term:
Websites needed for the project
Specific key words needed to conduct a successful
search.
Long Term:
Typing
Using a mouse
Accessing web pages and being able to use them
effectively
Icons of the Internet (back, forward, home, print, etc…)
Temporal Awareness: The student must be able to organize their time
during the research process and not waste time on information that
is not important.
Other: As much as technology enhances our lives, it is also not 100%
reliable all the time. Patience is central when working online.
Some days, the connection can be strong and there will be no
problem accessing information and on other days, every website
needed may be under repair. It is crucial that students’ do not get
overly frustrated with this fact and realize that it is not their fault that
the Internet is moving slowly.
WRITING THE OUTLINE AND PAPER
55
Preparation: Before writing the outline and the paper, the student needs to take
effective notes, decide which information is needed and not needed, and mentally
organize the notes before attempting to write them down. Hopefully, the student will
have been taking notes throughout the research process and consciously thinking
about where they will fit into an outline and a paper sequentially and logically.
Taking Notes: Note taking is an effective way to record information
while reading or searching the Internet. The student should be able
to take valuable notes to refer back to when the time comes to
write the outline, paper and create the CD.
Fine Motor Skills:
Hold writing utensil with fingers in an appropriate way
Type using correct keys and fingers
Gross Motor Skills: The arm muscles must be strong enough to
support the hand. The child needs to be able to support
their own body either while typing notes or while sitting at a
desk writing notes.
Crossing the Midline: In order to write, the student will have to
cross the midline each time a new line of text begins
(crossing from right to left and then back to right).
The
keyboard is split essentially down the middle and the right
hand is responsible for the keys on its side and the left hand
is responsible for the keys on its side. Even though it does not
necessarily appear as though the midline plays a large role
while typing, it definitely comes into play when watching the
text move across the screen.
Vestigial Movement: The child should have the ability to use
only the body parts needed for writing
Arms
Hands
Fingers
Handedness: The student should know which hand is dominant
when taking notes by hand. When typing, both hands are
needed equally.
Eye-Hand Coordination:
The eyes and hands need to work as a pair to ensure
that writing is legible and accurate.
The desired information is being typed properly and is
showing up correctly on the screen.
Kinesthetic and Tactile perception: Student uses sense of touch
to feel the pencil and paper, keyboard, books and articles.
They should be able to feel how their body moves while
writing and typing.
Force:
How hard to push the keys or the pencil
How much effort is needed to flip a page or lift a
book?
Materials: how the mouse, keys, and writing utensils feel
to touch.
56
Muscle Memory: The muscles needed to write and type, are
vital skills that are utilized in everyday life. The student needs
their muscles to be trained to remember how to form letters
and how it feels to type on a keyboard. When the skills are
needed again, retrieval will be simpler if the child has
developed muscle memory.
Decision Making: Deciding which information is the most
important will allow for note taking to move more quickly
and efficiently. As opposed to writing every thing down, the
student should be able to distinguish between relevant and
irrelevant information.
Attention: The student should be able to focus on note taking
while reading, especially to make sure that the content of
the notes makes sense.
Scripting:
Reading: The student must be able to read their own notes so that the
information can accurately be transferred into an outline and then
eventually into a paper.
Summarizing:
Distinguishing between significant facts and
inconsequential facts to discard. The student should be able to
include information that is relevant to the assignment and the War
of 1812.
Selecting and Decision Making: Making the transition between notes
and an outline requires prioritization, comprehension, and the
ability to find the main idea. After the child has separated the
information taken from the notes, and summarized it, it needs to be
included piece-by-piece into the outline and then transferred into
the paper. The outline form should not be in complete sentences.
It should be brief and clear. The paper is where expressive
language, semantics, syntax, and morphology count.
Key people:
When outlining, a person could briefly be shown like this:
Isaac Brock
Born in 1769- Canadian
Instinctive, aggressive fighter
Trusted by his men
Captured Fort Mackinac (large victory)
Killed at Fort George
2. In a paper however, the student may write
something like this: Isaac Brock was an instinctive and
aggressive fighter during the War of 1812. He won
important battles because of his strategy and ability
to work well with others. The battle at Fort Mackinac
was a significant victory for General Brock not only
because he won but also because he gained the
trust of his men.
57
Places: The child should have accurate notes about the setting
so that the paper will be more developed and will make
sense contextually.
Important battles/ events: When outlining, the student should
be able to highlight main ideas in as brief a way as possible.
The Battle of Washington might look like this:
Battle of Washington (also called the Battle of
Bladensburg)
British “victory”
As revenge for attacking Upper Canada, the
British army set fire to the:
Capitol
White House
War Office
Treasury
British troops retreated after setting fires
Americans united against Britain
Citations: When researching, it is important to cite all references.
Each type of book or article depending on the number of
authors, the title and the book itself, has a different type of
citation. When citing references, sequence and order
matters. The author’s last name goes before their first name,
and the copyright date goes after the publisher. In addition
to having different types of citations, there are different
methods of citing references such as: MLA or APA, each
having their own rules of spacing and punctuation.
Spatial Organization
Paper Based:
Outline: Creating an outline requires precise spacing and
planning. Each heading needs to be on top of its sub
headings and a distinction needs to be made
between categories so the outline can be used as a
tool. It should be organized in a clear manner
according to topic and the information needs to be
lined up accordingly. Hand written outlines are much
more difficult than computer generated outlines
because the student is responsible for the spacing on
their own.
Final Paper: The spacing involved in writing a final paper
is important in terms of the heading/ title and the
indentations. The title of the paper cannot appear in
the very middle of the first page, it needs to be
positioned on top of the text. Every time a new topic
begins, the student needs to begin a new paragraph.
The student also needs to remember that when they
get to the edge of the margin, it is time to start a new
line instead of turning the paper to the side to
continue the sentence.
58
Citations: The student needs to know where on the paper
to put the citations, and needs to remember to
indent the second line of the citation (if necessary).
Computer Generated:
Outline: When typing on a computer, making an outline
is not extremely difficult because the computer
spaces the information accordingly, as long as the
student pushes the return/enter key when they want
a new line of information.
Final Paper: The student should remember the same
guidelines whether the paper is hand written or
typed; the title goes on top of the text. When typing,
the computer automatically moves down a line when
there is not enough room on the page. This is
important especially for students who have difficulty
spacing their words apart and knowing when to
move down a line on the paper.
Citations: The student needs to know where in the paper
to type the citations in addition to understanding
where the space bar, tab key, comma key and
period keys are.
Body: The student needs to understand where their body should
be in relation to the computer, the paper, the table, and
any other materials that are necessary to successfully
Space: The student needs to have a handle on the space
around them and how they are to move through it in order
to successfully complete an outline and a paper.
Motor Skills
Fine Motor: The student needs to be able to hold a writing
utensil or type on a keyboard. They also need to be able to
shift their papers around if handwriting.
Gross Motor: The ability to support ones own body weight is
important when sitting down to compose an outline and a
paper. It is important that the child sit properly in their chair.
The student also needs arm muscle and control to help
facilitate the writing process.
Laterality: The student should be aware that the heading should be in
one of the top corners, depending on the teacher’s instructions,
and the title should be in the center before any of the body begins.
The student needs to visualize where on the paper they will be
scripting.
Directionality: When handwriting, the student needs to begin
composing on the right hand side of the paper and end each line
at the margin on the left hand side. When using a computer, the
word processor will do this task automatically to ensure that all text
fits on the paper.
Part-Whole Relationships: The student needs to understand that the
outline is only made up of parts and that the paper should be the
59
whole result of combining all the pieces in the outline. They should
recognize that each phrase on the outline is not a complete
sentence but only a portion of a sentence that will need to be
completed in the paper.
Attention: In order to write an outline and a paper within the given
time, the student will need to remain focused on their task. They
should be able to ignore distractions from the surrounding
environment while writing an outline or their paper.
Metacognition: The student needs to ask themselves questions during both the outlining
process and the writing process.
Outline:
Have I summarized correctly from my reading?
Is all the information lined up properly under its heading?
Does my outline make sense and will I be able to turn it into a
paper?
Paper:
Are my sentences grammatically correct? (Syntax)
Does my paper make sense? (Semantics)
Why did I use those words to express that particular idea?
Is my language choice attention-grabbing?
Is my handwriting legible?
Can others learn from my research? What can they learn?
Selecting Effective Language: In addition to the research and the outline, the paper
needs to be written in a logical way using suitable language. This means that the child
needs to understand the basics of language in order to convey their ideas through
words. Recognizing, differentiating, classifying, storing, remembering, retaining, and
retrieving information are all key concepts behind receptive language. All parts are
necessary for the successful communication of ideas to others. In order to differentiate
and integrate information, the child needs to have an intact auditory processing
system.
Syntax: The structure and grammar involved in sentences. The student
must be able to order words, phrases and sentences.
Morphology: Smallest unit of meaning in language.
Prefixes
Tense
Plurals.
Semantics: This is the meaning behind linguistic expression. The
student needs to have comprehension skills and a concept of the
vocabulary being used in order to create meaningful writing.
Pragmatics: Language in the context in which it is used. The student
must use appropriate language for the topic.
Memory:
Short term: The child needs to retain the ideas in their mind in order to
turn it into expressive language.
Long term: The student needs to understand and remember how to:
60
Write an outline
Put words together to create words, sentences, phrases and
paragraphs
Access the information learned during the research stage so
that they can create an outline that will eventually turn into
a paper.
Vocabulary learned to be retrieved when needed.
Write a paper
Research using the library and the Internet
Cognitive Skills: The student needs all of the metal processes involved in writing.
Identify: Associate language that expresses ideas about the War of
1812.
Sequence: Ensure that there is an order to the outline and that the
events are in sequential order.
The paper should follow a
beginning, middle, and end layout in which the thoughts
conveyed make sense.
Analyze: The student should be able to comprehend how their
language conveys an appropriate message. The outline will help
with the analyzing step because it is hopefully laid out in a manner
that makes the components easy to locate before they combine
to make a paper. At the outlining stage, the student should make
sure all parts of the project are addressed before moving on to
writing the paper.
Synthesize: All the information from the outline should be combined in
order to write a coherent paper. The ability to recognize how
language can be combined to express and link strands of ideas
should be something that the student is comfortable doing.
Check: The student ought to edit their paper and make sure that it has
meaning and is true to the research. Having a peer or a teacher
edit the outline and the paper can also help provide another
perspective on the language choice of the student.
Decision-making: The student will be making choices about which words to use to
express the concepts behind the War of 1812. The language chosen should be fitting to
the topic.
MAKING A CD: Choosing what to put onto a CD for a project is something that
students will be excited about and motivated to create. Anything that involves
creating and hands-on experiences will allow children to really grasp a hold of
information. Students today are exposed to new and exciting technologies so
frequently and by integrating it into the classroom, it will allow for a whole new
realm of possibilities.
A. Deciding: Decision-making is a cognitive process, which lends itself to the
selection of a final choice that is among other alternatives. Decision-making
is a personal reasoning process. What makes decision making difficult is that
we cannot see, touch, taste, smell, or hear our decision. We can only
experience the aftermath or effect of our decisions. Sometimes decisions
have a time constraints, or high risks. They can even be indefinite, vague and
61
difficult to make. Different barriers that can get in the way of making decisions
are things such as:
Experience and Schema: Perhaps the child has not been exposed to
technology before and does not understand the concepts behind a
computer, Internet and a CD.
Impulsivity: Prematurely making decisions before weighing the options
can cause poor choices. Many types of CD’s are not rewritable
which means that once the student pushes the “burn disc” button,
there is no chance to go back and change anything. This can
potentially waste a lot of material.
Memory: When trying to decide on what to include, the student may
make a decision based on the most recent information learned
and not necessarily the most important. In the case of the war,
they may choose something like “Hornet vs. Peacock”. A situation
in 1913, in which a USS ship called “Hornet” destroys a British ship
called “Peacock”. Although this is an event to be noted, it is not
worthy of being placed on a list of most significant events from the
war. They may not recall the steps needed in making a decision
therefore becoming their choices inconsistent.
Generalization: The child may be simplifying the information known.
Not only will this shorten their paper and outline, it will also
appreciably limit the amount to be placed on the CD.
Attention: The child needs to have the ability to focus while deciding
what to put on the CD. They may have gone through an extensive
list of items all of which are not going to be chosen, and if they
become distracted,
Perception: The child may not have stored the information correctly
making their perception of events skewed. This can play a large
part in creating a CD.
62
Creating the CD: As mentioned in the above sections, to complete any sort of research
project, (and task) a child requires cognitive skills, visual processing, auditory
processing, motor skills, language, memory, laterality, directionality, attention, and
metacognition. Without any one of those skills, the child’s ability to make decisions
could be impaired. A child needs cognitive skills to ensure that they can comprehend
and analyze the task at hand. A child needs visual and auditory processing skills to be
able to recognize and understand visual and auditory inputs from the surrounding
environment. After doing significant research in the library and on the Internet, the
student has decided to make an accompanying CD that includes the Top Ten Battles of
the War of 1812. Each battle will have its own link including a summary of the battle
read by the student and graphics.
Battle of Queenston
Battle of Raisin River
Battle of Lake Erie
Battle of Thames
Battle of Horseshoe Bend
Battle of Chippewa
Battle of Lundy’s Lane
Battle of Lake Champlain
Battle of Baltimore
Battle of New Orleans
Summary
Hopefully, there be support systems such as teachers and librarians available to the
student so that they can be enabled to succeed every step of the way if need be. It is
so important that we as teachers understand how much effort students exert if they
have a deficiency in one of the aforementioned areas. Those students are working
harder than everyone else to complete the same tasks. Task Analysis requires us to
understand each skill, no matter how minute, that we are asking our students to do.
63
Enjoy a productive and satisfying year in your AU program!
Phone numbers to remember:
(202) 454-2251: Jennifer Durham, AU Intern Supervisor LSW Curriculum Coordinator
(202) 885-3716: Valerie Rauenzahn, AU Graduate Admissions Coordinator
(202) 885-3730: Abby Himmelrich, Graduate Assistant and Admissions Coordinator, MA
Special Education: Learning Disabilities
(202) 885-3731: Alida Anderson, Gray 218, Professor of Special Education: Learning
Disabilities
(202) 885–3714: Sarah Irvine Belson, Gray 120, Director and Professor of Special
Education: Learning Disabilities and SETH Dean
(202) 965-6600: Diana Meltzer, Associate Head of School, The Lab School of Washington
64