Joey’s Foundation blog
Education
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Be Kind and Silly – Our Students’ Inclusive Message
Third graders in the inclusive classroom wrote their own comedic retelling of Stone Soup, complete with the “Carrot Brothers” and the “Chugga Chugga Choo Choo family.”
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Learning the Coins (and about each other)
Inclusive pod sessions used coin identification and money-counting exercises, differentiated across grade levels, to teach math and build peer connection at the same time.
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Creating Units for Our Inclusive Group
How the teaching team plans instructional units around shared community concepts, while differentiating for a wide range of learner needs in one classroom.
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When Collaboration Makes Us Stronger
A Thanksgiving sewing project was adapted with plastic needles and burlap for every student, not just Joey, showing how shared supports can strengthen the whole group.
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Emotional Regulation and Empathy in Our Inclusive Setting
When a classmate melts down during math group, Joey reaches out to comfort her: a small moment of the empathy and friendship inclusive settings can build.
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The Benefits of Our Inclusive Pod
A teacher who is also a parent describes what her own daughters gained from learning alongside Joey in the ALPS pod: patience, friendship, empathy, and academic growth.
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Inclusive Guided Reading
Jan Richardson-style guided reading, adapted so first graders who do and don’t use AAC devices can do word work, read, and show comprehension together.
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Happy Halloween!
The pod’s socially distanced trick-or-treat problem became a simple-machines project, with Joey working on fine-motor and communication goals while sending candy down a chute.
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Introducing the ALPS Players – and Our First Readers’ Theater Performance!
Students wrote, costumed, and performed their own Little Red Hen readers’ theater, written so that AAC users could take starring roles.
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More Problem Solving – Determining the best physical setup for all learners
Rearranging seating, lighting, and adult support so Joey can see both his device and his classmates during group lessons.