Building Blocks for Including and Teaching Preschoolers with Special Needs Susan Sandall, Ph.D....

Building Blocks for Including and Teaching

Preschoolers with Special Needs

Susan Sandall, Ph.D.

University of Washington

[email protected]

Objectives

• Describe the Building Blocks framework

• Describe the four levels of support

• Offer examples of planning forms and methods

The Building Blocks model provides a set of educational practices designed to help teachers do a more effective job of including and teaching young

children with disabilities and other special needs in early childhood

classrooms and settings.

Challenges

• ECE - lack of specialized training on the skills needed to teach child with special needs

• ECSE - difficulty in meeting individualized needs within active, busy preschool classroom

• Consulting teacher - lack of effective, easy-to-use methods to share with classroom teachers

Using the Building Blocks framework can help all children

participate, learn, and thrive in their preschool classrooms.

Based on the work of the Early Childhood Research Institute on

Inclusion.

Building Blocks

• Can be used with state standards, guidelines or benchmarks

• Can be used with federal outcomes

The Building Blocks framework can be used with the curriculum that the teacher already uses.

Creative Curriculum

High/Scope

Project Approach

AEPS

Quality Early Childhood Program

Curriculum modifications & adaptations

Embedded Learning Opportunities

Child-focused Instructional Strategies

The foundation


• Safe• Engaging• Responsive• Culturally and

linguistically relevant• Learning opportunities• Positive approaches to

guidance• Meaningful involvement

of families


Curriculum Modifications & Adaptations

Teachers and other members of the team make modifications to activities, routines, and learning areas in order to include children with special needs and to enhance their participation.

Curriculum Modifications & Adaptations

• Environmental Arrangement

• Materials Modification

• Simplify the Activity

• Special Equipment

• Peer Support

• Adult Support

• Child Preferences

• Invisible Support

Curriculum Modifications Study(Sandall et al., 2000)

• 13 focus groups

• Discussed modifications for curriculum areas, learning centers, routines

• >500 modifications

• 8 categories

• Confirmed by experienced teachers and inclusion experts

Environmental

Arrangement

Materials modification

Simplify the activity

Special equipment

Peer support

Adult support

Child

Preference

Invisible support

Complete Learning Trial (CLT)

A logically occurring or planned Antecedent is followed by a Behavior that leads to a

logically occurring or planned Consequence

25Embedded Instruction for Early Learning

Antecedent Target Behavior Consequence

Sets out crayons.

“Let’s count thecrayons.”

Touches andcounts thecrayons.

Praise andacknowledge.“Wow, youcounted thecrayons.”

Or, incorrect.

“Do it with me.”Touch and countthe crayons withchild.


• Teachers create short teaching episodes within ongoing classroom activities and routines.

• Teaching episodes focus on a child’s individual learning objective.

•Minimal changes to classroom activities

•Motivation to participate and learn should be enhanced

•Skills are used in natural contexts

•Skills are used with a variety of people and materials

Advantages of ELO

Research Findings

• Embedded instruction is effective for teaching a variety of valued skills to young children (e.g., Horn et al., 2000).

• A variety of instructional strategies have been embedded effectively (e.g., McBride & Schwartz, 2003).

• Embedded instruction seems to enhance generalization (e.g., Wolery et al., 2002).

Research Findings cont’d

• Teachers assess embedded instruction favorably (e.g., Horn et al., 2000).

• Teachers differ in the extent to which they can apply embedded instruction within their activities and classrooms (e.g., Filla et al., 1999).

• Preservice teachers can learn and use embedded instruction in their field experience placements (e.g., Sandall & Davis, 2004)

Results

• 63 students and children participated

• Variety of objectives taught; most from cognitive domain

• 87% of children made progress

• 42.86% of children achieved objective

Diagnosis # Children

DD 24

Down Syndrome 7

Lang/Speech 7

Autism 21

ADHD 2

Typical 1

Health 1

Total 63

Instructional Domain Selected

Number

Cognitive 40

Social 10

Social-Communication

11

Gross Motor 1

Fine Motor 1

Table 2: Number of ELO instructional objectives by domain

Table 1: Number of children participating in ELO instruction

Child Focused Instructional Strategies

• Unique learning objective

• Requires more systematic or more intensive instruction

Getting Started with Building Blocks

• Assess the quality of the learning environment• Plan/revise the schedule• Plan for the individual child• Clarify the learning objective(s)• Construct an activity matrix• Develop learning plans• Implement and evaluate the plan

Child Assessment Worksheet

Date: Child’s Name:

Team members:

Classroom Activities Classroom Expectations Child’s Level of Performance

Strength

Average

Area of concern

Strength

Average

Area of concern

Strength

Average

Area of concern

ITP Activity Matrix

Class: Room: Year:

Key: CM = curriculum modification; ELO = embedded learning opportunity; CFIS = child-focused

instructional strategyName:Free Choice:Dramatic play

Sensory table

Blocks

Books

Writing/Art/Manipulatives

Snack

Outside/Gym

Circle

Date: ChildÕs Name:

Team members:

What are you going to do?

What are you going to say?

How will you respond?

What materials will you need?

How many opportunities will you provide each day?

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Three Approaches for Collecting Information

Benefits Possible Drawbacks Notes -Helps in understanding

why behaviors occur -Helps in understanding under what conditions behaviors occur

-May be time consuming -May rely on teacher’s memory -Takes time to summarize and interpret

Products or Work Samples -Products are created naturally from child’s play and participation -Seems authentic -Appeals to families and other teachers

-Not all activities result in products -Requires storage space -Need repeated samples from similar activities -Takes time to summarize and interpret

Counts -May increase objectivity and precision -Variations of counting are useful across a variety of behaviors -Efficient

-May seem unnatural -Requires skill -Takes time to summarize and interpret

Building Blocks

• Provides a framework for planning and teaching

• Builds on a quality early childhood setting

• Provides for individualized levels of support

Building Blocks for Including and Teaching Preschoolers with Special Needs Susan Sandall, Ph.D....

Documents

Transcript of Building Blocks for Including and Teaching Preschoolers with Special Needs Susan Sandall, Ph.D....