My third grade student has been having difficulty with his writing. He can braille anything told to him, but struggles with original compositions. I decided to pull in the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) and the AMAZING poster that APH has and do a little career education. This student loves to ask “what is” questions. I decided to let him investigate the answers on his own!
Reviewing the ECC Poster
When we first reviewed the ECC poster, I brought in a clothespin to help him learn the different areas. Each day the clothespin will be moved to match the area we are working on in class that day. My student and I agreed I need to bring in more clothespins, as some lessons address more than one area at a time.
I’m loving the poster, as do those who visit my room. I have the information sheets hanging above the poster, so anyone who enters the room can easily read the information while I am working with my student.
Interviewing the Custodian
He knew he wanted to interview Ms. Ellee because she’s a custodian he encounters on a daily basis. With the speech therapist’s assistance, he developed a list of questions.
Transcript:
Ms. Ellee what do you do?
Do you like Emile?
I want to know about the tools you use?
What hours do you work?
What is your favorite part of your job?
What is your least favorite part of your job?
Can I help you sometimes?
He practiced reading the questions with me giving ridiculous answers. Once he no longer read like a robot, he interviewed Ms. Ellee. And what an interview it was! She was thrilled to spend time with him! She demonstrated how to use her tools. Lots of pictures were taken. The cover of his book has a picture of him sitting beside Ms. Ellee. The last page of the book has several pictures of Ms. Ellee showing him how to use her tools.
Writing a Report on the Interview
Once the interview was over, he had to write a report based on the questions and the information he learned. This was a slow process and was completed over several days. The speech therapist assisted in helping him organize the responses and provided me an opportunity to teach him about paragraphs and formatting.
His original report went to his classroom teacher. Another copy of the book was made using the computer and was bound. This book was given to Ms. Ellee as a thank you for spending time with him. This was well received and will become a treasured memory for her, I’m sure.
Future interviews are planned with staff around the campus. I predict his interviewing skills and writing will improve as he enjoyed the project.
Transcript:
Ms. Ellee
By: G—–
Custodian
Ms. Ellee is a custodian. She turns the alarm off and opens the school. She gets the table ready for breakfast. She checks the restrooms to make sure there is soap and paper towels. She cleans up vomit. She cleans the windows and picks up all the trash so our school looks beautiful.
She uses dust mop, broom,
dust pan, mop, bucket, and towels to clean.
Ms. Ellee’s favorite part of her job is interacting with the kids. She feels like Emile is her home. This is because she used to go to Emile and now she works here.
Ms. Ellee’s least favorite part of her job is loud people being loud in the cafeteria and people throwing trash on the flor.
Ms. Ellee works five days a
week. She works at six o’clock in the morning to two o’clock in the afternoon. She said I could help her.
