This lesson is for : Grade 7:
Summary
Students with Autism have an array of needs. Understanding how these students learn best and what they respond to is an important part of their education. A group of 7th Grade general education students used several resources to answer their questions about Autism in order to create appropriate activities for a book walk that would appeal to a class of students with the Autism disability. The activities help our students with Autism demonstrate the skill of retelling a story.
TIPC Ratings
Research & Information Fluency
Rating: Ideal – Explanation: Through the use of the internet, online databases, and a guest speaker, 7th Grade general education students evaluated, assembled and synthesized information about Autism as a learning disability. Students used Padlet as a digital tool to display and interact with their initial research and generate further questions. The second round of generated questions were then posed to the school’s Autism teacher who visited the class as a guest speaker and provided students with more information on the disability. Students were able to apply their new learning to creating appropriate activities for a class of students who have the Autism disability in order to support them in the skill of retelling a story.
Communication & Collaboration
Rating: Approaching – Explanation: After students collaborated as a class to generate questions about Autism as a disability, they formed groups within the classroom. Students worked in these groups establishing roles and responsibilities as they carried out the creation of their activity for the book walk. Each day, students were asked to complete a daily schedule which included tasks to be accomplished and reflections on their daily work as individual members of that group. At the end of the project, students not only reflected on their own experience, but also rated their group members participation.
Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
Rating: Approaching – Explanation: Creating activities that would appeal to students with Autism required students to research purposeful questions generated through class discussions and apply their new learning. Critical thinking skills were required as students connected research to creating appropriate activities. Students were required to justify the use of certain materials and the activities themselves to the Autism teacher during the feedback portion of the project. Once feedback was received, groups then reflected and moved forward with any changes to their activities as was needed.
Creativity & Innovation
Rating: Ideal – Explanation: As students worked in groups to create their activity for the book walk, students continually synthesized their information to generate new ideas. Focusing on creating activities that would allow the students with Autism an opportunity to master the skill of retelling a story, groups received feedback on their initial activities from the Autism teacher and also returned to analyze their new learning from the research gathered in the beginning of the project. Student utilized materials in innovative ways to produce their activities for the book walk which showed risk taking and use of their critical thinking skills. At the end of the project, students reflected again on their created activities as well as successes and failures during creation.
Lesson Materials
