Improving Comprehension for Students with Learning Disabilities

Improving Comprehension for Students with Learning Disabilities

Students with Learning Disabilities may need extra time to learn to read; phonemic awareness and phonics skills will need more directed instruction and these students require more strategies for these skills to become fluent or automatic. The same is true in the area of reading comprehension, for students who are impacted by learning disabilities, although this struggle may not show up until the later years of elementary school; as this is when the expectation for reading comprehension increases.

Students with learning disabilities may not be aware of basic strategies that good readers use, such as re-reading a passage for a clearer understanding. These difficulties are a result of a lack of strategic processing and metacognition. Strategic processing is the ability to control and manage one’s own cognitive activities in a reflective, purposeful fashion. Metacognition is the ability to evaluate whether one is performing successfully. (http://www.ldonline.org/article/86/ 

Attached is a link that provides reading comprehension interventions. It provides skills broken up by topic and skill and ways to assist a student that may struggle or need more reinforcment on this particular area. I have found it extremely helpful in my own classroom.

Narrative Text

            Research shows that direct instruction and the use of meaningful strategies can improve comprehension abilities among students. Text is typically categorized as either narrative text (fiction) or expository text (factual). Narrative text is usually easier for students to comprehend because it is more familiar to readers. (http://www.ldonline.org/article/86/)

In my own first grade classroom a plethora of both types of text is offered in our classroom library for students to read. I notice that although they are very interested in the realistic pictures of the expository text pieces, they feel more comfortable reading narrative text, as many times this text and pictures are more predictable in terms of a story plot and word usage.  In the research that I found it mentions that when reading narrative text students typically use story structure as a way to organize the important events or information in the text they are reading. Students with learning disabilities are slower to develop this ability and skills such as making inferences, identifying story themes and story information can be very difficult. (http://www.ldonline.org/article/86/) These students need strategies and techniques to improve these difficulties when working with narrative text. One strategy that can help is called TELLS which consists of four steps:

(T): study story titles

(E): examine and skim pages for clues

(L, L): look for important and difficult words

(S): think about the story settings

 

Research shows that using this strategy helped students raise their scores on standardized reading assessments and improve their accuracy on comprehension questions. When the strategy was taken away their performance declined. (http://www.ldonline.org/article/86/)

Expository Text

 

Teaching students with learning disabilities to understand expository text can be more challenging than narrative text because expository text involves more complex structures like the use of the cause and effect strategy  and compare and contrast. (http://www.ldonline.org/article/86/) There needs to be a high level of direct teaching and interaction for all students when it comes to supporting students with this style of text, but special attention needs to be given to students with learning disabilities in this area, as they will require different strategies in multiple settings to meet their individualized needs.

            Several years ago low scores across all grade-levels in the area of expository text was occurring in the school that I teach at. At that time I was teaching 2^nd grade and worked very hard to develop strategies to help students when reading and trying to comprehend this type of text. I found a series of books that gave many nonfiction writing pieces geared to that specific grade-level, across many different science and social studies topics; that were also leveled.  Each piece includes a below level, average, and advanced piece to support each topic, so we were able to differentiate for the needs of our students. I began teaching this strategy in a whole group atmosphere. I would blow up one of the pieces (usually a piece that would be easy for most students so that they could use it for the purpose of technique and learning to begin with). The students would be asked to give any background knowledge that they could share about the topic. The students would then read the comprehension questions at the end of the text so that they could get an idea of what we might learn through our reading. They would make predictions then I would  read through the text with the students and we would use highlighting tape to highlight interesting words, and use a marker to circle words that they need more clarification on. After discussing those words, students would begin answering the comprehension questions. They were asked to use wiki sticks to underline the place where they found the information in the text. If the question asked them to draw conclusions, they needed to give information from the text that helped them arrive at their answer. We would have discussions about what information they found interesting and new things they had learned while reading. Although this strategy was time consuming it was EXTREMELY beneficial. My students began to really reflect and make meaning of expository text. I shared this strategy with my reading specialist and members of my team and in a book talk setting being conducted at my school. Students with learning disabilities who were struggling with comprehension difficulties really benefited from this direct instruction. After they learned the approach, we began using leveled text in small reading groups and then eventually many could become mostly independent with this task. My comprehension scores on benchmark assessments went up quite considerably in that time, even among struggling students.

 

Below is a picture of one of the books in the series of books that I used for strategy

Students who are struggling with comprehension strategies also really benefit from time spent in their small reading groups. This time offers practice with key skills at a level that meets each students current reading needs, and in a group that is small enough so each student is benefiting from this  reading time. Below is a great video that shows how a reading group is conducted so that all students are utilizing their reading time in the most productive way. Instead of round-robin style reading the kids are working the whole time on reading and are trained to be using certain comprehension approaches while they work. In this video the teacher can really monitor every student and can provide extra support when necessary.

Teaching comprehension strategies is no easy task for students with any learning style at any age, but students with learning disabilities are more seriously impacted. Using the strategies and research outlined in this post, teachers should be able to quickly implement some of this knowledge into their own teaching practices to target students in need and boost comprehension skills.

           Resources:

Williams, J. (2000). Improving comprehension for students with ld. Retrieved from http://www.ldonline.org/article/86/

Academic intervention-reading comprehension. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.interventioncentral.org/academic-interventions

 

Math Mnemonics and Struggling Learners

 

Mnemonics instruction is an instructional practice that is commonly used with students who have learning disabilities, as a strategy that helps them to memorize and recall key information. This approach is also extremely beneficial to non-disabled students and students in any grade-level. Mnemonics instruction allows students to access the general education curriculum, in a way that may be most beneficial to their individualized learning needs. The way this approach is delivered is extremely beneficial to students who are learning disabled because it allows them the tools they need to encode information and retrieve it from memory much easier at later points. This approach can be used in all subject areas, and can be tailored to the learners’ individual needs.

Mnemonics is a memory enhancing instructional strategy that teaches students to link new information to information that they already know. The use of Mnemonics instruction asks kids to use visual, verbal, and auditory cues to learn and retain information, along with making a connection to the topic at hand. For example younger students may be asked to learn a song that requires them to sing a letter, its sound, and the name of a picture that begins with that letter.

Mnemonics instruction is very important in the area of math. Often students are required to learn many different skills and strategies and then add to those skills to complete more complicated steps. For students with learning disabilities it may be very difficult for them to remember how to complete a problem that requires multiple steps or processes. There are many different mnemonics approaches that may aide students when teaching new math concepts.

One Mnemonics strategy is called Keyword Strategy
The keyword strategy is based on linking new information to keywords that are already encoded to memory. A teacher might teach a new vocabulary word by first identifying a keyword that sounds similar to the word being taught and easily represented by a picture or drawing. Then the teacher generates a picture that connects the word to be learned with its definition. According to Scruggs & Mastropieri (n.d.), the keyword strategy works best when the information to be learned is new to students.

Example of Keyword Strategy

Visual Images for the “2 Family”

2×2 skateboard with 2 sets of wheels

3×2 six pack of soda

4×2 spider with two sets of four legs

5×2 two hands with all fingers held up

6×2 dozen eggs in a carton

7×2 calendar with 2 weeks circled

8×2 two octopi, each with eight tentacles

9×2 an 18 wheel truck

(Wood & Frank, 2000) (http://www.k8accesscenter.org/training_resources/Mnemonics.asp)

Another Mnemonics based strategy is called Pegword Strategy.The pegword strategy uses rhyming words to represent numbers or order. The rhyming words or “peg words” provide visual images that can be associated with facts or events and can help students associate the events with the number that rhymes with the pegword. It has proven useful in teaching students to remember ordered or numbered information (Scruggs & Mastropieri, n.d.). For example, “one” is typically represented by the word pegword “bun,” two is represented by the pegword “shoe,” and “three” is represented by the pegword “tree.” Here is a great example of number recognition poems and songs to use with younger students. http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/songspoems72.html

l I used this when teaching my 1^st graders at the beginning of the year and sometime I still here them chanting the poem to themselves when making the number. These poems are also hung up as a visual in the classroom and a copy is kept in their poetry folders to refer back to, and to offer continue practice and repetition. Here is an example of the pegword strategy when introducing adding doubles with children. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljPKoNJH1J Here is a rap to introduce telling time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6bA0e1Q9Q&feature=related , and one when learning to recognize 3D shapes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9L9l86N-xM&feature=related . This is an example for counting coins that we use in my classroom a lot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SGDAMKtHTE&feature=related. All of these strategies are very engaging and ‘catchy’ once students learn them they can refer back to them and use the strategy when trying to recall information.

The use of Letter Strategy teaching involves the use of acronyms and acrostics. Acronyms are words whose individual letters can represent elements in lists of information. An example of this strategy is shown below.

Letter Strategy for Problem-Solving

S earch the word problem

T ranslate the words into an equation in picture form

A nswer the problem

R eview the solution

All three strategies can be implemented very effectively for mathematics instruction within the regular education setting or in small group work inside or outside of the classroom. The Pegword strategy seems to be the most commonly used approach when using mnemonics in mathematics instruction, because it was designed to help students learn numeric instruction in a specific sequence. Mnemonicsare used in teaching math facts, order of operations, measurement, geometry, problem-solving techniques, and other areas of math.documents(/Mnemonicinstruction-math-4-20-05.pdf) (http://www.k8accesscenter.org/training_resources/

Teachers should not only present new information to their students, but they should give them a way to remember it, and make it more meaningful and relevant to them. When using mnemonic strategies teachers should use these strategies frequently ask a way to ‘ignite’ prior learning among students. It is also beneficial to have these strategies posted in the classroom for students to refer back to. Students should be able to tell why the mnemonic strategy is in place. They should ask themselves the question of “How does this help me? How does this make learning more meaningful to me? The use of technology in the classroom helps to make using mnemonics strategies even more meaningful. With the use of my SmartBoard I am able to display catching songs, poems, rhymes, and visuals for the students to see.

Using math mnemonics in daily instruction is crucial for many students’ that struggle who have learning disabilities or have recall or memory issues. In a recent article that I have included below,  78.9% if students with learning disabilities are in the regular education classroom for most of the day. This statistic shows the high demands that teachers face to make sure that curriculum is differentiated and adjusted to meet the needs of all learners. Adding mnemonics strategies over cross-curricular in classroom instruction is one way to aide students in their struggle to learn, retain, process, and make meaning of important concepts in the classroom. To read this amazing article on the use of mnemonics in the classroom visit; http://www.ldonline.org/article/5912/.

Below is a picture of how I bring the use of mnemonics into my own classroom. Each morning, as part of our calendar routine the kids locate the coin I specify and pull the coin to the middle of the screen, which then reveals a poem to describe each coin and its value. This has helped my kids tremendously with coin identification and value. Check out the photo below taken from my own classroom!

References:

Mastropieri, M. (2010). Enhancing school success with mnemonic strategies. Retrieved from http://www.ldonline.org/article/5912/

The Access Center: Improving Outcomes for All Students K-8. (n.d.). Using mneumonic instruction to teach math. Retrieved from http://www.k8accesscenter.org/training_resources/documents/Mnemonicinstruction-math-4-20-05.pdf

Executive Dysfunction and the Elementary School Student

Executive dysfunction and the elementary school student

 

 

 

What is Executive Functions?

Executive function is a set of mental processes that connect past experience with present action. People use this for planning, organizing, strategizing, paying attention to and remembering details, and managing time and space. (ncld.org) Executive function difficulties are often first discovered in the early elementary years, primarily because it is the first time that children are asked to plan and navigate through their schoolwork independently. It is expected in all environments that we learn to self-regulate behavior. This is a difficult task for students with executive functioning difficulties. These difficulties can impact the child’s ability to function and learn with ease in a school setting.

 

 

Why do we need executive functioning? (ncld.org)

• Keep track of work and finish it on time
• Keep track of more than one thing
• Ability to bring past knowledge in conversations
• Evaluate ideas and reflect of work
• Change minds and make mid-course corrections while thinking, reading, and writing.
• Ask for help when needed.
• Engage in group dynamics
• Wait to speak until it is appropriate

Warning Signs of executive functioning difficulties amongst students: (ncld.org)

• Comprehending how much time something will take to complete
• Trouble planning
• Telling stories in an organized/sequential manner
• Difficulty communicating written and verbal
• Memorizing and retrieving information from memory
• Initiating activities or tasks
• Generating ideas independently
• Retaining information while doing a task (remembering a phone number while dialing)

 

How can educators help students with executive dysfunction?

Students who struggle with executive functioning skills benefit from educators who are organized, clear, and concise. These students will benefit from visual schedules and directions, organized work space, check-lists, assignment book checked by teachers and parents, breaking assignments down, allowing extra time to plan and organize, schedule weekly times for students to clean work area and organize materials. Break bigger projects in smaller chunks.

 

 

What type of methods or strategies aide students with executive dysfunction in the classroom?

Students with executive dysfunction will benefit from blocks of time in school that are based on student centered activities that allow the children to make decisions, prioritize, edit and revise work, set goals, receive immediate feedback, estimate with feedback and judgment, relate past experiences to current learning and use systematic organized approaches.

During the last two years of my own teaching career I looped with a first and second grade class full of active and diverse learners. In this group there were two students who were affected by executive dysfunction, one moderately and one very significantly. It was very difficult for these students to regulate their own learning in situations such as daily reading groups and centers. They could not structure their time meaningfully and appropriately. During their first year with me I realized that I was going to have to organize something completely different to make this large portion of the day meaningful and engaging for them. After reading the “Daily 5” reading program by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser, and collaborating with the school psychologist and special educators, I was able to use some of those practice and strategies to structure this time in my classroom more effectively.  I later was able to structure my classroom in this way for both reading and math independent/group work. I began by establishing purposeful and meaningful activities surrounding reading and math and teaching each of those activities in a very ordered and sequential manner, with plenty of reiteration and clear concise explanation.  The students worked to build ‘stamina’ on each of the expected activities they evaluated their own progress daily and I also evaluated them. They were able to take ownership of their own learning by planning out the route that they would take each week to accomplish their reading goals and activities. They could expect that the same amount of time would be given for each activity. Pictures and visuals were displayed and they were exposed to these images and picture clues daily. I also made’ scheduling boards’, where students  planned their work/activities for the time block and moved the appropriate picture to those spaces. They kept the boards with them as a reminder. At the end of the week they would reflect on their work and discuss pros and cons of the week, and goals for the following week. At first this approach seemed out of reach for the students in my class that struggled with executive functioning skills. After time and repetition this approach proved to be single-handedly the best and most meaningful way that I have structured time for students who struggle with planning, processing, and organizing. The students knew that by the end of the week they were required to finish all of the expected jobs. The jobs changed only in content,  not in expectations so it helped these students to recall each job and its importance. By the end of the year all of my students, (but specifically the students with executive functioning difficulties) were able to navigate through their day with ease. They had a large sense of independence and accomplishment and valued their school day. They had learned strategies and tools that they could carry with them as they move forward in their own learning journeys.

 

Links of interest and relevance:

Executive Dysfunction and organizing homework

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7h11COAhtE

Song about executive dysfunction

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAG-XwriZS4

Works Cited:

NCLD Editorial Staff. (2010, December 17). What is executive function?. Retrieved from http://www.ncld.org/ld-basics/ld-aamp-executive-functioning/basic-ef-facts/what-is-executive-function

Willis, J. (2011, October 10). Three brain-based teaching strategies to build executive function in students. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/brain-based-teaching-strategies-judy-willis

All about Catabia!

Hello!

Welcome to Collaborating With Catabia! I am very excited for this graduate class, ED 532-Advanced  Methods, Teaching Students with LD, and the opportunity to create my own blog! Yes, I am one of THOSE teachers who has spent more than my fair share of time admiring others blogs, and have been telling myself to begin my own. HERE IS MY OPPORTUNITY! Along with this blog, devoted to this graduate class, I also plan to start one for my own 1st grade classroom this semester. So stay tuned!

I am currently a 1st grade teacher in Hudson, New Hampshire. I have taught Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade. My favorite  and most rewarding  experience was when I  decided to loop with one of my 1st grade groups and I took them on and taught 2nd grade. It was such a FABULOUS opportunity with an amazing group!

I received my bachelors degree in Elementary and General Special Education and am currently ALMOST finished with my M.ed in Reading and Learning Disabilities.

Along with being a busy teacher and graduate student I also run an afterschool cheerleading program for 30 3rd and 4th graders, I am involved in many different committees at the Elementary school that I work at, and currently direct the new-teacher mentoring program. This year a fellow colleague and I helped to develop strategies for an RTI behavior management program that has been implemented in the school that I am teaching at. We  even got to speak about it at the NH Winter Principals Conference, in Meredith, NH.

The world of education has ALWAYS been something that I have been extremely passionate about. It is my biggest mission to allow every student the opportunity to develop a strong sense of self , feeling of community, and passion for learning. I love planning, creating, and implementing hands-on activities to engage my little learners. The use of technology in my classroom has completely changed the way I teach and view best teaching practices-it is INCREDIBLE to facilitate the learning experiences that can take place with the use of a smartboard!

Thanks for spending some time getting to know me…I look forward to seeing how COLLABORATING WITH CATABIA develops in the coming months!