Curated OER
Teaching Life Skills to Students with Special Needs
Ideas for instilling essential life skills in learners with special needs.
Curated OER
Kitchen Appliances and Utensils: Home Living / Daily Living
There are so many different types of tools we use in the kitchen, everyday. Help your special needs learner discover how to recognize, identify, and use various kitchen utensils and appliances. Using picture cards and drill prompting,...
Curated OER
Cooking Skills: Special Education
Using the microwave, boiling water for pasta, and using a knife to make a sandwich are all independent living skills. Prepare your special needs students for life by having them prepare three easy-to-cook items. Each skill is laid out as...
Curated OER
Opening a Special Ed Class
This is not just a lesson plan, it's a life saver! Here are 10 separate documents intended to assist a new Special Ed teacher. There are 4 different games, instructional tips, ways to handle documentation, behavioral modification...
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 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,...
King Country
Lesson 7: Relationships - Day 5: Acquaintances & Strangers
What is the difference between a friend and an acquaintance? What about an acquaintance and a stranger? As part of a unit on Family Life and Sexual Health (FLASH), class members role play appropriate responses to situations involving...
King Country
Lesson 2: Private & Public
What is the difference between a private and a public place? The focus in this second lesson on family life and sexual health is building an understanding of the difference between the concepts of private and public and the behaviors...
Special Olympics
Train at School
Here is a fantastic compilation of adaptive physical education lesson plans that cover the major concepts of physical fitness, including: aerobic endurance, balance, coordination, flexibility, power, speed and agility, and strength.
Curated OER
Home Living / Daily Living: Nail Care
Nails can get really dirty really fast. Prepare your special education class for life on their own by introducing them to a regular nail care routine. They discuss why it is important to care for your nails and practice washing,...
Curated OER
Home Living / Daily Living: Dressing for the Weather
What to wear? Help your special needs class make independent choices about what they should wear during various weather conditions. They'll discuss weather-appropriate clothing, dress dolls for the weather outside, and even put on a...
Curated OER
Home Living / Daily Living: Shopping List 2
I've done this exercise with my special needs learners more times than I can count. They practice getting ready to shop at the grocery store by identifying items on their shopping list. They match grocery items to the proper department...
Curated OER
Home Living / Daily Living : Measure Ingredients
Cooking often requires one to measure out ingredients. Build an understanding of relative measurements as well as a reference for future cooking projects with your special needs class. In a small group, you'll discuss various measurement...
Curated OER
Cooking Skills Using Self-Prompting
Prepare three different simple meals with your special needs class to prepare them for an independent life. They watch a video of a person preparing three different meals, they pause the video, complete the steps, then push play when...
Curated OER
Laundry Skills
Get the soap, get the basket, get those dirty clothes in the wash. Provide special needs learners with a step-by-step guided practice lesson to help them build laundry skills. They'll go through each step as outlined; gestural, verbal,...
Curated OER
Home Living / Daily Living: Shopping List
Talk with your pupils about the importance of staying focused at the grocery store. Your special education class will discuss how to create and use a shopping list. They will make a shopping list and pretend to use it in a role-play...
Curated OER
Home Living / Daily Living: Dental Care
Don't forget to brush! Help your special education class excel at taking care of their wonderful smiles. They'll discuss proper brushing and flossing techniques, watch a video on dental hygiene, and then brush their teeth.
Curated OER
Reproduction, Day 3: Parenthood
Reproduction can result in parenthood. Discuss the pros and cons, responsibility, and possible results of sexual intercourse. Intended for a secondary special education class, this lesson is developmentally appropriate for mild to...
Curated OER
Using Simultaneous Prompting to Teach Opening a Locker
Make opening a locker with a key an easy task for your special needs upper grader. Here you'll find a prompting hierarchy and 15 steps to guide your learner through the process. You'll verbally prompt while physically modeling the locker...
Special needs in Music
Music Work Sheet (Special Ed)
Music is beneficial for all learners. Help your learners with special needs learn about different styles of music, as well as the ways that music is represented on paper, with 30 different worksheets.
Curated OER
Ham and Cheese Puffs
A simple cooking recipe can become an entire lesson when you have your class discuss following directions, measuring, and basic cooking skills. Intended for a special education audience, this simple dish can help build basic independent...
Curated OER
Cashing a Check and Using an ATM
Banking is a key skill all individuals should practice. Provide a hands-on exercise to encourage the proper method of writing a check and using an ATM. The lesson prompts special needs students with full assistance until mastery is...
Do2Learn
Reciprocal Conversation
Keep the conversation going with a social skills activity. Designed for learners with autism, the lesson guides peers through the back-and-forth of a conversation, encouraging them to wait their turn before responding.
Curated OER
Reproduction, Day 4: Sexual Decision-Making
Every human has the need for affection. This lesson teaches mild to moderately disabled secondary students to make good choices regarding sexual contact. The lesson is developmentally and age appropriate and covers topics such as sexual...