Tiered Student Intervention Chart

A rough draft of a tiered student intervention chart I was compiling for an administartive class some years ago. We were to create a flowchart our teachers could use to answer the question, "How do we respond when students don’t learn?" I have seen better versions since working on this (both in SMSD as well as the De Soto School District), especially in regards to layout and usability. However, I have found this to be a good starting point when student learning is stymied and I need to generate other modifications and interventions for my students.

Tiered Student Intervention Chart 

Tim Coleman

5040 – Curriculum and Instruction for Administrators

March 1, 2010

Tiered Student Intervention Chart

The Happy Elementary School Administrative Team has put together the following student intervention chart to provide a framework of interventions at the following levels: 1) classroom, 2) grade level/department, 3) school-wide, 4) Student Intervention team (SIT), and 5) special education.  It is intended to be used as a quick reference guide when faced with the question of “How do we respond when students don’t learn?”  It documents all potential interventions, using a “leveled” approach, which will provide the best possible intervention support for students.  The goal is to provide clearly defined interventions that may be implemented building-wide and may be continually revised and updated based on professional experience, research, and collaboration.

Early Interventions (applicable to all teachers)

Instructional Strategies

Pretest to determine prior knowledge and mastery to know where students are at before beginning lesson

Pre-teach material to students who have proven struggles in subject

Differentiate instruction to provide:

Additional modeling of concept or skill for the student

Additional practice opportunities for the student

High-interest methods 

Peer ability-grouping during workshop time

Opportunities for students to learn through other intelligences 

Review and repeat directions

Provide extended or additional scaffolding

Vary pace of instruction

Use print, icons, tape recordings, etc 

Read to student (use in cases when reading is not the primary goal – i.e. math word problems)

Prioritize curriculum

Teach mini-lessons to reinforce skills or solidify learning

Check work in progress

Monitor assignments

Mimed clues/gestures

Immediate feedback

Review sessions

Provide models of finished product or work

Highlight key words

Oral and visual reminders

Use mnemonics

Have student restate information often and in his/her own words

Provide lecture notes/outline to student

Display and reference key vocabulary

Use personalized examples to relate learning to the students’ interests

Provide vocabulary word bank

Materials

Provide manipulatives that correspond to the concept or skill

Vary texts and supplementary materials by reading level and interest

Use outlines, webs, storyboards

Use graphic organizers at varying levels of complexity

Use applicable computer programs to provide targeted and individualized practice

Provide one paper or assignment at a time

Color code material

Provide calculator

Use large print

Allow spell check software

Use consumable workbooks

Allow any assistive technology 

Use overhead or document projector to share learning

Work Product/Tests/Time Management

Allow students to work in groups, pairs and finally alone to provide peer practice before individual performance

Reduce the amount of work to core concepts 

Offer reading/work buddies

Encourage students to modify homework assignments to their own learning needs

Create common and differentiated items of tests

Provide more time

Give prior notice of tests

Offer analytical, practical, and creative learning/production options

Give oral answers to assignments or otherwise be allowed to demonstrate learning

Limited multiple choice tests

Pace long-term projects

Preview test procedures

Test materials that may be written on

Rephrase test questions/directions

Provide test study guide

Provide extra credit options

Simply wording of tests

Behavior Management/Organization/Environment

Identify and encourage student with measured growth, not just final grade

Allow students to move, sit on the floor, etc as appropriate

Set individual learning goals in key areas with and for each student

Have “opt outs” for students who need safety valve alternatives

Provide study outlines

Give daily assignment and homework lists

Place list of tasks on desktop

Provide folders to hold different types of work

List sequential steps

Post learning routines

Provide extra space for work

Establish preferential seating

Clear work area

Allow break between tasks

Structure transitions and lessons

Use proximity/touch

Cue expected behavior (i.e. beginning morning work)

Continued contact with parents over concerns and interventions

Grade Level / Department Interventions (more focused for an identified group of teachers)

Consult with grade-level colleagues for interventions in use at grade level

Using list above

Use team planning time to outline and review interventions used for validity, trouble-shooting, or refinement 

Consult learning center teacher/resource room teacher

Co-teach/group students with similar struggles during workshop or common subject instructional time

Meet with previous teacher to determine what worked and what did not work for students

Don’t re-invent the wheel every year

Use mentors, volunteers, other teachers, aides, etc to offer one-on-one assistance when called for by interventions

Work in grade-level teams and consult with specials teachers to identify behavior and academic performance outside of regular education classroom

Co-teaching/team teaching situations, specials classes, lunch room duty, after school care

Assist in documentation of interventions and success/struggle

Compare progress monitoring across classrooms, instead of just within one teacher’s class

School Interventions (to best meet overall needs of school – systematic approach)

Involve Counselor or Social Worker

Consult with school psychologist

Involve Specials teachers in academic intervention planning

Staff meetings: 

Used for data review

Breakout groups to accomplish identified tasks,

Cross-grade collaboration on interventions

Involvement of specials teachers, aides, paraprofessionals, etc

Establish school-wide goals, interventions, benchmarks

Motivation and encouragement through sharing of success

Training on new software, programs, materials

Collaborative work time on grade-level intervention planning

Providing reading workshop time school wide 

Coordinate with Reading Specialists, aides, and resource room

Support and establish accountability with all teachers to provide appropriate workshop structure during this time

Small groups, centers, peer projects, individualized extra practice work, re-teaching time, enrichment groups, project time (interventions listed above)

Reading Specialists

Priority given to establish set times for reading teachers to meet with students

Meet with students needing intensive interventions during workshop time

Set progress monitoring schedule

Educational Aids available to monitor computer programs 

Ensure class groupings are balanced in terms of academic strengths, gender, behavior, and special education consideration

Use longitudinal data to track students year to year and also to track teachers year to year

Identify trends within student population 

What students need interventions in the same areas consistently?

Identify trends within teacher pool

Who best teachers certain concepts/skills based on data?  What interventions do they use?

Use teachers that have advanced or specialist areas of emphasis lead teams when dealing with related interventions

Focus on early intervention, both at grade levels (Kindergarten, 1^st grade) and within the year (first two months of school)

Problem Solving Team Interventions (select team members searching for a data-driven interventions/solutions for specific student concerns)

Referral to team for initial review

Meet with parents to facilitate problem solving between teacher and family

Develop statement of concern

Done with collaboration of referring teacher

Review current data

If no data (i.e. anecdotal information given), begin collecting data before any interventions are begun

Collect baseline data of student

Collect peer data for comparison

Review prior interventions used and relative success 

Review academic data from previous years

Develop hypothesis to explain student struggles

Consult research and professional resources to create interventions 

Develop concise list of interventions with observable goals (intervention plan)

Identify appropriate chart, data selection process, or other measurable variable to be used as indicator of progress 

Implement interventions within specified time frame and according to parameters of intervention plan

Assign teachers/aides to implement interventions

Chart intervention success through progress towards goals (progress monitoring)

Repeat data collection at reasonable intervals

Use team meetings to continually review data, adjust interventions, and update all stake-holders

Share all steps with parents and encourage duplication of techniques in the home

Special Education (referral process, caseload management and SPED philosophy)

Refer for initial evaluation

Determine eligibility based on classroom and team interventions

Plan more intense intervention plan

Outline high intensity and/or high level of interventions needed for student to be successful

Determine if student has exceptionality and is in need of specially designed instruction in order to progress in the general education curriculum

Collect background information about child, including medical or environmental issues

Parent survey or report concerning student’s learning and educational history

Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is developed for child found to have an exceptionality.

Strengths and prioritized need areas

Goals linked to building outcomes

Specification of adaptations and accommodations which are made available to permit successful education of student

General Education Intervention (GEI) is developed for students who are not found to have an exceptionality.

MentorMail - Proposal

Copied in below is the proposal I wrote for a MentorMail project several years ago. It was an amazing experience for the students and with our partners, Bayer (http://animalhealth.bayer.com/ah/) were amazing and the kids loved the hours of writing, correspondence as well as kick-off field trip and a celebration at the end of the year.

MentorMail Project Proposal

Teacher’s Name: _Mr, Coleman_______________________

School District: _Shawnee Mission________________________ School: _Prairie Elementary_________

Number of Students: ___23______  Grade Level of Students: ______3^rd _______________

Summary of Proposed Project: ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

I would like to have my 3^rd grade students correspond with professional adults in the Kansas City community at large as a way to expand and deepen the curriculum objectives of Shawnee Mission.  3^rd grade social studies objectives are focused upon the community and the students’ place in that community.  This includes the history of the area (Prairie Village and Kansas City as a whole), the important people that have shaped the area, the way in which various people and agencies interact with and support each other (businesses, government, neighborhoods, law enforcement, etc), as well as the different characteristics of rural, urban, and suburban communities. 

In addition to connecting with people actually in the community, the MentorMail project also fulfills a deficit in student writing and language development.  Often, writing assignments in the classroom are necessarily limited in a number of crucial ways.  First, student writing is usually piecemeal and limited to, at best, a spectrum that is anchored at one end by fill-in-the-blank worksheets and at the other end by short answer sentences that never go far beyond basic fact recall or application.  Second, student writing is not on going - it only answers a question and never pushes the student beyond fulfilling the question to be answered.  Third, there is a disconnect with reality in terms of how students approach writing; in a world of computers, e-mails, and word processors, students in classrooms practice their writing by hand and have little time to compose and edit in the way most adults do in our society.  Mentormail excites and challenges my teaching in that it meets and answers each of these issues: Students will be corresponding with people out in a community that they are studying in class.  These e-mails will be weekly and will provide a continuation of thought, dialogue, and learning with the adult volunteers.  The students will have a purposeful connection that closely resembles how people communicate in the real world – using a computer, word processor, and e-mail to write and edit.

Monthly themes will provide an overall guide for the students.  However, in keeping with the idea of a continuation in the exchanges, students will not have isolated or “canned” themes that they must right about each week/month.  Instead, I would like to have the e-mails stand as an on-going communication between the students and the adult out in the community.  Past the first few weeks of “getting to know you” writing, I would like the kids to have the adults as a sounding board or reference point for the escalating study of community we undertake over the course of the year.  This means that as we look at community in various ways, we would be writing to our e-mentors for their take on our studies, their place in our studies, or for their perspective.  As such, a monthly outline might include the following (notes: under each theme there are possible writing topics – these would be in addition to the students sharing what they have learned in class.  Also, I am making an assumption that the e-mentors will be from a business, if mentor pool comes from somewhere else – university, government, etc – then all relevant business questions/topics will be adjusted accordingly):

September-October

• Students learn the important elements of a community - the way people work together for common goals within government, the role of businesses, and the community formed by people living near each other in a city. 

• Writing topics might include: The mentor’s business, how the mentor came to be at the business, what the business does for the community, other roles and positions the mentor has in the community.

• Students learn of the different type of communities: rural, suburban, and urban.  Students will compare and contrast these types of areas.

• Writing topics might include: The location of the mentor’s business, advantages and disadvantages of placing a business in each of these areas, what general area does the mentor live in, where has mentor lived before.

November-December

• Students will be involved in in-depth study of Prairie Village community.  Class will use workbook created by the city that looks at all elements studied at the start of the year in reference to Prairie Village.

• Writing topics might include: Any competing businesses in Prairie Village area with mentor’s business, would mentor’s business do better or worse in Prairie Village community, how do businesses end up in a certain community compared to any other.

• Students visit the Jazz and Negro Baseball League Museum.

• Writing topics might include: History of the mentor’s business, accomplishments and struggles of the business (related to how jazz music and the Negro League were a result of segregation but also marked an accomplishment for the people involved), ways in which mentor’s business supports community in Kansas City (arts, sports, volunteer opportunities).

January-February

• Students begin overall study of Kansas City history.  Look at the importance of the joining of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers, the Lewis and Clark expedition, early settlers, and the growth of Kansas City, including early trading posts, the stockyards, the depression area, jazz, sports, etc. 

• Writing topics might include: How is mentor’s business connected to the mid-west, the country and the world, ways in which mentor’s business has changed over time, future plans for mentor’s business.

• Students write and interview of Famous Kansas Citian, drawing out the importance of people who have shaped the city.

• Writing topics might include: How did mentor prepare for his or her career, what family background helped them towards the business they work for, what education and work experience led to current business, where would mentor like to be in the future in the business.

March-April

• Students create Box city as a culminating art project where they recreate many of the elements of a community in miniature.  After studying architecture in Art class, students make a personal residence, a business, and work in small groups to make larger elements of a community (public utilities, parks, government, malls, zoo, airport, movie theaters, etc.).  All elements must be planned out and made by the students.

• Writing topics might include: Ideas from mentor for type of house, business, and group project, share photos of mentor’s business to include it in box city. 

May

• Students take a guided tour of Kansas City as a grade level field trip.  Travel guide takes 3^rd graders to places such as Quality Hill, Lewis and Clark Point, Union Station, Liberty Memorial, The Plaza, the Kaufmann Gardens, City Market, the land where the stockyards had been located, and visits to the Hannibal Bridge site.

• Writing topics might include: Mentor’s share locations in Kansas City that are important to them, which of these places have the mentor’s been to, would the mentor’s have added any places to our trip, does the mentor’s business have a connection to any of the places we visit.

Briefly describe the event.
Target Start Date: _mid-September ____________Target End Date: __May 2009_________________
• select an idea on which to write
• organize a writing piece around an idea
• organize a draft with beginning, middle, end
• revise writing with assistance focusing on the content
• edit for conventions (capitalization, end punctuation, spelling)
• write a final copy that is neat and on the lines
• publish and share with audience other than teacher  
• write descriptive pieces (poetry, journal entry, learning log)
• write narrative pieces (creative story, personal narrative, letter)
• write expository pieces (list, math problem, directions, reports)  
• write complete sentences
• capitalize proper nouns and the beginning of sentences
• use correct ending punctuation
• use commas in a series
• use correct spelling of commonly used words
• paragraphing is obvious  

How will you introduce the project to your students?
Who will monitor the electronic correspondence?

• Know the parts of a letter (friendly and business)

• Write using proper spelling and grammar

• Work with a partner to proofread and revise letters

• Compose complete sentences and proper paragraphs

• Understand computer and word processor skills

• Write on a theme (i.e. describing to a mentor what the student has been studying and then asking relevant questions of the mentor)

• Articulating classroom learning to mentor and then sharing with class any relevant information from mentor’s e-mails

• Maintaining schedule of writing e-mails and responding to e-mails 

E-mentoring is more successful if the students and mentors meet at least once during the school year. During what time period will your event take place? _   Beginning of September­­________

E-Mentors will be invited to the classroom for a meet and greet at the start of September.  I would not want to start the project until students had a chance to meet the people they will be writing to.  This will put faces with names and I imagine both the students and e-mentors will find more motivation and connection having sat and talked.  The meeting will be fairly structured, with kids doing a mock interview and then telling the class about their e-mentor.  We could have snacks and the e-mentors will be able to take pictures of their student back with them.

  

Students will be expected to send___3 or 4____ messages per _month____________.

Will the messages meet a classroom expectation/benchmark? If yes, please describe: Yes, primarily the following Shawnee Mission Objectives will be met (in addition to other general writing objectives):

Language Arts:
1003.11 – Apply a writing process that includes preparation, drafting revising, editing, and publishing to produce a written document.
1003.12 – Use different modes of writing for different purposes and audiences.
1003.19 – Use standard American English.

Will students receive a grade for exchanging messages with their mentors?

Yes, students will be graded on curriculum objectives listed above, their effort, for staying on-topic, and for completing and sending e-mails.

 

How will you verify that students check their MentorMail accounts?

We will use computer lab time twice a week as a time to check MentorMail accounts.

MentorMail will be introduced as part of the social studies lessons at the start of the year when we look at how we will be studying the Prairie Village and Kansas City community.  It will be presented as an on going opportunity to take classroom learning and reach out into the community for real-word connections.  The program will be considered part of the language arts and social studies work that happens during the course of the year.

I will monitor all e-mails to and from the school.  As I understand it, I will also have a software program that will flag certain items for review.  I will use this as an additional line of safety and monitoring.

Mentor Qualifications (engineers, college students, professionals, retirees) 

Although much of this project proposal is based upon using people working at a business as mentors, the overall objective of using e-mentoring is to connect with the community at large.  As a result, if the pool of mentors were drawn from a different source most, if not all, of the structure of the proposal would stay intact.  Ideally, the best mentors would be from a business but would hold a variety of positions within the business – from custodial to management.

What are your expectations of the mentors (frequency of messages, classroom visits, classroom presentations, etc.)?

I would like to have the mentors come once at the start of the year, once at the end of the year and they will be invited to several events during the year as a courtesy (but attendance would be informal, basically to see student work related to our study of community).  I hope the 3 times a month for the exchange of messages is an appropriate amount.  Adjustments can always be made but anything less than 3 times would start to lose much of the continuity of dialogue and study that the proposal is based upon.

What are the goals and objectives of the project? 

The goals of the project are to provide students with the opportunity to use technology and writing skills to reach out into the community for a counterpoint to their classroom learning.  The social studies and language arts curriculum is enriched by finding mentors that can offer real world and personal perspectives on our study of the Prairie Village and Greater Kansas City community.  The students will be writing, editing, and sending correspondence in a manner that reflects the skills adults actually use in their work and personal lives.  The entire project raises classroom instruction and activities to a level that draws students out into the community using the methods and tools that will serve them through their lives.

How will you measure success?

Success will be measured by the students’ ability to:

History of Prairie Village, Kansas; Prairie Elementary 150th Year

Several years ago I was part of a team of teachers who worked with the Shawnee Mission School District to revise our "City History" books that were made in-house and used by 3rd-grade teachers across the district to teach students about the community in which they lived and went to school. Some pages/sections of the all the City Books were standardized no matter the city your school was part of, such as pages on laws/statutes, wastewater treatment, traffic, city services, etc. Other pages/sections were created specifically for each city. So the Prairie Village City Book (for schools in the city of Prairie Village) would have pages on this city's history, a map and map activities based on Prairie Village, and a letter from the current Mayor of the city.

I loved the idea of participating in revising the existing books, which I had used for several years in my class. I used the Johnson County Central Resource Library and was able to read and access primary source documents about the city and Prairie Elementary. I worked diligently to create a broad, concise, and readable summary of the context in which the city and the people had developed. The biggest challenge was to ensure age-appropriateness in terms of readability and content.

One of several interesting finds in the stacks and archives of the Central Resource Library was a book written by parents and staff of Prairie in the 1950s (I now longer remember the exact date and have no copy available). It was, what we would call today, a small press publication giving a lot of day-to-day routines of the school, including current student demographics, programs, and history of the school and city. The reality of digging into history is that one invariably finds so much more material than can be used, especially when writing for the typical 3rd grade student.

Copied in below is the only copy I still have of my original work before it was handed around for revisions and any changes made by other team members or the district. There was a very fluid revision process and teachers who specialized in graphic design, photographs, or (like me) writing and research had our best efforts adopted/modified by others for each city the district serves. This resulted in all the City Books having the best qualities of each team member.

Of course, I also enjoyed the project as I was teaching at Prairie Elementary and knew our 150th year was approaching (2015-2016 school year). I am still at Prairie and have been thinking of the book a lot this year as various celebrations and activities have been taking place even though, as a 2nd-grade teacher, I don't currently use the City Books with my students. Thought this was a perfect time to post.

City of Prairie Village History

Native Americans of Prairie Village
Going far back in time, the very first people who lived on this land were Native Americans. The names of some of the large Native American tribes were the Kansa and the Osage. Some of these Native Americans had lived here for thousands of years. But the Native Americans also met people who came from other parts of the world.

In the 1540s a man from Spain named Coronado came through this land on a long journey to find gold in North America. He did not find any! In 1803, the United States bought this land, and a lot of other land, from France. It was called the Louisiana Purchase and it made the United States twice as big. Lewis and Clark explored this land in 1804 to draw maps.

Westward Movement
After Lewis and Clark, Native Americans saw more and more new people. These new people were pioneers, traders, and explorers. Many of these people were going west to look for land, money, and a new life. In the 1800s this area was very busy because it was a staging point. A staging point is where people go to buy supplies and get ready to go on a long trip.

The Oregon Trail, the Santa Fe Trail, and the California Road were all trails that people used to go west. All three trails came through this area. Today you can still see swails in Harmon Park. Swails are the worn paths created by wagon wheels going over the same trail long ago.

Early Settlers and Schools
The people who stayed here were farmers and needed land. They also wanted their children to go to school. In 1857 school districts were created. The Prairie School District was created in 1865. The school was called Prairie School and was about where 63rd Street and Mission Road are today. In 1874, a new one-room schoolhouse was built at 67th and Mission Road. This school later became Prairie Elementary.

In 1867 a man named John L. Parr gave one acre of land to the Dyke Branch School to build a new school. The old Dyke Branch School was made of sod, which is grass and dirt cut from the ground! This new school became Corinth Elementary. Corinth Elementary and Prairie Elementary are two of the oldest schools in Kansas.

Porter Family Leads the Way
One of the most important farmers to come to this area was Thomas C. Porter. He moved here in 1858 from Virginia and bought 160 acres of land! Half of that land would one day become the Prairie Village Shopping Center. When Porter died he gave the land to his five children. A man named J.C. Nichols wanted to do something different with the farmland. He bought lots of this farmland in the Prairie area, including from the Porter family.

J.C. Nichols creates Prairie Village
J.C. Nichols was a land developer, which means he helped turn forests and land into streets, shopping areas and homes. J.C. Nichols was known for creating the Country Club Plaza. After World War II, a lot of people were starting families all across the United States. With so many new families, every city needed many new houses.

The City of Prairie Village was planned by J.C. Nichols to be a community of beautiful homes and neighborhood shopping centers. Prairie Village was started in 1941 and was finished in 1949. It was named the “best-planned community in America” by the National Association of Home Builders. During the 1950s, Prairie Village kept growing. Many people were moving further south so another Plaza-type shopping center was built. It was named Corinth Square.

A Fantastic Place to Live
Prairie Village was officially recognized as a City by the State of Kansas in 1951. By 1957 it had become a first class city. People from all over want to move to Prairie Village and stay here because of the excellent schools, shopping, low crime rates, and quality neighborhoods. There are pools, country clubs, nature and skate parks, a community center, and many activities that bring people together and support families.

Excellence in Education Grant Application (SMEF) - Comedy and Storytelling Workshop

Copied in below is a Shawnee Mission Education Foundation Excellence in Education Grant 2010-2011 Application I submitted with Kathy Brodie, a specialist with the Shawnee Mission School District (at that time) who had not only helped classroom teachers with meeting the needs of all students but was a perpetual resource for current research findings and proven best practices. 

I have not spoke with Kathy Brodie in a few years but have thought of this grant repeatedly in the last few months. In rereading the research and our goals I see themes that remain relevant in the current revisions to my district's delivery of broader services as well as the saturation of technology in the classroom with Apple 1:1 deployment and a shift to individualized learning paths. The needs addressed by our grant are more pronounced and relevant. We did not receive the grant (likely due to the cost of the technology components at the time, issues of replicability without a directly proportional increase in cost, and my tendency towards wordy explanations I see obscuring or blurring a few important areas of the proposal) but thought to post here for reference.

This is the digital copy; the actual submission with approval signatures and forms is omitted because this is the internet after all. I have included what I created.  The "Overview" and "Quality Project Design" come from the district application cover page and are included for context.

Overview

Excellence in Education (E2) Grants are designed to encourage innovation and are awarded at varying levels of funding, up to $3,500, for creative projects that foster innovative and challenging teaching and learning implemented by schools, school departments, teachers, librarians, counselors, nurses, and other district educators.  All Shawnee Mission School District pre-K-12 educators may apply.

The application is the tool that grant reviewers will use to assess the quality of your project and how the proposed project aligns with the mission and core objectives of the SMEF. While certain basic information will be needed to review each proposal, such as a target participant group, detailed budget and thoughtful timeline of implementation, reviewers will look closely at the significance, approach and innovation of the project.

Quality Project Design

In preparing to complete your grant application, you may want to consider the following questions. Not all questions below will apply to any given proposal. These are suggestions and potential considerations that the grant reviewers may employ in the evaluation.

• How does your project address an important problem or strength?
• To what extent does your project employ research-based effective practices?
• How does your project promote innovative and challenging teaching and learning?
• Does your project advance discovery and understanding within its field or across different fields?
• Does your project develop concepts, approaches, tools, methodologies or technologies to solve problems in a new way?
• What is your plan for evaluating project implementation and progress toward meeting project goals and objectives?
• If the aims of the project are achieved, how will knowledge or practices be advanced and will the project, its results, products or benefits be exportable to other settings?

Shawnee Mission Education Foundation

Excellence in Education Grant

2010-2011

 Application Cover Page

Applicant Name(s):_Tim Coleman and Kathy Brodie______________________

School:__Prairie Elementary_______________________________________________

Position:         Tim Coleman - Classroom Teacher, Kathy Brodie – Autism Specialist

Grade: Third Grade

Project Title:  _____Comedy and Storytelling Workshop: Using Video Modeling for Awareness and Exploration of Social Skills______________________________________

Amount Requested (not to exceed $3,500):  $2,274.94

Number of students who will participate or benefit:       25 students during first year, workshop to expand in subsequent years to include any students K-6 that need social skills modeling/practice

Assurances to be signed and initialed by the principal and signed by the applicant:

1. Funds for this project supplement and do not supplant programs, projects and materials that are regularly included in the school budget.  ________
2. The project does not discriminate on any illegal basis.   _________
3. Funds for this project exclude expenditures for staff honoraria, salaries, or substitute educators.   ________
4. Expenditures do not include facility costs.   _________
5. Expenditures will be drawn down in a time frame consistent with the ability to accomplish proposed project goals and objectives in the 2009-10 school year.  ______
6. A final report, including program evaluation, will be submitted to SMEF by May 27, 2011.  _________
7. This project is not in conflict with the curriculum goals and site plans of the school. _______

	____________________________________ Principal’s signature                         Date (please initial each assurance)		______________________________________ Applicant’s signature                                   Date

 

Shawnee Mission Education Foundation

Excellence in Education Grant

2010-2011 Application

Project Title: Comedy and Storytelling Workshop: Using Video Modeling for Awareness and Exploration of Social Skills.

Amount Requested (not to exceed $3,500): $2,274.94

Targeted Participants: 3rd Grade students first year, subsequently opened to entire school population

Number of Students Participating: 25 regular education classroom students first year. During subsequent years this intervention will be available to any student in school environment that needs support in targeted social skills (students diagnosed with Autism, Pervasive Disorder Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Asperger’s Syndrome, Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Tourette’s Syndrome, Nonverbal Learning Disorder and Emotionally Disturbed.)

Number of Teachers/Staff participating: Two

Grade(s)/Department(s): 3^rd Grade

Abstract (5 points): Briefly describe the project goals, intended participants, and project activities.

The Comedy and Storytelling Workshop provides third grade students the opportunity to learn, observe, evaluate, practice, and creatively engage targeted social skills by working on film and music projects within the scope of the language arts curriculum.  Students will be taught targeted social skills through direct instruction and will then create several film and music projects that incorporate composing, performing, editing, and evaluating the dynamics of real and fictionalized social interaction.  This multilayered approach includes video modeling of group collaboration, informational and narrative pacing, recognition of facial expressions, contextual voice overdubbing, storyboarding, and filming.

Project design (30 points): Please describe your project design relative to the following questions:

How does your project address an important problem or strength?

Educators are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of effective social skills to student success.  Social skills are used whenever there is more than one person in a room.  As such, appropriate social skills are needed throughout a student’s day.  While a difficulty in math is mostly apparent in math class, social disabilities impact every environment the student enters. (Garcia-Winner, 2005) 

Consequences of social skills deficits may lead to negative academic, behavioral, social and emotional outcomes.  Students may experience poor academic performance, peer failure, rejection, isolation, anxiety, depression, substance abuse and suicidal ideation (Bellini, 2008). 

Some students learn social skills simply by exposure.  For others, direct instruction in social skill acquisition is necessary.  In addition to instruction, multiple opportunities to practice are necessary (Bellini, 2008).  Students at risk for poor social skills and in need of direct instruction include students with the following diagnosis:  Autism, Pervasive Disorder Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Asperger’s Syndrome, Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Tourette’s Syndrome, Nonverbal Learning Disorder and some labeled with “Emotionally Disturbed.”  (Garcia-Winner, 2007) 

While the importance of good social skills to student success has been documented, it is difficult for classroom teachers to find the time within the day to devote towards social skill instruction.  Academic instruction towards core district curriculum and state standards is an overriding priority for teachers.  The Comedy and Storytelling Workshop supports and enriches the Shawnee Mission Language Arts curriculum.  Through the instruction, development, and demonstration of targeted social skills, this project provides unique and in-depth support of tested indicators on Kansas State Reading Assessment for grades 3-6.

How does your project promote innovative and challenging teaching and learning?

Components of effective social skills training include declarative knowledge (what is the skill), procedural knowledge (how to perform the skill and then practice the skill), as well as perspective taking. (Bellini, 2008) This project is designed to teach targeted social skills through the components of declarative knowledge – making the students aware of social skills; providing procedural knowledge – how to perform the skill with multiple opportunities to practice the skill; and perspective taking – review of demonstrated social skills.

Our intervention strategies to teach social skills must meet the unique needs of our students.  One such intervention is video modeling – a form of observational learning in which desired behaviors are learned by watching a video demonstration and then imitating the behavior of the model. Scott Bellini (2008) says that video modeling allows one to combine a broad range of strategies and can be used to promote skill acquisition (declarative knowledge), enhance skill performance (procedural knowledge), and reduce problem behaviors.  He goes on to say that video modeling is without a doubt the most effective social skills intervention strategy that he has used.  The use of video modeling incorporates visual learning, increases attention, decreases anxiety, increases motivation and increases self-awareness. Video modeling has been established as an Evidence Based Practice in the National Standards Report, from the National Autism Center.

With this research in mind, a video modeling intervention will be implemented, using student composed film and audio projects, in order to identify, examine, and demonstrate appropriate social skills both in peer group interaction as well as in the creation of a project.  As the project involves a film or audio product, students will be able to review the skills they demonstrated throughout the school year.  Groups of students will work on different skills; all students will be able to learn about all skills by watching or listening to peer projects.  By using film and audio tools, we are anticipating high levels of student energy and ownership in the project.

Goals and objectives (15 points): Please state the specific results you expect to achieve with your grant project.

4 Primary Goals of Comedy and Storytelling Workshop:

1)    Increase Students’ Awareness and Knowledge of Targeted Social Skills:

a.     Teach social skills through direct instruction

b.     Use visual cues and materials throughout lessons and posted/referenced in classroom

c.     Social Skills that will be taught:

                                               i.     Recognizing Facial Expression of Others

                                             ii.     Recognizing Body Language of Others

                                            iii.     Recognizing tone of voice

                                            iv.     Making eye contact

                                             v.     Staying on Topic

                                            vi.     Taking Turns Talking

                                          vii.     Respecting Other’s Opinion

                                         viii.     Asserting Yourself

                                            ix.     Conversational Reciprocity

                                             x.     Considering Multiple Viewpoints

                                            xi.     Allowing others to assist

                                          xii.     Responding to questions asked

                                         xiii.     Compromising

2)    Provide Students with Multiple Opportunities to Practice the Social Skills across School Environments:

a.     Structured settings: regular education classroom

b.     Informal settings: lunchroom, recess, and school related activities/presentations.

3)    Support and Enrich Shawnee Mission Language Arts Curriculum:

·       1003.05 – Practice comprehension strategies and skills for a variety of text, including narrative, expository, persuasive, and technical.

·       1003.09 – Apply literary concepts to interpret literature.

·       1003.12 – Use different modes of writing for different purposes and audiences.

·       1003.13 – Use writing as a tool across the curriculum.

·       1003.31 – Participate in group discussion.

·       1003.32 – Practice appropriate presentation skills to convey meaning.

·       1003.33 – Apply presentation skills in creative dramatics and storytelling. 

·       1003.34 – Adjust listening and viewing to gain knowledge in a variety of situations.

4)    Provide Unique and In-Depth Targeting of Tested Indicators on Kansas State Reading Assessment (3^rd Grade):

·       1.4.5 – The student uses information from the text to make inferences and draw conclusions.

·       1.4.8 – The student compares and contrasts information (e.g., topics, characters) in a text.

·       1.4.9 – The student links causes and effects in appropriate-level narrative and expository texts.

·       1.4.10 – The student retells main ideas or events as well as supporting details in narrative and expository texts.

·       2.1.1 – The student identifies and describes characters’ physical traits, basic personality traits, and actions

Please describe your project activities, implementation plan, and timeline (20 points):

The first part of each Comedy and Storytelling Workshop is called “Workshop Process,” in which students learn, observe, and practice with each other the targeted social skills needed to complete the film or music project.  The second part of the Workshop is called “Workshop Project,” in which students take the skills they have learned and the ideas they have generated and they create the film or music project.  Each worksheet project/process is projected to take two weeks from start to finish.  There will be one week between the end of each workshop and the beginning of the next for the monitoring and reinforcement of the targeted social skills in the regular classroom routine.

Project Activities:

1)    Working in a Creative and Collaborative Way – “Evil Caricatures”

Process: Students learn there are a number of behaviors that support a collaborative effort as well as behaviors that will ruin it.  Project: Students review how certain caricatures would act and then take turns in an improv skit where they act out each caricature.

2)    Proper Pacing – too much/little information and going too fast/slow

Process: Students learn the importance of proper pacing when telling a story.  Project: Students work on recreating a narrative with too much and too little information.  Students discuss familiar fairy tales and perform a play in a set amount of time then perform the same play again in increasingly shorter and shorter time periods.

3)    Pacing & Facial Expression Mini-Project – Voice Overdubbing

Process: Students focus on the relationship between facial expressions, lines of dialogue, and story pacing.  Project: Students perform a new script while watching a soundless video and record in into a digital audio workstation.

4)    Facial Expression Game

Process: Students learn about how people use facial expressions to convey what they are thinking and feeling by using video modeling segments.  Project: Students play several versions of a facial expression game.

5)    Storyboarding Final Project

Process: Students learn about the storyboarding process to visualize a long, more complex story while dealing with each segment on its own.  Project: Students begin brainstorming a final project to be filmed that would incorporate each of the main topics taught and practiced.

6)    Filming Final Project

Process: Students look at each of the scenes that need to be filmed and work individually and in small groups to discuss, plan, and practice each scene.  Project: Students create a film for the comedy and storytelling workshop.

Implementation Plan/Timeline:

August-September

• Establish baseline for social skill awareness within classroom setting using skit of successful and unsuccessful social interactions. Teach targeted social skills through direct instruction.

October-November

• Workshop Projects #1 and #2

December-January

• Workshop Project #3

February-March

• Workshop Project #4 and review and application of Workshop Projects to Kansas State Reading Assessment

April-May

·       Workshop Projects #5 and #6, presentation of final projects, & evaluation of project

What is your plan for evaluating project implementation and progress toward meeting stated goals and objectives? (20 points)

Project Implementation:

Project implementation will be reviewed on a monthly basis.  If necessary, adjustments will be made in order to meet the projected timelines.

Evaluating Progress Towards Goals:

Each targeted social skill will be listed on a poster that is displayed in the classroom. The poster will be used as a visual reminder for the students to perform the skills throughout the day. It will also be used to make students aware each time the skill is demonstrated.  Whenever the teacher or student recognizes a skill being successfully performed at any time during the school day, that skill will be marked on a poster with a star.  Project implementers will be able to determine the growth of student awareness of social skills by the numbers of stars beside each skill.

Final Evaluation

Before instruction of social skills begins, student will be asked to watch a skit in which social skills are demonstrated both successfully and unsuccessfully. The students will be asked to list the social skills they observed and if the skills were performed successfully and unsuccessfully.  As a final step in this project, the students will be asked to repeat this exercise by watching the skit and listing the demonstrated social skills and whether the skills were successful or unsuccessful.  The student lists will be compared to see if an increase in knowledge of social skills has occurred.

Please detail the project budget and spending timeline (10 points):

• Apple MacBook MC207LL/A 13.3-inch Laptop Computer = $950
• Flip Ultra HD Camcorder ($159 each x 6) = $954
• Zoom H4n Handy Digital Portable Recorder = $299
• Book:  Superflex…A Superhero Social Thinking Curriculum by Madrigal and Garcia-Winner = $49.95
• 5-Pack 8xDVD+RDL Double-Layer Discs with Jewel Cases = $21.99
• Sandisk Cruzer 4GB USB Flash Drive ($14.99 each x 2) = $29.98

If this award does not fully fund the project, what are other potential sources of funding?

Alternative sources of funding might be the school’s Parent/Teacher Association or applying for grants from specific organizations, foundations, or groups that look to promote social skill instruction among various narrower populations than would be included in our program (i.e. students diagnosed as having Autism, ADD, ADHD, Tourettes, etc.)

Grant Project Evaluation and Summary

Grant evaluations are used as a source for the SMEF Annual Report. Please be as descriptive as possible when answering the questions below. SMEF reserves the right to return the project evaluation to the grant recipients and ask for more information.

School: Prairie Elementary

Teacher: Tim Coleman

Title of grant: Comedy and Storytelling Workshop: Using Film and Music Skills to Explore Social Skills

Description of project: The Comedy and Storytelling Workshop will provide autistic students the opportunity to work in intensive, small peer group (3-4 students total) on several film and music projects as a multilayered means to learn and practice social skills, express emotions and creative ideas, and strengthen self-confidence.  During two-hour block sessions, students will meet with Workshop Facilitators to create several Comedy and Storytelling projects that incorporate composing, performing, editing, and evaluating the dynamics of fictional character social interaction.  The projects will stimulate imagination, creativity, and will provide opportunities for all students to be the writers, directors, and producers of original artistic material.