And don’t worry if you are interested in learning more about the process or the book, but don’t have a group—you can go to my Facebook page and find my bookclub videos (four part series).

And don’t worry if you are interested in learning more about the process or the book, but don’t have a group—you can go to my Facebook page and find my bookclub videos (four part series).
Summer is finally here, and I am looking forward to having time to share content through my site. As an easy way to get started, here is a list I created to help families generate ideas for activities that children with a wide range of needs, interests, and abilities will find accessible and enjoyable. Feel free to add you own and keep this list growing!
Have you been using 30 Days to the Co-Taught Classroom to learn about co-teaching or to teach your staff about co-teaching? If so, you may have used the tools on Day 2 to create vision statements/pictures. This section of the book is designed to give teams an opportunity to envision their ideal environment, classroom “feeling”, teaching practices, and co-teaching relationship.
I have used this tool with several teams, but ...
One of the most exciting parts of writing a book for children is seeing all of the ways it is used by students, families, and teachers. I got one email from a parent telling me that she used Pedro’s Whale to teach her children about their brother with autism. At one of my workshops, a principal told me that he used Pedro to teach his staff about supporting individual differences.
A few teachers have told me that they used the book to give their paraprofessionals ideas for providing appropriate supports in inclusive classrooms. I love all of these stories and feel especially satisfied when people tell me that they were able to use the teaching ideas in Pedro’s Whale to create these lessons as we had always hoped the book would be used as a tool for learning.
So far, those brief back-of-the-book ideas have been the only thing I could offer teachers looking for lesson ideas for Pedro’s Whale, so I was so thrilled to get an email from Lynne Dudas, letting me know about her graduate school project involving our book. Lynne created materials to help students in elementary grades learn about characteristics of classmates with autism using The Common Core Standards in literacy, Pedro’s Whale, and other books. You can get her plans over on the Teachers Pay Teachers website (a great virtual store that allows educators to sell curriculum materials to other educators)
Have you used Pedro’s Whale to teach children about individual differences? Have you ever used it to teach other audiences? Other topics? I would love to hear your ideas and suggestions!
Some of you may have heard me talk about Kellen Ehrenhardt in the last few years. He is the son of a dear friend and amazing advocate, Teri Ehrenhardt. Kellen has always been a person who has had a vision. He had a full high school career of academics, sports, volunteering, and church activities and he has not slowed down in his young adult years. He still has a lot going on in all arenas of his life, but one of the most powerful ...