Predictable Chart Writing in the Special Education Classroom

Comprehensive Literacy Instruction is essential in today's classrooms, including self-contained classrooms and cross-categorical resource rooms. In many cases, reading and writing instruction has fallen by the wayside for our most complex learners however the push toward implementing the Science of Reading in all classrooms emphasizes the need for a shift. 

Shared Writing is one component of Comprehensive Literacy Instruction and a highly effective strategy for engaging students with complex needs in shared writing instruction is Predictable Chart Writing (PCW). PCW provides predictability, offers seamless integration of communication, and can be utilized as an activity for the entire classroom, small groups, or even individual sessions. 

Each step in the Predictable Chart Writing Routine takes place during a new session. Typically, this is done during daily writing instruction over the course of a school week. 

Step 1: Write the Chart (Monday)

• Choose a sentence stem. Possible topics could include the current classroom theme, responding to a recent reading passage, or incorporating the use of core words. 

• The students provide a personalized response to the sentence stem. 
• Provide response options using picture-supported icons or AAC devices for students who struggle with word retrieval or expressive communication. 

• Then, the teacher scribes the response on the chart while saying each part aloud. A pocket chart can be a great alternative! 

• Finally, the group will choral read each sentence when done. 

• For non-speaking students, utilize AAC such as a big mack switch, communication board, or communication device to facilitate participation. See the example video below: 

Step 2: Reread the Chart (Tuesday)

• First, the group will reread the entire chart chorally as the teacher points to each word.

• Then, provide opportunities for individual students to find words such as a targeted core word or content vocabulary. 

• Next, focus on a specific element (letter, word, convention) when done.

• Finally, reread a final time.

Step 3: Work with Sentence Strips (Wednesday)

• First, the group will reread the entire chart chorally as the teacher points to each word.

• Next, pass out each student’s contribution to them on sentence strips. 
• You can either prepare these sentence strips ahead of time or use this activity as an opportunity to model.

• Then, demonstrate how to cut the sentence apart into words (after each cut, reread) and reorder.

• Eventually, start reordering incorrectly to help students see if the sentence makes sense.
• Allow students to make mistakes! These are opportunities to recheck work/check for what makes sense.

• After developing an understanding, students will cut apart their own sentences.

Step 4: Be the Sentence (Thursday)

• First, the group will reread the entire chart chorally as the teacher points to each word.

• Then, choose a sentence and give each student a word from the sentence. 

• Next, have them physically arrange themselves to reorder the sentence
• Repeat for 3-4 sentences.

• Finally, end with a final choral reading of sentences

Step 5: Make and Publish the Book (Friday)

• First, the group will reread the entire chart chorally as the teacher points to each word.

• Then, pass out individual sentences typed/written for book.
• You can either prepare these sentence strips ahead of time or use this activity as an opportunity to model.

• Next, they will glue their ordered sentence onto their paper. 

• Then, students will add illustrations
• They can use their own drawings or find pictures on Google images.

• Finally, students will share their book page before adding it to the finished class book for the classroom library.
• You can also publish the class book to Tarheel Reader or Bookcreator.com for independent reading with technology or at home.

To see Predictable Chart Writing in action with a group of learners at a variety of instructional levels, check out this video: 

Stay tuned for my upcoming Predictable Chart Writing Lesson Plans and Materials which features 30 different sentence stems including general and seasonal themes. 

Teaching About Feelings in the Special Education Classroom

After all the talk about what students love during Valentine's Day activities, I always found a natural next step in my thematic units was to focus on feelings and emotions. 

Check out some of my favorite Emotions activities:

ELA Ideas

• I first introduce feelings vocabulary. We use a variety of visuals including photos, icons, and even emojis. 

• Next, we practice sorting emotions based on the vocabulary we've learned. These cut and paste worksheets are also included in my Feelings Thematic Unit. 

• Then, we read stories to discuss each emotion in context. I love The Way I Feel by Janan Cain because it covers so many robust feeling words. I use the communication board from my Feelings Thematic Unit for students to participate.

• Another favorite feelings story is When Sophie Gets Angry-- Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang. I love this story for introducing the concept of coping strategies to my students. 

I love this story so much that I created an entire Picture Book Communication and Comprehension Supports resource which you can check out in my TPT store. It includes vocabulary, sentence building boards, AAC, comprehension questions, sequencing, and fill-in-the blank activities. Plus IEP goal ideas and progress monitoring sheets!

 

Social Group Ideas

• We practice our feelings vocabulary words by playing a game of charades where each student makes a silly emoji face and sees if their friends can guess them 😜😉😁😋🤨😱

😡😡😡

☹️☹️☹️

😁😁😁

• We also practice our vocabulary with a variety of games including BINGO and this great board game board. 

I use this universal game board from my Feeling Thematic Unit to practice a variety of skills depending on the needs of my students including: number, letter, or sound ID, reading sight words, answering math facts, or practicing other IEP goal skills in addition to our emotions vocabulary!

 

• We also follow up our unit on When Sophie Gets Angry by talking about our own emotions, what causes them, and coping strategies for what we call BIG emotions. I created a book template for my students to use as a resource when they are having big feelings. It aligns loosely with The Zones of Regulation. This template is included as one of the 12 cross-curricular activities in my Feelings Thematic Unit.

• This is also a good time to introduce our classroom Big Feelings Tools. I use the A Little Peaceful Spot book from the A Little Spot of Emotion by Diane Alber. After reading the story, I use a slide deck to introduce our Big Feeling Tools and model each tool and we discuss the expectations. 

Our big feelings tools for moving our bodies include a Color Match Station which is a velcro board poster where students get vestibular input from bending down to get an Ellison cutout and then match it to the poster and a Heavy Work Station in which students match covered textbooks to corresponding colored Xs in the hallway.

Our big feelings tools for resting our bodies include a Picture Reading Poster from S'cool Moves, a Calming Kit with small fidgets, and my Special Interest Deep Breathing Posters.

Math Ideas

• With so many different emotion icons, it can be a great opportunity to practice graphing. I have done this in a variety of ways. When we have more time, I have students sort and graph emoji erasers like these from Amazon:

 

One year, my OT pushed in for a group and we actually had students make a collage with emoji stickers and then count and graph each emoji they used. These stickers were another great Amazon find. 

For both the erasers and stickers, Amazon has a TON of options so you can certainly choose what variety works best for your students. 

Admittedly, there have been years where I have needed to simplify the assignment so I pre-made a worksheet with various emotions for students to create. Of course you can find this in my Feelings Thematic Unit 😉!

• These erasers and stickers are also a great way to practice basic counting for students who aren't quite ready for graphing yet. I also made a fun emoji counting worksheet.

Cooking Ideas

• During our cooking time, my students loved making cooking activities with different faces such as waffles, rice cakes, or english muffin pizzas. 

Interested in these activities and more? Why not bundle and save! 

What is your favorite activity to teach feelings in your classroom? Which of these activities are you excited to try?