Although my autistic children are in the 7th and 8th grades, they are far behind on their academic skills. Only one can read. The rest are able to match letters to a file-folder game or puzzle. But can they designate what sounds the letters make? For the next 26 weeks, I will be writing one article a week, listing a hands-on lesson plan for an autistic classroom for letter sounds and recognition. Autistic children have poor fine-motor control, so at my school, we shy away from doing too much writing. I have created a mostly hands-on lesson plan, which follows.
The first Web site that I used is a Web site called Starfall. It is a site where most of the activities are free. There are traceable sheets there, in addition to a few computer games and a short video about the letter sound. There is even a short story on the site, focusing on the short sound of the letter A. It is called Zack the Rat. I can hook up my wireless Internet laptop on the teaching group table where all eight children sit during language group activities and the children can listen to the story and short video. After, we will practice the letter A sound, and practice writing with the traceable letter sheet. The children are encouraged to use alternative writing surfaces,so we will also practice writing the letter A on our dry erase boards and magnetic boards. The premise with these boards, is that the writing implements are larger and the children can grasp them easier.
We will include a related book on the theme each week. The book for the letter A is Ten Apples on Top by Dr. Seuss. Not only is this a reading activity, but it is math related too. We can count the apples as we go.
After reading, there is a worksheet on starfall, where apples are counted and placed on an apple tree, after being cut out. This goes along perfectly with the book. Also, there is a template for a felt apple tree and the apples that I ran off and made. Not only will we have a worksheet, but we can count the apples on our felt apple tree.
Autistic children do very well with folder games, so several apple related themed games can be found on www.kidsoup.com. There is a small monthly fee of $1.99 to join, but it is well worth it.There were two folder games on that site. One was an ABC matching game and the other was a color matching apple game. Another great site for folder games is preschool express.com. On that site, there is a size matching apple folder game. On homeschooling.about.com you will find an apple puzzle that can be run off, then glued to a sturdy box, and cut into the respective puzzle pieces.The last game I found was at www.tlsbooks.com. On this site there is an apple tree with apples that can be placed on the numbers on the tree. This game was made into a file folder game. I ran off one extra copy of each game, so there would be enough folder games for everyone to be working on at one time. We simply rotate through the children which folders they are working on.
I also believe strongly in using art with autistic children. Everything is hand over hand, or hands on assistance, but I have noticed when I attempt any art project with my children, they seem to be quieter, and exhibit less stimulus type behavior such as rocking and screaming. The first art activity included creating an apple template suing the one found on www.kidsoup.com. We simply cut the apple lengthy wise to expose the star design in the middle of an apple. We then assisted the children in placing the apple in a small ” pool” of red paint and proceeded to create a star pattern on the template. We then did the same with another piece of apple with green.
The second art activity was found on www.dlti0teach.com/template.asp. It is an apple person, complete with arms and apple feet. He even has an apple leaf top. The best thing to do with a multiple step project with autistic children, is to only lay one piece down at a time. So we would lay the apple hat down and show the children where to place it on the paper. If you have the time, you can create a ” recipe” direction sheet where each ” picture ” step of the process is numbered. The easier way is simply to have the children pick up one piece at a time, and model how to place it on the apple template.
There are apple songs and poems galore on the Internet. I chose to use songs and poems from www.dltk-teach.com/alphabuddies/songs.html . On this site, songs and poems are listed for each letter of the alphabet. i chose to use the Letter A Rhyme and Do you know the Apple Man. You probably guessed that this is sung to Do You Know the Muffin Man.
Hopefully, as each unit progresses, the children can pull all of the sounds together phonetically. We will do reviews each week of sounds we have already learned. Not only will this help their pre reading skills, but it will help their speech skills also. None of my children are verbal, but almost all can repeat back what you ask, so this will help them tremendously.
Remember that this lesson plan can be used with preschool or kindergarten students, as well as with autistic and learning disabled children. Stay tuned for next week’s lesson plan on the letter B.
