Running Head: Co-Teaching Lesson Plan Two: Station Teaching 1

Leslie Whitelaw

Co –teaching Lesson Plan Two – Station Teaching

February 10, 2013

University Of New England

Bartholomew Practicum in Inclusion - Edu-724

Co-teaching Lesson Plan two – Station Teaching 2

Research Review

The passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) as well as the reauthorization of the

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 2004 has led to more and more children with

disabilities being educated in general education classrooms. Rather than simply being “included” in a

general education setting, students are now being co-taught with their general education peers to

improve their educational outcomes. Co-teaching can be defined as two or more professionals

delivering substantive instruction to a diverse, or blended, group of students in a single physical space

(Cook and Friend, 1995). The six types of co-teaching are team-teaching, parallel teaching, alternative

teaching, one teach, one observe, one teach one assist, and station teaching. According to Friend, 2008

the benefits for co-teaching include increased educational opportunities for all students, less

fragmentation in student’s education; a reduction in the stigma associated with being identified with

having a disability and stronger and more collegial relationship between teachers.

One co-teaching strategy that is recommended for frequent use is station teaching. With this

method students are divided into three inter-connected but independent groups that rotate across

instructional activities, two led by the teachers and one completed independently (Friend and Cook,

2007). Station teaching has many benefits. For example, by putting students in to smaller groups

teachers are able to assess which students have grasped the concepts and which ones require

remediation. This is particularly important for students with disabilities who often take more time to

learn concepts. The multiple groupings and discussions occurring at the three stations increases

student participation as well (Friend, 2008).

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Despite the advantages of station teaching there are also disadvantages. It requires significant

pre-planning, can be very noisy, and all stations must end at the same time (Timmons, 2008).

Administrative support is the key to providing teachers with the time to plan their lessons. Without the

“buy in” from the principal successful co-teaching of any kind is very difficult to achieve.

Introduction

Classroom description:

This lesson is designed for first grade students who are beginning readers and writers. There are

twenty - two students. Fifteen students are Mrs. Torres’ general education students and seven are my

special education students. Two of her students speak English as a second language (El). Five of my

students have mild intellectual disabilities (i.d.) and two have autism. One student also has dysgraphia

and uses an assistive writing device (Alpha-Smarts) for all writing tasks. There is one Para-educator who

assists all of the students so that no one is singled out. The students are seated at three long tables to

facilitate group activities and to allow the adults to move easily from group to group.

Station teaching lesson plan

Title: “Away We Grow”!

Subject Area: Growth and Development

Co-Teaching Approach: Station teaching

Grade level: one

Co-teaching Lesson Plan two – Station Teaching 4

Ms. Whitelaw- special education teacher

Ms. Torres- general education teacher

Lesson objective: On completion of the lesson students will be able to describe how people grow and

mature.

Content standards grade one:

Growth and Development

1.1. G Explain that living things grow and mature.

1.2. G Describe their own physical characteristics.

1.3 .G Name ways in which people are similar and ways in which they are different.

Measurement and Geometry

1.0 Students use direct comparison and non standard units to describe the measurement of objects.

1.1 Compare the length, weight and volume of two or more objects by using direct comparison or a non

standard unit.

IEP and ELD Objectives: When given a written or verbal prompt student will describe three ways they

change as they get older.

Co-teaching Lesson Plan two – Station Teaching 5

Materials:

1. Copies of worksheets from pages 13, 14, 16, 17 and 18 from the book Health, Nutrition, and

P.E. (Fetty, 2007).

2. supplemental worksheet with questions

3. two yardsticks

4. markers and crayons

5. students’ baby pictures, pictures of plants and animals that have changed over time

Procedures-

General Education Teacher reviews yesterday’s lesson as an introduction to today’s lesson.

Anticipatory Set

Yesterday we brought in our baby pictures and talked about how we looked then and

how we look now. We learned that living things never stay the same. They are always

growing and changing. Today we will explore how people grow and change.

While the general education teacher is talking the special education teacher holds up

various pictures of plants and animals that have changed over time, including students’

baby pictures. This will further reinforce the concept of living things growing and

changing.

Co-teaching Lesson Plan two – Station Teaching 6

Materials:

Modeling/Checking for understanding

Special education teacher explains that there will be three stations and students will be broken up

into two groups of seven and one group of eight. No one will move until all instructions are given.

Station one will be a writing activity with general education teacher Mrs. Torres. She shows the

page 14 “When I Was a Baby” worksheet”. Her group will include one EL student, one student with

autism, one student with I.D. and 4 general education students. The students will then be put into two

groups of three or four to answer the questions.

Station two will be the “How Do you Measure Up?” activity on pages 17 and 18 with special

education teacher Ms. Whitelaw. Worksheet is held up by Ms. Whitelaw. This group will be the same

make-up as station one. The students will be put into two groups of three or four and will measure each

other and then record the results.

Station three will be where students work independently on the worksheets “Growing up” and

“Ways we Grow” on pages 13 and 16. Ms. Torres shows the worksheet activity. Station three will have 2

students with I.d. and 6 general education students. Students will then be put into “buddy groupings” of

two and three to help anyone that might need help with reading.

The students will be put into heterogeneous groups in order to give teachers more opportunity

to work with students that might need extra help.

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Teachers are placed at their stations because of Mrs. Torres’ ELA strength and Mrs. Whitelaw’s

expertise in differentiating content to students with a wide range of abilities.

Students are told by the special education teacher that more instructions about each activity

will be given as they reach stations one and two.

The general education teacher asks if there are any other questions, especially about what is

expected at the independent station. She asks students to restate what they will be doing at

station three to insure everyone hears the instructions again and understands what they will

need to do. She also checks for understanding of the word responsible (doing what we are

supposed to be doing). They will need to know the meaning of the word to complete the

activity.

A Para- educator will monitor all three stations and assist as needed.

Guided practice/monitoring

General education teacher calls students to the first stations they will be working at.

Station 1- Mrs. Torres passes out the “When I was a Baby” worksheet. Students are placed into

two groups with 2 general education students and one or two students with special needs in each

group. Students take turns reading the directions and answering the questions. Mrs. Torres monitors

and assists by restating questions or giving examples. For students with writing difficulties the Alpha

Smarts may be used, the teacher or para-professional can be the scribe, or the teacher will reduce the

number of questions a student is required to answer.

Co-teaching Lesson Plan two – Station Teaching 8

Station 2 – Station two will be the “How Do you Measure Up?” activity with the special education

teacher. This group will be the same make-up as station one. One worksheet per group is passed out.

Students are told that they will measure each other and then record their findings. Ms. Whitelaw will

provide support by telling students to “remember that measure means to find out how big something is.

Today we are going to measure-find out how big each of you is. Remember how we talked about how

people grow and change and that we all do it differently?” Ms. Whitelaw will model how to measure a

person using a yardstick by asking for a volunteer to help her. (Students have had prior practice

measuring things using a ruler and yardstick). She will then point to friend one on page 17 the “How Do

You Measure Up” worksheet and enter the number. Next she will show the bar graph on page 18 and

color in the height of that student. Each student will measure one person and then enter the number

on the chart. Next they will work together to fill in their results on the bar graph on page 18. Ms.

Whitelaw will monitor to make sure everyone is helping each other, has an opportunity to do the

activity and is measuring and entering the information correctly. Students will brainstorm together to

answer the questions at the bottom of page 18. Students will choose one person to write in the answers.

Station 3- Students work on pages 13 and 16 “Growing up” and “Ways we Grow” independently.

There will be two groups with each group having three general education students and one EL or

student with special needs. Students can help each other with the reading if necessary. Early finishers

will color pages 13 and 16. This station will also have worksheets with the following questions to answer

with a buddy orally or written in complete sentences:

Co-teaching Lesson Plan two – Station Teaching 9

When I grow up:

1. I will be able to:

2. I want to be a:

3. I will not have to:

They can also draw a picture of what they will look like when they are grown up.

Independent Practice-

After twenty minutes at each station students return to their seats and respond in their journals

to the prompt: “One new thing I learned today was”. The prompt is written on the board and restated to

the class by the general education teacher. The special education teacher collects all student work from

the stations. Both teachers and the Para-educator monitor and assist all students with the journal

activity. Scribes and the Alpha Smarts for Valerie can be used for additional writing support.

Closure/Evaluation

Special education teacher leads students in discussion of their journal entries and experiences at

the work stations. Worksheets, journals, teacher observations and a running record of notes taken by

the general education teacher during the discussion will also be sources of evaluation.

Differentiation Strategies/accommodations/modifications

Small groups/ buddies/ heterogeneous groupings

Para-educator support to help everyone and not single anyone out.

Alpha-Smarts for Valerie for writing activities

Scribe for writing activities for anyone who needs it in order to complete activity

Co-teaching Lesson Plan two – Station Teaching 10

Decrease number of writing responses required.

restate-rephrase directions-chunking

teacher models activity - “I do you do.”

extra activities for early finishers

Students who did not finish an activity will be able to work with the Para- educator in a small

group during independent reading time.

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References

Cook, L. & Friend, M. (1995). Co-Teaching: Guidelines for creating effective practices. Focus on Exceptional Children, 28(3), 1-16.

Fetty, M. Health, nutrition, and p.e. (2007). Harcourt Achieve Inc.

Foote, C. J., Kilanowski-Press L., & Rinaldo, V. J. (2010). Inclusion classrooms and teachers: A survey of current practices. International Journal of Special Education 25, (3).

Friend, M. (2008). Co-teach! A handbook for creating and sustaining effective classroom partnerships in inclusive schools. Greensboro, NC: Marilyn Friend, Inc.

Friend, M. (2008). Co-teaching: A simple solution that isn’t simple after all. Journal of curriculum and instruction (JoCl), 2, (2).

Friend, M., & Cook, L. (2007). Interactions: Collaboration skills for school professionals (5Th edition). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Scruggs, T. E., Mastropieri, M. A., & McDuffie, K. (2007). Co-Teaching in inclusive classrooms: A metasynthesis of qualitative research. Council for Exceptional Children. 73(4), 392-416.

Timmons, R. (2013). A peek inside a year of kindergarten at the America’s Choice National Model Demonstration School. Timmons Times. Retrieved from http://timmonstimes.blogspot.com/2008/05/station-teaching.html

Worksheets

WORKSHEETS

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