In this self-contained upper elementary classroom, the teacher uses a cloze activity called "Guess the Covered Word" with her students. Students have to predict the covered word based on word meaning plus word length and initial letter sound.

This video describes strategies for creating an active learning environment in the classroom to engage students in learning.

This module focuses on the characteristics that distinguish students with significant cognitive disabilities who take an alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards from other students with disabilities.

This video explains the importance of teaching math to students with significant disabilities to help them make sense of the world.

This resource provides strategies for effective evaluation of professional learning.

Keynote address video by Karen Erickson on why literacy is important for using Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC), for all students.

The speaker, Michael Nesmith, is a deaf and native American Sign Language speaker working as a creative designer for Amazon. Throughout his career, Michael's visual/conceptual way of thinking and problem solving have served him both as an asset and a challenge.

In this self-contained elementary classroom, the teacher introduces a new high-frequency word to her students to add to the classroom word wall. The teacher uses several strategies to teach each word.

After completing this module, participants will be able to describe the difference between persuasion and arguments, identify ways to use familiar student experiences in instruction, and create mentor texts based on student preferences.

This module describes narrative writing and explains how to support students in writing about familiar experiences. Participants will identify possible topics for students to write about, as well as examine narrative writing drafts by students with significant cognitive disabilities.

This module focuses on approaches that help students learn to select topics and write to share information or explain what they know about them.

This module addresses the need to provide students with significant cognitive disabilities access to a means of writing as well as sound and well-balanced instruction in the cognitive acts that writing requires.

This module focuses on writing instruction designed to help students with significant cognitive disabilities ultimately develop the capacity to build knowledge on a subject through research and to respond through writing while keeping a focus on a range of purposes and audiences for writing.

This module provides a brief overview of writing in the DLM Essential Elements with an emphasis on teaching students with significant cognitive disabilities how to use print or braille to communicate to different people for different reasons.

This module describes ways to get students started with writing when they cannot use a traditional pencil, pen, or computer keyboard. The content of this module applies to students at all levels of literacy understanding, including students who do not yet know letter names or sounds.