Peers as Partners in Learning (#1400340)

Elective

Principal Approved

General Notes

This course is designed to provide reciprocal academic and social benefits to students with disabilities and their peers without disabilities.  Students enrolled in this course will learn and apply knowledge and skilled practices in the areas of academic engagement, communication, social barriers, leadership, problem solving, and other disability-related topics such as historical perspectives, inclusion, Universal Design for Learning, person-first language, presumed competence, social justice for minority populations, and media representation of diverse people.

The content and concepts should include but not limited to the following:

• Know and understand the legal and human rights of people with disabilities and their families.
• Understand and apply the concepts of confidentiality and self-determination.
• Understand historical events and aspects of disability and their influence on current attitudes, beliefs, and practices.
• Build awareness and understanding, through research and communication, of disability rights issues in the local community and beyond.
• Apply methods for problem-solving and advocacy (including self-advocacy for students with disabilities).
• Apply knowledge and strategies to promote learning for people with disabilities, in inclusive settings, through academic, communication, physical and social supports.
• Facilitate meaningful peer relationships in and out of school.
• Understand and facilitate team and cooperative learning skills among all students.
• Contribute to the concept of civic responsibility by researching and communicating information about social justice in a democratic society.
• Design and implement one or more projects to demonstrate knowledge, understanding, and application of course content and concepts.
• Assess and evaluate the impact of course efforts on self and others.

This course should be taught using the appropriate standards/benchmarks for the grade.

Florida’s Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (B.E.S.T.) Standards:

This course includes Florida’s B.E.S.T. ELA Expectations (EE) and Mathematical Thinking and Reasoning Standards (MTRs) for students. Florida educators should intentionally embed these standards within the content and their instruction as applicable. For guidance on the implementation of the EEs and MTRs, please visit https://www.cpalms.org/Standards/BEST_Standards.aspx and select the appropriate B.E.S.T. Standards package.

English Language Development (ELD) Standards Special Notes Section:

Teachers are required to provide listening, speaking, reading and writing instruction that allows English language learners (ELL) to communicate for social and instructional purposes within the school setting.   For the given level of English language proficiency and with visual, graphic, or interactive support, students will interact with grade level words, expressions, sentences and discourse to process or produce language necessary for academic success. The ELD standard should specify a relevant content area concept or topic of study chosen by curriculum developers and teachers which maximizes an ELL’s need for communication and social skills. To access an ELL supporting document which delineates performance definitions and descriptors, please click on the following link: https://cpalmsmediaprod.blob.core.windows.net/uploads/docs/standards/eld/si.pdf.