I have two seventh grade students in my special education class. One student, McKenna, is accessing the curriculum using skills found in the second grade TEKS, while the other, Alicai, is performing in the eighteen to twenty four month developmental range.
I had to find out how they can access the seventh grade general education English Language Arts and Reading TEKS, but in ways that are meaningful to them at their skill levels.
I knew in the general education classroom, the students are working on TEKS 7.5 (e), comprehension skills, listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student uses metacognitive skills to both develop and deepen comprehension of increasingly complex texts.
The student is expected to (e), make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society.
I needed to find the prerequisite access points for McKenna and Alicai to this grade level standard.
For McKenna, I used the vertical alignment document for English Language Arts and Reading to find the prerequisite access point at the second grade level.
I see that in strand two, comprehension skills, the student expectation is to make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society. This will work for McKenna.
For Alicai, I had to dig into even earlier prerequisites. Strand two on the vertical alignment document only goes to the kindergarten level, but Alicai needed something at the eighteen to twenty four month level.
I first checked the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines to see if any of those would work for Alicai. Though three d two comprehension of text relates to the seventh grade TEKS, the student expectations were still too complex for Alicai. So I looked at the Texas Early Learning Guidelines. Here, I found this section on language and communication development under listening and understanding for the eighteen to thirty six month level. The student expectations to show understanding by pointing to or touching a picture in a book is something Alicai could work on.
Instruction and Grading.
Currently, the seventh grade general education class is using the book, The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, so I'm reading it aloud to my class as well.
I've made adapted books for McKenna and Alicai that incorporate the modifications and accommodations in their IEPs. I use the adapted books when working with them individually to get classroom grades using a grading rubric with task analysis.
This is McKenna's adapted book.
I've summarized text at the second grade reading level, added image supports for key characters and events, and highlighted vocabulary.
During our individual sessions, I'm working on McKenna's expectation to make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society. I'm using the text to self strategy, asking her guiding questions as we review the story. I use information about McKenna that I learn through student and family surveys to help plan my questions. I also know that McKenna requires verbal cues such as think about or do you remember when.
When I created her grading rubric for this session, I automatically included these types of cues in my presentation instructions for the related steps. Any additional prompts McKenna requires beyond those I preplanned for each step will impact her prompt code and score.
McKenna's verbal responses will be used for grading.
Let's see how this session went.
Step one.
Percy's class takes a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at aging. McKenna completed this step independently as written, so this is her score for step one.
Step two.
What does this part of the story remind you of when Percy was on the field trip?
Think about when your family went to the museum down in Houston last summer.
Oh, yeah. That museum is a big place with all this stuff to look at.
I really like the dinosaur bones.
McKenna completed this step independently as written, so this is her score for step two. Step three.
Can you relate to Percy here in the story where he's accused of pushing Nancy?
Do you remember yesterday in the gym during basketball?
Yeah. In the gym, Ben said I threw the ball at him, but I didn’t. It made me mad, and and I tried to tell coach Harper I didn't do it.
McKenna also completed this step independently as written. So this is her score for step three. Step four.
Does this remind you of anything we read in Texas history? Think about when we were learning about the Battle of San Jacinto.
Tell me what you know about Santa Ana's sword.
Oh. Oh. He gave it to Sam Houston when he lost the battle. And and it's in a museum.
After providing wait time, McKenna still needed an additional verbal direction above what was written into this step. So this is her score for step four.
Using her scores from each step and the formula on the grading rubric, I'm able to get a grade for McKenna for this activity. For our session today, she earned a score of ninety eight.
This is Alicai's adapted book. It has thick pages and black backgrounds.
Each page contains a summary sentence and an attached object to represent one of the key characters or events in the story. I use a bucket of matching objects alongside the adapted book.
During our individual sessions, I'm working on Alicai's expectation to show understanding by pointing to or touching a picture in a book. I'm using the read aloud strategy to model fluent reading and help Alakai connect with and enjoy the text since he is unable to read independently.
I'll be having Alicai interact with the objects in the adapted book and on his wheelchair tray.
I know I will need to provide a consistent verbal direction each time Alicai is asked to identify an object, so I will always say, find thee. Any additional prompts Alicai requires beyond those I've preplanned for each step impact his prompt code and score. Alicai's physical responses will be used for grading. Let's see how this session went.
Step one.
Zeus is the Greek god of the sky, thunder, and justice.
Alicai completed this step independently as written, making eye contact with the book. So this is his score for step one.
Step two.
Lightning.
Alicai completed this step independently as written, making eye contact with the book. So this is his score for step two.
Step three.
Find the lightning.
Alicai completed this step independently as written, touching the object on the page. So this is his score for step three.
Step four, Find the lightning.
After providing wait time, Alicai still needed an additional gestural assist above what was written into this step. So this is his score for step four.
Step five.
The pen turned into a sword.
Alicai completed this step independently as written, making eye contact with the book. So this is his score for step five.
Step six.
Pen.
Look at the pen.
After providing wait time, Alicai still needed an additional verbal direction above what was written into this step. So this is his score for step six.
Step seven.
Find the pen.
Alicai completed this step independently as written, touching the object on the page. So this is his score for step seven.
Step eight.
Find the pen.
After providing wait time, Alicai still needed an additional gestural assist above what was written into this step. So this is his score for step eight.
Using his scores from each step and the formula on the grading rubric, I'm able to get a grade for Alicai for this activity.
For our session today, he earned a score of ninety four.
This grading rubric, which uses task analysis, helps me determine grades for my students who are accessing the TEKS through prerequisite levels and routinely participate in alternate or nontraditional methods of assessment. You can find documents for task analysis and the grading rubric on the Texas SPED support website.
