Using Soar To Success with Special Education Students by Lynne Pistochini Teachers Should be aware of the students' IEP goals and analyze the Special Education assessment as it pertains to the elements of Soar correlate the Soar assessment pieces to IEP goals whenever possible determine the modifications and accommodations based on the students' IEPs carefully monitor and evaluate student progress and provide appropriate scaffolding based on evaluation provide teacher models that match students' expected models help students organize their thinking and record students' responses on the group graphic organizer hold students accountable for their "thinking" and "organizing" of important events and information rather than their writing encourage students to verbalize prior to their writing provide opportunities throughout the instructional day to use the graphic organizers during language arts and across the curriculum provide opportunities for students to make connections between Soar and their classroom work communicate and collaborate with the students' classroom teacher to ensure continuity and connected instruction. Students with special needs may require additional processing time strong teacher support and modeling further into the program than is designated by the Teacher's Manual more frequent Oral Reading Checks and Retellings Protocols use of the Strategy Prompt Cards for a longer period of time teacher models that match student expected models—for example, teachers should use Strategy Prompts when modeling reciprocal teaching strategies more concentrated work with decoding/phonics, both during Soar to Success and regular language arts time the teacher to be the scribe during completion of the graphic organizers the use of the group graphic organizer, rather than their own, when using to summarize during Review and/or Responding/Reflecting additional time to complete writing/responding.   Suggested Modifications and Accommodations for Special Education Students When using Soar to Success with Special Education students, it is important that teachers consider the scaffolding already provided in the program. Be aware of when and how much is provided. Keep in mind that the ultimate goal is to accelerate students' reading abilities as quickly as possible by helping them learn to independently apply and use the comprehension and decoding strategies and skills of an effective reader. The following are suggestions for increasing scaffolding and support for special needs students during each of the instructional segments. REVISIT Substitute rereading for the book conference. Teacher may want to listen to individual students read more often to closely monitor decoding and fluency. REVIEW Provide additional teacher models for summarizing using the graphic organizer. Focus the student on the use of the graphic organizer by pointing to the text as they use it to summarize and review. Quickly review each strategy daily and "provide" specific connections for students as to how they are used both during and outside of Soar to Success time. REHEARSE May need to add additional support by defining within context some of the key words. May need to add additional interaction with students to develop and activate background knowledge while at the same time staying focused to the piece of text to be read. When using the K-W-L chart to set a purpose for reading, may need to direct the amount and content of information for the "K" segment to stay focused to the piece of text to be read. READING/RECIPROCAL TEACHING May, on occasion, need to add an additional day to complete the selection. Students needing additional time to process may require additional time to read. When doing this, be aware of the chunking of text as it relates to the specific lesson plans for the instructional segments. Use the Strategy Prompt cards to provide structure for both teacher and student models. Provide visual cues for summarizing. Provide several teacher models for Clarify, both pronunciation and meaning, for those words with which you feel students will require additional support. These are often the key vocabulary addressed during the preview. Consider making a poster of "Words to Clarify" and list the words you and the students used for modeling Clarify. This may provide the visual cue needed by some students during the reading process. Erase the chart and begin anew with each selection. Provide opportunity for students to practice retelling. Model the difference between retelling and summarizing. Emphasize that during retelling they will tell everything they can remember about that chunk of text and tell it to you as if you had never read that piece. With summarizing, they tell only the most important events or information. RESPONDING/REFLECTING Be sure students have an opportunity to verbalize before writing. The teacher may need to be the scribe longer than is indicated in the Teacher's Manual. The ultimate goal is student independence. Hold students accountable for their organizing and thinking about what they would write in that section of the graphic organizer, and for their response on the reflection sheet. Lynne Pistochini Lynne Pistochini is a Curriculum Resource Teacher in San Juan Unified School District, California. She works with teachers and students in developing literacy programs and intervention programs. She is one of the developers and trainers of Project SUCCESS, and she is an author of Soar to Success. Intervention | Soar to Success | Research/Information Education Place | Site Index | Contact Us Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms and Conditions of Use