One of the most common questions I get about The Autism Helper Curriculum is how to run a lesson. We designed TAH Curriculum to give a lot of flexibility on how it is implemented. As we know, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for our learners. I want to share a basic overall format for running lessons with TAH Curriculum. This consistent routine ensures that you are setting your students up for success and leans into the streamlined and easy-to-use nature of TAH Curriculum. This format is also helpful for lesson planning.

A lesson can take between 10-30 minutes depending on the needs of your learners. When setting up center rotations, we want to consider the work endurance, sustained attention, and need for breaks of each group of students.

4 Main Steps/Part to the Lesson:

1. Review Expectations and Schedule (1-2 minutes)

Begin each lesson by reviewing the expectations for the lesson and the schedule. Utilize visuals, mini schedules, and other tools if needed to concretely communicate what is going to happen.

2. Review Core Concepts (2-5 minutes)

Review the anchor chart. Review what types of answers who, what, and where questions are looking for. If working in a small group, incorporate turn taking and peer interaction during this process. Review the sentence rules. Practice a few examples and nonexamples.

3. Complete the worksheet. (2-5 minutes)

Have the student complete one worksheet (or more than one if appropriate for the student and your schedule/pacing). This can be done as a small group or done as independently as possible and then reviewed together after completion. Prompt the student to utilize the anchor chart as a prompt over teacher directed verbal prompts. Provide reinforcement and error correction as needed.

4. Extension Activities (2-15 minutes)

Following the worksheet, complete one or several extension activities focused on the core concepts in this unit. Even simple activities such as listing nouns/verbs on a dry erase board, answering wh- questions about Google image photos you pull on the Smartboard, or tracing letters in shaving cream are great extensions! Incorporate following directions, social skills, and communication opportunities. If you are using Curriculum Access, the Implementation Guide has a long list of activity suggestions and links to YouTube videos and books. For the 2022/23 school year, there will also be Extension Activities for each unit available within Curriculum Access.

One of the great features of Curriculum Access are the Implementation Guides and Extension Activities. If you are interested in learning more about Curriculum Access or having your administrators set up a demo with a member of our team, click here.