Improving Learning Needs for a Student with Health Issues: A Case Study of Jack

The paper describes an education plan for a student named Jack who is facing health issues that are affecting his learning. The plan includes strategies to improve his speaking, reading, writing, and numeracy skills.

Running head: EDUCATION PLAN
Education Plan
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1EDUCATION PLAN
Introduction:
The modern world is significantly observing considerable number of children, facing
immense problems from the external environment in their smooth conduction of the learning
procedure. These factors can be the formation of the family or the diseases the kids were born
with. The kids who are generally at the school or colleges are observed to be significantly
affected with these issues. The students or the children’s effective learning of their studies is
observed to be getting affected due to their incapability of concentrating on the subjects or
their lapses in concentration in the classroom studies. Apart from this the students with
diseases like autism disorder is observed to be unable to create an effective communication
with the others. Along with that those kids are also observed to be facing immense issues in
cases of social interactions and that creates significant problem for the kids as that affects
their studies in a notable manner.
Ni (2013), states that the incapability of effective and suitable communication and
social interactions provides significant barriers to the growth of the children as a human
being. The modern day children are also observed to be affected with the intellectual,
disability. The mentioned disease is observed among the students in the form of lower
intelligence or in other words, the children, suffering from the intellectual disability will have
an intelligence that will be significantly low compared to the other children of the same age.
According to Schmeck (2013), the intellectual disability will pose notable obstacle for the
children, suffering from such disease in case of understanding what others say. The paper is
focused in describing one such student with significant issue of health affecting the effective
learning of him. The paper will describe the key learning needs of the students along the
particular or the curriculum that is relevant for the mentioned student in order to overcome
his issues. The paper analyses the current performance of the student. Apart from this, the

2EDUCATION PLAN
paper also includes an individual learning plan or a positive behaviour support plan for the
student as well.
Contextual Briefing:
The chosen student is Jack. He is 12 years old and is a student of the public primary
school in his local area. In the school, Jack is currently in the year 6 and that is because of his
incapability as his skills were not up to the desired level. Due to that reason he was forced to
repeat a year. All of Jack’s friends moved from the primary school to the high but he was not
able to do so because of the above mentioned reason and he was feeling significantly left
behind at the primary school. Jack had several factors that were affecting his learning in a
negative manner. Jack’s health was a major concern in this case as well. He had significantly
poor health where he often got sick and missed the scheduled classes of the school. This was
significantly hampering his study as he was not available to take the lessons at his primary
school. Jack himself was significantly responsible for his health’s poor condition as he was
someone who rarely took breakfast before coming to his primary school and he was not very
fond of carrying lunch as well. Hence it was significantly evident that Jack was the main man
responsible for the poor status of his health. Jack belonged to a single parent family where he
had the chance to get the love and care of his mother only. Jack was not the only child of his
mother as he had an older brother and two younger siblings at his home.
Jack’s mother did not have any concern with the Jack’s schooling as she was
significantly struggling in securing their livelihood. This happened with her as her husband
started a new family. As Jack’s father was busy with his new family, Jack was not able to see
his father in a significant manner. Jack was deprived of his father’s love and care as he could
rarely see him. Apart from this Jack’s attendance in his primary school was considerably low
as he was not focused on his school in a great deal. In this case, his poor health is also a

3EDUCATION PLAN
major reason behind his such low record of attendance in the school. Jack was significantly
poor in reading and writing skills and was observed to have notable issue in handling
numbers as well. Due to this reason he was observed to be highly disconnected from his
school. He did not have any sort of interest on the school’s lessons as his incapability in
literacy and numeracy was the main reason. Along with the above mentioned issues, it is
observed that Jack is significantly interested in football. All the other things of life is seemed
to get ignored in front of his interest on football and his friends. His friends were a major part
of his life which was visible from the amount of disappointment, he faced when his friends
moved to the higher school leaving him at the primary school.
Identification of the learning needs and curriculum content:
The analysis of the student’s performance in the recent time portrays that the student
is having significant difficulty in creation of a good knowledge or skills in the literacy and
numeracy sections. Hence the learning needs of the student will include these points as major
concern. One of the basic learning needs for the student will be to improve the speaking skills
and in order to make sure that the student be able to speak fluently, the below mentioned
steps will be used as the curriculum content for Jack.
Speaking Skills:
The curriculum content must include sessions where the student will be involved in
discussing general activities of daily life may that be gardening, cooking foods or grocery
shopping. Along with these, the collection of activity of the mails from the mailbox,
travelling in bus or trains or doing the normal household operations needs to be effectively
discussed with the student so that he be able to speak more and more.
It is seen that the student with these sort of mental health will have the tendency to
answer any general question with one single word as he or she might be having discomfort in

4EDUCATION PLAN
speaking the whole case (Meltzer, 2018). In these sort of situation, the students are better
asked about specific events rather than general question like “how is your health?” The
specific questions like “what you were doing at the lunch time today?” or “what was the
content of the book, you read last night?” will be significantly helpful in making sure that the
student get triggered to speak more and more. Along with these, the lesson planner needs to
make sure that such interactions must incorporate general topics in which the student will not
feel the need to think a lot before producing the answers.
As Jack has significant interest in football, the texts related to football and footballing
events will generate a substantial interest in Jack as well. In such cases the discussions on
those events or texts will be significantly helpful for Jack as he will be able to share his
opinion with the other on a topic which is significantly interesting for him (Meyer, 2015).
Apart from these, the student needs to get involved in discussion regarding topics that
he is studying in his primary school as well as that will make sure that the student is able to
understand the summary of his lessons.
The student needs to be asked about the problems that he is facing on regular basis
along with the needs of him as well.
In conducting the session for the improvement of the Jack’s ability of speaking and
listening, some of the questions which will be significantly important are mentioned below:
What might be the reason behind the occurrence of the event?
What will be the effect of it on the people?
Do you think it will be fair for the people?
What will be happening next according to you?
How could this problem be solved?

5EDUCATION PLAN
All of the above mentioned question are related to a discussion regarding a news story
or a current event.
Reading Skills:
Along with this Jack had significant issue in reading as well and some of the
curriculum content that will be significantly helpful for him in improving his reading skills
are mentioned below:
It is better to read along with the student in order to make sure that the barriers that he
faces during the reading is effectively reduced with the production of the reference in the
form of the reading by the lesson planner.
Jack is needed to be introduced to the libraries of that region so that he be able to take
books from there for reading purposes. It is recommended to take Jack to the library prior to
the holidays of the primary school as that will make sure he be able to read the books for
longer period of times (Israel & Duffy, 2014).
It is important to evaluate whether Jack’s reading of books is creating any sort of
preferences for any author. In such case where Jack is liking the write-ups of a particular
author, he should be provided with the books of other series or edition of the same author as
that will be highly motivating for him in reading (Clarke & Braun, 2013).
Along with these the evaluation of the Jack’s preferred genre will be significant and
as he likes the football in a notable manner, textual articles on the sports, action, and
adventure will have substantial importance in the curriculum (Cohen, 2014).

6EDUCATION PLAN
Apart from these, the generation of the interest in Jack regarding the reading of the
poems, lyrics and short plays will also have significant importance in increasing the reading
skills of him (Kucer, 2014).
One of the most important strategy in the improvement of the reading is the
establishment of the habit of newspaper reading (Meyer & Ray, 2017). As Jack had notable
interest in the football, the sports section of the daily newspaper is an essential part in the
strategy. The habit of reading the sports section will significantly help Jack in improving his
reading skills and the strategy will also align with Jack’s interest as the section specified for
reading is the sports related (Brozo et al., 2013).
In reading the newspaper, Jack will face significant difficulty with the new words and
in that case Jack needs to be encouraged to use the dictionary as much as possible so that he
does not face the issues in a significant manner and along with that he be able to know new
words.
As Jack had notable interest in games and fun sessions, He needs to be advised to play
age-aggregate video games that needs considerable amount of reading from the part of the
player. It will be instrumental in increasing the rapid reading skills of Jack.
Writing Skills:
Apart from this Jack was significantly observed to have issues in writing as well. In
order to improve the writing skills of Jack, the below mentioned steps are needed to be taken:
Jack needs to be encouraged to write the everyday experiences of him, may that be the
conversation of him with his friends or the match analysis in which he was a part of. This will
be significant in improving the writing skills and will be instrumental as his interest will align
with the subject of the writing as well.

7EDUCATION PLAN
Along with this the student needs to be encouraged to write whatever he learnt in the
scheduled learning sessions of his primary school on a regular basis (Sadoski & Paivio,
2013).
The lesson planner must introduce the help of the dictionary in reducing the spelling
mistakes of Jack (Carter & McCarthy, 2014).
Numeracy Skills:
Along with the literacy, Jack’s numeracy skills was considerably poor as well and in
that case, the below mentioned steps are needed to be in the curriculum content.
Family participation is major part in the improvement strategy of the numeracy skills.
In the case, Jack is not able to get that in sufficient manner as his mother was struggling with
their life in such a manner that she was unable to take care of Jack’s schooling and learning
needs. Yet some added concentration on Jack’s learning is much needed from the part of his
mother in order to make sure that his numeracy skills get improved.
As Jack is highly influenced with the sporting activities, specifically football, some of
the questions regarding the presence of the numerical in his preferred sport will be
significantly helpful in the improvement of his numeracy skills (Duchesne & McMaugh,
2018).
The questions like how his preferred sport tally the scores or what maths is presented
in the tally will be highly helpful.
As mentioned earlier, he loves to play football and in that case the questions like how
does he calculate the scores or how does he calculate that which team is at the top of the table
will be helpful for him.

8EDUCATION PLAN
Along with these, what is the span of a football match and how it is divided, in how
many halves it is divided will be good for Jack in increasing his numeracy skills (Clements &
Sarama, 2014).
What is the shape of the field along with the calculation of the specifications of the
field regarding the area will be incredibly benefitting for Jack. The answers of these questions
are known to Jack as he loves to play the game of football and is believed to be prompt in
answering these questions. Hence it will be aligning with the interest of Jack as well.
Apart from this the lesson planner needs to ask questions like the number cars which
could be parked at the parking space of their field as this will make sure his ability of
counting improves.
Along with these, the definitions of fraction, improper fraction, mixed numbers,
numerator, denominator, proper fraction, equivalent fraction, decimals, ratio and percentage
needs to be introduced to Jack with effective examples related to his field of interest, football.
Differentiated Teaching Plans:
The differentiation is made depending on the situation in which Jack is currently
residing. As he is currently having issues that are significantly related with his life, hence the
learning plan must incorporate some strategies that are exclusively designed to meet the
concerns that he is facing. First of all Jack was significantly facing the threat of improper
nutrition as he was observed to take breakfast very rarely and along with that he did not carry
his lunch as well. This was a result of the struggle that his mother was going through in
nourishing him and the other children. Hence it was obvious that a 12 year kid will fall sick
and will not having a good health. In order to make sure that this concern is eradicated from
Jack’s life, a differentiated strategy will be used in his learning procedure in the form of free

9EDUCATION PLAN
foods. With each and every teaching sessions, Jack will be provided with sufficient food as
that will make sure that the boy gets proper and sufficient nutrition (Clarke & Braun, 2013).
Along with that, another major concern in the effective and proper learning of Jack is
the issue of inadequate care. Jack’s father was starting a new family and he did not meet Jack
frequently. Hence the kid was deprived from his father’ love and care and on the other hand
her mother was having tough time in making sure that she with her four children survives in
the fight of life. Hence both of them were not able to take care of the needs that Jack was
facing in his learning. The teaching plan of Jack must incorporate a behaviour which will
have significant amount of love, care and affection towards him and will take care of the
needs of him in a significant manner.
Somehow the lack of effective presence of Jack’s parents was having such impact on
his life that the kid was facing immense disengagement with the study. Hence it was observed
that he was significantly falling behind compared to others and was lacking very basic skills
in literacy and numeracy. In spite of that, it is observed from the case that Jack was
significantly attached with football and his friends. Hence in order to make sure that Jack’s
teaching plans incorporate specific strategy designed for Jack, the plan must include
descriptions of football matches in which he is a part of and in which he is a mere spectator.
This will be significant for Jack in order practices something that he loves and in order to
improve his literacy skills. As the descriptions will also include the mathematical expressions
related with football, his numeracy skills is bound to get better.
The reasonable adjustment will be the substitution of the general school books and the
placement of the sporting magazines in order increase the reading and learning skills of Jack
(Arthur-Kelly & Neilands, 2014). As mentioned earlier, Jack has significant apathy in
reading the normal school books, hence in order to increase the interest of Jack towards

10EDUCATION PLAN
reading, the introduction of the description of the events that align with the interest of Jack
was much needed.
Individual Learning Plan:
Name of the Student: Jack Name of the School:
Date: Teacher:
Learning Objectives: Improvement of the speaking skills.
Activities Target Date Completion Date
Discussion on Football
Match Analysis
01.03.2019
Discussion on Daily Events 01.02.2019
Discussion on School
Lessons
01.04.2019
Criteria for Success:
 Be able to discuss without any errors of pronunciation.

11EDUCATION PLAN
 Be able to discuss without any unforced pause.
Learning Objectives: Improvement of the reading and writing skills
Activities Target Date Completion Date
Newspaper Reading 15.02.2019
Match Analysis Writing 15.03.2019
Reading of the class books 15.04.2019
Criteria for Success:
 Be able to write error free and grammatically correct descriptions.
 Be able to read error free, correctly pronounced textual descriptions without any
interruptions.
Learning Objectives: Improvement of the numeracy skills
Activities Target Date Completion Date
Numerical analysis of the
football matches( generally
regarding the statistics)
31.03.2019
Discussion on the definition
of the mathematical terms
30.04.2019
Criteria for Success:
 Be able to properly understand mathematical terms and their usage.

12EDUCATION PLAN
 Be able to understand the numerical specification of the Football field and match
statistics.

13EDUCATION PLAN
References:
Arthur-Kelly, M., & Neilands, J. (2014). Planning effective teaching strategies. Inclusion in
action, 191-227.
Brozo, W. G., Moorman, G., Meyer, C., & Stewart, T. (2013). Content area reading and
disciplinary literacy: A case for the radical center. Journal of Adolescent & Adult
Literacy, 56(5), 353-357.
Carter, R., & McCarthy, M. (2014). Vocabulary and language teaching. Routledge.
Clarke, V., & Braun, V. (2013). Teaching thematic analysis: Overcoming challenges and
developing strategies for effective learning. The psychologist, 26(2), 120-123.
Clements, D. H., & Sarama, J. (2014). Learning and teaching early math: The learning
trajectories approach. Routledge.
Cohen, A. D. (2014). Strategies in learning and using a second language. Routledge.
Duchesne, S., & McMaugh, A. (2018). Educational psychology for learning and teaching.
Cengage AU.
Israel, S. E., & Duffy, G. G. (Eds.). (2014). Handbook of research on reading
comprehension. Routledge.
Kucer, S. B. (2014). Dimensions of literacy: A conceptual base for teaching reading and
writing in school settings. Routledge.
Meltzer, L. (Ed.). (2018). Executive function in education: From theory to practice. Guilford
Publications.

14EDUCATION PLAN
Meyer, B. J., & Ray, M. N. (2017). Structure strategy interventions: Increasing reading
comprehension of expository text. International Electronic Journal of Elementary
Education, 4(1), 127-152.
Meyer, O. (2015). Towards quality CLIL: successful planning and teaching strategies.
PULSO. Revista de Educación, (33), 11-29.
Ni, A. Y. (2013). Comparing the effectiveness of classroom and online learning: Teaching
research methods. Journal of Public Affairs Education, 19(2), 199-215.
Sadoski, M., & Paivio, A. (2013). Imagery and text: A dual coding theory of reading and
writing. Routledge.
Schmeck, R. R. (Ed.). (2013). Learning strategies and learning styles. Springer Science &
Business Media.
Tanner, K. D. (2013). Structure matters: twenty-one teaching strategies to promote student
engagement and cultivate classroom equity. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 12(3),
322-331.