3. Willans
Hill
School
• 69
students
with
intellectual
and
physical
disabili3es
• Aged
from
5
years
to
18
years
• 9
classes
• 9
teachers
and
9
school
learning
support
officers
5. Before
Four
Blocks
• 90s
–
therapy,
sensory
ac3vi3es,
living
skills,
(deficiency
model)
teacher
directed
ac3vi3es
• Individual
staff
working
in
isola3on
• Students
priori3es
and
expecta3ons
were
not
always
curriculum
based
• High
school
was
prepara3on
for
aKer
school
experiences
• Students
with
complex
communica3on
needs
were
serviced
by
external
agencies
-‐
therapist
6. 2008
QTAL
Project
• Quality
teaching
and
learning
project
–
an
amazing
opportunity
to
have
our
colleagues
come
into
our
classroom
and
assist
us
with
challenges
of:
– Engagement
– Inclusivity
– Substan3ve
communica3on
•
Experience/exper3se/enthusiasm/ideas
were
shared
and
3me
for
discussions
available.
7. Communica;on
• Opportuni3es
across
all
Key
Learning
Areas.
• Expec3ng
all
students
to
give
a
response
–
make
it
automa3c
that
you
ask
a
ques3on
to
a
non
verbal
student
as
you
do
to
their
peers
with
speech.
• Four
Blocks
emphasises
access
and
the
need
to
look
at
response
3mes.
One
of
the
major
benefits
has
been
for
students
with
CCN
have
displayed
quicker
response
3mes
–
ie:
answer
more
quickly
because
they
have
had
so
many
opportuni3es
to
give
an
answer
with
Four
blocks.
8. Communica;on
• Allowing
strategies
used
in
the
classroom
to
be
transferred
into
other
social
situa3ons
–
on
the
playground,
at
home
and
other
educa3onal
sengs
eg
Library
• All
staff
having
key
caddies
to
interact
with
all
students,
especially
in
transi3ons.
• Key
caddies
a]ached
to
wheelchairs
and
yes/
no
visuals
on
trays
or
pommels.
10. What
are
the
Four
Blocks?
• Mainstream
literacy
program
developed
by
Patricia
Cunningham
&
Dorothy
Hall.
• www.fourblocks.com
• Guided
Reading,
Self
Selected
Reading,
Wri3ng
and
Working
with
Words
• Used
with
special
educa3on
students
by
the
Centre
for
Literacy
and
Disability
Studies-‐
University
of
North
Carolina
• Staff
member
at
our
school
a]ended
a
course
with
Karen
Erickson
and
David
Koppenhaver
• Brought
the
idea
back
to
the
school
11. IMPLEMENTING
THE
FOUR
BLOCKS
LITERACY
PROGRAM
AT
WILLANS
HILL
SCHOOL
• Our
school
was
failing
students
in
providing
successful,
sustainable
communica3on
systems
for
all
students.
• We
were
in
a
rut!!
• Important
to
make
our
students
be]er
communicators.
12. What
did
we
do?
• Looking
at
our
atude
and
philosophy
regarding
all
students
as
poten3al
Literacy
learners
• Our
3metables-‐
a
commitment
to
the
four
blocks
everyday
• Commitment
to
in-‐school
Training
&
Development
(detailed
planning
began
late
2008
in
readiness
for
2009)
• Broadened
the
role
of
support
staff
(School
Learning
Support
Officers,
Vision
support,
Library,
etc).
13. What
did
we
do?
• Repe;;on
with
variety
–
partner
assisted
scanning
(
Linda
Burkhardt)
• Resources
that
we
knew
worked:
topic
books,
soKware
(Boardmaker
Plus!,
Clicker,
Photostory),
Tar
Heel
Reader,
ac3vity
cards
to
give
people
lessons
or
transi3on
breaks,
access
dic3onary,
topic
boards,
(lite
tech)teacher’s
toolkit…..
•
Presents
-‐
big
key
keyboards,
camera
mounts,
ipad
,
switch
mounts,
printers
in
each
room
(
direct
access
to
prin3ng)(high
tech)
SoKware
-‐Cloze
pro,
Co-‐writer
15. How
did
we
change?
• Used
late
2008
to
begin
work
and
understanding
of
the
Wri3ng
Block.
Beginning
talking
about
other
blocks.
• 2009
was
to
be
the
launch
of
complete
four
blocks
within
each
classroom
for
all
students.
• Overwhelming
• Didn’t
happen
due
to
obstacles
• Some
blocks
happening
in
some
classrooms
16. What
did
we
change?
• Repor3ng
• Assessments
–
photos
and
videos
• Priori3es
–
at
least
1
to
be
literacy
based
• Awards-‐
assembly,
Principal’s
• Staff
use
literacy
language
• Role
of
support
staff
–
involved
in
planning,
observa3on
and
assessment
17. Valuing
all
• Acknowledge
vocalisa3ons
and
all
contribu3ons.
• A]ribute
meaning
to
all
interac3ons.
Provide
specific
feedback
for
CCN
student
behaviour
–eg
“you’re
looking
away
–
I
think
you
are
telling
me
no!”
• Respond
and
try
to
extend
answers
–
choice
boards,
sensory
feedback,(Sounds,
touch)
• Wai;ng
–
give
all
students
3me
to
process
your
request
and
respond
(up
to
2
minutes
and
beyond)
18. Things
that
changed
the
direc;on
of
Willans
Hill
School
Giving
everyone
a
pencil
–
allowing
every
student
the
opportunity
and
access
to
a
form
of
meaningful
communica3on.
19. 2011
• Inservice
late
in
2010
for
all
staff
–
Jane
Farrall
• Implemen3ng
Four
Blocks
in
all
classrooms
in
2011
• Tes3ng
all
students,
collec3ng/analyzing
data
• Uniform
literacy
proforma
-‐
planning
• Weekly
work
programs,
3metabling,
coaching
• Commitment
by
all
staff
to
submit
programs
at
the
beginning
of
each
week
• Visits
each
month
from
Jane
–
discussions,
sharing
ideas
20. Planning
• Programming
was
key
to
success.
• Looking
at
all
the
students
and
iden3fying
ways
that
would
allow
involvement
and
engagement,
opportuni3es
for
comment/response/feedback
.
• This
presented
many
challenges
but
I
remember
my
supervisor
sharing
a
strategy
–
start
with
the
‘hardest
student’
and
find
a
role
for
them
and
work
through
from
the
student
with
the
most
complex
communica3on
issues
to
those
who
are
more
capable.
22. Literacy
Proforma
• Jane
came
along
to
our
staff
development
days
end
of
2010
and
gave
us
a
format
that
we
could
all
use
–
a
uniform
plan
across
the
school
• Gave
literacy
uniformity.
• This
meant
that
we
had
all
staff
from
Kinder
to
Year
12
following
the
same
plan.
Teachers
and
students
alike
got
used
to
the
structure
of
the
Four
Blocks
which
would
allow
for
an
easy
transi3on
at
the
end
of
each
year.
23.
What
the
four
blocks
looks
like
in
our
classrooms
• Pre
planned
four
pronged
a]ack
that
is
the
most
significant
part
of
our
learning.
• Structured
sessions
for
all
students
everyday.
• Each
student
has
an
essen3al
role
in
each
of
the
Four
Blocks.
• Strategies
we
put
in
place
during
our
literacy
sessions
overflow
to
all
other
Key
Learning
Areas
(KLAs)
Eg:
answering/asking
?’s,
commen3ng,
reques3ng,
describing
etc
24. AYtude
• Be
posi3ve
–
students
learn
from
what
is
being
modelled.
• Atude
of
teachers
–
posi3ve
feedback,
more
sharing,
more
fun,
more
talk
of
success
and
enthusiasm
for
literacy.
• Feeling
of
pride
when
students
make
progress
and
sharing
their
achievements
with
colleagues.
• All
students
feel
valued
and
essen3al
to
the
learning
because
of
the
high
level
of
opportunity
and
the
supported
success.
• Sense
of
achievements
for
all
students
–
they
believe
they
are
readers
and
writers
and
work
accordingly.
• When
our
students
see
our
enthusiasm
they
get
excited
too.
25. Wri;ng
• Making
wri3ng
meaningful
–
set
a
purpose
• Introducing
Flipcharts
gives
all
students
in
the
class
the
opportunity
to
create
a
piece
of
wri3ng.
It
also
is
a
great
opportunity
to
be
engaged
and
have
1:1
3me
with
staff
members.
• Flipcharts
presented
challenges
–
geng
students
to
look
at
the
le]ers
they
were
touching
or
pulling
off
and
reading
students
eye
gaze
responses.
27. Flipcharts allow
students who
are unable to use
traditional pencils to
produce text. They
are able to choose
letters by pointing to
them, pulling off
velcro letters or
using their eye
gaze. Choices can
then be confirmed
verbally or using
yes/no visuals.
28. Wri;ng
Wri3ng
on
the
computer
using
keyboard
frames
allows
students
to
select
specific
individual
le]ers
and
coloured
keys
make
le]er
iden3fica3on
easier.
30. Wri;ng
–
Working
with
words
Students
who
have
difficulty
spelling
words
and
making
sentences
use
the
word
wall
to
find
words
.
This
gives
them
opportuni3es
to
experience
success
and
as
their
confidence
develops,
so
too
does
the
standard
of
wri3ng.
31. Working
with
Words
• Each
week
5
new
words
are
introduced
–
3
from
the
‘100
most
common
word
list’
and
2
others.
I
choose
words
that
are
relevant
to
our
class
(eg:
staff/
student/subject
names),
related
to
the
weekly
text
or
words
that
reoccur
in
students
wri3ng.
• There
are
a
variety
of
different
ac3vi3es
that
allow
students
to
become
familiar
with
these
words
that
can
be
fun
and
hands
on.
• There
are
also
lots
of
opportunity
for
students
with
CCN
to
direct
learning
experiences.
36. Guided
Reading
• Each
week
we
have
a
text
that
we
read
every
day.
• Before
we
start
reading
we
set
a
purpose
and
share
what
we
know
about
the
topic
(Prior
knowledge).
• Knowing
our
students
and
using
their
interests
is
key
when
selec3ng
our
texts.
Last
years
my
boys
loved
anything
about
animals,
especially
dogs,
so
it
was
a
recurring
theme.
We
were
able
to
look
at
a
wide
variety
of
texts
types
–
non
fic3on,
fic3on,
picture
books,
chapter
books,
poetry,
ebooks
37. Using
assis;ve
technology
• Very
simple
to
more
complex
• One
step
–
Introduce
book:
Title,
Author
and
Illustrator.
• Mul3
step
–
repeated
lines
or
phrases
(Video)
• Make
a
comment
-‐
“excuse
me,
I
have
something
to
say”,
“
Can
you
repeat
that
line
please?”
• Make
a
choice
• Choose
a
response
from
visuals
–
pictures,
photos
or
Boardmaker
symbols.
• Answer
ques3ons/complete
cloze
ac3vi3es
using
the
Smartboard
–
hands
on,
wireless
mouse
• Ipad
38. Self
Selected
Reading
• Modelled
/serial
reading
• Choosing
books
students
can
read
gives
them
confidence
to
want
to
read
more
• Partner
Assisted
Auditory
Scanning
–
choice
making
• Visual
support
for
discussions
• Responses
on
a
Speech
Genera3ng
Device
(SGD)
–
Yes,
that’s
the
one.
• Asking
-‐
can
I
read
with
you
today?
42. Student
Successes
• Lachie
-‐
wri3ng
• Bailey
-‐
reading
• Mitch
–
concepts
of
print
• Kris3an
–
le]er
recogni3on
• Brandon
–
use
of
word
wall
words
in
wri3ng
• Ashley
–
behaviour
• Peer
mentoring
• Understanding,
pa3ence
and
tolerance
43. Differences
for
me
• Organisa3on
• Meaningful
inclusion
• Engagement
with
every
student
each
day
• Pa3ence
• Rising
to
challenges
• Accountability
• Valuing
my
role
in
students
learning