Michelle Cox

Academic Unit Design

Part 1-Step 1

1. Target Exceptionality Group and Grade Level

Mental Retardation, Grade 5

2. General Learning Characteristics of Targeted Student

Jackson is a fifth grade student with mental retardation who has been
receiving special education services since the age of three. Jackson has
some trouble speaking and wears hearing aids to assist in his hearing. Due
to this, he is seated close to the teacher in both his special education classes
and his regular education classes. He also wears glasses. Jackson has
trouble telling time, counting coins, and adding two-digit numbers. He also
has trouble thinking logically and solving problems. He sometimes has
difficulty completing tasks independently and is not a self starter. Jackson
needs step by step directions repeated to him at least 3 times before he is
able to start a task. Other academic areas that Jackson needs to work on are
retaining information and sequencing events. Jackson also has trouble
sitting still and tends to fidget if he is not occupied completely by what is in
front of him. All of these characteristics lend to Jackson’s need for support in
the classroom and affect his ability to functionally retain information needed
to usefully understand the concept of money.

3. Present Levels of Performance

A student without a disability in grade 5 according to the PA

Department of Education Standards should be able to demonstrate that
mathematical operations can represent a variety of problem situations
(2.1.5C), apply estimation strategies to a variety of problems including time
and money (2.2.5G), and use appropriate problem solving strategies
(2.5.5F).

After taking the Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition,

it was determined by his scores that Jackson is functioning cognitively at the
borderline impaired range as shown by his IQ of 72. Jackson scored a 65 on
his working memory subtest and an 83 on his verbal comprehension. In the
math area, he scored a 5 on digit span, 7 on coding, 7 on symbol search, and
3 letter-number sequencing. These scores place him in the low average to
impaired levels of ability. According to the Weschler Individual Achievement
Test-Second Edition, Jackson is impaired in math shown by his scores of 66

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and 61 on numerical operation and math reasoning respectively which gives

him a score of 58 in math composite. Jackson is able to complete a pattern
with 100% accuracy and also he can do one and two digit addition with 90%
accuracy. When Jackson is given pennies or dimes to sort, he confuses the
two and they tend to get mixed up in the sorting. Jackson given three to four
numbers out of place, Jackson can reorder them correctly 80% of the time.
Jackson is able to complete simple addition and subtraction such as one to
two digit numbers but has difficulty with multi digit addition and subtraction
when there are three or more numbers in the equation. When given a
problem such as 7+8, he can get the sum by using his fingers five of five
times. However, when he is given a problem such as 10+8+6, he is not able
to complete the sum four of five times and gets frustrated and asks for help
until someone comes over to him and gives him step by step instructions.
He also has difficulty with solving word problems requiring single or multiple
steps related to time, money, measurement, and reading and interpreting
graphs. For example, if given a word problem asking Jackson to determine
how much money one spent on a trip to the store, Jackson will get the
answer correct only one of five tries. If asked how long it takes someone to
do something, he has the same unsuccessful score. He also has some
difficulty recognizing the difference between nickels and dimes. He is able to
identify, compare, and contrast shapes, such as circles, squares, rectangles,
and spheres, solids, lines, and a 90 degree angle. He can also use length or
weight to compare and order objects up to one foot or eight ounces. He
does have a great deal of difficulty when solving multi-step problems. When
asked to do more than two steps at a time, Jackson becomes very angry and
frustrated and refuses to do his work on his own and requires one on one
attention. When determining the value of a collection of coins, he is able to
tell the value of a penny 100% of the time, but also will tell you that a dine is
a penny 90% of he time. He is unable to add or subtract money when given
more than ten pennies 75% of the time.

4. Transition Needs

Vertical Transitions-As a student with mental retardation, Jackson

has an IEP and although he is not old enough to have a transition plan in
place, he is going to need to be able to count money when he gets older.
Jackson’s future may have him in a job where he will get a paycheck and he
may be required to shop for himself. In order to assure that he is not being
taken advantage of when he is shopping for himself, he needs to know how
to make change and which form of money is appropriate for what he is
purchasing.

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Horizontal Transitions- This school year will be Jackson’s last year in

the elementary school. In order to advance with his money skills, he will
need to be able to count coins of all denominations up to three dollars and
also be able to make change for a dollar in at least 5 different ways. He will
also need to recognize the difference between the different coins, as he has
difficulty recognizing the difference between some of them.

Step 2

Unit Goal- By the end of October, when presented with a set of pennies,
nickels, and dimes and no more than three teacher prompts and no more
than two minutes, Jackson will count the coins and give the amount of the
coins correctly four of five times over ten trials as measured by teacher
observation and recorded on a teacher created coin chart.

Jackson has a hard time delineating between some of the coins sets and also
counting coins. He is able to add simple numbers, but he needs to be able to
add coins in order to give amounts of money and change.

Step 3

Lesson 1 Objective-When given a mixture of 25 coins made up of pennies

and dimes and no more than 2 teacher prompts, Jackson will separate the
coins into their own denominations five of five times over five tries measured
by teacher observation and a teacher made coin chart

Relation to Unit Goal-The objective is related to the unit goal due to the
fact that Jackson has some difficulty recognizing the difference between
some of the coins. By recognizing the difference in the coins, Jackson will
better be able to count the coins and give their denominations. This is an
introductory lesson to being able to recognize the difference between the
coins and will be built on in the next lesson.

Lesson 2 Objective-When given a mixture of nickels and dimes and no

more than one teacher prompt, Jackson will separate the nickels and dimes
five of five times over five tries as measured by teacher observation and a
teacher created coin chart.

Relation to Unit Goal-This objective is related to the unit goal due to the
fact that Jackson has a hard time telling the difference between nickels and

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dimes. In order for him to be able to correctly give the amount of coins, as
required by the unit goal, he will need to be able to tell the difference
between the two and also know their denominations.