Sam, his parents, teacher, Stage supervisor, learning support teacher and psychologist, have been involved in the collaborative curriculum planning process. The process has determined that, across the key learning areas:
- Sam is working towards Stage 2 outcomes
- Sam is working towards the following goals:
- increasing turn-taking and reciprocal interactions with peers
- using scaffolds to answer questions and give explanations
- increasing his use of coping strategies in response to his anxiety
- decreasing the length of time it takes him to transition between activities and environments
- choosing an appropriate strategy for a particular context given a choice of two strategies
- the implementation of the following adjustments enables Sam to participate in teaching and learning experiences and assessment opportunities:
- the teacher supports Sam to alleviate his anxiety by outlining each step of a learning experience using cue cards. Information is ‘chunked’ so that Sam receives a limited amount of information at one time, and so that the teacher has increased opportunities to give Sam feedback. The teacher indicates independent work and group work on the cue cards using icons (where appropriate)
- the teacher organises for Sam to be in a group of appropriate peers and of reduced size. The teacher assigns group roles in collaboration with Sam
- Sam is instructed to observe other groups during guided practice before working in his group, and to use the groups as a model
- the teacher uses an electronic timer to support Sam’ s transition between activities and environments
- the teacher provides Sam with sentence starters and cloze sentences to assist with his organisation of information and expression of his thoughts
- the teacher provides Sam with visual supports to assist with his comprehension of set tasks and social rules
- the teacher provides Sam with a ‘Finished Box’ for completed work
- the teacher gives Sam advance notice when he is required to participate in class discussions, and explains the extent of Sam’s participation.
Priorities identified for Sam by the teacher relevant to the unit of work are to:
- improve his organisation and communication of information by structuring explanations and discussion points before participating in class discussions
- choose an appropriate strategy for estimating and representing information
- participate effectively in group work.
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