Dr. Seuss Community/Literacy Unit For Special Needs Students

My Students

We are working to help our special needs students understand their role in the community. We are beginning by helping them understand that they have a classroom and school community that they can give back to. This year they will build reading skills by reading to younger students in Kindergarten and first grade.

We have students ages ten to fifteen that are specific learning disabled, other health impaired, autistic and emotionally disturbed.

They are typical middle school students with some extra obstacles but they overcome these obstacles daily. We have a total of forty students in our program and most are two to four years below grade level when compared to their peers. Some have significant behavior challenges. We have the same students for three years so we are always finding new lessons to hold their interest. We are a small school of three hundred and fifty students. Our school is highly academic with mixed economic levels and ethnicity. The general education students and staff are very supportive of our students with special needs.

My Project

In previous years, we have done author studies in our classroom to encourage reading. These projects often address an overall theme we are covering in class. The author studies can involve reading, writing, art and special projects. This year we are covering the theme of Community. This years group of students is struggling to see their roles and the impact they have on others. We are reading "Wonder" to help build a more accepting classroom community. We are doing service projects outside of school. We will be studying multi-cultural stories so that they can be sensitive to the variety of people in the world today. This Dr. Seuss project is two-fold. First, the books will be used as an author study to look at the contributions Dr. Seuss made to the literary community. Second, in an effort to build their confidence in reading aloud in front of others, they will be reading to younger students. This will also model a small way they can build bridges in the school community and give back!

I believe that this project with improve our students' ability to think of others and learn in a small way to give back.

In addition, it will be a fun weekly way to have guest readers in the younger grade classes. The idea of our students being looked up to by younger students will encourage them to be role models in their community. This project goes beyond our classroom and students. It will have a positive impact on the district as a whole.