One of the most frequent questions I have been asked is how I use Unique in my classroom and how I plan! I have to admit, I am an avid fan of Unique Learning System, however, I do not use ALL components of the unit. I have been using ULS for about 5 years now, enough to have figured out which pieces of the unit fit best with my students. One of the good things about Unique is that they provide you with an abundance of materials. I have not met one teacher yet that is able to use ALL of the plans from the unit (and if you are one of those teachers more power to ya!). For me, the key is to find what works best for your students! Monthly Mapping The first thing I do is grab a monthly calendar and my blank planning template (I will post the link to this free resource below). I mark all the days that we will be off and out of school. Once I have those days crossed off I start my planning. I print the first page from the unit that lists all the lessons. I plan when I will give my pre-assessment and then when I want my students to have their post assessment. If you do not use the Unique GPS, I highly recommend it! You can see student weak areas, what they need to focus on and you can see their growth over the month. I love it! Next, I choose the activities that I feel best introduce the topics to my students and highlight them. After I have all the activities chosen, I add them into my calendar. Unique GPS data FREE Blank Template Download Template Here Selecting the Activities I have used Unique long enough to discover what works best for me and my students. It has changed yearly. This year, I used the following activities consistently every month: Leveled Book (Lesson 1) and corresponding activity Leveled Book Comprehension (Lesson 2) Easy Read Book (Lesson 3) and corresponding activity Easy Read Book Comprehension (Lesson 4) Vocabulary (Lesson 12) Literary Experience (Lessons 15 and 16) Vocabulary Sort (Lesson 18) Science Experiment (Lesson 28) History Timeline (Lesson 29) Supplemental Activities I use: Adapted Book Packs (samples of the packs in the picks below!) I created these book packs to help me supplement the curriculum because I needed more books! I started creating differentiated activities to go along with the books. Each adapted book set comes with at least 3 adpated books each book with 3 differentiated corresponding comprehension activities. 1 file folder game to cover vocabulary, 2 differentiated levels of vocabulary task boxes, and 1 counting card activity directly related to the monthly theme. Some packs include bonus materials! Science Adapted Book Packs I currently have 11 science themed activities listed and 5 science themed adapted book packs available. You can find the link to them above. I also have them available in a BUNDLE. Social Studies Adapted Book Packs I currently have 6 adapted book packs available. I also have these bundled for convenience. You can find the bundle here. Craft Activities related to topic Extension Activities from higher level unit N2Y activities Summer Themes: Summer Camp Theme Amusement Park Theme Planning the Lessons I don't have a ton of time in my classroom to teach science and social studies content. On top of all the IEP work, speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy, specials, and getting them out to gen ed, I needed to integrate my lessons. So, my planning had to be simplified and integrated. During my small group/morning meeting I decided that when I was reading books, they needed to be adapted and content related. So my first step in my planning is mapping out my literacy activities. You can see those in the picture below color-coded in purple. After I have those planned, I go back and plan on my specific content related activities, which are usually only 15 minutes long. Those are in the picture below color-coded in green. The best part about planning this way, is once I have one month planned, I can pretty much easily plug in the rest of the year's lesson plans! I just re-use the same format and timeline from the first month. Some adjustments might need to be made based on days off, special activities, but for the most part, it's quick and easy to plug in my plans for the month! Ideas for Lessons Vocabulary I always like to introduce the topics from the unit by introducing the new vocabulary. Some things that I have done in the past to make these activities fun and engaging: Mystery Box- add items to a box and have the students feel items and take guesses on what the new unit is going to be about. Example: for the light and sound unit I put a light bulb and a tamborine in the box and had students feel and guess what the items were. Play Hide and Seek- Hide new vocabulary words around the room and have students find them. When they find a vocabulary word have them read it to you. Mystery Word- Put vocabulary words in a brown paper bag and have students choose a word from the bag and tell class and hang up the word Put students in charge of changing the words- Our words are hanging on the wall next to our white board, I like to lay all the vocab words on the table and ask the student to find ______ and hang it on the wall. After I have introduced the vocabulary we play the corresponding match game the next day. I like to incorporate the leveled books during my literacy lessons. Typically, I will introduce the first book, and have students find the vocabulary words and highlight them. For my lower level students, the adapted book packs I use incorporate the vocabulary making it quick and easy for you to assess using the books. I typically read the book and have my students make selections from the icons from a field of 2 or 3 depending on the student. I make sure to emphasize the unit vocabulary words during the story and direct instruction. We do the vocabulary sort around three weeks into instruction so that I know the students have a had good quality time to absorb the content. I usually use this as an assessment, and students complete either individually or with some physical assistance. For my higher level students they complete independently and have very little accommodations. For my lower level students they complete with some assistance (for physical needs) but I color code their sorts to make it more independent for them. Color-Coded Vocabulary Sort (Not from Unique, but strategy I use for differentiation) Adapted Books/Literacy I use both of the leveled books provided in the unit. I adapt them so they are interactive and the students can use icons to engage in the story. If the book warrants, I will use props to keep the kids excited about the story. I use these books to cover content, otherwise I would not have time! My typical routine for literacy is: Introduce the book Read and emphasize vocabulary Have students match icons to story from a field of 2 or 3 Complete literacy activity and discuss vocabulary Re-read book focusing on content Comprehension assessment I repeat these steps for the five books that I use during the unit. I created my adapted book packs so that I would always have a content related book to read and an activity to correlate! It makes my literacy planning so much easier! I love using the literary experience. I use these monthly but pick and choose upon availability of the books that correspond with that lesson. Adapted Books for "Plants Can Grow" Unit Adapted Book Packs Props for acting out story "Bunny in the Garden" Science Experiment I love doing the science experiments with the kids! I love getting them excited about them! I typically do my science experiment the third week of instruction however in this example (May) I needed to do it sooner due to the nature of the experiment (keeping plants healthy). I break my experiments down into smaller sections to increase engagement. Here is my typical routine for science experiments: Day 1- Introduce experiment- show items used in experiment, pass out experiment packet, look through experiment and discuss our steps. Day 2- Re-read experiment, discuss and make hypothesis, "check off" materials to make sure we are ready to go! Day 3- Conduct Experiment - following steps of experiment Day 4- Review our experiment, complete conclusion I try to do experiments on Thursdays because we have extra time on this day because we have no specials! One fun way I like to get them excited is to purposely leave materials for the experiment out around the classroom. When they find them, I say, "I guess you'll have to wait and see for experiment day!" Science Experiment "Keeping Plants Healthy" Crafts I like to do crafts related to the topics of our units. I usually just pinterest or try to think of my own. Also, if you have access to the intermediate level of the unit, they have crafts as part of their lessons! I usually pull from that unit as well. Craft for "Our Impact on the Environment" Unit Craft for "Plants Can Grow" Unit How do you plan your units? I would love to hear new tips and tricks! Drop a comment below if you have any suggestions for me! Follow my classroom journey on instagram for more ideas, tips, and fun!

I have been using Unique Learning System in my class, here are a few ways that I prepare the monthly lessons to fit the needs of my students!

Discover ways to improve unique learner success and teacher satisfaction with overlooked resources and options in n2y’s Unique Learning System.

Using Unique Learning Systems (ULS) can be overwhelming the first time you log on. Here are my top 10 tips for using Unique Learning System.

As many of you may know, my class has a variety of levels and learners.

One of the most frequent questions I have been asked is how I use Unique in my classroom and how I plan! I have to admit, I am an ...

Using Unique Learning Systems (ULS) can be overwhelming the first time you log on. Here are my top 10 tips for using Unique Learning System.

I have been using Unique Learning System in my class, here are a few ways that I prepare the monthly lessons to fit the needs of my students!

These newsletters are perfect for sending home to families before beginning a new unit, sharing with related service providers, or just to keep yourself on track! Keeping everyone informed can be a challenge, but this is an easy guiding factor to keeping everyone on the same wavelength for our kiddo...

Hey y'all! Earlier last week I posted over on my Instagram about using Unique Learning in my classroom, trying to figure out a doable schedule, and choosing which activities are worth my time and which are just not a great fit. If you have ULS, you know that it is VERY overwhelming with an insane amount of materials and information. Let me just preface this with: I am NO expert on ULS. I have no idea what I'm doing half the time (honestly) but I've been trying to find a good groove this year and here is what I've got so far! So as November began, I sat down with a glass of wine and started digging through all of the November lessons. This month is all about People Long Ago, which is great for November and adding in some Now vs. Long Ago work! There are certain lessons I ALWAYS do (the comprehension ones for 1-4 and the vocabulary sorts always happen!). There are certain lessons that I HATE (that might be a strong word but there are a few lessons on the Elementary level that I truly do not like at all). Some of the lessons I never use are the telling time, the "history" lesson (which is always a timeline and basically just ordering numbers in numerical order), the scrambled sentences, and a few others. Again, these things are just MY personal preference, and obviously things change with different groups of students! I started by emptying out this tub (ignore the tabs, those are all wrong and I still need to update them!). Inside the tub I put all of the printed materials in order from beginning of the month until the end of the month. Once I get around to changing the tabs, they are going to have the days of the week on them to go along with my monthly plans calendar! I assigned 1-2 activities to each day of the month and do most of them in whole group format this year. This lesson (lessons 3 & 4) is a must-do this month. It is a great way to work on comprehension but also adds in some History standards to cover those bases with my kiddos! The other comprehension lessons (lesson 1 & 2) are always another "must do" with my students. I love that they differentiate the comprehension questions page (3 levels: 1 with just words, 1 that you see above with pictures, and another that has pictures but only 1 question per page). It provides easy differentiation when you need it! We also did the additional materials that went along with this lesson which was awesome because there were no wrong answers for the "needs" web! This vocabulary sort lesson is another lesson I always do with my students! It's a great way to practice the material we are working on while also working on sorting, cutting, gluing, etc.! This now & long ago sort is another activity we are using this month (it is a part of my Now and Then Activities Unit) along with some now & long ago bingo! This will be a great way to practice sorting those items that we are learning about from the past and the present and to check for my student's understanding. These are also the crafts we are doing in the coming weeks (you'll see them on my calendar!) and they are all from Gabrielle over at Teaching Special Thinkers. I LOVE her Easy Art Crafts! We also have a subscription to News2You, which I LOVE, and we do that once a week during our whole group time. If you don't have News2You, I would definitely look into it! It's cheaper than ULS and has a tons of worksheets that go along with the weekly paper which is awesome! Obviously we are doing more than what was pictured above from this month's ULS, so take a peek at my monthly calendar up above to see which lessons we are hitting this month! I might not use all the same lessons next month, as it depends on the content, but hopefully this gives you a good idea of how I'm using it for now! I feel like I could go on for days about different things inside ULS and would love to hear what some of your challenges, strengths, and favorite parts are! How do YOU use this in your classroom?!

I just finished my second year of teaching. I have learned so much over the past two years. I have found so many wonderful Teachers Pay Teachers products, have become familiar with common reading and math curriculums such as, Edmark, SRA, and Touch Math, and have created many of my own supplemental materials. With that said, my absolute favorite resource that I have access to in my classroom (and at home) is Unique Learning System (ULS) and News 2 You (n2y). I have found that when used together, the two curriculums are entertaining and engaging, aligned to Common Core State Standards, easy to use, comprehensive, and appropriate for a variety of learners. When I first started using ULS/n2y I was a bit overwhelmed because of how much content there is on the website. I am still learning more and more about the curriculum and discovering new activities and resources, but I have become very familiar with some activities and lessons. I am teaching ESY and I am using it as a time to try out new lessons and activities with my students. For those of you that would like to do the same, the summer units are FREE. Check them out here. Before I Begin Planning: 1) I print out the Suggested Monthly Plan ONCE for the entire year. This is a monthly plan that was created by the company. Because each classroom is unique, you will need to adjust the plan as needed for your classroom. My classroom is composed of Level 1 Learners. I take that into consideration when planning. I can use this Monthly Plan for my entire year. I currently use the curriculum for whole group instruction, but hope to begin using it for small group instruction as well this upcoming school year. We use ULS on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and n2Y on Wednesday and Fridays. The Suggested Monthly Plan includes a blank planning page for you to use as you would like. 2) I print out the Supply List each month. This a "cheat sheet" of all the supplies that I will need to complete the lessons and activities for the entire month. This saves me from making multiple trips to the store each month. Hey! I can even order from Amazon and be done with one click of a button. 3) I print out Supplemental Reading List each month. This is a great go to sheet for books to read during Morning Meeting (my calendar time) or during those random transition times that you need something to do. All of the books are leveled and relate to the monthly theme. Some of them require a subscription, but some are free! 4) I print out the Printing Guide each month. This is my favorite sheet. I actually do not print out many of my ULS lessons and activities. Most of the activities we do using the computer and projector or an iPad, but I love this sheet because it allows me to see all of the activities for the entire month. I can check off the activities as we do them and color coat the activities we will be doing by month. My Favorite Lessons on Unique Learning Systems: Lessons 1&2: These lessons are sweet and simple. We read a book as a class and then answer five comprehension questions. We do these lessons several times throughout the month. We work on predicting what the book is going to be about before we read, identifying the author and illustrator, and reviewing the book. The level 1 comprehensions questions in Lesson 3 are absolutely perfect for my students. We project the questions, have the computer read them to us, and I call one student at a time to the board to answer a question. I prompt them to answer as needed. Lesson 7-9: We read the words together. I review the initial letter and the sound that the initial letter makes. Because none of my students can write (the lesson below is far too difficult for the majority of my class), I am hoping to practice typing the words and stamping the words by modifying some of the worksheets and activities in Lesson 8 & 9. Lesson 11: BINGO. Lesson 11 contains vocabulary word cards (calling cards) that I am planning on putting up on my pocket chart each month and simple bingo cards that can be used over and over again to review the vocabulary words for each month. Lesson 16a: We practice counting objects that relate to the theme. We match the number and then talk about concepts such as, less, more, and same. Lesson 24: I appreciate the patterning worksheets on ULS, but I like the patterning worksheets on n2y even better. My students have gotten so great at patterning over this past year that I am going to have to move on to the more difficult lessons. Those are my favorite lessons and activities. I have heard several people mention that unique is just too difficult for their students. I agree that some activities are difficult, but they can easily be implemented with modification. I have students of all levels in my classroom and all of them can interact with this curriculum in some way. If you have several Level 1 learners and non-verbal students, be sure to check out Active Participation Guidelines and Active Participation Scripts. After reading those instructional guides and reflecting on my own classroom, I developed this AT Checklist as a way for me to remember what I need to do to make each monthly unit accessible to my non-verbal/more impacted students. My iPad communication application of choice is Dynavox Compass, but you can use whatever device that you have access to. You can download my assistive technology to-do list here. How do you use ULS/n2y in you classroom?

Discover ways to improve unique learner success and teacher satisfaction with overlooked resources and options in n2y’s Unique Learning System.

Using Unique Learning Systems (ULS) can be overwhelming the first time you log on. Here are my top 10 tips for using Unique Learning System.

I just finished my second year of teaching. I have learned so much over the past two years. I have found so many wonderful Teachers Pay Teachers products, have become familiar with common reading and math curriculums such as, Edmark, SRA, and Touch Math, and have created many of my own supplemental materials. With that said, my absolute favorite resource that I have access to in my classroom (and at home) is Unique Learning System (ULS) and News 2 You (n2y). I have found that when used together, the two curriculums are entertaining and engaging, aligned to Common Core State Standards, easy to use, comprehensive, and appropriate for a variety of learners. When I first started using ULS/n2y I was a bit overwhelmed because of how much content there is on the website. I am still learning more and more about the curriculum and discovering new activities and resources, but I have become very familiar with some activities and lessons. I am teaching ESY and I am using it as a time to try out new lessons and activities with my students. For those of you that would like to do the same, the summer units are FREE. Check them out here. Before I Begin Planning: 1) I print out the Suggested Monthly Plan ONCE for the entire year. This is a monthly plan that was created by the company. Because each classroom is unique, you will need to adjust the plan as needed for your classroom. My classroom is composed of Level 1 Learners. I take that into consideration when planning. I can use this Monthly Plan for my entire year. I currently use the curriculum for whole group instruction, but hope to begin using it for small group instruction as well this upcoming school year. We use ULS on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and n2Y on Wednesday and Fridays. The Suggested Monthly Plan includes a blank planning page for you to use as you would like. 2) I print out the Supply List each month. This a "cheat sheet" of all the supplies that I will need to complete the lessons and activities for the entire month. This saves me from making multiple trips to the store each month. Hey! I can even order from Amazon and be done with one click of a button. 3) I print out Supplemental Reading List each month. This is a great go to sheet for books to read during Morning Meeting (my calendar time) or during those random transition times that you need something to do. All of the books are leveled and relate to the monthly theme. Some of them require a subscription, but some are free! 4) I print out the Printing Guide each month. This is my favorite sheet. I actually do not print out many of my ULS lessons and activities. Most of the activities we do using the computer and projector or an iPad, but I love this sheet because it allows me to see all of the activities for the entire month. I can check off the activities as we do them and color coat the activities we will be doing by month. My Favorite Lessons on Unique Learning Systems: Lessons 1&2: These lessons are sweet and simple. We read a book as a class and then answer five comprehension questions. We do these lessons several times throughout the month. We work on predicting what the book is going to be about before we read, identifying the author and illustrator, and reviewing the book. The level 1 comprehensions questions in Lesson 3 are absolutely perfect for my students. We project the questions, have the computer read them to us, and I call one student at a time to the board to answer a question. I prompt them to answer as needed. Lesson 7-9: We read the words together. I review the initial letter and the sound that the initial letter makes. Because none of my students can write (the lesson below is far too difficult for the majority of my class), I am hoping to practice typing the words and stamping the words by modifying some of the worksheets and activities in Lesson 8 & 9. Lesson 11: BINGO. Lesson 11 contains vocabulary word cards (calling cards) that I am planning on putting up on my pocket chart each month and simple bingo cards that can be used over and over again to review the vocabulary words for each month. Lesson 16a: We practice counting objects that relate to the theme. We match the number and then talk about concepts such as, less, more, and same. Lesson 24: I appreciate the patterning worksheets on ULS, but I like the patterning worksheets on n2y even better. My students have gotten so great at patterning over this past year that I am going to have to move on to the more difficult lessons. Those are my favorite lessons and activities. I have heard several people mention that unique is just too difficult for their students. I agree that some activities are difficult, but they can easily be implemented with modification. I have students of all levels in my classroom and all of them can interact with this curriculum in some way. If you have several Level 1 learners and non-verbal students, be sure to check out Active Participation Guidelines and Active Participation Scripts. After reading those instructional guides and reflecting on my own classroom, I developed this AT Checklist as a way for me to remember what I need to do to make each monthly unit accessible to my non-verbal/more impacted students. My iPad communication application of choice is Dynavox Compass, but you can use whatever device that you have access to. You can download my assistive technology to-do list here. How do you use ULS/n2y in you classroom?

- Do you try to avoid speaking English to Americans? - Are you nervous? Anxious? Worried or afraid to "lose face"? Or do you stutter when you are forced to speak English to Americans? - Are you frustrated when Americans don't understand you? Do you feel helpless when they still don't understand after your repeated attempts at explanation? - Are you embarrassed when Americans misunderstand what you say? I, too, had all these feelings. Numerous books and courses have appeared on the market since the author started learning English as a second language 40 some years ago, of which 30 of those years were spent here in the United States. Throughout this long period of time the English speaking capabilities for the Chinese has not improved. Why? This book suggests TWO short and straight answers to ALL these questions. A unique "66English" teaching system introduced in this book and its accompanying 66English.com site provides the solutions to overcoming your negative feelings and your concerns towards English-speaking communication. The book and the website also presents several shortcuts on how to improve your English-speaking skills instantly, and addresses the "getting rid of the Chinese English accent" challenge.Author: Kenneth I. MaISBN-10: 1599323540ISBN-13: 9781599323541Publisher: Advantage Media GroupLanguage: EnglishPublished: 12/01/2013Pages: 222Format: PaperbackWeight: 0.67lbsSize: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.47d

ULS, unique learning system, special education, sped curriculum, ULS student view, sped lessons

Discover ways to improve unique learner success and teacher satisfaction with overlooked resources and options in n2y’s Unique Learning System.

Using Unique Learning Systems (ULS) can be overwhelming the first time you log on. Here are my top 10 tips for using Unique Learning System.

I have been using Unique Learning System in my class, here are a few ways that I prepare the monthly lessons to fit the needs of my students!

I just finished my second year of teaching. I have learned so much over the past two years. I have found so many wonderful Teachers Pay Teachers products, have become familiar with common reading and math curriculums such as, Edmark, SRA, and Touch Math, and have created many of my own supplemental materials. With that said, my absolute favorite resource that I have access to in my classroom (and at home) is Unique Learning System (ULS) and News 2 You (n2y). I have found that when used together, the two curriculums are entertaining and engaging, aligned to Common Core State Standards, easy to use, comprehensive, and appropriate for a variety of learners. When I first started using ULS/n2y I was a bit overwhelmed because of how much content there is on the website. I am still learning more and more about the curriculum and discovering new activities and resources, but I have become very familiar with some activities and lessons. I am teaching ESY and I am using it as a time to try out new lessons and activities with my students. For those of you that would like to do the same, the summer units are FREE. Check them out here. Before I Begin Planning: 1) I print out the Suggested Monthly Plan ONCE for the entire year. This is a monthly plan that was created by the company. Because each classroom is unique, you will need to adjust the plan as needed for your classroom. My classroom is composed of Level 1 Learners. I take that into consideration when planning. I can use this Monthly Plan for my entire year. I currently use the curriculum for whole group instruction, but hope to begin using it for small group instruction as well this upcoming school year. We use ULS on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and n2Y on Wednesday and Fridays. The Suggested Monthly Plan includes a blank planning page for you to use as you would like. 2) I print out the Supply List each month. This a "cheat sheet" of all the supplies that I will need to complete the lessons and activities for the entire month. This saves me from making multiple trips to the store each month. Hey! I can even order from Amazon and be done with one click of a button. 3) I print out Supplemental Reading List each month. This is a great go to sheet for books to read during Morning Meeting (my calendar time) or during those random transition times that you need something to do. All of the books are leveled and relate to the monthly theme. Some of them require a subscription, but some are free! 4) I print out the Printing Guide each month. This is my favorite sheet. I actually do not print out many of my ULS lessons and activities. Most of the activities we do using the computer and projector or an iPad, but I love this sheet because it allows me to see all of the activities for the entire month. I can check off the activities as we do them and color coat the activities we will be doing by month. My Favorite Lessons on Unique Learning Systems: Lessons 1&2: These lessons are sweet and simple. We read a book as a class and then answer five comprehension questions. We do these lessons several times throughout the month. We work on predicting what the book is going to be about before we read, identifying the author and illustrator, and reviewing the book. The level 1 comprehensions questions in Lesson 3 are absolutely perfect for my students. We project the questions, have the computer read them to us, and I call one student at a time to the board to answer a question. I prompt them to answer as needed. Lesson 7-9: We read the words together. I review the initial letter and the sound that the initial letter makes. Because none of my students can write (the lesson below is far too difficult for the majority of my class), I am hoping to practice typing the words and stamping the words by modifying some of the worksheets and activities in Lesson 8 & 9. Lesson 11: BINGO. Lesson 11 contains vocabulary word cards (calling cards) that I am planning on putting up on my pocket chart each month and simple bingo cards that can be used over and over again to review the vocabulary words for each month. Lesson 16a: We practice counting objects that relate to the theme. We match the number and then talk about concepts such as, less, more, and same. Lesson 24: I appreciate the patterning worksheets on ULS, but I like the patterning worksheets on n2y even better. My students have gotten so great at patterning over this past year that I am going to have to move on to the more difficult lessons. Those are my favorite lessons and activities. I have heard several people mention that unique is just too difficult for their students. I agree that some activities are difficult, but they can easily be implemented with modification. I have students of all levels in my classroom and all of them can interact with this curriculum in some way. If you have several Level 1 learners and non-verbal students, be sure to check out Active Participation Guidelines and Active Participation Scripts. After reading those instructional guides and reflecting on my own classroom, I developed this AT Checklist as a way for me to remember what I need to do to make each monthly unit accessible to my non-verbal/more impacted students. My iPad communication application of choice is Dynavox Compass, but you can use whatever device that you have access to. You can download my assistive technology to-do list here. How do you use ULS/n2y in you classroom?

ULS, unique learning system, special education, sped curriculum, ULS student view, sped lessons

So, every blog post I always say.. up next is how I organize the Unique Curriculum in my classroom. I think I have now said that at least 4 times. Well, guess what! It is a Sunday morning and I am working in my classroom... the first thing I did was take video and pictures of how I organize Unique in my Classroom! Just like anything, you need to do what is the best for you. Here is just what I do. Excuse some of the coughing, got to love the crazy weather change here in Texas right now. As soon as the Unique Curriculum is posted for the month I print it off. I have some amazing fairies by the names of Lopez and Lucy that cut it, laminate it, and put it together for me :) I read through the information and pull out the Big Ideas. This is posted as soon as you walk in my door. These are just the big ideas we are going to work on throughout the month. I pair the big Unique Idea with a picture symbols so my students know what we are talking about also. Under each category is non-bold and bolded list. The non-bold is for my level 1 learners and the bolded is for my level 2/3 learners. I have 5 grade levels in my classroom and I want to make sure that I bump up the rigor and instruction as much as I can. I also love that Unique also offers State Standards, Instructional Targets, and Scope and Sequence. I also love that lesson 1 is always going to be a book, lesson 2 is going to be comprehension questions to go with lesson 1 and so on. So, although the theme changes, the state standards for each lesson doesn't. When planning for 5 grade levels, this is very helpful! You cover everything... but don't have to reinvent the wheel to figure out what standard it goes with. Thanks Unique! Anyway! So once I have the curriculum printed it off it goes to my lovely fairies and they cut, paste, laminate, and put it all together. Before any lamination, however, we LABEL everything! It might just say U3 L2 (which stands for Unit 3 Lesson 2) One of my folders with all of the materials laminated and inside (make sure to read to the very bottom to see some of my other tips. During the month I store my materials in a hanging folder box. Each lesson has its own folder that has all of its materials inside. So, I have it organized.. I have read over all of the information and it sounds great.. but how in the heck do I actually use it? Having 5 different grade levels has made it a little tough to get as organized as I like to be, but I finally found what is working for me (okay.. okay.. so it took me to December to get that far) On my lesson plans I have it broken into whole group, Keller small group, Lopez small group, Lucy small group, and science/social studies. During my group I am always going to work on IEP's, PCI (our reading) and STAAR-alt objectives (our standardized testing) Lopez is always going to work on language objectives and Lucy is always going to work on math objectives. When planning for the week I look at what Unique recommends and use that in my plans. We rotate groups about every 45 minutes. This works for me this year because of the staffing I have... but as with anything this could change in a minute :) I love that Unique has it leveled out for the different expectations of what a Level 1 student will do but also what a Level 2 and 3 student will do. Thanks again Unique for bumping up my instruction! So, if my lesson says Lesson 26 my staff knows to get the materials from the pink bucket for lesson 26. If I am not using a Unique lesson during the group that day I still level out my personal lesson plans. Every Thursday, for instance, we work on spelling words for my level 3 students, my level 2 students work on putting the alphabet in order and filling in missing letters, and my level 1 students will participate in alphabet naming. Confused yet? Bored out of your mind for reading the LONGEST blog ever? If you have questions or want copies of my different materials feel free to email me! Other Tips: -Unique uses alot of paper. But it is SO beneficial! So, to cut down on paper I print mine on half sheets. -I also do the velcro the SAME way on ALL of my materials! The male side is on the part that leaves and the female side is the part that stays. This is a great trick I learned during my student teaching :) those little pieces I can stick on felt, on the carpet, or other areas to play games -After a month is over I bag them in ziploc bags and store them away -books that we used during the month go into our book center or independent work area -some of the games will go into independent work area Next blog (or 2) my AWESOME Secret Santa ideas at school using Pinterest and how I changed up my News 2 You.

Read more on improving comprehension in SpEd for students with significant disabilities with graphic organizers, including with ULS and N2Y.

Looking to quickly remember new information with Science-Backed Study Strategies? You have found the Ultimate Study Strategy Tier List (Version 1 of 5). This Study Strategy Tier List, proudly presented by ARETEERGA, is designed to help you empower your learning at any level of your study journey. The strategies are uniquely arranged according to Dr. Rikus Botha's Sorting System - called S.T.M. S.T.M represents three key stages where we can modulate our learning process, called: Study Strategy (S), Memory Technique (T) and Study Method (M). S: Study Strategies seek to boost the efficiency of learning. T: Memory Techniques aim to enhance memory storage. M: Study Methods seek to improve factors that impact on learning. Ideally you need to apply a combination of these in your Learning Framework - that is your study process that seeks to learn new information. The bundle of digital images lack the obscuring watermark and include JPEG, PNG and TIFF file formats with either a white, transparent or black background at two resolutions (1500x1303 and 4000x3473). Digital bundle contents: Areteerga Study Strategy Tier List (Version 1 of 5) JPEG White Background 1500x1303 Areteerga Study Strategy Tier List (Version 1 of 5) JPEG Black Background 1500x1303 Areteerga Study Strategy Tier List (Version 1 of 5) PNG Transparent Background 4000x3473 Areteerga Study Strategy Tier List (Version 1 of 5) PNG White Background 4000x3473 Areteerga Study Strategy Tier List (Version 1 of 5) TIFF Transparent Background 4000x3473 For more information about this Tier List - check out: YouTube: https://youtu.be/hsqkVpN-gdY ARETEERGA: https://areteerga.com/resources/ Image usage rights: Copyright 2024 Areteerga. All rights reserved. The images of the periodic table included in this bundle, including all sprites and graphics used in the creation of the Study Strategy Tier List, is protected by copyright law. Non-exclusive rights of use are granted, subject to the following conditions: 1) The images in this bundle may be reproduced and distributed, but not modified, for educational, non-commercial, and personal purposes only. 2) This license prohibits any commercial or for-profit use of the images in this bundle. If you require commercial licensing you can reach out to me at: support [!at] areteerga.com 3) Author designation must be prominently displayed whenever the image is used, as follows: "Areteerga". For licensing inquiries, permission requests, or to discuss the intended purpose of the image, please contact: support [!at] areteerga.com. Thank you for respecting intellectual property rights.

Discover ways to improve unique learner success and teacher satisfaction with overlooked resources and options in n2y’s Unique Learning System.

Using Unique Learning Systems (ULS) can be overwhelming the first time you log on. Here are my top 10 tips for using Unique Learning System.

I just finished my second year of teaching. I have learned so much over the past two years. I have found so many wonderful Teachers Pay Teachers products, have become familiar with common reading and math curriculums such as, Edmark, SRA, and Touch Math, and have created many of my own supplemental materials. With that said, my absolute favorite resource that I have access to in my classroom (and at home) is Unique Learning System (ULS) and News 2 You (n2y). I have found that when used together, the two curriculums are entertaining and engaging, aligned to Common Core State Standards, easy to use, comprehensive, and appropriate for a variety of learners. When I first started using ULS/n2y I was a bit overwhelmed because of how much content there is on the website. I am still learning more and more about the curriculum and discovering new activities and resources, but I have become very familiar with some activities and lessons. I am teaching ESY and I am using it as a time to try out new lessons and activities with my students. For those of you that would like to do the same, the summer units are FREE. Check them out here. Before I Begin Planning: 1) I print out the Suggested Monthly Plan ONCE for the entire year. This is a monthly plan that was created by the company. Because each classroom is unique, you will need to adjust the plan as needed for your classroom. My classroom is composed of Level 1 Learners. I take that into consideration when planning. I can use this Monthly Plan for my entire year. I currently use the curriculum for whole group instruction, but hope to begin using it for small group instruction as well this upcoming school year. We use ULS on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and n2Y on Wednesday and Fridays. The Suggested Monthly Plan includes a blank planning page for you to use as you would like. 2) I print out the Supply List each month. This a "cheat sheet" of all the supplies that I will need to complete the lessons and activities for the entire month. This saves me from making multiple trips to the store each month. Hey! I can even order from Amazon and be done with one click of a button. 3) I print out Supplemental Reading List each month. This is a great go to sheet for books to read during Morning Meeting (my calendar time) or during those random transition times that you need something to do. All of the books are leveled and relate to the monthly theme. Some of them require a subscription, but some are free! 4) I print out the Printing Guide each month. This is my favorite sheet. I actually do not print out many of my ULS lessons and activities. Most of the activities we do using the computer and projector or an iPad, but I love this sheet because it allows me to see all of the activities for the entire month. I can check off the activities as we do them and color coat the activities we will be doing by month. My Favorite Lessons on Unique Learning Systems: Lessons 1&2: These lessons are sweet and simple. We read a book as a class and then answer five comprehension questions. We do these lessons several times throughout the month. We work on predicting what the book is going to be about before we read, identifying the author and illustrator, and reviewing the book. The level 1 comprehensions questions in Lesson 3 are absolutely perfect for my students. We project the questions, have the computer read them to us, and I call one student at a time to the board to answer a question. I prompt them to answer as needed. Lesson 7-9: We read the words together. I review the initial letter and the sound that the initial letter makes. Because none of my students can write (the lesson below is far too difficult for the majority of my class), I am hoping to practice typing the words and stamping the words by modifying some of the worksheets and activities in Lesson 8 & 9. Lesson 11: BINGO. Lesson 11 contains vocabulary word cards (calling cards) that I am planning on putting up on my pocket chart each month and simple bingo cards that can be used over and over again to review the vocabulary words for each month. Lesson 16a: We practice counting objects that relate to the theme. We match the number and then talk about concepts such as, less, more, and same. Lesson 24: I appreciate the patterning worksheets on ULS, but I like the patterning worksheets on n2y even better. My students have gotten so great at patterning over this past year that I am going to have to move on to the more difficult lessons. Those are my favorite lessons and activities. I have heard several people mention that unique is just too difficult for their students. I agree that some activities are difficult, but they can easily be implemented with modification. I have students of all levels in my classroom and all of them can interact with this curriculum in some way. If you have several Level 1 learners and non-verbal students, be sure to check out Active Participation Guidelines and Active Participation Scripts. After reading those instructional guides and reflecting on my own classroom, I developed this AT Checklist as a way for me to remember what I need to do to make each monthly unit accessible to my non-verbal/more impacted students. My iPad communication application of choice is Dynavox Compass, but you can use whatever device that you have access to. You can download my assistive technology to-do list here. How do you use ULS/n2y in you classroom?

ind out all the details of how to set up this system, who it works best for, what the goal is, and why you need one!

ULS, unique learning system, special education, sped curriculum, ULS student view, sped lessons

The Learn to Read series draws from numerous books from around the world. It contains many new and innovative features. The creator of this series found that most other Qaʿidahs do not have any chaptering or breakdown of learning objectives. Students, and sometimes even teachers, progress from one exercise to another without realizing what the goals behind them were. This lack of breakdown of objective is also unhealthy for students' morale as they have no short-term targets to work towards and can lose motivation. Therefore, the Safr Qaʿidah is divided into several levels. In each level, a new skill or topic is introduced and covered. The level system has proved to be very effective in motivating students. This Qaʿidah embodies the positive features of old qa'idahs and has new features as well. Stitch-bound. Sharper text. Revised diary/pass sections to make it easier to track and show progress. New B5 clear plastic cover. Or buy individually: Rules of Tajwid (South Asian Script ) - Learn to Read Series Complete Qa'idah (South Asian Script ) - Learn to Read Series Juz' 'Amma (South Asian Script ) - Learn to Read Series Abridged Qa'idah (South Asian Script ) - Learn to Read Series

Standards-aligned special education core curriculum for pre‑K–transition. Each license includes one service provider access to one grade band, with student logins for a maximum of 15 students.

I just finished my second year of teaching. I have learned so much over the past two years. I have found so many wonderful Teachers Pay Teachers products, have become familiar with common reading and math curriculums such as, Edmark, SRA, and Touch Math, and have created many of my own supplemental materials. With that said, my absolute favorite resource that I have access to in my classroom (and at home) is Unique Learning System (ULS) and News 2 You (n2y). I have found that when used together, the two curriculums are entertaining and engaging, aligned to Common Core State Standards, easy to use, comprehensive, and appropriate for a variety of learners. When I first started using ULS/n2y I was a bit overwhelmed because of how much content there is on the website. I am still learning more and more about the curriculum and discovering new activities and resources, but I have become very familiar with some activities and lessons. I am teaching ESY and I am using it as a time to try out new lessons and activities with my students. For those of you that would like to do the same, the summer units are FREE. Check them out here. Before I Begin Planning: 1) I print out the Suggested Monthly Plan ONCE for the entire year. This is a monthly plan that was created by the company. Because each classroom is unique, you will need to adjust the plan as needed for your classroom. My classroom is composed of Level 1 Learners. I take that into consideration when planning. I can use this Monthly Plan for my entire year. I currently use the curriculum for whole group instruction, but hope to begin using it for small group instruction as well this upcoming school year. We use ULS on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and n2Y on Wednesday and Fridays. The Suggested Monthly Plan includes a blank planning page for you to use as you would like. 2) I print out the Supply List each month. This a "cheat sheet" of all the supplies that I will need to complete the lessons and activities for the entire month. This saves me from making multiple trips to the store each month. Hey! I can even order from Amazon and be done with one click of a button. 3) I print out Supplemental Reading List each month. This is a great go to sheet for books to read during Morning Meeting (my calendar time) or during those random transition times that you need something to do. All of the books are leveled and relate to the monthly theme. Some of them require a subscription, but some are free! 4) I print out the Printing Guide each month. This is my favorite sheet. I actually do not print out many of my ULS lessons and activities. Most of the activities we do using the computer and projector or an iPad, but I love this sheet because it allows me to see all of the activities for the entire month. I can check off the activities as we do them and color coat the activities we will be doing by month. My Favorite Lessons on Unique Learning Systems: Lessons 1&2: These lessons are sweet and simple. We read a book as a class and then answer five comprehension questions. We do these lessons several times throughout the month. We work on predicting what the book is going to be about before we read, identifying the author and illustrator, and reviewing the book. The level 1 comprehensions questions in Lesson 3 are absolutely perfect for my students. We project the questions, have the computer read them to us, and I call one student at a time to the board to answer a question. I prompt them to answer as needed. Lesson 7-9: We read the words together. I review the initial letter and the sound that the initial letter makes. Because none of my students can write (the lesson below is far too difficult for the majority of my class), I am hoping to practice typing the words and stamping the words by modifying some of the worksheets and activities in Lesson 8 & 9. Lesson 11: BINGO. Lesson 11 contains vocabulary word cards (calling cards) that I am planning on putting up on my pocket chart each month and simple bingo cards that can be used over and over again to review the vocabulary words for each month. Lesson 16a: We practice counting objects that relate to the theme. We match the number and then talk about concepts such as, less, more, and same. Lesson 24: I appreciate the patterning worksheets on ULS, but I like the patterning worksheets on n2y even better. My students have gotten so great at patterning over this past year that I am going to have to move on to the more difficult lessons. Those are my favorite lessons and activities. I have heard several people mention that unique is just too difficult for their students. I agree that some activities are difficult, but they can easily be implemented with modification. I have students of all levels in my classroom and all of them can interact with this curriculum in some way. If you have several Level 1 learners and non-verbal students, be sure to check out Active Participation Guidelines and Active Participation Scripts. After reading those instructional guides and reflecting on my own classroom, I developed this AT Checklist as a way for me to remember what I need to do to make each monthly unit accessible to my non-verbal/more impacted students. My iPad communication application of choice is Dynavox Compass, but you can use whatever device that you have access to. You can download my assistive technology to-do list here. How do you use ULS/n2y in you classroom?

ULS, unique learning system, special education, sped curriculum, ULS student view, sped lessons

Discover ways to improve unique learner success and teacher satisfaction with overlooked resources and options in n2y’s Unique Learning System.

Discover ways to improve unique learner success and teacher satisfaction with overlooked resources and options in n2y’s Unique Learning System.

The Unique Learning System is a great standards-based special education curriculum. Find out why I like it and what I think it offers teachers.

Discover ways to improve unique learner success and teacher satisfaction with overlooked resources and options in n2y’s Unique Learning System.

I have written several posts earlier on the Unique Learning System. The first post was an overview of the curriculum and the second contained additional resources. This post will focus on how to organize the materials that you create from the ULS.

sign me up now! Find helpful ideas and engaging resources to support your special education students! And get back to doing more of what you love, teaching! DISCOVER IDEAS FIND INSPIRATION SAVE TIME ENGAGE STUDENTS

If you are an educator of special learners and haven’t yet heard of ULS (Unique Learning Systems) I am thrilled for you to read this post! I am by no means an expert and this is my first year using ULS but I can tell you I am completely and totally impressed! As most special education teachers I struggled from` the very beginning with providing practical and realistic curriculum while also aligning my lessons with the common core. I still remember when I first transferred into a self-contained classroom from only previously teaching general education…I asked my principal what curriculum I was supposed to use. He literally said, “Whatever you want”. Uh…. excuse me? I felt lost and insecure and started to mix a little bit of this and create a little bit of that. I seemed to manage but boy did it feel like a lot of work and a lot of “creativity” on my end and in the back of my mind I always felt like there were a few whose needs I was not meeting. Later in the year I was selected to participate in a pilot research program later to find out the program was to implement the use of Unique Learning Systems in my classroom. So….without further adieu here is why I am such a believer in this program.

Join n2y experts and partners for the latest trends, ideas, and research in special education.

News-2-You (N2Y) is something I use in my classroom regularly. If you haven't heard about it check out the website here. I like N2Y for a f...