Lessons
"ICEC's Exceptional Children's Week"
"Exceptional Children's Week" occurs the first week of May in connection with the Illinois Council for Exceptional Children (ICEC). Students will celebrate differences in their classroom, practice person-first language, listen to books and explore videos of exceptional children, read an article about change makers with disabilities, and hold discussions about differences and varying abilities. Additionally, teachers have the option to share and explore resources through a shared padlet!
"Honoring Autism"
"Honoring Autism" is a celebration to educate students about Autism. Students will meet change makers with autism, experience what it's like to experience overstimulation, discuss the spectrum of autism, and explore the different modes of communication individuals with autism use. This celebration includes a slide deck (linked above) and posters (linked below) to promote Show Your Colors for Sunday, April 2nd 2023.
The official Autism Syndrome Day takes place annually on April 2nd.
"Honoring Down Syndrome"
"Honoring Down Syndrome" is a celebration to educate students about Down syndrome. Students will learn fun facts about World Down Syndrome Day, discuss the terms "cells", "chromosomes", and "genes", and meet a few change makers with Down syndrome. This celebration includes a slide deck (linked above) and posters (linked below) to promote rock your socks for March 21st, 2023.
The official World Down Syndrome Day takes place annually on March 21st.
"Sticking Up for Others"
“Sticking Up for Others” has been created for all teachers to use with PreK thru 8th grade students. This lesson expands on the December Inclusive Schools commitment by asking students to continue to be kind and show kindness to others. Students will discuss the terms "bullying" and "cyberbullying" while learning how they can be an upstander and how stick up for others. Additionally, students will engaged in an activity to demonstrate the lasting effects of bullying. Furthermore, students will explore how they can restore relationships after harmful words and/or actions have been made.
Please use the hashtags #D59includes, #D59SEL, and #D59learns to share your classroom's engagement in the lesson.
"Everyone is Welcome Here"
Differentiated for different grade levels, a SEL inclusion lesson, “Everyone is Welcome Here” has been created for all teachers to use. Students will discuss what it feels like, sounds like, and looks like to be 'included' and 'excluded.’ They will learn and practice how to include others by identifying places (virtual and physical) where inclusion can take place, and explore how they can go about including others. Finally, students make a commitment to include others as well as practice the new learned skills by completing grade level activities on SeeSaw. Slide decks, anchor charts, and a commitment poster are linked in the lesson outline (attached on the right) in both English and Spanish.