Collaborative Thematic Teaching Unit: Co-Teaching Among General and

Special Education Teachers

(Elementary level)Danielle Cummins and Emily Egan

ED 5390-02:Collaboration with Professionals and Parents

Fall 2010

Inclusion Movement• The accountability movement that is central to the No Child

Left Behind Act has led people to recognize that students with disabilities are unlikely to be successful if they are not receiving their education with their general ed peers.

• Parents and Professionals have fought for the Least Restrictive Environment(LRE).

• Professionals acknowledge that most students with disabilities should be held to the same academic standards as other students.  

• With appropriate support and serves students with disabilities are able to succeed.  

•  General ed, special education teachers and other professionals have blended  their expertise to provide specially designed instruction within the general education classroom.

What is Co-Teaching?• Co-Teaching is a service delivery option for providing

special education or related services to students with disabilities or other special needs in the general education classroom (Friend and Cook, 2010).

• It occurs when two or more professionals jointly deliver instruction to a diverse, blended group of students in a single classroom(Friend and Cook, 2010).

• The individuals must be appropriately credentialed, for example, a general ed teacher and a  special ed teacher who is highly qualified in special education

• Co-teachers are peers that must have equivalent credentials and employment status so they can truly be partners in their instructional process. 

Joint Delivery of Instruction•  Each professional has an important contribution to

make in coordinating and delivering instruction(Friend and Cook, 2010).

• Decisions about instruction are shared and both have active teaching roles.

• The two professionals plan and use unique and high- involvement instructional strategies to engage all students in ways that are not possible in only one teacher was present (Friend and Cook, 2010).

• The curriculum is differentiated as necessary to foster student success and may be modified to accommodate students with the highest needs. 

Joint Delivery of Instruction (continued)

• We decided that each teacher would teach according to their content areao Danielle: English and Social Studieso Emily: Math and Science

• Primary instruction will  be taught by the teacher who is most familiar with the subject area, so instruction runs smoothly.

•  The assisting teacher would observe/help students who have special needs and are challenged by the material.

• Since both teachers are engaging with students and instructing for the same amount of time, it should be difficult to differentiate between the special and general educator.  

Instructional Planning Process• Co-teaching begins on the first day of school, but the

planning process with your fellow teacher begins far before that.o Co-teaching is like a "professional marriage" 

philosophy and beliefs, classroom routines,discipline. 

• Teachers must introduce themselves to students as equal instructional partners.  They should get in the habit of using "we", "our students," "the lessons we have planned." 

• Common Planning Time: maximize the strength of each teacher, provide equal division of labor and focuses attention on both instruction and accommodation.

Instructional Planning Process (continued)• Six co-teaching approaches: 

1.one teaching,one observing• station teaching• parallel teaching• alternative teaching• teaming• one teaching,one assisting

• Teaming-both teachers are responsible for a lesson.  The instruction of all students is shared.  This may occur in a large group, monitoring students working independently, or in facilitating student group projects.

• Collaborative Team Teaching Video• Co-Teaching Approaches Example Video• Co-Teaching Marriage Video

Instructional Planning Process(continued)• Decided on a common planning time: November 6, November 18,

December 2o Ideally there should be ample common planning time allotted

during school hours.• Decided on unit topic, goals, objectives, possible outcomes,

assessments, differentiating instructions, and ways of presenting the material.o We created activities according to our content areas then

collaborated to develop modifications/accommodations and to ensure that all student needs were met.  general ed teacher: should prepare a brief overview of what

the curricular concepts that will be covered. chapters, stories, concepts, projects

special ed teacher: responsibility of finding and making significant accommodations/specialized adjustments.

audio story guides,structured notes to guide student reading

Collaborative Unit PlanTitle/Theme: Amazing ApplesGrade Level: 5 (inclusion setting)

Overview:The unit “Amazing Apples” is an integrated thematic unit designed to teach students about the different types and uses of apples over a four week period in a fifth grade classroom.  The purpose of this unit is to have the students develop an understanding of apples.  The students will learn about the history of apples, the different types of apples and the many uses of apples.  It is important for students to know about apples because apples are a main source of income for many people within our own community.  The students will also be taking a field trip to an apple orchard at the end of the unit which will allow them to see first hand what it is like to be the owner of a business in a large industry.

Enabling Activities

Scalpel the Apple Subject Area:   Science  Goal:  Students will know the different parts of an apple. Objective:  Given a scalpel, cutting board, Petri dish and a handout, the student will cut the apple in half and remove the seeds, skin and pulp and record the different parts with the corresponding names on a handout, making less than four cuts into the apple. Accommodations:  Students with special needs can use an interactive apple dissection on the computer(motor skill impaired) or a co-teacher can provide assistance to scribe.   

Enabling Activities(continued)

   Johnny Appleseed Subject Area:   English Language Arts Goal:  Students will learn how to write a response to a story Objective:  Given a book about Johnny Appleseed and loose-leaf paper, the student will write a 2 page essay comparing their life to the life of Johnny Appleseed scoring at least at level two of the rubric. Accommodations:  Students with special needs can have the story read to them one on one.  

 

Enabling Activities (continued)

Astonishing Apple Sauce Subject Area:   Math  Goal:  Students will learn how to graph. Objective:  Given a graph of all the students in the class’s favorite type of apple, the student will answer questions related to the graph, answering five out of seven questions correct.  Accommodations:  Students with special needs can have an co-teacher read the questions to them.

Enabling Activities (continued)

A Day at the Apple Orchard Subject Area:   Social Studies Goal:  Students will learn about the agriculture industry.   Objective:  Given a computer, the students will individually search online for facts about the agriculture industry and record the facts on a piece of paper gathering at least 10 facts each. Accommodations:  Students with special needs can have an co-teacher assist  them in searching online for the facts.

Culminating Activity

All About Apples

The apple unit has come to an end.  It is now time for the students to perform their last activity.  The culminating project is an excellent way for students to gather all of their thoughts from the entire unit and organize them in a way in which themselves and their classmates will remember the material.  Goal:  The students will demonstrate their understanding of apples through a power point presentation. Objective:  Given a unit on apples, the students will work in pairs to design a power point presentation including everything they have learned about apples over the four week period, making the presentation have at least 9 slides.  Accommodations:  Students with special needs can have extra time to prepare and rehearse their power point presentation.  An aid may assist in helping the

student complete the project.

ResourcesFriend, M., & Cook, L. (2010). Interactions: Collaboration             skills for school professionals 6th ed. New York: Allyn             and Bacon.