One of the most common questions I get is what I use to teach my students. I get it — filling the day of your self-contained classroom may seem daunting. If you are not given a curriculum to follow, it can feel impossible!
I wrote a whole blog post on how to create your own curriculum map and I have shared previous classroom schedules. I hope to get a new classroom schedule blog out soon, but in the meantime here is an overview of the different parts of my day!
My students are in school for roughly 6.5 hours. Thirty minutes is spent at lunch and 30 minutes is spent at Adaptive PE and Recess. The other 5.5 hours are broken down into major chunks below. Five and a half hours=11 blocks of 30 minutes. I’ll share how many 30-minute blocks fall into that category.
Weekly Theme (4/11 Blocks)
I created my Weekly Thematic Packs to help bridge the gap in my classroom. My thematic packs span across Reading, Math, and Language Arts domains and range from a pre-academic to a 2nd-grade academic level. I use these packs to supplement my reading groups, independent work, IEP skills, art, and hands-on blocks. Here is a Youtube video sharing everything that comes in a weekly pack and you can browse all of the packs in the mega pack here.
Supplemental Time (3/11 Blocks)
I use the Behavior Basics program from Autism Adventures, the Life Skills centers from Simply Special Ed, and Easy Art packs from Teaching Special Thinkers to fill these blocks. I have an assistant run a fluency center and I also use a variety of independent work — read more here!
Unique Curriculum (2/11 Blocks)
I use the Unique Curriculum as the base of my reading instruction. I love using the leveled readers and comprehension to lead my reading groups. There are a variety of phonics activities I can use to supplement my lessons. My students typically explore math concepts with an assistant while I work with different groups.
VAAP Content (2/11 Blocks)
I teach in Virginia and a majority of my students participate in the Virginia Alternative Assessment Program (VAAP). This is a portfolio-based assessment that tests students across four content domains. I use my own Math, Science, and Social Studies packs to supplement the VAAP assessment. You can grab all of my content packs (including Reading!!) in my full license.
I hope that gives you a better idea of how I fill my day in my self-contained classroom! I am still working out kinks in my schedule and I hope to have a schedule post out soon!