TECHNO-TALES:
What life is like for Deaf students in school today
Renee Evetts
Spring 2003
Brief Description of Unit
• The class will state issues about being
Deaf in school today to share with their
peers and families and use these issues
as authentic and relevant experiences
to examine 11th grade language arts
benchmarks in a formal informative
and persuasive public speaking
presentation using visual displays and
technology.
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Design Process
Followed
• The overarching goal is to make the students aware of
technology available to them and give them the language to
request that technology. I want the students to know that
technology has improved their quality of life and can continue
to do so.
• The students were working on computer literacy in class with
their teacher. I did a DRTA lesson with them which exposed
the students to Deafness in other countries. The students
showed that they had limited knowledge of Deafness around
the world. Additionally, the students had limited means of
communicating their reaction to dramatic stories of Deaf
individuals around the world. From that information I wanted
to tie technology with self-expression and awareness of
Deafness around the world.
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Evaluation of the Six Facets for Technology Unit
Description
Activity
Performance/Evidence
Criteria
Facet 1:
Explanation
sophisticated
explanation and
theories
The introduction of the unit simulates a time
warp and the students are treated as though they
were students in that time. They travel through
the time warp to present day revealing
technological changes and improvements
affecting their culture.
Students asking questions about
information presented.
Facet 2:
Interpretation
Interpretations,
narratives, and
translations
Creating a written document (poem, prose, letter,
etc.) with new adjectives as to their personal
experiences growing up Deaf in school today.
Skimming the instructions for PowerPoint and
digital camera.(Language Arts lesson)
Typing their written document through
word processing and adding to a
PowerPoint presentation.
Taking pictures of each other with the
digital camera and transferring the photos
to the PowerPoint show.
Facet 3:
Application
Use knowledge in new
situations and contexts
Reviewing an IEP meeting and then role play.
Introducing various assistive technological
devices to improve their quality of life and
communication access. (Concept diagram)
During the role play, students use new
adjectives to describe their feelings and
concerns. They practice making a request
for some type of assistive technology that
would benefit them as an individual.
Facet 4:
Perspective
Critical and insightful
points of view
The Myths and Mysteries True/False worksheet
from the social studies lesson.
The students collaborate to add more
myths to the worksheet. They edit and
revise it for final presentation Expo.
Facet 5:
Empathy
Ability to get inside
another person's
feelings
Empathy is not within the focus of this unit. The focus is more on personal perspectives,
application and self-knowledge.
Facet 6: Selfknowledge
To know one's
ignorance, prejudice,
and understanding
Again, the social studies and language lesson applies here. They also see Deaf artists work,
comment on it, and create other pieces of art (poems, sculptures, drawings, paintings, scripts)
to share with the final presentation: Parent/Community Expo.
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Organizational Structure
of Unit
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Student Characteristics
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Fall 2003
Students are 10th, 11th, and 12th graders ages 15-20 years. They communicate in
ASL and sign with speech. One student is expecting a baby and sometimes
misses class for doctor appointments; another student misses school frequently
due to personal issues.
P-levels – most students are approximately P-7. One student may be at level 6
and has some cognitive issues. They communicate effectively with each other
within the class, other Deaf peers within the school, and the adults they meet at
school. Some students say their parents try to sign, while others find other means
to communicate. They are able to recognize when their audience does not
share or understand their context or experiences, but they are learning how to
be more assertive in their communication needs.
Literacy – students are in the maturing literacy stage – they read at the 7-8
grade level (struggling with more complex text and sophisticated language
structures.) they do monitor their own reading effectively. Typically, they can
read the text and need further explanation in ASL for clarity. Students write at
approximately level 7-8 with use of English structures and messages that are
easy to understand. Most of their writing is clear but at a dialogue comfort level
and regenerated from textbooks.
World knowledge- most of the students have severely limited access to assistive
technology, such as text pagers, internet at home, TTY’s, captioned movies,
video relay services/interpreting, etc. Some may be aware of their existence
but not of the benefits and rights to having access to such.
Transition Services Preparation & Training
Activities and Evaluation
• Deaf time line via the time travel
warp
• Myths and Mysteries (true/false)
• Creative writing
• Role play IEP meeting
• Show the Internet resource
www.weitbrecht.com
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Language Arts Lesson Plan
Renee Evetts -Language Arts Lesson Plan
Grade/Age Level 11 th-12th grade/15-20 years old
Lesson Planning Form
1. Relationship of lesson to unit or theme: The students may have feelings they are unable to
label or express through words or sign concepts. This lesson will expand their lexicon of
descriptive words (adjectives) about themselves and their feelings. The students will also be
required to complete technical computer tutorials (PowerPoint) and read digital camera
instructions, thus exposing them to skimming techniques and computer terminology.
2.
a.
b.
c.
d.
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Behavioral Objectives:
Students will participate in large group activity, a word web, using signs and words they
already know to describe various feelings, challenges, successes, and frustrations they have
experienced related to their deafness.
Students, as a group, will then separate the words in to positive and negative columns. A word
bank with more elaborate adjectives will be provided on the board and each student will draw
two or more of those words from a word basket. They will, as a group, decide if the word is a
positive or negative descriptor and put it in the appropriate column. Appropriate sign concepts
for new words will be provided from the teacher.
Students will use a creative writing style and new words to compose personalized poem,
prose, letter, etc. into a word processing document, paste into PowerPoint slide show and print
off a copy.
Students will skim the instructions for a digital camera, take pictures of each other, and
download into the PowerPoint slideshow.
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Lesson Plan Continued
3.
Material and key vocabulary:
Materials needed: Overhead and pens, wordlist on board or butcher-block paper, the same words on
paper strips in the word basket, digital camera and instructions, computer with Word, PowerPoint,
and printer.
Key vocabulary: The entire lesson is focusing on new vocabulary and sign concepts. New words will
be explained as they are brought to light, be it for adjectives or for the technical instructions.
4. Key teaching strategies and conceptual links:
Large group participation for exposure to new concepts through probing for prior background and
experience.
Peer teaching when appropriate, in either large group or small group for the technical aspect.
Conceptual link – expansion of trite overused vocabulary to new vocabulary and applying to a
computer medium.
5. Prerequisite skills, knowledge, and experiences:
Students need to have some experiences with successes, failures, challenges and frustrations
related to their deafness. Students need to have already learned how to skim for keywords (for the
technical instructions).
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Lesson Plan Continued
6. Procedure (teaching behaviors):
A. Teaching steps to motivate, engage their thinking, review past learning (link to prior learning and
make relevant/authentic)
Ask the students open-ended questions about their experiences that caused frustration or
experiences when they felt understood (due to their deafness) to elicit positive and negative
adjectives. From their response, create a word-web and then have them separate the words into
positive and negative columns.
B. Instructional strategies/steps to develop target behaviors/skills (how to accomplish the objective)
Once the students complete the word list, reveal a new list of adjectives (predicted beforehand and
drawn from a thesaurus). Allow the students to draw two or more word strips from a word basket.
They will fingerspell the word if they don’t know it, act it out if they do, or sign it if they know it. Then
they will decide as a group if the word is a positive feeling adjective or a negative feeling adjective.
From the new and improved list, they will compose a creative writing document, be it a poem, prose,
letter or etc. through word processing or on PowerPoint. They will skim the instructions for the
digital camera and take pictures of each other to combine with their creative writing piece.
C. Instructional probe/prompts to summarize, review, end the activity, and/or put it in long-term
context (link to prior and future learning; re-establish relevancy/authenticity)
Review with the students the new words and sign concepts. Discuss socially acceptable approaches
to expressing their communication needs and feelings. Students may share their creative writing
piece with the others in the class, which provides presentation skills. Remind the students that we
will include their work in the presentation at the end of the unit.
Fall 2003
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Concept Diagram Lesson--IEPs
Self-Expression in IEPs
Grade/Age level 11th grade/15-20 years
Unit: Techno-Tales
1. Concept Name and definition:
IEP-Individualized Education Plan-document defining goals and objectives for special education students created by teachers,
students, administrators and parents each year.
2a. Examples
2b. Nonexamples
IEP document
Rehabilitation
Intake information
Transition Plan
Teacher’s plans
3a. Always
3b. Sometimes:
3c. Never
Supports Advocacy
People ignore it
Informal
Students must go @age of 14
Don’t advocate
Based on school needs
Includes parents, teachers, administrators
Needs to be changed
Based on parent preferences
Student centered
Different people can request changes
Doesn’t apply in college
Promises services
Can set foundation for future education/work
Doesn’t apply to general education students
Legal
Includes hearing students with special
education needs
4. Teaching procedures: Review what they know about IEP meetings. Address any questions or concerns they have about IEPs. Fill in
any gaps they may have in the concept of an IEP meeting. Through guided reading practices, the teacher will provide examples of
how their empowerment and assistive technology will develop individual examples of IEP issues to coordinate with the individual
needs.
5. Finer discriminations (extending/expanding the concept: Ask them where they might need services in the future and how they
might go about getting the services and accommodations they need. The point is to help them realize the real world doesn’t follow
IEPs, but there are provisions and services available, if they know how to ask for them.
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Unit Evaluation and
Results
•
How did the students do? What went well, surprisingly will, satisfyingly
well? What were key problems, things to avoid, things never to do
again? What would you do differently next time?
•
Not having actually taught the unit yet, one can merely predict the
outcomes. The students had completed a technology assessment
prior to this unit. A post-technology assessment could be given to
confirm possible improvements in their knowledge.
•
What evidence do you have that they achieved the unit goals or can
answer unit questions?
•
The actual final presentation of the Expo would be the evidence that
the students have achieved all the goals listed.
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Unit Evaluation and
Results
Descriptions or examples from student performance
Evidence collected from individual lessons and activities
Evidence that represents each of the six facets How will this
help them to function more successfully as adults (e.g., the
ultimate goal of transition training?)
Examples would include the students written work and the
PowerPoint presentation. This unit can help them function
more successfully as adults by empowering themselves seek
more ways to make their world accessible and how to be
assertive enough to do so.
Fall 2003
Transition Services Preparation & Training