April Nicotera

In this two-session series, 8th-grade students with social language challenges will explore how to give and receive respect from different community members. Through interactive warm-ups, group activities, and a fun Respect Relay game, students will build practical social skills, strengthen empathy, and practice respectful communication in real-life scenarios. Audience: 8th graders on IEPs; Sessions: 2 × 30 minutes.

In this 5-session series, 7th and 8th grade special education students will become “Animated Story Detectives” as they learn to sequence events and take character perspectives from animated short films. Through interactive warm-ups, group discussions, hands-on activities, engaging games, and quizzes, students will build critical comprehension skills, practice movement breaks, and use enlarged text materials to meet diverse learning needs.

In this fun, 30-minute introductory session, sixth grade students on IEPs will get to know each other and practice foundational social communication skills through guided discussion, an interactive game, and a collaborative activity. This lesson builds trust, promotes relationship building, and supports IEP objectives for social interaction.

Over 12 sessions, eighth graders will learn to extract and cite text-based evidence to craft strong open-response answers. This unit includes a pre-test, scaffolded lessons with readings, activities, worksheets, quizzes, and a post-test for progress monitoring—ideal for small groups needing support with vocabulary, sentence structure, and critical thinking.

In this 40-minute group lesson, students will read a fifth-grade level text about Roblox to practice comprehension, critical thinking, and sequencing skills. Designed for a small group of sixth graders with mild language impairments, the lesson uses visual supports, guided discussion, and targeted activities to build understanding and confidence.

Over four 35-minute sessions, students will harness their interest in Pokémon to expand their descriptive language and use varied sentence structures to write engaging paragraphs. This Tier 1 lesson supports seventh graders with mild to moderate language learning disabilities through interactive activities and scaffolded practice. Materials include lesson plans, slide decks, Pokémon-themed worksheets, and engaging activities.

In this 30-minute Tier 2 group lesson for 7th graders, students analyze humor and figurative language in selected video clips to deepen their understanding and confidence. This engaging session uses real-world media to help students identify and discuss literary devices, boosting both comprehension and speaking skills.

This 30-minute Tier 1 classroom game helps 7th graders practice and master the /r/ sound through fun, competitive activities that boost confidence and fluency. Students work in teams racing through pronunciation challenges, gaining immediate feedback and encouragement.

In this 30-minute lesson, 7th-grade students will explore common prefixes and suffixes to decode and expand their vocabulary. Understanding these word parts empowers students to infer meanings of unfamiliar words and improves reading comprehension.