Especially for Teachers

Bright Ideas Lesson Plans

Sorting, Delivering, and Recycling

Our Multi VE class consists of students that meet various criteria, including severe disorders of communication, behavior socialization, and academic skills. The specific handicaps may include autism, profoundly mentally handicapped, trainable mentally handicapped, visually impaired and speech impaired.

Our students need a curriculum that includes daily living skills and community based instruction. The News-Journal is a vital tool that allows our students to successfully meet these goals. They are able to implement a plan and follow through, in the appropriate environment needed. The students are also involved in recycling the newspapers. They deliver the papers to a newspaper bin on campus, and they emphasize the importance of recycling to all the students at HHMS.

Various responsibilities are designated to each student daily. The newspapers are sorted and delivered to particular areas where faculty, teachers, and administrators have access to the. The Sunday News-Journal proves to be especially innovative with our curriculum. We have organized an errand service, so the coupon section and sale flyers are viewed by the staff to determine if there are items they would like to have purchased. It is our responsibility then to provide the most efficient service, and we´re always eager to please our "customers". Our students are continuously working to provide the best service possible.

The service we provide may include grocery shopping for the many items advertised in the different store flyers, as well as utilizing the coupons the students cut out themselves. This allows them to practice money, language, motor coordination, and safety skills, while traveling to several locations within the community. The students also purchase many items required for the laundry and cooking skills they practice in the classroom setting. Some of the grocery items are used to cook new exciting recipes offered in the News-Journal.

Holiday and other occasions also permit us the opportunity to shop for a variety of gifts. These store specials are advertised in the News-Journal, and they involve gifts for everyone! The students travel by Votran, to the Volusia Mall and other discount stores, anxiously in pursuit of that special gift. The students make choices when they but the wrapping paper and bows. They eagerly work together to arrange the packages in a presentable and lovely fashion.

Our errand service provides several advantages. Our faculty and staff save valuable time and money, while at the same time our students make a profit. They especially enjoy using their money for lunch at Chick-fil-A. This seems to be one of their favorite places to eat when they travel to the Volusia Mall. The service also provides the opportunity to teach the critical skills they need, in the appropriate environment. It allows an assessment of the skills needed to complete the task.

Activity planners that list each step, natural cues, prompts, and adaptive strategies are used throughout the year. These planners clearly show a baseline for each student and how they progress, as their skills are continuously reinforced. They are observed in the real environment, walking and following survival signs to travel to designated areas, shopping with the advantage of using real money, making choices, communicating, and using their motor coordination. They set goals and meet them, thanks to The News-Journal!

Janice Stgelais
Holly Hill Middle

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