Madsen Syllabi
2nd – Social Skills
Social Skills is a special education course designed to provide instruction in the IEP goal
areas of behavior and social-emotional instruction. The students that are registered for this
course must be in special education and they must have behavior and/or social-emotional
goals on their IEPs.
In this course, students will develop skills to help them cope more successfully with
frustration tolerance, anger management, a lack of sympathy/empathy, effective
communication, and developing healthy relationships. Students will participate in reflection
journaling, art therapy, play therapy (i.e. board and card games), and discussions based on
the philosophy of Intergroup Dialogue.
Students will be assessed each day on their ability to adhere to the following community
procedures:
1. Prepared for learning
2. On time to class
3. Listen to the person who is talking
4. Say respectful things
5. Contribute to community well-being
6. Stay focused on work task
7. Follow directions
The grading policy for this course is as follows:
1. Professionalism – 25%
2. Daily Assignments – 25%
3. Teamwork – 25%
4. Projects – 25%
The attendance policy is as follows:
1. If you are not in the room before the bell rings, you are tardy.
2. When you are absent, please turn in a note to the attendance secretary to excuse
your absence.
3. When you skip class, the absence is unexcused.
The cheating policy is as follows:
1. If you aren’t sure what cheating means, ask.
2. First offense: one-to-one conversation
3. Second offense: a zero on the assignment
4. Third offense: meeting with family
Materials needed everyday: writing utensils, agenda, and organization system.
3rd – History
History is a special education course designed to provide instruction in the IEP goal area of
writing and in the content area of U.S History. The students that are registered for this
course must be in special education and they must have writing goals.
In this course, students will improve their writing skills in the areas of spelling, grammar,
capitalization, punctuation, sentence structure, sentence writing, paragraph writing, and essay
writing. Students will also improve their ability to sequence the historical events in the
United States from the U.S. Civil War to the present, to actively engage in a history textbook,
to improve history content reading, and to make connections between their lives and the
lives of the people that came before them. Students will participate in daily writing warmups, textbook reading, worksheets, tests/quizzes, projects, and discussions based on the
philosophy of Intergroup Dialogue.
Students will be assessed each day on their ability to adhere to the following community
procedures:
1. Prepared for learning
2. On time to class
3. Listen to the person who is talking
4. Say respectful things
5. Contribute to community well-being
6. Stay focused on work task
7. Follow directions
The grading policy for this course is as follows:
1. Professionalism – 25%
2. Daily Assignments – 25%
3. Projects – 30%
4. Tests/Quizzes – 20%
The attendance policy is as follows:
1. If you are not in the room before the bell rings, you are tardy.
2. When you are absent, please turn in a note to the attendance secretary to excuse
your absence.
3. When you skip class, the absence is unexcused.
The cheating policy is as follows:
1. If you aren’t sure what cheating means, ask.
2. First offense: one-to-one conversation
3. Second offense: a zero on the assignment
4. Third offense: meeting with family
Materials needed everyday: writing utensils, agenda, and organization system.
4th – Math
Math is a special education course designed to provide instruction in the IEP goal areas of
math calculation and math reasoning. The students that are registered for this course must
be in special education and they must have math goals.
In this course, students will improve their math skills in fractions, place value, addition,
subtraction, multiplication, division, word problems, etc. Students will also improve their
ability to apply discrete math skills to real world situations. Students will participate in daily
math warm-ups, workbook activities, worksheets, tests/quizzes, projects, and discussions
based on the philosophy of Intergroup Dialogue.
Students will be assessed each day on their ability to adhere to the following community
procedures:
1. Prepared for learning
2. On time to class
3. Listen to the person who is talking
4. Say respectful things
5. Contribute to community well-being
6. Stay focused on work task
7. Follow directions
The grading policy for this course is as follows:
1. Professionalism – 25%
2. Daily Assignments – 25%
3. Projects – 30%
4. Tests/Quizzes – 20%
The attendance policy is as follows:
1. If you are not in the room before the bell rings, you are tardy.
2. When you are absent, please turn in a note to the attendance secretary to excuse
your absence.
3. When you skip class, the absence is unexcused.
The cheating policy is as follows:
1. If you aren’t sure what cheating means, ask.
2. First offense: one-to-one conversation
3. Second offense: a zero on the assignment
4. Third offense: meeting with family
Materials needed everyday: writing utensils, agenda, and organization system.
5th – English
English is a special education course designed to provide instruction in the IEP goal areas of
reading comprehension and word reading, and the content area of English. The students
that are registered for this course must be in special education and they must have reading
goals.
In this course, students will improve their reading skills in sight reading, reading fluency,
decoding, determining the main ideas and supporting details, making predictions,
summarizing, and other components of reading comprehension. Students will also improve
their ability to analyze literature, to understand English content reading, to actively engage
with the text, and to make connections between themselves and the literary characters being
studied. Students will participate in timed readings, daily journaling on independent reading
book, worksheets, tests/quizzes, projects, and discussions based on the philosophy of
Intergroup Dialogue.
Students will be assessed each day on their ability to adhere to the following community
procedures:
1. Prepared for learning
2. On time to class
3. Listen to the person who is talking
4. Say respectful things
5. Contribute to community well-being
6. Stay focused on work task
7. Follow directions
The grading policy for this course is as follows:
1. Professionalism – 25%
2. Daily Assignments – 25%
3. Projects – 30%
4. Tests/Quizzes – 20%
The attendance policy is as follows:
1. If you are not in the room before the bell rings, you are tardy.
2. When you are absent, please turn in a note to the attendance secretary to excuse
your absence.
3. When you skip class, the absence is unexcused.
The cheating policy is as follows:
1. If you aren’t sure what cheating means, ask.
2. First offense: one-to-one conversation
3. Second offense: a zero on the assignment
4. Third offense: meeting with family
Materials needed everyday: writing utensils, agenda, and organization system.
6th – Study Skills
Study Skills is a special education course designed to provide instruction in the IEP goal
areas of organization and time management. The students that are registered for this course
must be in special education and they must have organization and/or time management
goals on their IEPs.
In this course, students will develop skills in using an organization system, managing time,
self-advocacy, building professional relationships, communication, and homework
completion. Students will also explore their interests in long-term career goals, postsecondary education, and other aspects of life beyond high school. Students will participate
in daily check-ins, daily worksheets and activities, individual research projects, and
discussions based on the philosophy of Intergroup Dialogue.
Students will be assessed each day on their ability to adhere to the following community
procedures:
1. Prepared for learning
2. On time to class
3. Listen to the person who is talking
4. Say respectful things
5. Contribute to community well-being
6. Stay focused on work task
7. Follow directions
The grading policy for this course is as follows:
1. Professionalism – 25%
2. Daily Assignments – 25%
3. Teamwork – 25%
4. Projects – 25%
The attendance policy is as follows:
1. If you are not in the room before the bell rings, you are tardy.
2. When you are absent, please turn in a note to the attendance secretary to excuse
your absence.
3. When you skip class, the absence is unexcused.
The cheating policy is as follows:
1. If you aren’t sure what cheating means, ask.
2. First offense: one-to-one conversation
3. Second offense: a zero on the assignment
4. Third offense: meeting with family
Materials needed everyday: writing utensils, agenda, and organization system.