Construction & Lesson Plan Development & Acquisition for Students with Exceptional Needs: The Impacts of Social Stories & Learning Modalities

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis project was to create a webpage involving modality based intervention lesson plans and a unit framework. The plans were connected to the Essential Elements of the Common Core Standards in order to increase positive behavioral and academic outcomes for students with exceptional needs. Research indicates that with these improved behavioral outcomes, there is an improvement in academic proficiency for students with exceptional needs. The results of the project was a website that included pages involving the scope and sequence using Essential Elements Alternate Curriculum of the Common Core for the year, grades 1-5 for Mathematics and English Language Arts. The author constructed the scope and sequence for the alternative curriculum based up on the Kenosha Unified School District’s 1-5 general education curriculum. The website also includes lesson plan templates, a unit plan example, and instruction about how to construct one’s own video models and social stories for classroom use.