Marilyn Sloan
February 8, 2009
EDUC 6080 – Special Populations with Dale Lofgren

Accommodations In My Classroom/Artifact

    In this paper I will discuss the accommodations I use within my 2nd grade classroom.  I do not use modifications this year because none of my students have IEPs, 504s, or any written diagnoses from medical reports shared with my principal, school psychologist, or myself.
    One accommodation I use in my classroom is an increased amount of personal assistance with a specific learner.  Once a week for 30 minutes, while the rest of my class is in another classroom, I tutor one of my own students in reading. I have him read a decodable book (with emphasized work on blending) from our Open Court series followed by a favorite book he enjoys reading.  I have him track his reading with a place marker, a ruler or index card with a highlighted green strip at the top, as we work on his fluency, blending, tracking, and intonation.  I also provide personal assistance one on one with a few other students who consistently need additional help understanding the directions and content of the material covered.  My Teacher’s Aid also works with students who need help with their homework, to reinforce their understanding of class material.  I also have students assigned as buddy partners to help specific students begin a task, gather necessary materials, or sometimes help explain directions already given.
    Another accommodation I use is to allow additional time for some of my students to complete class work or tests. One of my students needs about 10 minutes more than the rest of the class to finish a test, so I allow him a separate time for completion without penalty of a lower grade.  Also, two to four of my students do not complete class work in the time given, especially the Reading and English workbook pages.  I permit these students to take this home to finish as additional homework (or finish during class if they find additional free time).
    I have also adjusted the way in which I deliver instructions to a good number of my students. I spend more time this year going over oral and written directions with plenty of concrete examples explicitly given.  I also frequently provide hands-on activities.  For instance, in Math I’ll have cooperative groups each create a picture on a geoboard by combining geometric shapes with other students or play Shut-the-Box by throwing dice and moving tiles to practice addition and subtraction facts.  In Social Studies, I’ll have small cooperative groups create time lines with written sentences depicting important events from the life of a person who made a difference (second grade Social Studies curriculum) combined with collage work of torn magazine photographs and drawings.  I also create (in advance of giving a lesson) different visual aids, such as posters of Venn diagrams, bar graphs, story maps and other graphic organizers, and play the “Guess Who?” game.  (I have a paper bag containing 5 or more clues about an important person in history. Students one by one take turns pulling out clues and trying to guess the name of the person.)
    For some of my students with attention issues I give extra assistance by teaching listening skills to engage the student’s attention before I begin talking (move closer to the student and say, “I’m about to start now.”).  I may also give a direct cue for them to listen (softly tap their shoulder or desk and say “Listen to what I’m going to say.”).