Tying the Knot Marrying English Language Art and Transition Competencies Malarie Deardorff Amber McConnell

Are students today Leaving High School ready for the workplace? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4IjTUxZORE

What skills Do high school students Need to Get a job?

When Should we Teach Transition? Transition skills can be taught simultaneously with Oklahoma State Standards

Here’s How!

Development of Tying the Knot We aligned Oklahoma English Language Arts Standards and research-identified skills students need to obtain employment or participate in further education after high school.

Research-Identified Skills Ju, Zhang, & Pacha (2012) Employability Skills Valued by Employers Important for Entry-Level Employee With and Without Disabilities McConnell et al. (2012) Analyzed 30 years of qualitative and quantitative research to create constructs of nonacademic skills associated with post- school education and employment.

Activities and annual transition goals are arranged on a continuum

Measureable Annual Transition Goals We intend this tool to be used as a guide to generate additional annual transition goals using core standards. The examples given may be modified to better suit the students you teach. The measurable statements should be modified to meet the needs of individual students.

Example Annual Transition Goals

Let’s look at a few full examples Page 9

Speaking and Listening Standard

ELA Standards and Objectives English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Standards » Speaking and Listening» Standard 1: Students will speak and listen effectively in a variety of situations including, but not limited to, responses to reading and writing. Speaking and Listening » Recursive Reading Strand: Students will develop and apply effective communication skills through speaking and active listening. 9th Grade English I Objectives OAS.9.1.R.3 Students will engage in collaborative discussions about appropriate topics and texts, expressing their own ideas clearly while building on the ideas of others in pairs, diverse groups, and whole class settings.

Research-Identified Transition skills Discuss post-school goals with the IEP team Actively lead one's IEP meeting Speak so others can understand (McConnell et al., 2012) Research-Identified Transition skills

Most Complex Activity Students will demonstrate command of formal English by leading their own IEP meetings. Educators will teach students about their IEP, disability, and strengths by using free resources such as the ME! lesson package, Choice Maker, and I'm Determined website which includes an evaluation rubric for leading an IEP. The students will then lead their IEP meetings and state post-school goals using a PowerPoint, video, script, or one- pager.

I’m determined Video http://www.imdetermined.org/resources/detail /determined_student_involvement_in_iep_oc :30

Lest Complex Activities Students will demonstrate command of formal English by participating and their own IEP meetings to the maximum extent possible. Educators will teach students about their IEP, disability, and strengths by using free resources (e.g. I’m Determined website) which includes an evaluation rubric for leading an IEP and videos portraying a wide range of students participating in their IEP. The students will actively participate in the IEP meetings by using a one-pager, poster, or AAC device.

I’m determined Video http://www.imdetermined.org/resources/detail /determined_student_involvement_in_iep_oc 11:25

Annual Transition Goals Most Complex Goal Less Complex Goal Least Complex Goal After learning to lead their IEPs, the students will demonstrate command of formal English by appropriately leading their IEP and expressing post-school goals to the team with 90% accuracy as measured by a rubric. After learning to lead their IEPs, the students will demonstrate command of formal English by appropriately leading their IEP and expressing post-school goals to the team to the maximum extent possible with 70% accuracy as measured by a rubric. After learning to actively participate in IEPs, the students will demonstrate command of formal English by appropriately participating in their IEP to the maximum extent possible with 80% accuracy by using a one pager, poster, or AAC device as measured by a rubric.

IEP Participation Rubric

IEP Participation Rubric

Oral Presentation Rubric

IEP Participation Rubrics I’m Determined Website Elementary: http://www.imdetermined.org/files_resources/99/studentrub ricforiepparticipation.pdf Secondary: http://www.imdetermined.org/files_resources/99/studentrub ricforiepparticipation.pdf Class Presentation Rubric: http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom- resources/printouts/oral-presentation-rubric-30700.html

? How do we teach this?

Whose Future is it, Anyway? Free on the Zarrow Center Website

Whose Future is it, Anyway? Getting to Know You Making Decisions How to Get What You Need Goals, Objectives, and the Future Communicating Thank You Honorable Chairperson Self-Paced Six Sections 18 Reproducible Packets

Free on the zarrow center website Me! lessons Free on the zarrow center website

Lessons for Teaching Self-Awareness & Self-Advocacy Screenshot of the Me! logo. Me! Lessons for Teaching Self-Awareness & Self-Advocacy

Units Getting Started Learning About Special Education Understanding Self-awareness & Self-advocacy Understanding What It’s all About Learning About Special Education Learning About the History of Disability Learning About Special Education: How & why did I get here? Creating My History Understanding My Individualized Education Program Getting to Know My IEP Still Getting to Know My IEP

Understanding My Rights and Responsibilities Learning About My Rights & Responsibilities in High School Learning About My Rights & Responsibilities After High School Where do I go from Here? Improving My Communication Skills Learning How to Communicate Effectively Knowing What to Share and Who to Share It With

Increasing My Self-Awareness Starting My Self-Awareness Project Completing My Self-Awareness Project Presenting My Self-Awareness Project Advocating For My Needs in High School Planning How to Advocate Learning From Experience

Advocating For My Needs After High School Using My New Skills on the Job Using My New Skills at Postsecondary School Reporting My Findings Developing My Resources Completing My Summary of Performance and Goals Assessing My Progress & Portfolio Assessing My Progress Assessing My Portfolio

Details Time to Teach Approximately 20 hours 23 sessions taking 45-60 minutes each Where to Teach Resource English, Social Studies, Transition class or Study Skills class Cost FREE – download at http://zarrowcenter.ou.edu/

Transition Bell Ringers Screenshot of the Me! logo. Me! Transition Bell Ringers

Bell-Ringer Details Skills Time to Teach 5-10 minutes once a week at the beginning of the class Skills Self-Awareness Disability Awareness Goal Setting Knowledge to Lead an IEP Financial Literacy

Me! Bell-Ringers Cost Ready-Made PowerPoints 150 Transition Bell Ringers Total 50 Elementary Transition 50 Secondary Transition 50 Secondary Financial Literacy Cost FREE – download at http://zarrowcenter.ou.edu/

ME! elementary Bell-Ringer

ME! Secondary Bell-Ringer

ME! Math Bell-Ringer

Free on the Zarrow Center Website ChoiceMaker Free on the Zarrow Center Website Choosing Employment Goals

Free on the Zarrow Center Website Self-Directed IEP Free on the Zarrow Center Website

Self-Directed IEP Steps State Purpose of Meeting Introduce Team Review Past Goals Ask for Feedback State School and Transition Goals Ask Question If Don’t Understand Deal with Differences in Opinion State Support Needs Summarize Goals Close Meeting Work on Goals All Year

I’m Determined www.imdetermined.org

IEP Participation Rubrics I’m Determined Website Elementary: http://www.imdetermined.org/files_resources/99/studentrub ricforiepparticipation.pdf Secondary: http://www.imdetermined.org/files_resources/99/studentrub ricforiepparticipation.pdf Class Discussion Rubric: http://www.imdetermined.org/resources/detail/i5_class_disc ussion_rubric#sthash.tGvi5UNS.dpbs

Reading and Writing process Standards example

ELA Standards and Objectives English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Standards » Reading Process and Writing Process » Standard 2: Students will use a variety of recursive reading and writing processes. Reading Process and Writing Process » Recursive Reading Strand: Students will read and comprehend increasingly complex literary and informational texts. 9th Grade English I Objectives OAS.9.2.R.2 Students will analyze details in literary and nonfiction/informational texts to evaluate patterns of genres. OAS.9.2.R.3 Students will synthesize main ideas with supporting details in texts.

Research-Identified Transition skills Understand the importance of putting forth continued effort in school Utilize multiple strategies to stay on task Successfully interact with peers, teachers, and other adults; responsibility in work (Ju, Zhang, & Pacha, 2012; McConnell et al., 2012) Research-Identified Transition skills

Most Complex Activity Students will be given a college syllabus to analyze. Educators can make a syllabus scavenger hunt. After locating assignments, due date, disability service office information, and other important details, the class will practice calculating grades on different assignments to understand why one should put forth continued effort. Next, discuss office hours and what to do if you miss class in college.

Less Complex Activity Students will read or listen to rules and regulations for a post-school vocational or education program and discuss the information presented. Students will identify the importance of continued effort, multiple strategies to use to stay on task, and appropriate ways to interact with peers and other adults.

Least Complex activities Students will listen to rules and regulations for a post- school vocational or education program. Educators will discuss the importance of continued effort, multiple strategies to use to stay on task, and appropriate ways to interact with coworkers. Students could also identify appropriate vs. inappropriate methods of completing the above tasks when asked dichotomous questions.

Annual Goals

? How do we teach this?

Using College View College View Use College View to explore Colleges by: location major school type Greek life disability services Ideas for Future Activities Compare/Contrast colleges based on their location, school type, and sports Choose three colleges and explain why they are a good fit Essay or Presentation Find three colleges who offer small class sizes, high graduation rates, have a football team, and have the Delta Gamma Sorority Report the findings in a one-page report or PowerPoint

Critical Reading and Writing Standard Example

Ela Standards and objectives English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Standards » Critical Reading and Writing » Standard 3: Students will apply critical thinking skills to reading and writing. Critical Reading and Writing »Recursive Reading Strand: Students will comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and respond to a variety of complex texts of all literary and informational genres from a variety of historical, cultural, ethnic, and global perspectives.

Ela Standards and objectives 9th Grade English I Objectives OAS.9.3.R.2 Students will evaluate points of view and perspectives in more than one grade-level literary and/or informational text and explain how multiple points of view contribute to the meaning of a work. OAS.9.3.R.3 Students will analyze how authors use key literary elements to contribute to meaning and interpret how themes are connected across texts: setting, plot, characters, character development, them, conflict, archetypes OAS.9.3.R.7 Students will make connections (e.g., thematic links, literary analysis) between and across multiple texts and provide textual evidence to support their inferences.

Work well with people from diverse backgrounds. Transition skills Work well with people from diverse backgrounds. (Ju, Zhang, & Pacha, 2012)

activities

Most Complex Activities After reading a story with two distinct point of views such as Romeo and Juliet, students will discuss the story from the two points of view (Montague and Capulets), then brainstorm ways the two groups could have worked together despite their differences. Next, discuss working with people from diverse backgrounds or with people who think or believe differently than you do. Students will make a list of ways they plan to work with different people. How would you work to get along with someone from a different religion? race? country? Socioeconomic status? political beliefs?

Novel Connections Use novels the students are currently reading in ELA class and connect them to transition topics like interacting with others, accepting constructive criticisms, or getting along with diverse groups of individuals. The Great Gatsby, Lord of the Flies, To Kill a Mocking Bird, The Interlopers

Less Complex Activity After reading a story with two distinct point of views, students will discuss the story from the two points of view, then brainstorm ways the two groups could have worked together despite their differences. Next, discuss working with people from diverse backgrounds or with people who think or believe differently than you do. Students will make a list of ways they plan to work with different people. How would you work to get along with someone from a different religion? race? country? socioeconomic status? political beliefs?

Least Complex Activity After listening to a story with two distinct point of views, the educator will discuss the story from the two points of view, then brainstorm ways the two groups could have worked together despite their differences. Next, the class will discuss working with people from diverse backgrounds or with people who think or believe differently. Students and educators will jointly make a list of ways to work with different people. How would you work to get along with someone from a different race? or country? Students can respond yes or no to statements on the subject provided.

Annual Transition Goals

Annual Transition Goals Most Complex Goal Less Complex Goal Least Complex Goal After discussing a story with two points of view, students will make a list including at least 3 ways to work well with people from other religions, races, countries, SES, and beliefs with 100% accuracy. After discussing a story with two distinct points of view, students will report at least one way to work well with people from other religions, races, countries, SES, and beliefs with 90% accuracy. After discussing a story with two distinct points of view, as a group, students will report at least one way to work well with people from other races, countries, and SES with 100% accuracy. Annual Transition Goals

Links to the Workplace

Ela Standards and objectives English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Standards » Critical Reading and Writing » Standard 3: Students will apply critical thinking skills to reading and writing. Critical Reading and Writing »Recursive Reading Strand: Students will comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and respond to a variety of complex texts of all literary and informational genres from a variety of historical, cultural, ethnic, and global perspectives.

Ela Standards and objectives 9th Grade English I Objectives OAS.9.4.R.3 Students will use context clues to determine or clarify the meaning of words or distinguish among multiple-meaning words. OAS.9.4.R.4 Students will analyze the relationships among words with multiple meanings and recognize the connotation and denotation of words. OAS. 9.4.R.5 Students will use a dictionary, glossary, or a thesaurus (print or electronic) to determine or clarify the meanings, syllabications, pronunciation, synonyms, parts of speech, and etymology of words or phrases.

Ability to learn new skills Transition skills Ability to learn new skills (Ju, Zhang, & Pacha, 2012)

Activities activities

Annual Transition Goals

Annual Transition Goals Most Complex Goal Less Complex Goal Least Complex Goal Given an employee handbook, students will identify meaning of a list of words found in an employee handbook by using context clues with 90% accuracy. Given a list of words used in the workplace, students will identify meaning of a list of words used in the workplace by using context clues 4 out of 5 times. Given a list of common words using in the workplace, students will identify meaning of a list of words used in the workplace by using context clues 2 out of 3 times. Annual Transition Goals

Employee handbook Twilight Pizza Bistro Hugo’s Restaurants http://www.twilightpizzabistro.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Employee- Manual-rev-9-12.pdf Hugo’s Restaurants http://hugosrestaurant.com/files/EmployeeHandbook.pdf Talley’s Construction Company http://www.talleyconstruction.net/Websites/talley/Images/info_handbook.pdf Shop’n Kart http://www.gosnk.com/pdfs/employee_handbook.pdf

Disability awareness

Report accurate information regarding one’s own disability Transition skills Report accurate information regarding one’s own disability (Ju, Zhang, & Pacha, 2012)

activities Most Complex Activity Less Complex Activity Least Complex Activity Students will research their disability and write a two-page report citing factual information about the disability. Students will use primary and secondary sources of information and use appropriate means for note-taking and recording citations. Students will assist to create a binder with pertinent information about their disability, healthcare, and nutrition needs with contact information from at least three agencies that can help with the documented needs. This information can be shared with others and used after high school. Students will use primary and secondary sources of information and use appropriate means for notetaking Students will assist to create a one-page document with pertinent information from primary and secondary sources about their disability, healthcare, and nutrition needs with contact information from at least three caregivers. A reference page of where the information was found will be included. This information can be shared with others and used after high school. activities

Most Complex Activity Students will research their disability and write a two-page report citing factual information about the disability. Students will use primary and secondary sources of information and use appropriate means for note-taking and recording citations.

Less Complex Activity Students will assist to create a binder with pertinent information about their disability, healthcare, and nutrition needs with contact information from at least three agencies that can help with the documented needs. This information can be shared with others and used after high school. Students will use primary and secondary sources of information and use appropriate means for notetaking.

Least Complex Activity Students will assist to create a one-page document with pertinent information from primary and secondary sources about their disability, healthcare, and nutrition needs with contact information from at least three caregivers. A reference page of where the information was found will be included. This information can be shared with others and used after high school.

Transition goals Most Complex Goal Less Complex Goal Least Complex Goal Given access to the internet, students will research their disability and write a two-page report citing factual information about the disability from at least three sources with 90% accuracy for content. After gathering pertinent information, students will create a binder with information about their disability, healthcare, and nutrition needs with contact information from at least 3 agencies that can help with the documented needs with 100% accuracy. With help from caregiver, students will assist to create a one-page document with pertinent information about their disability, healthcare, and nutrition needs with contact information from at least three caregivers with 100% participation.

Do you remember the lesson Packages to teach Disability Awareness?

me! Lessons Using Me! to teach Self-Awareness and Self- Advocacy http://www.ou.edu/content/education/centers-and- partnerships/zarrow/transition-education- materials/me-lessons-for-teaching-self-awareness-and- self-advocacy.html

Student involvement iEP Self-directed IEP http://www.ou.edu/content/education/centers- and-partnerships/zarrow/choicemaker- curriculum/self-directed-iep.html

Zarrow center website Zarrow Center Homepage: https: zarrowcenter.ou.edu Transition Education Materials: http://www.ou.edu/content/education/centers-and- partnerships/zarrow/transition-education- materials.html ChoiceMaker Lessons: http://www.ou.edu/content/education/centers-and- partnerships/zarrow/choicemaker- curriculum/choicemaker-self-determination- materials.html

Free to download ZARROWCENTER.OU.EDU

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Contact information: Zarrow Center for Learning Enrichment Amber McConnell E-mail: ambermcc@ou.edu Malarie Deardorff Email: Malarie.deardorff@ou.edu Phone: 405-325-8951 Web: zarrowcenter.ou.edu