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Module 4 Activity 2: Apply the INCLUDE Strategy
Jean Kang
Questions About Billy’s INCLUDE Plan
1. How old is Billy?
8-year-old.
2. What grade is he in?
2nd grade.
3. What is his diagnosed disability?
Learning disability.
4. What sports does Billy participate in?
He plays soccer. He is also interested in basketball.
5. What are Billy’s expressed career interests?
He would like to be a scientist, a firefighter or a detective.
6. What are a couple of Billy’s teacher classroom demands under both Classroom
Organization and Instructional Materials in Step 1?
The classroom have reference materials on the walls for students to use, such as
charts, easy references, etc.
The computer learning center and reading center are at the back of the
classroom so teacher can oversight all students.
7. Look at Figure 5.2 on page 151 in the text. What are some additional
considerations that Billy’s teacher could add in each of these two categories?
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In the Classroom Management, his teacher could add Classroom Routines, Use
of time (Instructional and transition time) and classroom climate.
In the Instructional Materials, his teacher could add Learning Outcomes.
8. What are three of Billy’s most important academic strengths listed in Step 2, in
your opinion?
He is good at math.
He has high interest in science subject.
He reading comprehension is average.
9. What are three of Billy’s most important academic needs listed in Step 2, in your
opinion?
Delayed skills in silent reading.
Product and process problem in writing.
Trouble staying on task sometimes and needs prompts to focus, especially in
writing assignments. Can get frustrated at times. because instructions are too
complicated.
10. Review all the “potential successes” Billy’s teacher has identified in Step 3.
Potential successes are defined as situations where Billy’s skills and abilities
naturally align with the teacher’s teaching style and classroom demands. That is,
the teacher will not need to make any changes or adaptations. Are there any of
these listed that are not aligned with the teacher’s classroom demands in Step 1
and Billy’s strengths in Step 2? Explain.
• Billy has trouble working in small groups, either becoming disengaged or
dominant. So, the first statement that Billy will be successful in small
groups is in contradiction with this need.
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• Self-directed strategy may not work, because he is not good at self-
correcting, and gives up easily sometimes.
• The project-based learning lessons are mostly compatible with his
strength. However, he may not be completely independent before his
vocabulary skills are improved. He has trouble learning content
vocabulary. He may need a little support in this strategy, or assistive
technology.
11. Review all the “potential difficulties” Billy’s teacher has identified in Step 4.
Potential difficulties are defined as situations where Billy will likely experience
problems unless the teacher makes adaptations to his teaching style and/or
classroom demands. That is, the teacher will need to make any adaptations
and/or accommodations in order for Billy to be successful in his class. Are there
any of these listed that are not aligned with the teacher’s classroom demands in
Step 1 and Billy’s weaknesses in Step 2? Explain.
• The third statement says, “Billy is having trouble with sequencing
algorithms and strategies for solving problems. Group work and student-
centered methods will be less beneficial…” His weakness in sequencing
algorithms and strategies was not stated in his Needs in Step 2. So, this
may be a random addition in contradiction with his true needs.
• Using interactive notebooks was mentioned twice in Step 4, but these two
sentences are in contradiction. The first one says that it will benefit his
writing, but the second time when mentioning interactive notebooks, it
says that it will not work out. In my opinion, using interactive notebooks is
beneficial for Billy’s writing. It helps with his product and process problem.
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12. Read the identified potential problem areas identified for Billy and the
accompanied possible accommodations/teaching considerations in Step 5. No
answer required here.
13. What is the problem area and selected accommodation that was chosen to
implement first by the team, in Step 6?
The “science vocabulary” difficulty was selected to deal with first. The Activity
Background Knowledge strategy was used to brainstorm their knowledge about
the topic first, which is Billy’s strength that he has a high interest in science. Then
the teacher introduces the vocabulary, and students practice on it. Formative
assessments are used periodically during this process.
14. Briefly describe how the teacher plans to track and assess the effectiveness of
the accommodation, when information will be collected, and who will collect the
data.
The effectiveness of the accommodation will be assessed with the following.
• Formative assessment during the teaching of vocabulary with the
accommodation. The data will be collected about how many hands raised,
how many correct answers were given by groups and pairs, and how
many correct answers Billy gives.
• Correct answers on lesson assignment and exam.
• Correct answers on homework.
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• Billy’s participation in small groups. Observe him using science terms to
contribute to his group and understanding of the science topic.
• Who: The general education teacher, or/and co-teacher or/and the special
education teacher will collect the data.
• When: The data will be collected daily.
15. What did you learn about the INCLUDE plan for determining effective
accommodations for students with disabilities being included in the general
education classroom? Do you feel you might benefit from using the INCLUDE
plan (or some version of it) as a teacher? Explain.
I learned that the most important aspect of INCLUDE is to determine which
accommodation/adjustments to use to meet students’ needs. This is the key of
the INCLUDE. If it is selected well, the student will make evident progress. Or the
student may continue to fall behind. However, as a whole package, INCLUDE
has 7 steps, of which each step is important. It takes time and experience to
finally master the way how to find out the most suitable
accommodations/adjustments for each student with learning needs and how to
evaluate the effectiveness of the chosen accommodations/adjustments and
modifications.
