Big News for the Accessible Icon Project: DOJ Approval

We are very excited to announce that members from the Department of Justice officially acknowledged the Accessible Icon as meeting ADA regulations (a long debated topic that prevented some people from moving forward with the symbol) at a recent conference. Kate Thurman,  Disability Project Coordinator for Cambridge Commissions for Persons with Disabilities who attended the National ADA Symposium provided us with the following information:

As you saw on Twitter, I attended the National ADA Symposium in Atlanta, which ended yesterday with a Town Hall Meeting. I have pasted below my notes on the conversation during this meeting about the use of the Accessible Icon. Needless to say, I was absolutely thrilled to hear from DOJ that the use of the icon is permissible under the ADA!

Accessibility Icon

Please read the article with statements from various DOJ members here: http://www.unitedspinal.org/new-access-symbol/. Although DOJ and ADA are slow to announce in writing, we believe these public statements reflect a decision that will eventually be announced formally through their social media sites.

At the conference, all 50 states, in addition to Canada, Gaum, and the Virgin Islands were represented and part of the discussion.

As of May 28, we know of over 35 states using the icon, and over 10 countries. New York State is the first state to legally adopt the icon, and New Jersey, Michigan, Kansas, and Pennsylvania are following suit. Needless to say,  our team was thrilled when we heard the news.

Social Studies Review: 4th Grade Small Group Activity

Reviewing for assessments that cover a wide range of material can be hard to do in an engaging fashion. After finishing our unit 3 material in Social Studies, I planned an eight center review game that reviewed the US regions, NJ regions, climate, weather, landforms, and natural resources.

Group work can be difficult for some students. Giving students specific jobs can be one way to avoid typical behavior problems found when implementing small groups. For this Social Studies review, I decided to use a spy theme to encourage student engagement in all areas of center work.

My small group jobs focused on transition time, noise control, and jobs within the group setting.

Please reference and use my Social Studies: Spy Theme Review PowerPoint to access the description of the following positions: Secret Service Messenger, Group Spy, Mr./Mrs. Hat, Noise Detectives, and The Watch.

An outline of the activity is found below: 

Each center was given a “secret mission”. Each secret mission contained one or two activities, and an extension activity if a student was to finish early.
  1.  Station One. Explain how a wooden table is made. Use the words: natural resources, raw materials, and processed in your response. If time, illustrate the steps you described above.
  2. Station Two. Identify six renewable and nonrenewable resources using the graphic organizer provided. If time, why are people considered resources?
  3. Station Three. Design a post card using the yellow paper to describe the difference between the Inner and Outer Atlantic Coastal Plain. Write the message first, and then illustrate if you have time. (Example provided in folder)
  4. Station Four. Create a song about the different types of landforms. Include atleast 4-5 different types. Also try to include the locations of the landforms (where they are found in the US).
  5. Station Five. Compare and contrast weather and climate using a Venn Diagram. (Students were also given five questions to answer–multiple choice)
  6. Station Six. Draw a picture of the water cycle. Label the four steps. If time, create a story about the water cycle, using the character of a water drop.
  7. Station Seven. Label the 5 regions of the United States on the map provided. Create a key that color codes each section.
  8. Station Eight. Use the map provided to label the four regions of New Jersey. Put a star next to the region we live in.
Each station contained a yellow envelope that was labeled (Secret Mission #____). Inside each envelope contained a blue Task Card that outlined the specific activity that was to be completed at each station. You will notice that each card consist of vocabulary words (Bloom’s Taxonomy) that measure the different levels of difficulty.
Each student was given a clipboard with paper.
Teachers’ role: Facilitators, frequent check-ins for each group, collect information on what students need to review, ask clarifying/guiding questions.
Activity: Two day span, review answers on second day once students complete every station. Activity acts as a formative assessment. A Jeopardy review game will be made based on misconceptions/topics that need to be reviewed for the SS Common Assessment on Tuesday.
Groups and Roles: Pre-determined
Students also reflected on their roles within their groups at the beginning and end of the lesson. Students determined self-goals at the beginning (such as ask group members two clarifying questions, stay on task, and use polite language) and then reflected on those goals when we were cleaning up material.

The Real Story of Humpty Dumpty: Prose, Poetry, and Video

Meeting multiple objectives in one lesson can be difficult, however, there are creative ways to incorporate Common Core standards in a way students will enjoy.

Most of us are familiar with the nursery rhyme of Humpty Dumpty, but many of us may not be aware of the extended stories that exist. In this lesson, students are told the story of Humpty Dumpty in a poem,  prose (picture book), and video.

Before beginning, I would like to give a very special thanks to Fara Bono for thinking of this lesson and for providing the resources and links shared below with my fourth grade team. My students absolutely loved the picture book and were totally engaged throughout! 

Objectives/Standards:

1. Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose.

2. Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual presentation of a text.

3. Integrate information from two texts on the same topic.

 Materials:

-Picture Book: (Prose) What Really Happened to Humpty?

HumptyDumpty

2. Humpty Dumpy (Poem)

HumptyDumptyPoem2

3. YouTube: “Humpty Dumpty Nursery Rhyme” (Video)

Procedure:

1. Have students create a two column chart: (Poem  |  Prose)

2. Read “Humpty Dumpty” poem a couple of times. First read the story outloud one to two times, then have students read aloud with teacher (two to three time). Ask students to note rhythm, structure, and elements.

3. Have students list observations in their notebooks.

4. Discuss, and then read “What Really Happened to Humpty Dumpty“.

5. Compare and contrast poem and prose version.

6. For further extension, watch the video version.

7. To incorporate drama, student can read the Reader’s Theater play version. For a more advanced version, a preview of the play created by Brian Freeland can be found at Spotlight Productions.