Unique Middle-High School Bass Manual

Middle-High School Level – Just the Basics for Now

At the Middle School and High School levels, Unique's instructional materials are presented in monthly thematic units and Core Materials

. The monthly units have new information and lessons each month. The Core Materials are provided as a one-time set of materials and activities that will be ongoing in the classroom each day throughout the school year.

1. It is essential that teachers assess their students’ current abilities

and plan

instructional tasks that differentiate for maximum participation and learning within each lesson.

2. Instructional Tips is a document that provides an overview of the lessons and materials, as well as quick teaching tips and ideas for printing materials. These tips are designed to provide instructional ideas that will enable teachers to meet the needs of each student in the classroom, regardless of ability level.

The Instructional Tips

The

provide display and usage ideas for implementation.

Instructional Tips document can be found in the ULS Dashboard / Instructional Tools

• A complete summary of all the monthly unit lessons is provided in the

.

Instructional Tips.

• The lessons for each unit at the Middle School and High School levels contain a consistent format for identified reading, writing and math activities.

• Within the list of lessons, the activities are the same from month to month.

• Only the content in these lessons changes for each unit.

3. Core Materials

can generally be copied one time for the classroom, yet they are always

available if new copies are needed.

The Core Materials address routine daily instructional tasks that become the basis for transition planning. Materials and lesson plans include daily living skills, classroom, school and community jobs, meeting times, meal planning and preparation, recreation-leisure, home reports and daily sign-in procedures.

The Core Materials also include a section for student goal-setting. Students are able to do self-evaluations on pertinent areas of performance related to daily living, employability, communication, self-advocacy and social strategies. These goals are tied to the teacher Core Rubrics assessments within the Unique GPS.

4. Lesson Plans -

• These topics are directly linked to the instructional targets, which are the essence of academic content standards.

The Middle School and High School grade band units are built around a selected science or social studies content area each month.

• After the topic is selected, reading, writing, math and related content activities are designed within the lesson plan.

• This becomes a thematic unit with books, materials and hands-on activities that keep a central focus on the goals of the content area.

• In this way, students are provided instruction in a well-rounded foundation of science and social studies content but with a continuing focus on increasing reading, writing and math skills.

• 30 lesson plans are provided in each unit of the grade bands. The first section of the lesson plan lists the instructional targets. A space is provided where you may put the direct link to your state's standards that apply to this lesson. The next section of the lesson plan will describe the activities and how you can deliver this lesson to students. Additional learning information will be added here to support your presentation of the topic. The next section of the lesson plan is the most important - the suggested differentiated tasks. The learning needs of students in your classroom may be very broad. The basic premise is that ALL students will participate in the same or similar activity, but the expectations for learning may be quite varied. These differentiated tasks provide teacher guidance on what the learning expectations might be for three levels of students. Finally, at the bottom of each lesson plan is a list of materials that can be downloaded to deliver this lesson. Many of the lessons also have three levels of materials that coincide with the differentiated tasks.

• Additional materials and resources are also listed; these may include books and websites that support the instructional learning.

5 • Leveled Books

Reading and Writing

• Comprehension Activities

• Phonemic Awareness

• Word Study

In the early grade bands, there is a focus on "learning to read." As we move into the Middle and High School

For many students, the reading lessons and materials in Unique can be used to support reading skill development.

units, the focus shifts to "reading to learn." Therefore, reading activities are often embedded within content materials.

Within the Unique tools, there are documents for Phonemic Awareness, Word Study and Vocabulary Development, which may provide additional guidance on how to build a comprehensive reading program with the Unique materials.

Within the Middle School and High School grade bands,

Leveled Books

the first lesson story is a leveled book. This is a simple leveled book, usually including level aa (captioned), level A, which has a repeated line, and level B or C, which includes more text but still a very simple structure. These books are useful for beginning readers and early emerging readers. They can also be used to engage all students in an aspect of the monthly topic.

Level aa (a captioned book),

Level A (which has a repeated line)

Level B

or C (which includes more text but is still a very simple structure).

• The appropriate instructional level for each student can be determined through the Benchmarking Assessment tools in Unique GPS: Fluency with Comprehension Assessment

18 high-frequency words are introduced following Lesson 1

to build word recognition skills. These words can be the springboard for additional reading skill activities.

Each unit has a simple chapter book.

Six chapters are presented in six different lessons

These chapters

.

are written in two reading levels

• A higher text level,

:

• a symbolized level and • a text-only level.

These chapters are also available in a speaking version

. To access the speaking version, select the speaker button within the list of lessons on the website.

A

Comprehension comprehension activity is included in Lesson 2

to review the information from the first story.

Comprehension materials should be used to build story retelling skills

The appropriate instructional level for each student can be determined through the

.

Benchmarking Assessment tools in Unique GPS: Fluency with Comprehension Assessment

Within each chapter book lesson, there are comprehension materials. These questions from the chapter come in three formats

• fill in the blank,

:

• multiple choice and • advanced level questions.

Three distinct levels of differentiated tasks are provided in these lessons.

Questions are provided in

• a text-only version,

:

• a symbolized version and • in sentence strips with pictures that may be cut apart and presented individually.

The comprehension activities are not intended to check knowledge after reading as much as they are to provide a tool that will help teachers support the comprehension process and develop retelling or summarization skills.

Three lessons in each unit address writing skills.

Writing

The writing experience varies in the type of writing tasks to be completed but always includes a template format that will enable students to add words or pictures to complete a document. At the Middle School level, the students write a book report in response to a self-selected book. A list of suggested books is included with the unit.

A writing planning format is provided to create articles for a newsletter in both the Middle School and High School grade bands

The stories and many of the reading activities are also supported with

. The students select an activity that has occurred during the unit to report on.

PowerPoint show and Classroom Suite formats.

6.

Math skills are addressed in several lessons in the Middle School and High School grade bands. All math problems in Unique are presented in scenarios or simple math stories.

Math

The scenarios are based on the unit topic. This type of problem builds simulated real-world problem solving that may more easily be generalized into daily living math situations. A progression of skills is included in each lesson, and teachers should adapt, based on individual student abilities.

Middle School Math Skills:

Lesson 19: Math Story Problems - progressive levels of addition and subtraction Lesson 20: Measure It! Lesson 21: Read This Chart (data analysis) Lesson 22: Money Applications Lesson 23: Schedules and Times Lesson 24: Geometry Lesson 25: Algebra

High School Math Skills:

Lesson 19: Math Story Problems - progressive levels of addition and subtraction Lesson 20: Measure It! Lesson 21: Read This Chart (data analysis) Lesson 22: Money Applications Lesson 23: Schedules and Times Lesson 24: Geometry Lesson 25:

Algebra

• Located in the Instructional Tools are three sets of math packs

- numbers, money and time. The math packs contain numbers, coins and bills, clocks and time cards. These materials can be laminated and reused month after month.

7.

Content Learning

Each unit topic focuses on a specific social studies or science area of learning. These topics are built into the reading, writing and math activities. Additional related content activities change each month. The lessons and materials are age- and interest-appropriate for the grade band.

At the Middle School level, there is a board game that can be created on a file folder. At the High School level, there is a quiz game that is similar to the Jeopardy®

format. These vocabulary activities reinforce terms and concepts that are introduced as part of the thematic unit.

Simple recipes and craft projects are also included in the units. These activities involve measurement and direction-following skills.

At the High School level, individuals and places that are introduced in the unit are featured in a trading cards lesson. These cards can be used for collecting or trading. Each month also has an oral report lesson in which students can present an oral summary of one of the month's learning topics.

Each unit has a science experiment. This is a hands-on learning activity that focuses on scientific inquiry processes.

Each unit has a history timeline. Simple timeline concepts are introduced in a modified format and look at events through history.

8. Life Skills Applications

Life skills activities are very important for students in the Middle School and High School grades.

That is why, after each chapter, there is a life skills application lesson. The tasks in these lessons vary each month but do extend chapter book learning into relevant learning experiences.

These life skills lessons build the essential skills that we want for our students:

• Communication skills • Social skills • Problem-solving/Decision-making skills • Physical skills • Choice-making/Self-advocacy/Independence skills • Career development skills

Also provided is a transition connection document that links specific lessons to vocational, community and daily living skills. The Transition Connections can be found in the ULS Dashboard / Monthly Tools.

Core Materials

In addition to the monthly lessons, the Middle School and High School grade bands contain a set of Core Materials. The Core Materials address routine daily instructional tasks that become the basis for transition planning. Materials and lesson plans include daily living skills, classroom, school and community jobs, meeting times, meal planning and preparation, recreation-leisure, home reports and daily sign-in procedures.

The Personal Binder is an organizational tool in which the students can keep daily schedules, monthly calendars, as well as the "Daily Buzz," which shares information between home and school. Students are responsible for the binder and its contents.

Meeting Time is a daily time for the class to come together and discuss pertinent items about the day. Students share information on forms about the date, the weather and current events. The meeting time is an excellent time to incorporate reading the News-2-You article of the week.

Meal Planning

Multiple

activities are used to guide classroom meals, which include planning balanced meals, shopping for food, preparing food and cleaning up after eating.

Task Analysis cards

The Core Materials also include a section for student goal-setting. Students are able to do self-evaluations on pertinent areas of performance related to daily living, employability, communication, self-advocacy and social strategies. These goals are tied to the teacher

are provided for classroom jobs. These contain real photos to show the sequence of a variety of school and classroom jobs.

Core Rubrics assessments within the Unique GPS.

Assessing Student Progress

The Monthly Checkpoints are the primary assessment tool within the Unique program. These checkpoints provide a pre- and post-assessment of identified skills in each grade band. At the Middle School and High School levels, the checkpoints include areas of Content, Reading, Math and Word Recognition.

Two levels of checkpoints are provided: Unit Checkpoints and Level 1 Checkpoints. While the Unit Checkpoints may be appropriate for most students, the Level 1 version is specifically designed for students with the severe/profound disabilities and have received a differentiated task level of 1 in their Student Profile.

The questions are presented in a multiple-choice format. This assessment can be administered in a paper/pencil format or with the online version. Administration instructions are provided in the Assessment Tools on the website.

There are six questions in each checkpoint section. The questions are graduated in complexity. The assessment is discontinued after the student gives two incorrect responses.

Level 1 Checkpoints contain three sections (Content, Reading and Math), with six questions in each section. The questions are a combination of observational data and performance assessment based on a recognizable response mode.

The student score is recorded on the Unique secure website. These are presented in graphs that pair the pre- and post-assessment scores for each month.

For more information on student assessments, visit the Unique GPS section of the support center.

Transition Passport The Transition Passport is a key component for data collection.

The Transition Passport Binder becomes a personal collection of supporting transition information that is essential for young adults to move into an effective system of transition planning. The Transition Passport Toolbox on the Unique website contains evaluation forms and guides/lifelines that may be placed in the individual student's Transition Passport Binder. Information on how to create the Transition Passport Binder can be found in the Transition Passport Toolbox.

The Transition Passport information is to be stored in a 3-ring binder for each team member. The Transition Toolbox also contains page dividers for the binder and summary forms when recording evaluations, surveys and other processes.

The binder has four sections: Vocational

Daily Living Personal Life Community

Teachers will select evaluations, guides and lifelines from the Transition Passport Toolbox that are appropriate for an individual and/or the situations that occur in the classroom or community, in a vocational setting or in the process of daily living tasks. Some students may benefit from just a few guides/lifelines in their Transition Passport Binder. Others may benefit from almost all documents.

Evaluation information is collected from reviews of job training, volunteer activities, job tours, interview processes, as well as student interest surveys. These evaluations are useful in presenting the student in vocational rehab or future employment opportunities. Some forms are intended for teachers to complete. Other forms require student input.

Many young adults require supports throughout their lives to maximize a level of independence. Lifelines are support materials that are taught in the educational setting, yet should follow the individual after school years. These individual lifelines, as well as guides for life scenarios, are located in the Transition Passport Toolbox.

Many of the documents in the Transition Passport Toolbox are created in a PDF fillable form format. This format allows teachers to type information directly into the form and save for further use.

• When opening a PDF document, a message will appear at the top of the page indicating this is a fillable form. Save the document with a new name that has the team student in it.

• Locate sections of the form that can be complete with text entry or checkboxes. • The Transition Passport Toolbox is also available to the High School grade band.

All PDF materials are in color but may be printed in color or black and white. Some lessons will be more engaging for students if printed in color.

Printing

Some materials can also be printed on cardstock and laminated for repeated use. Unique is not intended to be a paper-pencil curriculum product. The use of interactive materials and manipulatives is essential for many of our students. The Unique materials can easily be used in a manipulative format.

The last column on the lesson plan index page identifies the PDF page number where you can find the specific lessons and activities within the monthly unit.