When using the parallel teaching method, I taught an individual student unit studies while his class was also studying unit studies. This was done in order to provide extra reading comprehension support to the student. I chose to teach the same material and collaborate with the regular education teacher about the material they were covering and the activities they were doing.
Using this teaching method was fairly simple and extremely beneficial for the student. The student struggles with reading comprehension and we felt he needed extra support. Rather than taking him out of a class and have him miss the lessons, we decided that it would be best for him if we used the same materials and activities to teach the student.
There are a few disadvantages to this style of teaching, specifically to how it was implemented in this setting. As a result of teaching this student individually, there was not the opportunity for peer involvement or group activities.
This teaching method works well when there are specific students that need extra assistance or support on a specific topic. It would also work well if multiple students are struggling with the same topic or idea. Then two teachers can split the class and teach the same material to smaller groups, providing the students with more one-on-one help. Hopefully this will lead to the students understanding the material better.
In order to successfully implement this collaborative teaching method, the teachers need to consider the different groups of students and their different behaviors. If the student I am working with asks different questions than the other group of students, he may learn something that the other group did not cover or vice versa. It is also important to use effective collaboration techniques when working with the other teacher to plan the activities. These techniques include listening, compromise, respecting each other's ideas, and dividing up the work.
LPS Objectives
NDE Standards
Rationale
This lesson was designed to specifically meet the learning needs of the student. They struggle with reading comprehension and picture clues are a powerful tool. This lesson was designed to use picture clues to teach concepts.
Vocabulary
Goals
Objectives
Materials
Procedure
• Preview the book with the student, talking about the title, pictures, and ideas about the book.
*This helps the student have pictures in his mind prior to reading the book.
• Have the student read the story.
*Stop on each page to talk about the food group and focus on the pictures.
*Take extra time when the Food Guide Pyramid is explained to discuss what it is.
• When the student is done reading the story, give the student chart paper.
*Have the pyramid already drawn on the paper.
• Brainstorm with the student the six food groups and locate them on the pyramid.
*Refer to the book, if needed.
• Have the student draw or place pictures of the different foods in the appropriate groups.
• The student should draw or select the correct number of servings for each food group.
*Creating this pyramid allows for future reference during other activities in the unit.
Assessment
Adaptations