University of Oklahoma
Learning About Special Education
The lessons in the second unit in a three-unit series provide students with the historical background of disability education. After reading about events that impacted attitudes towards disabilities and how learners are identified for...
Curated OER
I Am Special and You Are Special Too
Pre-schoolers identify things that make them a special individual. In this diversity lesson, they read the book Little Gorilla and discuss ways they are special and unique. Children create a birthday party for "Little Gorilla" and...
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
Dinosaurs Before Dark
Young readers travel back to the time of the dinosaurs in this literature unit based on the story Dinosaurs Before Dark. Intended for use with upper-elementary special education students, this resource provides reading...
University of Oklahoma
Advocating For My Needs in High School
High schoolers enrolled in resource and special needs classes learn and practice how to schedule and conduct a self-advocacy meeting with a teacher to request accommodations in that subject area class. In lesson one they review and...
University of Oklahoma
Understanding My Rights and Responsibilities
Three scripted lessons comprise a unit designed to inform special needs students about their rights and responsibilities in high school. In the first lesson class members examine the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), Child Find,...
University of Oklahoma
Advocating For My Needs After High School
A three-lesson unit teaches learners with special needs how to advocate for their needs after high school. Class members review appropriate was to disclose their disability during interviews and applications, and how to request...
Curated OER
Promoting Disability Awareness and Acceptance in Childhood
Create a safe and respectful school environment with the help of this special education teaching guide. Offering dozens of instructional ideas and activities for raising awareness and acceptance of children with disabilities, this is a...
Curated OER
Relationships, Day 5: Acquaintances & Strangers
It is important for special needs students to know the differences between acquaintances and strangers. They define the world helper, acquaintance, and stranger then discuss a scenario based case study.They talk about touch and no touch,...
Curated OER
Introductory Class
Secondary special education students are introduced to the topics covered in health class. This is the first in a series of lessons focused teaching developmentally appropriate life and sexual health related topics. Intended for mild to...
Curated OER
Exploitation, Day 2: Exploitation and Getting Help
Exploitation is a real issue for the disabled community. Secondary Special Education students learn what exploitation is, their personal rights, and how to say no. They focus on finding a trusted adult to get help if they have been taken...
Curated OER
Understanding the Body: Day 2, Puberty
Everyone needs to know what to expect when going through puberty. Intended for a special education class, this well developed and developmentaly appropriate resource provides a full days instruction on teaching teens with special needs...
Curated OER
Non-Verbal Communication
Many developmentally disabled students struggle with accurately conveying messages and interpreting those of others around them, especially when they are non-verbal. This lesson contains fun activities and exercises, such as talking with...
Curated OER
Emotion Card Games
Emotions come in all shapes and sizes, and can be difficult for young learners or students with special needs to identify. Support them in gaining the valuable social skill of recognizing emotions and understanding empathy with this...
Curated OER
Cells: A project in 3-D for Special Needs Students
Students use the internet to research information about cells in order to create a 3-D model of a cell. They may choose either to research a plant or animal cell. Students locate and identify the parts of a cell and build a 3-D mode.
Curated OER
Educating Children about Autism in an Inclusive Classroom
How do we meet the needs of learners with autism? Find out with an in-depth study that offers a thorough explanation of autism—what it is and how unique every individual's case may be, nine lesson plans spanning from...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Special Order 40
The city of Los Angeles' 1979 Special Order 40 states: "LAPD officers shall not initiate police action with the objective of discovering the alien status of a person." After reading a fact sheet that details the history of Special Order...
King Country
Lesson 9: Communication - Day 2: Assertiveness
Appropriate assertive and non-verbal assertive communication is the focus of this lesson designed for the special education classroom. Using mirrors, class members practice assertive responses to a variety of situations.
Special Olympics
A World of Difference
Kids engage in a series of activities that ask them to consider differences and similarities in characteristics, both visible and invisible. With this new understanding, the class investigates the Special Olympics program and develops...
University of Oklahoma
Developing My Resources
Learners with special needs create Summary of Performance (SOP), a written document which describes their disability, its impact on their daily life, ways they have learned to compensate, their personal strengths, and their goals. The...
Centre for Clinical Interventions
Social Skills Treatment Programme
Even though they may not be tested on standardized assessments, social skills are vital for students to develop during their years in school. Through a series of discussions, activities, and role-playing exercises,...
Curated OER
Everyone Is Special
Students discuss tolerance. In this philanthropy instructional activity, students read the book A Very Special Critter by Gina Mayer and discuss the character's disability. Students role play how to be tolerant of a new student with a...
University of Alaska
Lesson Plans for Teaching Self-Determination
How do we prepare kids, especially those with disabilities, for life after school, for the workplace, for independent living? This 96-page packet is loaded with self-assessment surveys, with skill builders, with information about rules,...
Curated OER
HIV/AIDS & Other STDs, Day 1: Germs & Risk
Assist your secondary special education class for understanding risky behavior, hygiene, and STDs. The class discusses how germs spread, how people get sick, and what needs to be done to prevent the spread of communicable diseases. They...
Curated OER
Relationships, Day 1: Self-Esteem
Expose your secondary special education class to the importance of belonging and feeling accepted. They define self-esteem, pride, and appreciation. Then create a self collage and share what they like about themselves with the class. A...