7/17/2023
Topic:
Students With Disabilities
Christine Pucillo
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I have a seventh grade student who loves theatre. Between our school play and community theater, this child is casted in supporting roles for three shows each year. She has strong stage presents and stole the show in our last production. One would never know on the night of the performances that she has a learning disability. She has been diagnosed with SLD Specific Learning Disability. Where I see her challenged is memorizing lines and knowing when it is her turn to speak when she's on stage. To overcome this disability, this child works many times harder than the others to memorize her lines and has a strong enough character to keep going when other students become impatient with her. As the director I am extra vigilant to cue her when she is on stage and truth be told, she does a great job adlibbing when necessary the night of the performances. I'm so glad that this child does not let her disability hold her back from being in plays, because she is a wonderful actress and great asset to our performances. |
7/17/2023
Topic:
Tools And Strategies
Christine Pucillo
|
I have a fourth grade student with E/BD Emotional/Behavioral Impairment who on some days is quite challenging. There are some days when this child will go with the flow, cooperate and complete his assignments well, however there are other days where he can cause a complete disruption of class. I've learned to read his body language and can often tell when it is not a good day for him when he walks in the door. On bad days, a strategy that that work well for him is using task cards. He avoids embarrassment by working alone or with a partner to complete his work quietly. I think it gets his mind off of what is bothering him and he feels successful moving from one card to the next. Small group instruction is also a good fit for him. He is very bright and this gives him a chance to participate in the comfort of three or four students. He is much more comfortable talking in small groups than whole group and, on occasion, he offers to help others in the small group with their work. |
7/17/2023
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Christine Pucillo
|
My students complete many on-going formative assessment throughout the week. I have two students in my theatre class that have been diagnosed with ADHD. I look forward to using response cards with them for informal assessments. It gives them something to hold in their hands and allows for movement as they raise the cards and put them down. Response cards can help me access how well the students are leaning their own lines as well as the lines of others. For example, I can use color cards to to represent each character. After reading though a scene the first couple of times, I might ask who says, "Whos up for some high adventure?" I might also ask, "Whos line follows that line?" In addition, I would like to use exit tickets. Performance is a second assessment of learning that I use. Performance assessments as a graded summative assessment is ideal in theater class. Students with ADHD often enjoy active participation, and performance assessment allow for the animation movements they need to release. |