Assessment 2

Report on the Integration of Special Needs in

Mainstream Classroom
Dysgraphia

A Report Paper
For Ms. Antoinette Wiseman
By
Latefa Waheeb Ali
Course
EDU 2803
March 17, 2016

Latefa Waheeb Ali

Assessment 2

EDU 2803

Contents

Students Profile

. 02
Students Description
. 03
o Problems and Difficulties ...
. 03
o Special Needs Assistance ..

.. 03
Accommodations and Modifications in the Classroom
... 04
o Accommodations
. 04
o Modifications

... 04
Individual Education Plan Objectives
.. 04
o Student Ss Stage of Development .
. 05
o Measurable Goals
05
o Cognitive development
05
o Physical development

.. 06
Assistive Devices

. 06
References ..
. 07

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Students Profile:
Student's name: S
First language: Arabic
Age: 8 years old
School: Sharjah English School
Grade: year 3
Type of special need: SLD and there are some little signs of dysgraphia.

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Students Description
S is an SLD student with a law ability in writing. His disability is called
Dysgraphia, which is an affecting the ability to recognize forms in
letters, to write letters and words on paper and to understand the
relationship between sounds, spoken words and written letters (Logsdon,
2014).
Problems and Difficulties
Ss motor skills are fine, he can read and write words and letters, he
knows that at the beginning of a sentence he should start with capital
letter and end with a full stop, but he has problems with spelling,
grammar, and writing a complete sentence. Also, he is lazy when it comes
to writing. When he writes a sentence, he has his own ideas but he cannot
write them down. Also, when there is an activity, where the students have
to write, he doesnt write unless there is someone who watches over him
and tells him what to write and how, especially if it was writing some
sentences. For example, there was an activity which is to write an informal
letter, I had to stay beside him to help him to generate some ideas, then I
would tell him the spelling of the word or let him try to write it according
to how he spell it.
Special Needs Assistance
There is a special education teacher, sometimes she come into the class
and assist S, and other times she takes him out of the class into a small
room, and it is done 4 times per week for 30 minutes a day. During this
time, she gives him extra lessons for the spelling, and handwriting. What
she do for the lesson is, she uses the one-line notebook when she do the
spelling with him. To make it more exciting, and attract Ss attention, she
uses a dice and 2 sheets that are numbered from 1 6. She let Him throw
the dice, then she will read the instruction of the number that appeared,
and He will do as what the instruction is saying.

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Assessment 2

EDU 2803

Accommodations and Modifications in the Classroom

Accommodations
Accommodation in the curriculum helps the SEN children to learn what
their peers learn, using the same lessons and materials, but in a different
way, so they meet the same standards as their classmates (Strom, 2014).
There are many ways to use accommodations in the class, without
affecting the main objective of the lesson.
If I could use accommodations during my teaching practice, I would like
for S to use a spelling dictionary or a spell checker, so when he has to
write something, he wont be confused whether this word is spelled
correctly or not.
Also, I would provide an activity that some of its areas had been filled in,
assist him while he is writing, and spell the words that he doesnt know
how to spell it.
Another way to help S improving his writing is that it would be nice to let
him start writing the assignment earlier. Or, give him extra time to write
and copy the notes, or completing an activity. For example, when
everyone have finished their activities, I would ask them questions to see
their understanding, by questioning them, I am giving S some extra time
so he can finish copying his notes.
Modifications
On the other hand, a modification is a change in the curriculum, it must be
done if the SEN children are way behind their classmates (Strom, 2014).
When modifications are made, children with SEN would not master the
same skills as their peers.
What I would like to do with modification when I plan a lesson is, when
other students have to write a paragraph, S will be given a multiple choice
sheet which allows him to choose the elements of a paragraph.
Also, when there is a spelling test for 10 words, S will be given another list
for the spelling test. For example, if the students will have to do the
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Assessment 2

EDU 2803

compound words test, he will do the short words, which are easier that the
compound ones.
Moreover, when I give the students 3 activities, S will get 1 activity. If he
found it easy then I would give him another one. Or, I would give him 3
activities same as his friends but with fewer questions. For example, when
the students will get 3 worksheets with 10 questions on them, S also will
get 3 worksheets, but instead of answering 10 questions he will answer
only 5 questions.

Individual Education Plan Objectives

The Individual Education Program (IEP) is a written description of the
present level of performance, measureable goals and needed special
education programs and services for a student with special needs
(General Rules for the Provision of Special Education Programs and
Services (Public & Private Schools), p. 62).
Ss Stage of Development
S is an 8 years old child, so he is in the concrete operation stage of
Piagets cognitive development. In this stage, children are most preferred
of being able to use their mental operation and cognitive skills, where
they can think logically, and their ideas are organized (Cherry, 2016).
Measurable goal
Before planning for my IEP goals, I observed S on (23rd 24th Feb, 2016),
to see what hes able to do and what are the difficulties that he faces,
during class time and when the special education teacher have to take
him for his extra lesson.
There are 4 domains for development as can be seen in figure 1-1. The
domains that S needs to develop in are: cognitive and physical domains.
So, to use IEP for these two domains, I made 2 main goals, one is for
cognitive domain and the other one is for physical domain. I hope to
achieve them in one month from (28th Feb, 2016 24th Mar, 2016), hoping
that he will achieve them in this short time.
Social Development
Understanding how to
communicate, share, make
friends, and get along with
others.

Emotional Development
The building blocks for a positive
self-esteem and self-confidence.
Children learn how to manage and
express their emotions such as
fear, sadness, anger, and
happiness.
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Social and emotional often come hand in hand since how a child fairs socially often
impacts his or her emotional well-being (Stewart, 2010).

Physical Development

Cognitive Development

Shows the growth of the children:

Processing information
They do structured and
o Fine motor skills (cutting, writing,
unstructured activities, play, and
painting)
interaction with others.
Children develop their
o Gross motor skills (walking,
understanding and abilities in
running, jumping)
such areas as math, science,
language, art.
Figure 1-1: Developmental domains from website:
http://www.teachpreschool.org/2010/07/a-brief-look-at-developmental-domains-in-earlychildhood-education/

Cognitive domain
Ss cognitive skills arent the same as his peers. So, to improve his
thinking and writing skills and to let him generate his ideas, to be able to
write a sentence.

The main goal:

By the end of this month, S will increase his writing skills for being
able to write full sentences with the correct elements of a sentence,
such as using the capitalization, spelling and grammar, with no
errors, and the punctuation marks.
The objectives:
Giving writing materials, S will use one picture to generate some
ideas and write them down on a paper, to create one sentence with
1-2 errors.
Giving writing materials, S will use two pictures to generate some
ideas and write them down on a paper, to create two sentences with
1-2 errors.
Giving writing materials, S will use three pictures and describe what
he can see in three sentences with 1-2 errors.
Physical domain
S doesnt have any physical problems, but he is lazy when it comes to
writing, and he is weak in spelling, so I must use different strategies to let
him be interested in writing.
The main goal:

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Assessment 2

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By the end of this month, S will decrease his spelling errors while
taking the advantage of his interest in colored pencils when he
writes the words.

The objectives:
Giving crayons, S will be writing the spelling words using different
colors for each letter in a word.
Giving crayons, S will be writing the spelling words using different
colors for each word.
Giving pencils, S will be writing the spelling words by pencil instead
of using colored pencils.

Assistive Devices Used In Classroom

There are some devices and software that can contribute the childs
education, such as word processor, iPads, and text-to-voice.
These devices and software help SLD children to improve their writing. For
example, the word processor helps the children to get more organized
work with less spelling and grammar errors. Also, they can use the iPad to
check their spelling, using an electronic dictionary (thesaurus). In addition,
there is text-to-voice software helps the students to get the words
correctly and it helps children to know how to write through listening to
the pronunciation.
However, it is not necessary to use electronic devices to assist SLD
student, the teacher can use games to improve their writing, such as
scrabble word game, it helps to improve the spelling and build more
vocabulary. Also, she uses the crosswords puzzle, which is really helpful to
improve spellings.
References
Alexander, D. (2013, March 19). Writing Effective and Appropriate IEP
Goals and Objectives for Students with Learning Disabilities.
Retrieved March 06, 2016, from Bright Hub Education:
http://www.brighthubeducation.com/special-ed-law/63909-basicexamples-of-iep-goals-and-objectives-for-students-with-learningdisabilities/
Bressert, S. (2014, May 13). Disorder of Written Expression Symptoms.
Retrieved March 05, 2016, from Psych Central:
http://psychcentral.com/disorders/disorder-of-written-expressionsymptoms/

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Cherry, K. (2016, January 07). Concrete Operational Stage of Cognitive

Development. Retrieved March 05, 2016, from About Health:
http://psychology.about.com/od/piagetstheory/p/concreteop.htm
Crouch, A. L. (2007, January). Dysgraphia: How It Affects A Students
Performance and What Can Be Done About It. (5, Ed.) TEACHING
Exceptional Children Plus, 3(3) Article 5, pp. 05-06. Retrieved March
29, 2016, from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ967123.pdf
Friend, M. (2014). Including Students with Special Needs (7 ed.). Boston:
Pearson. Retrieved from
https://www.pearsonhighered.com/assets/hip/us/hip_us_pearsonhigh
ered/samplechapter/0133569942.pdf
General Rules for the Provision of Special Education Programs and
Services (Public & Private Schools). (n.d.). Retrieved March 05, 2016,
from moe.gov.ae:
https://www.moe.gov.ae/English/SiteDocuments/Rules/SNrulesEn.pdf
Logsdon, A. (2014, December 15). Learn about Dysgraphia, a Writing
Disorder. Retrieved February 29, 2016, from About Health:
http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/learningdisabilitybasics/p/dy
sgraphia.htm
Richards, R. G. (2008). Helping Students Who Struggle to Write:
Classroom Compensations. Retrieved March 05, 2016, from
Exclusive to LD OnLine: http://www.ldonline.org/article/30373/
Stewart, D. J. (2010, July 10). A brief look at developmental domains in
early childhood education. Retrieved March 11, 2016, from Teach
Preschool: http://www.teachpreschool.org/2010/07/a-brief-look-atdevelopmental-domains-in-early-childhood-education/
Strom, E. (2014, August 26). Accommodations and Modifications: How
Theyre Different. Retrieved March 01, 2016, from Understood:
https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/treatmentsapproaches/educational-strategies/accommodations-andmodifications-how-theyre-different

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