Curriculum Tools

Mayer-Johnson Debuts Instructional Solutions for Students with Special Needs

• By Leila Meyer
• 01/29/15

Mayer-Johnson has introduced Boardmaker Instructional Solutions (BIS), a collection of math and English language arts (ELA) curricula designed for teachers of students with special needs.

Boardmaker Instructional Solutions includes three new curricula. Boardmaker Current Events is a weekly news-based program for instruction in math and ELA. Boardmaker Expedition Education is a year-long reading, writing and thinking program for special needs students in grades three and up. Boardmaker Book Bridge is a reading, writing and vocabulary development program designed to help special needs students meet academic standards through grade-level literature.

All three programs are delivered through the Boardmaker Online platform and include lesson plans for the teacher and "differentiated supports without simplifying what is being taught," according to information from the company. Teachers and students can access the activities from any computer or iPad, and the programs support full accessibility using scanning, eye-gaze or touch. Student results are recorded automatically in Boardmaker Online and can be linked with IEP goals.

Key features of Boardmaker Current Events include:

• Weekly electronic newsletter highlighting two articles and two topic-based books; and
• Daily standards-aligned ELA and math lessons.

Key features of Boardmaker Expedition Education include:

• Two introductory lessons, 16 subject-specific lessons and reflective culminating activities in each unit;
• Lesson plans;
• Quick lesson guides; and
• Literacy skills inventory.

Key features of Boardmaker Book Bridge include:

• Two grade bands (grade two to three or grade four to five);
• Lesson plans covering five books for each grade band;
• More than 40 lesson sets for grades two and three;
• More than 70 lesson sets for grades four and five; and
• More than 70 enrichment texts, vocabulary lessons and culminating quizzes.

Boardmaker Instructional Solutions requires a Personal, Professional or District subscription to Boardmaker Online. Introductory annual subscription prices for each instructor are $79 for  Current Events, $229 for Expedition Education and $119 for Book Bridge.

Further information about Boardmaker Instructional Solutions can be found on the Boardmaker Online site.