Sarah Jones & Maeve McGannon

CSD 5530 High Intensity Needs/AAC

Interdisciplinary Academic Lesson Plan

Subject/Level: Literacy: Alphabet Knowledge/Emergent

Classroom Environment: Kindergarten Inclusion Room

● About ⅓ of the students in this classroom have IEPs
● One child has Apraxia and is learning to use the proloquo2go app on his ipad as a
form of AAC
● Other diagnoses include Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Developmental
Delay (DD)
● Main area of need for majority of students is alphabet instruction: letter naming
● Literacy is split into two section of the day
○ At the beginning of the day, foundational skills are taught in small groups
according to area of highest needs during centers time
○ Later in the day literacy instruction is given in whole-group setting

School Personnel Involved in Planning & Implementing Instruction:

● General Educator
● Special Educator
● Speech Language Pathologist
● Reading Specialist

Speech/Language Goals:
● The student will be able to identify sounds of the letter ‘s’ and the sound-symbol
relationship as measured by verbal/visual identification
● When presented with the sound ‘s’, the student will orally identify the sound as the
letter ‘s’
○ Oral presentation can be done through verbal responses or use of AAC
device
● When orally presented with the letter ‘s’ sound, the student will write the letter ‘s’
○ Students will be asked to engage in auditory discrimination in order to
distinguish the ‘s’ sound from other letter sounds
● When visually presented with the letter ‘s’, the student will verbally identify the
letter ‘s’
○ Verbal responses can be done orally or through AAC device
● The student will verbally identify the sound-symbol relationship of the letter ‘s’ and
visually identify examples of the use of ‘s’ in environmental print
 Sarah Jones & Maeve McGannon
CSD 5530 High Intensity Needs/AAC

Education Standards Addressed:

Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
● CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.1.D
Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet.
● CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.1.A
Print many upper- and lowercase letters.
● CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.6
With guidance and support from adults, explore a variety of digital tools to
produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.
NC Standard Course of Study (NCSCOS)
● RF.K.1
Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.
d. Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet.
● RF.K.2
Print upper- and lowercase letters.
● W.K.4
With guidance and support from adults, explore a variety of digital tools and
resources to produce and publish writing, either in collaboration with peers or in a
whole group setting.
Extended Content Standards (ECS)
● RL.K.10
Actively engage in group reading activities.
● RF.K.1
Demonstrate emerging understanding of the organization of print.
c. With guidance and support during shared reading, demonstrate understanding
of the one-to-one correspondence between written and spoken words.
● RF.K.2
With guidance and support, selects or produces letters when asked to write

Research-Based Instructional Practices:

● Universal Design for Learning (CAST, 2018)
○ WHY: Provide multiple means of engagement
■ Sustaining Effort & Persistence: foster collaboration and community
○ WHAT: Provide multiple means of representation
■ Language & Symbols: clarify vocabulary and symbols
■ Comprehension: maximize transfer and generalization
○ HOW: Provide multiple means of action and expression
 Sarah Jones & Maeve McGannon
CSD 5530 High Intensity Needs/AAC
■ Physical Action: optimize access to tools and assistive technologies
■ Expression & Communication: use multiples tools for construction
and composition
● Explicit Alphabet Knowledge Instructional Routine (Jones, Clark, & Reutzel, 2013)
○ Rapid cycling of letters for distributed practice (1 letter a day) rather than
mass practice (1 letter a week)
○ 7-step lesson that allows all students to practice identifying letters and
letter sounds, recognizing letters in texts, and producing letter forms

Instructional Plans:

Small Group Literacy Instruction during Centers

To begin the day, students should be divided into groups according to areas of need in
foundational literacy skills. The group we will focus on will be students who are struggling
with letter-sound correspondence. This group would typically be taught by the special
educator and/or Speech/Language Pathologist. The letter of focus for the day will be “S.”
1. Letter Identification
● Begin by showing students the letter S in upper and lower case form. Point
to the uppercase letter and say, This is the letter S. Point to the lowercase
letter and say, This is the letter s. Now write the uppercase letter S and say,
This is the letter S. Now write the lowercase letter s and say, This is the
letter s.
● Now ask students to join in and help. Say, Let’s practice naming this letter.
What is this letter? Point to the uppercase S and lowercase s in different
orders and ask students to name the letter.
● *Note: For students using AAC, they can respond during this activity using
their device. However, if they are struggling to use their AAC device, or if
they do not have access to it at that time, then say to the student, Let’s
practice naming this letter. You say it to yourself while I say it aloud.
2. Letter Sound Identification
● Begin by telling students the letter name and sound. Begin with the
uppercase letter and say, This is the letter S. This letter represents the
sound /S/. Then point to the lowercase letter and say the same thing.
● Now ask students to join in and help. Say, Let’s practice saying the sound
this letter represents. The letter S represents the sound /s/. Say it with me.
Point to the uppercase S and lowercase s in different orders and ask
students to say the letter sound.
 Sarah Jones & Maeve McGannon
CSD 5530 High Intensity Needs/AAC
● *Note: For students using AAC, they can respond during this activity using
their device. However, if they are struggling to use their AAC device, or if
they do not have access to it at that time, then say to the student, Let’s
practice saying this letter. The letter S represents the sound /s/. You say it
to yourself as I say it aloud.”
3. Producing the Letter Form
● Begin by showing students how to write both the uppercase and the
lowercase form of the letter on lined chart paper. Say, Let me show you
how to write the letter S. This is S, and this is s. As you are writing the
letters, describe how you write them. For the uppercase letter, say, Start at
the top line and down to the middle line, then curve back to the bottom
line. For the lowercase letter, say, Start at the middle line and curve down
to the dotted line, the curve back to the bottom line.
● Now ask students to join in. Say, Let’s practice writing the letter S together.
Practice both the uppercase and lowercase forms.

Whole Group Literacy Instruction

Later in the afternoon, literacy instruction is given in a whole-group setting. During this
time the general educator and special educator can split the time in half to focus on two
different topics or skills. We will focus on what the special educator can do to provide
even more opportunities for her striving readers and writers to have more exposure with
the alphabet while also providing review for the rest of the students. A reading specialist
may be contacted to provide insight into appropriate books to read during this
instruction.
1. Recognizing the Letter in Text
● Before beginning the lesson, use the document camera to project the book
I See a Bug, onto the board at the front of the room.
● Begin by giving students a purpose for reading. The purpose will be to look
for the letter S. Say, Readers, sometimes we read for different reasons.
Today, I want to read to find the letter S. As I read, let’s look for the letter S.
● Read each page aloud and then ask students to raise their hands when
they have found an S. Call on different children each time to come to the
board and point to the S they found. Be sure every S in the book is pointed
out.
 Sarah Jones & Maeve McGannon
CSD 5530 High Intensity Needs/AAC
References
CAST (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.2. Retrieved from
http://udlguidelines.cast.org

Jones, C. D., Clark, S. K., & Reutzel, D. R. (2013). Enhancing alphabet knowledge
instruction: Research implication and practical strategies for early childhood
educators. Early Childhood Education Journal, 41, 81-89. Doi 10.1007/s10643-012-
0534-9 https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/teal_facpub/404/