Ayden
A student who has an Individualized Education Plan
Preschool Student with a Disability
Ayden received Speech-Language Therapy 1X45X1; 1X45X3 and Occupational Therapy 2X45X1.
Ayden was a student in my fully-remote class during the school year 2020-2021. He is a sweet and friendly young boy who was observant and participated, especially when encouraged. He enjoyed listening to read-alouds, sharing his asynchronous work, and playing games such as scavenger hunts during our live Zoom sessions.
Please note that since this was a fully remote class, I did not assess Ayden for certain dimensions during the fall semester.
_edited.jpg)
Activities Planned
Working in conjunction with Ayden’s mother and speech therapist, I developed engaging activities that would encourage him to improve his fine motor skills as noted in his IEP. To motivate him to write his name, I encouraged him to use blue and black markers, his favorite colors. Ayden’s focus improved when he was the first one on the call to present his work. As a result, he often presented first and then called on friends to present and/or complement their classmates. Ayden enjoyed this leadership role and his mom reported that he was eager to complete activities, many of which involved utilizing his fine motor skills.
EXAMPLES OF ACTIVITIES INVOLVING FINE MOTOR SKILLS THAT AYDEN ENJOYED
.png)
Activities Planned
Each morning, during circle time, we began our day by singing a song that included hello in all the languages of our class. Aicha’s face lit up each time she heard “Bonjour!” I also played music in the various languages spoken by my students. It is important to me that all students feel comfortable and have a sense of belonging. Incorporating home languages was one way to accomplish this goal.
In order to improve Aicha’s ability to speak and understand English, in addition to referring to visuals and sticking to a predictable routine, I modeled new language and vocabulary consistently throughout the day. I would help Aicha by adding words, asking closed end questions with visuals as choices, or assist her with prompts when she needed help to express herself. In addition,I made sure to provide her ample time to respond. During read-alouds, I would include vocabulary cards with targeted words and visuals. While working with students in small groups, I would ensure Aicha was placed with children who had strong English language skills. Aicha had opportunities for self directed activities that matched her interest and language abilities.
During breakfast one Monday morning in April, 2019, children talked about what they had done the previous weekend. After one student spoke about going to the playground and enjoying the swings, Aicha replied, “Yesterday me and Ryo is going to the park and our babies. We see ice cream but have no money. We play slide in the park.” Then Aicha and the other student engaged in a brief conversation about other activities they enjoy at the park, including the see saw and monkey bars.
Activities Planned
One of Ayden’s goals was to label a variety of categorical items and function (e.g., shapes, letters, numbers, etc.) in structured and unstructured activities. Through a variety of interactive live games on our Zoom calls, small group work, and asynchronous activities, Ayden gained exposure and developed an interest in letters, shapes and numbers. By starting with the first letter in his name, something he was familiar with, he enjoyed exploring other words in a scavenger hunt that also started with the letter “A.” Building on his love for food (he aspires to be a chef), I included various food items in our shape sorting activity and pretended the pom poms in the tree math game were blueberries. By incorporating his interests into these activities, he was motivated to learn and engage with materials. By the end of the school year, Ayden was able to work on age-appropriate, interesting tasks and could plan and pursue a variety of appropriately challenging tasks.
Sample Shape Activities
June 2021: Ayden can describe basic two-and three dimensional shapes by using his own words and recognizes basic shapes when they are presented in a new orientation.
Sample Number Activities
June 2021: Ayden verbally counts to 20; counts 10-20 objects correctly and knows the last number states how many in all. He is beginning to add and subtract whole numbers fluently within 5.
Sample Letter Activities
June 2021: Ayden identifies and names all upper-and lowercase letters when presented in random order and was able to identify the sounds of a few letters.
