Professional
Development
Professional
Development
Professional
Development
®
n2y
Professional
Development
®
n2y
Professional
Development
FOUNDATIONS
COURSE WORKBOOK
Getting Started
for Teachers
2
Table of Contents
Introduction .......................................................................... 3
Navigate Your Subscription .......................................................... 5
Add Students & Create Proles ...................................................... 7
Lesson Plans & Suggested Monthly Plan ............................................. 9
GPS & Student View .................................................................11
Introduction .........................................................................14
Lesson Plans & Differentiated Expectations ........................................16
Introduction .........................................................................18
Organize Symbols & Create Activities ..............................................19
3
Introduction
Unique Learning System provides comprehensive, standards-based access to the
general education curriculum for students with diverse learning needs. Lessons and
activities align to your state’s general and extended standards in all core subjects.
Transitional standards are also addressed in Unique Learning System across all six
grade bands.
Students interact with age-appropriate, differentiated materials designed to meet
their instructional needs. All students in your classroom are able to take part in the
same standards-based lessons and activities.
The majority of your state’s and
standards are addressed weekly through thematic units of study in the areas of social
studies and science.
Each unit becomes available month early and stays online for
two at a time.
The interactive lessons combined with touch technology are accessible on a variety
of platforms including: , and
.
Give assessments and collect data for your students using the
tracking and data tools which assist in identifying
, and goals.
4
Grade Bands
Students should have access to the grade band that aligns with their chronological
age. This provides them with access to the general education curriculum, per the
Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). All
of the activities within Unique Learning System have been differentiated to include
all learners, including Level 1 learners, who are classied as students with the most
signicant disabilities.
ACTION ITEM!
Register Your Grade Band
Which grade band will you select when registering, based on the description above?
Preschool (Pre–K)
Elementary (K–2nd Grade)
Intermediate (3rd–5th Grade)
Middle School (6th–8th Grade)
High School (9th–12th Grade)
Transition (12th Grade +)
5
Navigate Your Subscription
HOME
Check for important announcements on this page, such
as new features or updates to your subscription.
N2Y GPS
Identify and monitor student progress, and classroom
and program goals. Add your student roster here.
REPORTS
Track student or classroom progress with detailed graphs
and charts.
N2Y LIBRARY
Pull from over 1,000 leveled books to use as supplemental
reading material for your classroom. All books include
text-to-speech options.
MONTHLY LESSONS
Teach monthly thematic units, offering three levels
of differentiation for each and every lesson.
REMINDER: The monthly lessons become available
one month early, offering time to plan for the next
month’s lessons.
CORE MATERIALS
Address routine daily activities with transitional
readiness and life skills. Core Materials are available
with age-appropriate content for all grade bands.
TEACHER REFERENCE MATERIALS
Align lessons and materials to your state’s standards and
nd a set of tools for teaching with best practices here.
YEAR TOPICS
View the topic schedule for each grade band for the academic
school year.
6
ACTION ITEM!
Log In and Explore
Log into n2y.com* and explore the left menu.
Find an important announcement from the Home page:
What is the GPS?
List some of the categories available in the n2y Library:
Which two thematic units are available online in the Monthly Lessons?
Open the Core Lesson Plans. What are the four transitional skills addressed through
the Core Materials?
Which grade bands have access to the Transition Passport?
List the Alignment Tools provided for your state in the Teacher Reference Materials:
Name the title of this year’s October unit for your grade band, found in the Year Topics
schedule:
*Don’t have a login yet? Contact your account subscription manager and ask for a license.
7
Add Students & Create Proles
ACTION ITEM!
Add Your Student Roster Into the GPS
1. Click the n2y GPS option in the left menu.
2. Select the STUDENTS button.
3. Select the Add Student button.
BONUS! Add Login Settings and Congure Student View Settings.
ACTION ITEM!
Create a Student Prole for Each Student
Provide copies of the Prole guide to each team member helping in the
assessment beforehand so that everyone has an opportunity to consider the
skills assessed.
Select the highest level
indicator for each skill.
Remember to add the
team members who
contributed to the
completion of the
Prole.
8
Inform all caregivers of each student’s Prole results.
Differentiated Levels
LEVEL 3 – INDEPENDENT
Students may typically learn to read
text, produce simple writing, perform
basic math processes and demonstrate
comprehension of modied content
learning information.
LEVEL 2 – SUPPORTED
Students may require picture support
and other direct support in learning to
input and produce information related to
reading, writing, or math to demonstrate
comprehension of modied content
learning.
LEVEL 1 – PARTICIPATORY
Students may require maximum support
within all instructional tasks. Students
who require Level 1 supports typically do
not make distinct or consistent choices.
For these students, increasing the level of
participation and demonstrating an active
participation response is the main objective.
PRESENT LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE
SUGGESTED STRATEGIES
SUGGESTED
DIFFERENTIATED
LEVEL
9
Lesson Plans &
Suggested Monthly Plan
SUGGESTED MONTHLY PLAN
The Suggested Monthly Plan provides an example of how to sequence and pace
lessons and activities across month of instruction.
The plan highlights how lessons can be revisited to provide multiple exposures to skills
over time.
The plan is located in the section of the
website, right above the lessons table.
Lessons are organized into blocks in
the Suggested Monthly Plan such as:
Language Arts
The Suggested Monthly Plan also
gives recommendations for performing and
assessments, and for incorporating Core Materials and
News-2-You activities into your monthly schedule.
ACTION ITEM!
Download the Suggested Monthly Plan
Download the Suggested Monthly Plan and save or print for your reference.
TIP: The suggested schedule can be applied and repeated to each monthly
unit of instruction.

 Instructional Guides
Elementary Suggested Monthly Plan
© Copyright 2008-2015 Unique Learning System, LLC Page 1 of 10
All Rights Reserved, Revised August 2015
Week 1 Determine if activities will be completed as a whole class or in small groups (times may vary depending on instructional format).
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5
Core
Sign-In; A.M. Jobs; Daily Schedules; Circle Time (20 – 30 minutes)
Literacy Block: 60 – 90 minutes
Word Work
Phonemic Awareness
/
Phonics
Lesson 11, Activity 1:
Introduce Letter-Sounds (Vowel)
(10 minutes)
High-Frequency Words
Lesson 5, Activity 1: Add to
the Word Wall (List 1) (10 – 15
minutes)
Spelling
Lesson 6: Print and send
home spelling lists (text or
text/pictures).
Phonemic Awareness
/
Phonics
Lesson 11, Activity 2: Match
Letter-Sounds (Vowel) (10 minutes)
High-Frequency Words
Lesson 5, Activity 2: Review the
Word Wall (List 1) (10 minutes)
Spelling
Lesson 6, Activity 1: Trace or
Write (High-Frequency Spelling
List 1) (10 – 15 minutes)
Phonemic Awareness
/
Phonics
Lesson 11, Activity 1: Introduce
Letter-Sounds (Consonant 1)
(10 minutes)
High-Frequency Words
Lesson 5, Activity 2: Review the
Word Wall (List 1) (10 minutes)
Spelling
Lesson 6, Activity 2: Fill-In
(High-Frequency Spelling List 1)
(10 – 15 minutes)
Phonemic Awareness
/
Phonics
Lesson 11, Activity 2: Match
Letter-Sounds (Consonant 1)
(10 minutes)
High-Frequency Words
Lesson 5, Activity 2: Review the
Word Wall (List 1) (10 minutes)
Spelling
Lesson 6, Activity 3: Word
Study (High-Frequency Spelling
List 1) (10 – 15 minutes)
Phonemic Awareness
/
Phonics
Revisit Lesson 11, Activity 2:
Match Letter-Sounds (Vowel +
Consonant 1) (10 minutes)
High-Frequency Words
Lesson 5, Activity 2: Review the
Word Wall (List 1) (10 minutes)
Spelling
Lesson 6: Optional Posttest
(High-Frequency Spelling
List 1) (10 – 15 minutes)
Reading
Leveled Book
Vocabulary
Lesson 12, Activity 1:
Introduce Vocabulary (Leveled
Book) (10 – 15 minutes)
Fluency/Comprehension
Lesson 1, Activity 1: Read
Aloud 1 (15 – 20 minutes)
Lesson 1, Activity 5: Self-
Selected Reading (10 –15
minutes)
Vocabulary
Revisit Lesson 12, Activity 1:
Introduce Vocabulary (Leveled Book)
(5 minutes)
Fluency/Comprehension
Lesson 1, Activity 2: Read
Aloud 2 (15 – 20 minutes)
Lesson 1, Activity 5: Self-
Selected Reading (10 – 15 minutes)
Vocabulary/Fluency
/
Comprehension
Lesson 1, Activity 3: Continued
Read Alouds (10 – 15 minutes)
Lesson 2, Activity 1: Answer
Questions (10 minutes)
Lesson 1, Activity 5: Self-
Selected Reading (10 – 15 minutes)
Vocabulary/Fluency
/
Comprehension
Revisit Lesson 1, Activity 3:
Continued Read Alouds (10 – 15
minutes)
Lesson 2, Activity 2:
Comprehension Activity (10 minutes)
Lesson 1, Activity 5: Self-
Selected Reading (10 – 15 minutes)
Vocabulary/Fluency
/
Comprehension
Revisit Lesson 1, Activity 3:
Continued Read Alouds (10 – 15
minutes)
Lesson 2, Activity 3: Comprehension
Activity (10 minutes)
Lesson 1, Activity 5: Self-Selected
Reading (10 – 15 minutes)
Small Group Time: Meet with individuals to administer Monthly Checkpoint Pre-Tests: Level
2
3 Reading and Word Recognition or Level 1 Combined Content,
Reading and Mathematics.
Language
Arts
Writing/Language
Lesson 30, Activity 1: Journal
Entry 1, Whole Group Entry
(15 minutes)
Language/Conventions
Lesson 13, Activity 1:
Unscramble the Sentences
(Sentences from Lesson 1)
(10 – 15 minutes)
Language/Conventions
Revisit Lesson 13, Activity 1:
Unscramble the Sentences
(Sentences from Lesson 1)
(10 – 15 minutes)
Writing/Speaking and Listening
Lesson 14, Activity 1: Patterned
Sentences (10 – 15 minutes)
Writing/Language
Lesson 30, Activity 1: Optional
Whole Group Journal Entry
(15 minutes)
10
LESSON PLANS
Lesson plans give detailed instructions
for delivering each standards-based
activity to your classroom, while
addressing the differentiated needs
and goals for each student.
are the
bridge between state standards and
ULS instructional material.
provide
the proper accommodations and
modications to address instructional targets with individualized support.
The is a brief description of how the lesson is supporting
the social studies or science standards-based topic.
are the focus of vocabulary instruction for the unit.
are the words that relate to daily instruction in key
academic content.
are indicated by an asterisk and have been singled out
by states as vital vocabulary used for communicating in social or academic settings.
ACTION ITEM!
Open Any Lesson in the iDoc Format
What is included on the Lesson at a Glance page?
Describe these areas of the lesson plan:
Instructional Target:
11
Instructional Routine
Introduce:
Model:
Provide Practice:
Review:
How can the Check Understanding section support progress monitoring in the
classroom?
GPS & Student View
N2Y GPS
The n2y GPS is a data collection center designed to identify individual student
, and
within educational learning tasks.
All areas of assessment within
the GPS have been created to
accommodate students with complex
learning needs.
The Prole serves as an indicator of a
student’s
abilities in the Preschool, K–12
Learning or Transition areas. Each
prole provides suggested support
levels and strategies for
differentiating instruction.
12
Monthly Checkpoints provide and
-assessment measures of monthly unit content and skill learning.
Benchmark Assessments enable
teachers to gather
data and
monitor progress in selected areas of
reading, writing and math.
Core Rubrics address transition
readiness skills in the areas of
,
,
,
and
.
Transition Planning is designed as a future planning tool for Middle School, High
School and -aged students.
Skill Tracking allows a teacher to identify skills that should be tracked on individual
students that directly correlate to an goal.
ACTION ITEM!
Download the Monthly Checkpoints Printable
Instructions and Test
Review the assessment directions and details prior to testing on a monthly basis.
Locate the standards and skills addressed for each pre- and post-assessment.
13
STUDENT VIEW
Student View allows teachers to congure lessons and accessibility options for each
student in their classroom.
Describe three ways Student View can help accommodate differentiated expectations
for each student in your classroom:
1.
2.
3.
ACTION ITEM!
Enable Password and Congure Student View
Enable passwords for each student to access lessons online in a secure
environment.
Congure Student View settings for each student inside the Student
Management section.
14
Introduction
News-2-You is a weekly current events newspaper that provides a way for
ALL learners to become connected to the world around them.
The ve different reading levels of News-2-You are:
1. contains expanded text in periodical format,
with photographs.
2. provides the same in-depth topic coverage, but in
paragraph form.
3. provides in-depth topic coverage of the weekly topic
in a clear, concise sentence structure and symbol support.
4. contains a basic overview of the weekly topic with
symbol support.
5. a version that can be used for Braille conversion
and text readers.
Each weekly newspaper is delivered the before
the anticipated instruction on Monday, to allow for planning. Each title remains online
for consecutive weeks.
News-2-You delivers more than accompanying activities in the weekly edition
for multiple guided practice experiences.
15
All News-2-You activities and articles include interactivity, -to- ,
answer trays and customizable settings for zooming, reading with or without symbols
and experiencing auditory and visual feedback.
articles are released in three categories: World, Sports and
Entertainment News. Each article includes an Advanced and Regular version
accompanied with a review page.
With this online shared experience, students can participate in creating their very own
newspaper:
is an interactive center with online games, an adapted
storybook, interactive cartoon and access to Club Roo.
The Planning section of News-2-You provides a list of upcoming topics as well as a
list for future recipes.
ACTION ITEM!
Open and
Interact With
the Weekly
Newspapers
in All 5 Levels
16
Lesson Plans &
Differentiated Expectations
THE SUGGESTED WEEKLY PLAN
The Suggested Weekly Plan is a day-to-day planning tool designed to help you make
the most out of News-2-You.
It is an example of how to and pace activities.
The Suggested Weekly Plan can be used alongside the Suggested
Plan in Unique Learning System, which is provided for
curriculum instruction.
ACTION ITEM!
Open the Suggested
Weekly Plan
LESSON PLANS
Lesson Plans are provided for each grade level, highlighting a specic alignment to the
Reading Standards for , & the
Speaking and Standards.
Instructional targets are provided for each grade level to support a wide range
of reading levels, both in text and -
formats.
17
The three differentiated levels dene the level of support needed for each student.
Level : Students who are more independent, typically learning to read text,
produce simple writing and demonstrate comprehension of modied content learning
information.
Level : Students who may require picture support and other direct support
in learning.
Level : Students who require maximum support within all instructional tasks.
Increasing the level of participation is the main objective.
Each activity has its own lesson plan that includes
to incorporate vocabulary, tips to incorporate read-aloud and guided or
reading and focus questions and
routines that help introduce and model the lesson.
Questions that check understanding to student progress
on instructional targets.
ACTION ITEM!
Open the Lesson
Plans for Your
Grade Level
18
Introduction
SymbolStix PRIME is a modern, web-based symbol tool that provides access to the
most complete symbol set available anywhere. SymbolStix are used in all of n2y’s
curriculum materials, news articles and communication activities.
Create symbol-based language and learning materials for speaking aloud and printing
using the .
Create activities with just a few clicks using pre-made activity and device templates.
Change highlighting color to meet students’ needs or preferences and hide symbols
to create text-only versions.
Change of SymbolStix people to reect diversity of a
multicultural classroom and world.
Unique Learning System and News-2-You symbols used in the current topics are
available in the section.
Search through the entire collection with keywords or customize your search using
the settings.
Add a symbol to , which saves the symbol for you to organize
and create with later.
19
ACTION ITEM!
Find Your Favorite Symbols and Add Them
to My Symbols
Organize Symbols &
Create Activities
ORGANIZE SYMBOLS
Save your favorite symbols by clicking
to My Symbols from the preview box.
Access, download or organize your favorite symbols from .
Assemble your own symbol
to meet dynamic classroom needs.
20
Generate collections of monthly symbols for your
grade band, or from the weekly editions of -2- .
Change tones for one symbol, several in an activity, or
an entire collection of symbols.
ACTION ITEM!
Create Collections using Your Favorite Symbols
in My Symbols
1. Click on My Collections and select +Add New Collection.
2. Give your Collection a title and select Save.
3. Add symbols to your Collection by clicking the manage collection button.
Organize your collections using the arrows in the menu bar.
Download the entire collection of symbols to your computer.
Change the skin tone of your collections.
21
Create Activities
Create a new activity using the , selecting from dozens
of pre-built templates, static communication devices, or by using the auto grid.
Pre-populate the activity by selecting a .
The Board Wizard automatically lls the activity with the symbols from the Collection.
Edit the text, speech text, background ,
font or skin tone of the symbol within the Board Wizard.
Open the activity on a computer, whiteboard or .
Text with highlighting is supported online, and with a simple click you can hide
symbols for text-only support.
22
ACTION ITEM!
Create an Activity Using the Board Wizard
1. Select an option from the activity, size or device area in the Board Wizard.
2. Pre-populate your Board by choosing a collection from the drop-down menu.
3. Move symbols on your board.
4. Add a new symbol from the Symbol Bank by searching or uploading your
own le.
5. Click on a symbol to edit.
Edit the display text at the top in the Label eld.
Edit the speech text
Edit the font and background color.
Edit the skin tone.
6. Save Your Board.
7. Access your Board anytime from the My Boards section of SymbolStix PRIME.