Adapted News: News-2-You- "Moon Mission"

Our class is lucky enough to have a subscription to News-2-You adapted newspapers. Below are some of the materials we create from the newspaper for each unit.


This is a worksheet that is designed to cut and sort. We made the pieces manipulative and attached the sorting directions to the top.




This is a fill in the blank flip book that we create fron the actual story. We take the actual sentences from the text and cut out one word or phrase. We then laminate the base part with the sentence (minus the missing word) and laminate. These strips are attached to a base piece that can have all the choices visable. All of the pieces are attached with velcro.



This is a comprehension question book. We take the comprehension questions that come with the text, cut out the questions and attach to the base. The choices are laminated separate pieces and placed on the question base. With 3 choices, this layout is similar to the End of Grade tests in my state.




This task is a basic vocabulary matching activity. We like to make all of the pieces manipulative because our students tend to memorize where words go instead of actually matching the word to the picture.




This activity is a news / not news sort. We take the "Game Page" from the paper and cut up the pieces to sort.




This is an adapted news article based on the easiest level of text provided online. We have discovered that several of our students can pay better attention to details when there are fewer distractions on the page.



This is a writing activity from the simple news article. We make a manipulative board so the students can choose what they want to write about. Once they create the sentence, they can write it on the handwriting paper provided (or whatever paper is appropriate for each student).



This activity is a sort to show the who, what, when, where, and why for the paper. The students can answer the questions and then use the graphic organizer to resell the story.



These are some of our adaptations. We have some more that I will try to get posted when I can.

Fun Friday- Candyland

On Fridays my class has "Fun Friday" activities in the morning.  We have a rotation of games and art activities on these mornings.  Here is the game that we have been playing for the last few weeks.  I have included some of the modifications for the game as we play with my students.

Candyland

This is my slightly adapted Candyland gameboard.  I have added arrows on the board to try to help the students remember which way they are supposed to go.  I have cards for each student that say "please wait" and then there is one "my turn" card that rotates around the board for each students' turn.  They can practice passing the picture to their peers and also practice speech by using words such as "Here______" or "your turn."

I also have begun to use a two sided container for the cards to help organize them as well as making it easier for me to pass the pile around the table to the student whose turn it is.  One side says "to do" and one side says "finished."  The words aren't exactly what I would make specifically for this game, but I use the containers for another student's work system at times.

I use small pictures of each student to identify which piece belongs to them.  With the classroom games, I have a piece of velcro on the game pieces and then small pictures that I can attach to each one. 

This is one side of the communication board that the speech therapist made to go with our game.  This way the students can comment on the cards that they draw and make the game a speech activity as well. (I typically don't use the character cards in the game because it takes too long to get through the game when the players go backwards)

This is the other side of the communication board (I have several, so some groups have access to both sides at once).  This side includes more advanced commenting visuals, such as "pass a card," and "pick a card."

Welcome to a blog to share materials for an adapeted curriculum classroom!

The goal of this blog is to provide an opportunity to share some of the different ways that we adapt materials for students with disabilities.  I am a teacher in a highly structured classroom that is designed for children with autism.  My class of 3rd-5th grade students is in a typical elementary school.  We also have a class with students in Kindergarten-2nd grade and Pre-K.  Through this blog, we hope to be able to share how we use various strategies to help our special students learn.

We are lucky enough to work for a county that has purchased a subscription to the Unique Learning System curriculum. We will share some ways we adapt and expand on this curriculum.  We will also share different tasks, jobs, and various teaching strategies that have worked well with the students within our classrooms.

As a disclaimer, we are sharing ideas and options for others to use with their children/students with special needs.  Any ideas/blogs/websites that we share are just ideas and are just to be considered as resources that can be an option for special children.
I am excited to begin the journey of blogging and sharing strategies with others that work with special children like my students!