PITTSBURG STATE UNIVERSITY
College of Education
Department of Teaching and Leadership
SPED 550 Methods—Primary Children with Disabilities
Credit Hours:
Instructor:
Course Time Schedule:
Office:
Office Phone:
Office Hours:
Email:
FAX:
2
Dr. Martha A. York
210 Hughes Hall
(620) 235-4965
M/W 1:00-5:00 (or by appt.)
T/Th 11-12, 1-3
myork@pittstate.edu
(620) 235-4520
Course Description
This is an undergraduate course designed to provide the trainee with knowledge and
skills relating to the methods, materials, and techniques needed to design an
individualized program for teaching preschool exceptional children in an inclusive
setting. Appropriate delivery systems, curriculum, and intervention strategies will be
considered.
Purpose of the Course
The course content is build upon the standards developed and approved by the Kansas
State Department of Education that lead to the Early Childhood Unified Birth through
Third Grade license. Building the course on this foundation should enable students to
develop skills such as independent thinking, effective communication (both oral and
written), and participation in the decision-making process. Professional collaboration
will be encouraged, as it is necessary when designing programs of instruction and
intervention for young children with disabilities.
This course emphasizes that the goal of early intervention is to optimize each child’s
learning potential and daily well being as well as to increase opportunities for the child to
function effectively in the community. Programs for young children with special needs
must be based on evidence based strategies that have been found to be effective with all
children. In addition, children in the elementary setting should be educated with their
typically developing peers to the greatest extent possible.
In this course, preservice teachers will learn how to apply assessment information in
writing goals and objectives to meet the individual needs of the child. They will also
learn how to plan appropriate programs and interventions and design appropriate learning
environments for teaching in inclusive settings. In addition, collaboration techniques that
can be used between special education and general education teachers in a kindergarten
through third grade setting.
This course will focus on the following KSDE Early Childhood Unified Standards:
Standard #1 The birth through third grade teacher understands and respects families as
the primary decision-maker for general education and exceptional
students and assures that services are family-focused and culturally
sensitive.
Standard #2 The birth through third grade teacher meets the unique needs of general
education and exceptional students and families within communities.
Standard #3 The birth through third grade teacher possesses a high level of
professional skills and knowledge about how general education and
exceptional students develop and learn.
Standard #4 The birth through third grade teacher uses a variety of informal and formal
assessment strategies in collaboration wit other professionals and family
members to plan and individualize curriculum, instruction,
interventions, and transitions for general education and exceptional
students.
Standard #5 The birth through third grade teacher establishes, maintains, and promotes
physically, psychologically safe and health learning for general education
and exceptional students in their natural environments (home,
community, and/or school).
Standard #6 The birth through third grade teacher collaborates with the family and
other professionals to design a developmentally appropriate and
research-based curriculum that meets the unique needs, capabilities, and
interests of general education and exceptional students.
Standard #7 The birth through third grade teacher has experiences in varied settings.
Bold type is used to emphasize the parts of the standards that will be addressed in this
course. Activities related to the material contained in Standards 8-13 will be addressed
in the curriculum planning portion of this course.
Required Readings:
Mercer, C. & Mercer, A. (2011). Teaching students with learning problems, 8th ed.
Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall. ISBN –13-112807-8
Teaching Strategies:
Lecture, class discussions, student presentations, small group activities, projects,
audio/visual presentations, and activities posted on ANGEL.
Attendance:
Attendance and participation in class discussions, presentations, exams, and projects are
required. Because this class is experience and discussion based, attendance is vital and it
will be impossible to duplicate what has been missed. Please inform the instructor if you
will not be in class. Points will be deducted from your grade for assignments that are
turned in late without prior approval of the instructor.
Course Evaluation:
Materials Project
Classroom Environment Project
Primary Unit Plan Project
Adaptations Table
Interventions Project
Total
50 points
50 points
50 points
50 points
140 points
340 points
Tentative Class Schedule
Date
8/29
Chap. Topic
1.
Creating Responsive Learning
Environments
9/12 2.
Planning and Organizing Instruction
MTSS
9/19 3.
Assessing Students for Instruction
MTSS
9/26 4.
Teaching Students and Managing
Instruction
10/3 5.
Promoting Social, Emotional, and
Behavioral Development
PBS
10/10 6.
Assessing and Teaching Language
Assignments Due
Materials Project Due
Classroom Environment
Project Due
English Language Learners
Behaviors/Social Skills
interventions Due
10/17
10/24
10/31
11/7
7.
8.
9.
10.
11/14 11.
11/21 12.
11/28 13.
12/5
12/12
Assessing Reading
Teaching Reading
Assessing and Teaching Spelling
Assessing and Teaching Handwriting
and Written Expression
Assessing Math
Teaching Math
Teaching Learning Strategies, Content,
and Study Skills
Perceptual Skills/Sensory Diet
Final
Language Interventions Due
Primary Unit Plan Project
Reading Interventions Due
Spelling Interventions Due
Handwriting/Written
Expression Interventions Due
Adaptations Project Due
Math Interventions Due
Sensory Diet Interventions Due
Materials Project
Each student will be responsible for presenting seven (7) different materials that could be
used in the general education classroom either for all students or as adaptations for
students with special needs. Each student will be required to submit 2 different materials
for reading, 2 different materials for math, and 3 other materials of their choice. Among
the seven (7) materials presented, please include at least 2 computer programs that could
be used to supplement instruction. You may find materials in the IRC in the basement of
Hughes Hall, the internet, libraries, catalogs, etc. The documentation provided for each
material should include the following:
Name of Material and Publisher
Subject Area for which Material May be Used
Ages/Grades/Ability Levels for which Material is Appropriate
How Material May be Used
Brief Summary/ Evaluation of Material
The dropbox for this assignment will be available to the other students in the class.
Classroom Environment Project
For this assignment, candidates will assume the role of a general education classroom
teacher who has five children in the class who have been identified with special needs.
They will prepare a Classroom Environment Plan with the following components:



Daily Schedule
 Routines for transitions and other daily classroom activities and chores
 Times built in to work with individual students
Map/seating chart
Classroom procedures
 Rules
 Policies (tardiness, uncompleted work, etc)
Primary Unit Plan Project
Students will work in pairs on this assignment. They will design a thematic unit that
could be taught at the K-3 level as part of a social studies requirement. This unit will be
planned for a general education classroom of approximately 20 students and should
include the following:
 Unit objectives that are clearly stated, developmentally appropriate, aligned with
state standards, and described in terms of student performance, not activities.

A plan outlining the activities that will be included in your week of teaching.

A plan outlining the way that student performance on stated objectives will be
assessed. A combination of formative (ongoing) and summative (end of unit)
assessment should be employed.

A reflection on the process used and the choices that were made in planning the
unit. This reflection should be an individual project—both members of the pair
should submit their own work.
Adaptations Table
Students will work in the same pairs as the unit plan project. They should take the unit
plan above and adapt it to meet the needs of five individual students with disabilities who
are part of the original group of twenty. The profiles of the students from the disability
table will be used and three additional profiles will be created. Each day’s lesson should
be listed with the adaptations that will be used for all five students. It is permissible to
not adapt every lesson for every child—a well-designed activity may be very appropriate
for students with disabilities. The same adaptation may be applied to more than one
student. I will look to see if the adaptations are appropriate and intentional.
Day/Date
Day 1
Objective
Instruction/Activity
The students
The actual activity
will
demonstrate…
Assessment
How you will
know whether
the students
have met the
objective
Adaptations
Adaptations
for all five
students with
disabilities
SPED 550 Methods: Primary Children with Disabilities
Intervention Manual
See due dates below
Assignment: To develop an Intervention Manual that can be used as a resource for
selecting effective interventions that meet the unique instructional needs of students. This
document will more specifically provide assistance for problem solving teams when they
work through the Multi-tiered System of Support (MTSS)/Response to Intervention (RTI)
process of selecting appropriate intervention strategies to improve student performance.
Your task is to develop a manual that includes specific instructional strategies and
interventions that address common learning and behavioral problems. You are to research
identified areas or behaviors and from the literature, choose the strategies or interventions
that you think are most effective in meeting student needs. Follow the format provided
for each strategy or intervention on one page, include a table of contents; the document
must be user-friendly and easy to understand.
Intervention Manual Format
Intervention Area:
Problem addressed:
Procedures to implement intervention: (Steps)
Modifications:
Assessment of progress: (how will we assess the students’ progress using this
intervention?)
Rationale/Effectiveness: (based upon research)
Source: (Cite source from which you found your intervention)
Attachment: (separate page)
Identified Areas
Include strategies and/or interventions for each of the following academic areas. Make
certain that the intervention specifically relates to the indentified sub-topic; there must be
appropriate alignment to receive credit for the intervention. Each of the sections below is
worth 20 points for a total of 140 points
Area
Behaviors/Social Skills (At least 1 strategy or intervention for each)
 Motivation
 Disruptive or talking out
 Concentration or on-task behavior
 Friendship
 Conflict resolution
 Initiating conversations
Language (total of 5 strategies or interventions)
 Speech articulation
 Language comprehension
 Activities for English Language Learners
Reading (At least 1 strategy or intervention for each)
 Phonemic awareness
 Phonics
 Fluency
 Vocabulary
 Comprehension
Spelling (total of 5 strategies or interventions)
Written Expression (total of 5 strategies or interventions)
 Writing skills
 Communication
 Handwriting (addressing the mechanics of handwriting)
Mathematics (total of 5 strategies or interventions)
 Basic facts (at least one strategy specific to this subject)
 Problem Solving (at least one strategy specific to this subject)
 3 other interventions to address math concerns
Sensory Diet (At least 1 strategy or intervention for each)
 Provide 3 strategies or interventions
Due Date
10/10
10/31
10/31
11/7
11/14
11/28
12/12
Each section will be due on ANGEL on it’s specified due date. You are urged to describe
these interventions in precise detail. This intervention manual will be an invaluable
resource when you are teaching.