Strategies and Technologies to Enhance Language Development and Communication Skills
Teachers consider many factors when developing unit plans to meet the needs of a variety of students. It is important to consider the strengths and needed accommodations of students in the classroom when developing lessons and units. If there are students with specific language impairments, the teacher must also consider ways to facilitate communication and engagement during classroom instruction. There will be a need to pre-teach vocabulary and plan questions that can be answered by students throughout the unit.
Read the following case study to inform the assignment:
Case Study: April
Grade: 4th
Age: 9
April is a fourth grader with a language impairment, but no physical impairment. Her performance on norm-referenced measures is 1.5 standard deviations below the mean for her chronological age. April has good decoding skills, but has difficulty with reading comprehension, semantics, and morphological processing. One accommodation that is prescribed in the IEP is the use of visual cues to support comprehension when learning new skills. She lacks organizational skills for writing and struggles with word choice. She receives services from a speech and language pathologist who is working with her on understanding word parts, vocabulary, and multiple meanings of words. You instruct April in a resource classroom with five other fourth grade students who also struggle with reading and written expression.
Communication goals in IEP:
April will identify at least five key content vocabulary words from an assigned reading using text with Mayer-Johnson symbols in Proloquo2go software and text to speech software with 90% accuracy over 10 consecutive trials.
April will write a definition for up to five key content vocabulary words from an assigned reading with 90% accuracy on a rubric over 10 consecutive trials.
April will use up to five key content vocabulary words in written sentences that use the word correctly in context, and include correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar with 90% accuracy over 10 consecutive trials.
Part 1: 3 Day Unit Plan
Use the “3 Day Unit Plan Template” located on the College Education site in the Student Success Center to complete this assignment.
Create an English language arts (ELA) unit plan for your resource classroom based on Arizona or your state’s ELA fourth grade literacy standards specific to vocabulary acquisition and use. Include the following in the unit plan:
Strategies to enhance students’ language development and communication skills in the Multiple Means of Representation section.
Strategies and technologies that encourage student engagement and the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills in the Multiple Means of Engagement section.
Using details from the case study, address April’s needs in the Differentiation sections of the Multiple Means of Representation, Multiple Means of Engagement, and Multiple Means of Expression.
Specifically, incorporate the following into the unit plan to meet April’s needs:
The use of the AAC systems and assistive technologies planned in April’s goal to support her communication and learning.
Differentiated formative and summative assessments that measure April’s progress on the IEP goals in Part 1.
Part 2: Rationale
Provide a 250-500 word rationale that explains:
Why the instructional choices specifically meet April’s needs.
How the selected augmentative and alternative communication systems assistive technology used in the lesson plan is appropriate for meeting April’s needs.
Support your work with 2-3 scholarly resources.
Section 1: Lesson Preparation
Teacher Candidate Name:
Grade Level: Grade 4
Unit/Subject: Reading and Writing
Title of Unit and Brief Summary: The lessons will focus on speech, language, communication, and literacy skills with particular emphasis on vocabulary acquisition and use. The title for the first lesson is: “Using context clues to decipher the meaning of unfamiliar or complex words”. This lesson will focus on students learning how to use context clues or hints situated within a sentence or paragraph to understand the meanings of new or complex words. The title for the second lesson is “Using common prefixes and suffixes as well as Greek and Latin roots to identify the meanings of unfamiliar or complex words”. Students will decipher the meanings of unfamiliar or complex words using Greek and Latin roots and affixes. The title for the third lesson is “Using reference materials to find the pronunciation and meaning of unfamiliar or complex words”. This lesson will focus on students learning how to use the dictionary to determine the meaning and pronunciation of new words.
Classroom and Student Factors/Grouping: The classroom comprises of six fourth grade students who struggle with reading and written expression. April, one of the students in the group, has a language impairment and difficulties with reading comprehension, semantics, and morphological processing. She also lacks organization skills for writing and struggles with word choice.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
National/State
Learning Standards
List specific grade-level standards that are the focus of the lesson being presented.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.4.a
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.4.b
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.4.c
Specific Learning
Target(s)/Objectives
Based on state standards, identify what is intended to be measured in learning.
Students will use context clues such as relationships definitions, restatements, or cause and effect to decipher the meaning of new words
Students will use Greek and Latin roots as well as common affixes to identify the meaning of new words
Students will use the dictionary as a reference material to determine the meaning and pronunciation of new words
Academic Language General academic vocabulary and content-specific vocabulary included in the unit.
Context clues, definition, restatement, cause and effect
Affixes, prefix, suffix, roots, meaning, definition
Resource materials, dictionary, pronunciation, definition
© 2021-2022. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved.
Unit Resources, Materials, Equipment, and Technology
List all resources, materials, equipment, and technology to be used in the unit.
Projector, worksheets, index cards, class text, Proloquo2Go software
Projector, worksheets, index cards, class text, Proloquo2Go software
Projector, worksheets, index cards, class text, Proloquo2Go software
Depth of Knowledge
Lesson Questions
What questions can be posed throughout the lesson
to assess all levels of student understanding?
* Level 1: Recall
* Level 2: Skill/Concepts
* Level 3: Strategic Thinking
* Level 4: Extended Thinking
Level 1: What are context clues?
Level 2: How can context clues help identify the meaning of a new word?
Level 3: How does one use context clues to find the meaning of a new word?
Level 4: What are all the basic steps for this lesson?
Level 1: What are affixes and common roots?
Level 2: How can affixes and common roots help identify the meaning of a new word?
Level 3: How does one use affixes and common roots to find the meaning of a new word?
Level 4: What are all the basic steps for this lesson?
Level 1: What are reference materials?
Level 2: How can reference materials help identify the meaning of a new word?
Level 3: How does one use reference materials to find the meaning of a new word?
Level 4: What are all the basic steps for this lesson?
Section 2: Instructional Planning
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Anticipatory Set
How will students’ prior knowledge be activated as well as gain student interest in the upcoming content?
The anticipatory set will involve students finding unfamiliar or complex words in the class text.
The anticipatory set will involve students recalling what they learned in the previous lesson about context clues.
The anticipatory set will involve students explaining the importance of a dictionary as a reference material.
Presentation of Content
Multiple Means of
Representation
Describe how content will be presented in various ways to meet the needs of different learners.
The lesson concepts will be presented in multisensory ways including the use of projectors, teacher explanations, class text, AAC software, and graphic organizers to meet the language needs of each student. Utilizing visual, kinesthetic, tactile, and auditory modes of teaching will promote strong emergent literacy by ensuring that April and other students with language impairments can associate words with sounds faster.
The lesson concepts will be presented in multisensory ways including the use of projectors, teacher explanations, class text, AAC software, and graphic organizers to meet the language needs of each student. Moreover, the materials presented will reflect each learner’s vocabulary level, language experience, and familiarity with sentence structures and patterns. Ensuring that all class materials are adaptable by April and other students with language impairments will optimize vocabulary acquisition and use.
The lesson concepts will be presented in multisensory ways including the use of projectors, teacher explanations, class text, AAC software, and graphic organizers to meet the language needs of each student. The instructor will ensure that reference materials are representative of real life for each learner. For instance, a dictionary is an easily accessible reference material that will ensure that the actual uses and meanings of language are learned. The presented materials will provide opportunities for April and other students with language impairments to use and capitalize language in day-to-day experiences.
Multiple Means of
Representation
Differentiation
Explain how materials will be differentiated fo...
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