Abbie’s teacher knows from experience that Abbie will read the book, independently with technology or paired with classmates, for weeks to come. See Sheldon & Erickson (2020) for more ideas about embed- ding comprehensive emergent literacy instruction in the regular classroom. SOURCES: Erickson, K. (2017). Comprehensive literacy instruction, in- terprofessional collaborative practice, and students with severe disabilities. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 26, 193–205. doi: 10.1044/2017_AJSLP-15-0067 Erickson, K., & Koppenhaver, D. (2020). Comprehensive liter- acy for all: Teaching children with significant disabilities to read and write. Baltimore, MD: Brookes. Sheldon, E. & Erickson, K. (2020). Emergent literacy instruc- tion for students with significant disabilities in the regular class- room. Assistive Technology Outcomes and Benefits (14), in press. FREE RESOURCES TO LEARN THE ROUTINES OF COMPREHENSIVE EMERGENT LITERACY INSTRUCTION: Project Core, from the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies, includes 12 free professional learning modules on the instructional routines associated comprehensive emergent liter- acy instruction. Literacy Instruction for Students with Significant Disabil- ities http://literacyforallinstruction.ca offers information, re- search-based instructional approaches, and effective instruc- tional and learning strategies to support school leaders, teachers, and other specialists working to better meet the literacy and communication needs of students with significant disabilities, including students with moderate to severe cognitive disabili- ties, complex communication needs, and multiple disabilities including deaf/blindness and/or physical access challenges. InclusionOntario, recorded webinars explaining the cycle of comprehensive emergent literacy instruction as it applied to each of the instructional routines. https://www.inclusionontario. ca/Emergent-Literacy.html.
lary term. They refer back to the video or to a classroom text on butterflies to help them generate ideas. Abbie reaches out and touches the butterfly images on the page. Her classmates attri- bute meaning to what Abbie brings attention to, then generate words in response, such as “I think you are noticing that the but- terfly is drinking. Let’s write that down.” As they collect words, they look through Abbie’s AAC system to ensure she has those words available. If she doesn’t, they try to re-state the word us- ing terms she has available in her system. Their goal is to create definitions for each vocabulary term using words Abbie can use, too. Once the students have finished brainstorming, they select the words they feel are the most descriptive. One of the stu- dents is learning to keyboard, and she types their sentences into a word processing document. The students use parter-assist- ed scanning to ask Abbie for her word selections. Abbie nods and vocalizes in response to “hungry,”“growing”, “changing,” and “beautiful.”Their completed sentences look like this:
Eggs are small. Eggs are round. Eggs are many! Eggs become caterpillars.
Caterpillars are hungry. Caterpillars are growing. Caterpillars are moving. Caterpillars become a chrysalis. The chrysalis does not eat. The chrysalis sleeps. The chrysalis changes. The chrysalis is growing wings. The butterfly is coming out! The butterfly is drinking. The butterfly is flying. The butterfly is beautiful. The butterfly is laying eggs.
The paraprofessional supervises as the children copy and paste each sentence on to its own page of a slide making soft- ware. The students also paste each sentence into an image search on the internet. Abbie watches with anticipation as a selection of images appears with each search. She reaches out and selects an image for each sentence. The students copy and paste her choice of photos into each slide, sometimes lobbying her to select a particular image. Their simple book is finished be- fore recess starts. The children proudly show off their book to their classroom teacher. Abbie tells her teacher “hungry beau- tiful” as she reviews their book. Her teacher grins and agrees, pointing to where those words appear in their new book. This classroom book is sure to be popular in the classroom library.
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