Special education students will struggle in math for one of three reasons.
1. The student has not mastered the skills required to do the math.
2. The student is unable to keep up with the pace of the class.
3. The student is a concrete learner and needs direct instruction in a rule based method curriculum.
Here's one idea for a modified lesson.
Have a worksheet available instead of using the text. Have 2-4 problems that the general education students are doing. Each problem is written twice. One with all the steps and answer provided. The student simply copies the steps and answer to the problems. The student is given access to and exposed to age appropriate instruction. The remaining work should be focused on the IEP goals. I suggest having a mixture of mastered skills and new skills at the student's learning level. This encourages independence and confidence. It also allows the paraprofessional to help other students in the class.
October 2008
Florida State University Special Education program received a $800,000 visual impairment grant.
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Create a lesson plan and qualify to win a mobile digital camera lab plus as many as 43 different grants for hardware and software.
Digital Wish Grants
Who?
What?
When?
Where?
Why?
How?
Many students with disabilities have trouble answering questions because they don't know what kind of answer they are looking for. Although this is commonly worked on in special education classrooms, having a clue sheet will decrease anxiety and increase comprehension. This clue sheet can be placed in a classroom folder, binder or an agenda. It can even be made into a poster on the wall.
Who? (person, animal, cartoon character, etc.)
When? (time: calendar time, clock time, a year, an era, etc.)
Where? ( place: inside or outside - Examples are in the kitchen, at school, in Florida)
Why? ( because.....)
What is a tricky one. You have to look for other clue words.
What happened to... (event)
What time are we going to... (time)
What will he do to help.... (do... an action/verb)
How is another tricky one. You have to look for other clue words.
How do you.... (list the steps you have to do... actions/verbs)
How many.... (a number)
Here is a link to a press release on June 24, 2008, from the State of Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. It announces the distribution of $5.4 million in Keeping the Promise Aid. The money is going to school districts with costs exceeding $30,000 per child with severe and multiple disabilities.
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Before beginning a history class, develop a basic concept by using personal time lines. Ask the student to make his/her own time line of his/her life. Keep the time line in a class folder, binder, or agenda. When it's time to start a new chapter or read a time line from the textbook, review the personal time line first.
General education students come to middle school history with prior knowledge which we know to be important for ongoing learning. Many CI students who enter general education history classes, do not have a good concept of country and state. Before learning about another country or even the history of our own country, they need to develop this concept. Here is a lesson I have developed for CI students. You will need a map of the United States and a globe for this lesson.
MEET YOUR COUNTRY
Key Words
country - A part of the world with it's own borders, people, and leaders
USA - The United States of America
world - It is round. All of the land is divided into countries.
globe - A round map of the world
president - The president is a leader of a group of people.
Your country is called the United States of America. We call it the U.S.A. or the U.S. for short like a person named Kimberly may be called just Kim. The United States of America has 50 states. You live in one of those states.
The U.S.A. is a big and powerful country in our world. The world is round. We can see all of the countries in the world on a globe.
The President of the U.S.A. is the leader of our country. The people who live in our country vote for our president. You have to be 18 years old to vote.
The president is a very important leader. He has a lot of important things to do and decisions to make for our country. He has to work with other leaders in other countries to keep our world working well and peacefully.
What did you learn?
(Clue words are highlighted.)
1. What is the name of our country?
2. How many states are in the United States of America?
3. What can you see on a globe?
4. What is the short name for the United States of America?
5. Who is the leader of the United States of America?
6. How does a person get to be the president?
7. What does the President of the United States of America do?
Extension Learning
1. What is the name of your state?
2. Have you ever been in another state? If yes, which one?
3. Using a copied map, color your state red. Color all of the other states green. Color all of the water blue.
Answer the questions below to see if your student may have modified/alternative assignments.
1. My student will not take the state standardized test that all general education students take. Instead he/she will use an alternative assessment.
2. My student is not graded by a traditional grading system (A,B,C,D,E). Instead the student uses an alternative grading system or receives a pass/fail for record keeping.
3. My student will not have to meet state requirements for credits in specified subjects.
4. My students educational path will lead to a certificate of completion rather than a traditional diploma.
If you answered yes to all of these questions, your student may receive modified/alternative assignments. If you answered no to any of these, meet with your student's caseload teacher to make the determination according to the IEP.
Here is a sample of a modified 7th grade assignment. Students with even mild cognitive impairments have trouble generalizing new vocabulary and thinking of the question in words they understand. Instead of reading a graph from the textbook to find information, students could just get more familiar with the concept of population. Some students may be able to gain some information but not be able to answer sophisticated questions. Many students with mild cognitive impairments have been exposed to graphs. This is just a sample. It will need to be adjusted to each teacher's assignments and textbook. Note: When making your assignment, allow for a lot of space to write answers. Consider using a bigger font.
World Population Growth
What is population?
Population is the number of people in a place.
Rewrite each question.
SAMPLE: What is the population at my school?
How many people are in my school?
What is the population in Michigan?
What is the population in the United States?
What is the population in the world?
Look at the graph. Remember in math how we look at a graph before we answer the questions. We ask ourselves, "What do I already know about this graph?" That's what you need to write down about the population graph.
If we are going to run out of space in our world, what do you think countries should do?
Now ask your teacher the last question or find the answer in your book.
- Specialized assignments & ideas in math, language arts, social studies, science, and elective classes
- Who should have modified lessons?
- Alternative ideas for inclusion/Continuum of Services
- Para-educator - What is their role?
Students who struggle with academics often learn by seeing and doing. There are some great history sites that history teachers around the country know of. Now let's take it one step further using them for the pictures to tell the stories. Use pictures of people and events. Students can make a time line with the pictures. When testing knowledge, students can match the picture to the correct event. Here are just some of the pictures that can be used by students.
