Appropriate for developmental ages 2-10 and chronological ages 2-22
Enhance your students’ learning with a learning intervention that is built on the evidence-based practices of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and is proven to work.
For more than 10 years, TeachTown’s curriculum software has been designed to support continuity and intensity of instruction in any setting – whether that’s in-person, hybrid or remote-based learning.
Our ABA intervention software offers a blend of computer-delivered and teacher-led Applied Behavior Analysis instruction proven to increase a student’s vocabulary, listening skills, social-emotional development, independence, academics, and cognitive skills.
TeachTown Basics offers a comprehensive learning intervention designed to help students with moderate to severe disabilities thrive. Our curriculum offers a tailored approach to learning and development, catering to the unique needs of each student.
A Learning Intervention Designed to Meet the Needs of Each Student
The software automatically adapts based on each individual’s progress providing meaningful instruction to all. Student data is recorded, analyzed, and organized into reports providing teachers with effective and automated progress-monitoring tools.
By using embedded games and animated episodes as systematic reinforcement, students are actively engaged in TeachTown lessons, helping to build student independence and increase motivation. TeachTown lessons can be aligned to Common Core standards, state-specific standards, and student IEP goals to address a variety of educational needs.
Learning Domains of TeachTown Basics
Six Key Learning Domains and Five Developmental Levels
Adaptive Skills
Cognitive Skills
Language Arts
Language Development
Mathematics
Social and Emotional
Generalization Lessons: A Fundamental Part of ABA Learning Interventions
Software alone is not enough and TeachTown Basics is a complete program. We don’t believe in the “teacher in a box” approach. Generalization lessons are a fundamental part of the program and of any ABA therapy. Such lessons are necessary for students to demonstrate acquired skills in a different educational setting.
Our program offers 300 generalization lessons that are clearly and explicitly written, making the lessons easy to implement for educators, para-educators, and caregivers. The curriculum for the generalization lessons includes the same 6 learning domains and 5 levels as the computer curriculum, and each activity is linked to one or more lessons in the TeachTown Basics software.
There are numerous opportunities for individualizing the generalization lessons within the complete learning intervention. A sliding ability curriculum map within each activity makes it easy to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of students with varying ability levels:
Make it Easy: Provides a modified learning objective or additional prompting to make the lesson easier.
Make it Hard: Increases the difficulty level of the learning objective, promoting expressive language and skill independence.
Make it Fun: Further promotes generalization by including fun, engaging, and interactive components to the lesson.
Make it Meaningful: Provides suggestions on how to make the lesson more meaningful for the student, promoting generalization in other environments and across multiple individuals.
Related Activities: Suggests other activities that further address the learning objective and similar related skills.
Align ABA Instruction to Student IEPs
Teachers and facilitators have the ability to align the learning intervention curriculum to individual student goals and objectives. After inputting a student goal in the TeachTown system, facilitators have the ability to assign lessons that address each student’s specific goals. Progress reports and graphs are automatically generated, providing data on student-specific goals that is easily communicated with a student’s educational team and family members.
Our ABA learning intervention offers 300 generalization lessons that are clearly and explicitly written, making the lessons easy to implement for educators, para-educators, and caregivers.
Don’t Just Take Our Word For It – See For Yourself!
Browse TeachTown’s software solution suite and see firsthand why thousands of special educators rely on TeachTown to measurably improve students’ academic, behavioral, and adaptive skills – from Pre-K through the transition years.
TeachTown Basics is a combination of online and teacher-led lessons that utilize behavior-analytic concepts to inform instructional practices. Basics is designed for students working on skills that typically develop between about 2 to 10 years old within six learning domains: Adaptive Skills, Cognitive Skills, Language Arts, Language Development, Mathematics, and Social and Emotional Skills. Pacing in each of these domains is custom for each student, which allows one program to meet the individual needs of many students.
How can I access Basics?
TeachTown Basics can be accessed by teachers, administrators, and students through a web browser on a desktop, laptop, or Chromebook or via an iPad app.
To log in on a desktop, laptop, or Chromebook, go to www.teachtown.com/login and enter your username and password.
To use an iPad app, download the TeachTown Basics app from the Apple App Store and log in using your username and password.
Who would benefit from TeachTown Basics?
Basics presents content in a discrete trial format. It is a great fit for students who are working on skills in the domains listed above and benefit from repetition, maintenance opportunities, frequent reinforcement, and systematic generalization opportunities.
How does Basics work?
Students will complete a computer-generated placement assessment in the computer program.
Based on that placement assessment, the program will assign appropriate lessons in each domain (adaptive skills, cognitive skills, language arts, language development, math, and social-emotional skills).
Students will work through these lessons, and the system will continue to make adjustments based on student performance.
The system will also recommend teacher-led lesson plans covering the same skills. These are called Generalization Lessons in the program and are included to help transfer student skills from the computer-based system into real-world practice.
What happens if my student is assigned content that is too easy or too hard for them?
If your student is seeing content that is above or below their current skill level, the software will recognize that and correct it. Each time your student begins a new lesson in Basics, they are given a pretest to determine how well they understand the material in the lesson. If your student passes the pretest, they will move on to another skill within that domain. If your student passes numerous pretests in a row, the program will recognize that their placement in that domain is too low and have them work on more challenging skills. The reverse is also true- if your student is struggling with the lessons they are seeing, the program will begin to present easier skills in that domain.
My student passed a lesson, but I would like them to repeat it. Can my student go back and review that lesson?
Yes, you can reassign lessons by using the IEP Goals or Facilitator Selected Lessons feature. If you assign IEP Goals or Facilitator Selected Lessons, they will be prioritized, and the program will only give your student the lessons you assign. This allows your student to work on specific concepts you feel they need to learn or review.
How do I assign IEP Goals or Facilitator Selected Lessons?
These features allow you to assign specific content to students. This is great if you want students to work on specific skills (and automatically collect data on those skills automatically!). If you assign lessons to students, they will be prioritized and override the system’s recommended lessons.
Why do the map locations fade out?
Each building icon on the TeachTown Map represents a subset of lessons from the curriculum. If no lessons are currently assigned/ available from that subset, the icon will be faded. Additionally, if your student selects one icon far more often than the others, that option will become faded (and not available as a choice) until your student has chosen some other options.
What if my students are having difficulty attending to the independent student lessons?
New routines can be challenging! We often find that initial sessions are sometimes met with challenging behavior, but students often enjoy working in the program once they start using it. Initially, starting with shorter session durations allows students to learn to use the program and access reinforcement. Once students begin to be successful, you can increase the session length slowly. This allows you to meet students where they are and build their stamina over time. You can adjust each student’s session time by going to the Manage button (bottom left of the Home tab) and selecting Manage My Students. Here you will be provided three options. The second option will be to manage your student’s session length.
It is also recommended to pair the new program with fun and access to reinforcing items simply for engaging with the program or being cooperative with the initial steps. Make it easy! Make it fun!
What if I want to make changes to the rewards in the independent student lessons?
In order to pair the TeachTown student-led learning opportunities with positive reinforcement, reinforcement is provided within Basics in the form of engagement-based rewards. Students will receive various activity rewards as they interact with the student dashboard lessons. Facilitators can select the frequency and duration of these rewards by going to the student dashboard and selecting ‘current student’, and then ‘select rewards’. Here you can enable or disable specific rewards by checking or unchecking the boxes next to each reward. Any unchecked reward choices will never be presented to the student. You can also completely disable rewards on this page or increase or decrease their frequency and duration. If you choose to disable rewards in the program, please be sure to reinforce your student in some other way.
What are Generalization Lessons?
In TeachTown Basics, generalization lessons are PDF or printed lesson plans that work on the same skills students practice in the online program. These lessons can be implemented by a teacher to support students in practicing and generalizing skills learned online to real-world settings.
How do I know which Generalization Lessons to use with my student?
Basics automatically recommends Generalization Lessons for your student based on lessons your student is taking and has already completed on the computer. To view these lessons:
Open Basics in your facilitator account
Select the name of the student you would like to view recommendations for
Select ‘Curriculum” at the top of the page
Select ‘View Generalization Lessons’
Click on the PDF icon next to the lesson name
*If you would like to view the complete library of generalization lessons, uncheck the box next to ‘Recommended Only.’
Can I prevent my student from exiting the program?
On an iPad, you can set up guided access. Guided Access will lock your student into the app until you turn off guided access with a password.
