Literacy Instruction for Students with Significant Disabilities offers information, research-based instructional approaches, and effective instructional and learning strategies to support school leaders, teachers, and other specialists working to better meet the literacy and communication needs of students with significant disabilities, including students with:

• moderate to severe cognitive disabilities

• complex communication needs

• multiple disabilities including deaf/blindness and/or physical access challenges

The Four Blocks Literacy Framework is a comprehensive approach to teaching literacy developed originally Dr. Patricia Cunningham and Dr. Dorothy Hall and then adapted by Karen Erickson and David Koppenhaver for students with disabilities. 

The Four Blocks include Guided & Shared Reading, Writing, Self-Selected Reading and Working With Words.

Using the Four Blocks framework, Literacy Instruction for Students with Significant Disabilities is built on the work of Dr. Karen Erickson, Dr. David Koppenhaver, and Dr. Caroline Musselwhite and the many sessions and workshops they have provided.

The Central Alberta Regional Consortia (through the Alberta Regional Consortia), in collaboration with Alberta Education hosted yearlong communities of practice for teachers from grades 1 to 12 to enhance teacher capacity to meet the mathematics instruction and numeracy needs of students with significant cognitive disabilities. Each year, participants met face-to-face twice during the year and collaborated in an online environment from September to June.

The purpose of this web site is to provide information and strategies for teachers in Alberta who want to learn more about mathematics instruction and numeracy development for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Much of this content has been co-developed with participants of the Numeracy for All communities of practice based on the work with their students.