Bright+Spots!


 * This page will be used to share quick, motivational stories. Please do not include any info that would identify particular students.**

__WRITING WITH THE ALPHABET:__ One middle school classroom that I worked in was doing writing primarily through using picture symbols or communication boards. While many students knew at least a few letters of the alphabet, they didn't USE them for writing. I modeled two activities using the alphabet (voting with letters, and writing a shared list poem), and the teacher immediately began using the alphabet daily for most of the students in her class. She also added writing with the alphabet to several IEP goals. Students made VERY significant progress, based on pre-post tests, and on daily writing samples. Score!!


 * Submitted by Dr. Caroline Ramsey Musselwhite**

__Offering Literacy Opportunities Beyond School Hours__ The Louisiana Special Education Center (LSEC) is a residential school. The students live in dormitories and attend school from 8-3 daily/ year round. While there are several programs in place for the classroom hours with local libraries...not much has been done for "free" time or after school reading. Many of our students are not conventional readers, but they enjoy listening to books on CD and following along with a computer version of a book. In an effort to promote literacy and provide age appropriate content our Communicative Disorders Department established a library. This library consist of several teaching tools, various books, and the entire Don Johnston Start to Finish Series/Literacy Starters/and Start to Finish Core Content. Each one of the books in the Start to Finish Series has the actual book, a computer book version and an Auditory book version. This is really special because you will see a student holding the book (maybe upside down or on the wrong page, but intently listening and following a long with the story and turning pages)! Everything in our library is available for "check out" by teachers and students. The teachers have not only been grateful for this resource, but the students have independently sought out this resource for (spare class time reading, reading on the weekend, and afternoon reading). The students are excited about reading and enjoy coming to return books and tell us about the story that they read and ask us for specific types of books for the next time (mystery, funny, biography, etc.) They also recommend "good" books to their friends or maybe even to the teacher. This was not the original idea behind the library, but so amazing to see it evolve. A student initiated this idea by simply saying "may I bring this to the dorm and read it tonight?"...WOW!!! Now our students have unlimited access to literacy beyond school hours.
 * Submitted by Natalie Koehler: Speech-Language Pathologist (Louisiana Special Education Center)**

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Live Oak High School has started an amazing community club building friendships and supporting literacy skills for students with significant disabilities. The mission of REACH is to bring equality to students with intellectual disabilities through social interaction, group activities, and literacy-based projects. REACH is NOT just another club! It is our hope that REACH will serve as an example to other schools in Livingston Parish and beyond. One goal REACH is striving to achieve is closing the gap between students with and without exceptionalities and to create true friendships among students. Members have been documenting the activities with pictures and videos. At the end of the 2011/12 school year, several literacy-based artifacts will be created by the members (students with and without exceptionalities). The students will work together on the projects.......we are looking forward to seeing what creativity stems from this worth-while, fun project!!!! For now, check out the pics from some of the activities that have taken place!! **REACHSubmitted by Jessica Bonura: Special Education Teacher (Live Oak Middle School)**======