An Example of an Adapted Lesson Plan:
"Journey into the Rainforest"
for Gifted Students and Students with AD/HD
by Marina Bresba
This science (life systems) lesson plan was designed for Emily Eacrett’s grade 1/2 congregated gifted class at Mutchmor Public School. There are twenty-five students in the class: fifteen boys and ten girls. Ten students are in grade one and fifteen are in grade two. All twenty-five students have been identified as gifted and therefore have individualised IEPs which call for extending the breadth and depth by which all subject areas (including science) are explored. For this reason, the entire lesson has been adapted and modified from the usual expectations for grade one and two students.
There is one student in this group who has been diagnosed as AD/HD, while a couple of others demonstrate some characteristics of impulsivity and hyperactivity at time. The lesson was designed with these students in mind, antecedent to the additional adaptations that have been made to meet their needs. The student with AD/HD has difficulty remaining on task (short attention span), can be impulsive and often wanders. He also has problems with selective listening skills.
| Adaptations | Rationale |
|
Gifted |
|
| Deepening the grade 1 curriculum expectation ("students will investigate the characteristics and needs of animals and plants") to include an experiment wherein students ask questions, plan and execute investigations, and explore possible answers regarding the requirements of plants; acceleration. | Despite the risk of moving into grade 3 curriculum area, allowing students to engage in hands-on experiments through which they can explore what plants need to live goes deeper than the exploration of "basic aspects of growth" as identified in the grade 1 curriculum. |
| Cross-curricular integration of several subject areas. Specifically, I have integrated Music, Visual Arts, Language Arts (Reading, Writing, Oral and Visual Communication), and Mathematics (Measurement, Data Management and Probability) with the Science (Life Systems) curriculum. | Students are encouraged to think globally by exploring themes (such as the rainforest) across the curriculum, rather than delimiting their learning according to subject area. |
| Design of lesson which incorporates a number of the multiple intelligences (musical, spatial, logical/mathematical, naturalist). Specifically, by incorporating the music and sounds of the rainforest, I have incorporated students who learn best through music. By having the students move to various learning centres, I have incorporated kinesthetic learners. By asking students to measure and graph the plants’ growth, I am appealing to logical / mathematical learners, and by incorporating actual living plants into the lesson, I have directed learning toward naturalist learners. | Builds off of students’ natural talents, increasing their engagement in the material; helps to build cognitive bridges in students’ learning; encourages students to explore the theme from different and multiple perspectives; addresses different students’ particular areas of special giftedness |
| Learning centres approach | Allows student to process information at their own pace (most often quickly) |
| Direction of students to websites which require greater fluency and comprehension in reading. | Most students in this class are more advanced in their reading skills than most grade 1 and 2 students. They often look to read material that is much more challenging and that covers material in depth. |
| Challenging expectations regarding amount and quality of written work | Students use vocabulary beyond that which is typical for their grade level and often enjoy writing extensively on subjects which interest them. |
| Open questions | By asking open questions or providing open lead-in sentences such as "This is what I have noticed..." students are free to answer in as much detail as they see fit. |
| Extension activities which ask higher-order questions or allow further explorations and individual projects | Offering students a chance to continue their discovery through further experimentation and / or additional questions that might interest them, challenges them toward higher order thought. |
|
AD/HD |
|
| Learning centres; manipulatives and hands-on activities | Allows the student,1 who is "restless" and has a short attention span, opportunities for physical movement and frequent change of tasks; also gives an opportunity for the student to talk in an appropriate context, without being distracting to others. |
| Lesson involves a variety of activities (teacher-led, small group work, individual work) | Change in pace addresses short attention span |
| Design of lesson which incorporates a number of the multiple intelligences (musical, spatial, logical/mathematical, naturalist) and a multi-sensory approach | Builds off of the student’s natural talents, increasing his engagement in the material; seeks to engage the student’s short attention span |
| Strong, imaginative "hook" | Seeks to capture the student’s short attention span and motivate him at the very beginning of the lesson. |
| Use whole-part-whole method of outlining lesson | Introducing the entire project, describing the various sub-sections, then returning to summarize the project, reiterates the instructions for the student, helping him focus |
| Be precise with instructions (state, demonstrate learning centres, ask student to repeat instructions back), including expectations for behaviours; use direct eye contact. Have student state the instructions. | Clear instructions regarding not only the project but also the expected behaviours will help to guide the student and combat his selective listening; eye contact serves to engage the student. |
| Write instructions on board, along with chart of which learning centre students are exploring; finished model of research log available | The student sometimes has problems listening to instructions. Writing them on the board and offering a model both serve as additional sources of information about what is expected. |
| Help the student get started. Task analysis and division of work into smaller sections (providing only a section at the time, or circling one sub-task at a time on the project information page). Student checks in after each section. | Because the "research log" is divided into separate sections, separate days, it can easily be divided into smaller, more manageable sections for students who may be overwhelmed by the entire task. Asking the student to check in after each section ensures that he remains on task and gives opportunities for the teacher to check and praise his work. |
| If the student is having problems remaining on task, ask him to complete a section of work and give him a time limit ("Do the next three questions; I’ll be back in five minutes to check"). Provide as much individual attention as possible. | Setting parameters to the task can help the student focus and remain on task. By giving as much individual attention as possible, the teacher is able to watch for signs of frustration and defuse the situation before it becomes elevated. |
| Offer of second work space for writing and other individual work | The student can easily be distracted, which is especially likely during the busy-ness of learning centres. When he needs to work individually, he may opt to work somewhere set apart and therefore less distracting |
| Offer the student choices (different learning centres; selection of extension activities; workspace), even in situations of behavioural difficulty ("You can work at this centre if you are not disruptive, or you can do some of your individual work at the desk.") | Providing the student choices allows him to select activities which interest him and therefore which will engage his attention; offering the student choices also seeks to communicate the idea that he has control over his behaviour; problematic behaviour is separated from person. |
1While these adaptations have been made with the student in mind, they will be helpful to all students who tend toward hyperactive and impulsive behaviours.
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