Instructor

1
SE 3633 Methods and Materials Chapter 13
Content Instruction in the
Regular Education Classroom

• Instructor
• Dr. Lewis R. Johnson
• Spring 2000

2
Introduction

• Children with mild disabilities are able to
  profit from instruction in the general education
  curriculum and their educational program should
  be linked to the general education curriculum
  frameworks. See Sample page
• http//arkedu.state.ar.us/standard.htm
• The files are contained at this site are pdf
  (portable document format) and requires Adobes
  Acrobat Reader, a small utility program, be
  loaded on your computer. Instructions are located
  at this site

3
Introduction

• The Council for Exceptional Children has outlined
  standards for the preparation of teachers of
  these children. Consequently, to the CEC
  standards emphasize the facilitation of the
  success of these students in general education
  classrooms. This chapter focuses on these
  important adaptations and modifications.
• CEC competency standards for the preparation of
  teachers
• http//www.ncate.org/standard/cec.pdf

4
Terminology

• Curricular modification
• is the process of making changes in the content
  expectations being taught.
• Instructional adaptation
• is the teaching of the same content as other
  non-disabled children using methods which
  facilitate the learning of children with
  disabilities.
• For this chapter, we will refer to these as
  simply adaptations.

5
The classroom teachers view of adaptations

• Regular education teachers are generally willing
  to make adaptations. However, remember that many
  teachers are trained in content and instructional
  methodologies which address the needs of average
  to above-average children. Some teachers may lack
  a comprehensive understanding of the cognitive,
  physical, behavioral, and social characteristics
  of the diverse group of students we call mildly
  disabled.

6
Desirability v. feasibility of adaptations

• The key to success is helping teachers overcome
  their knowledge and skill deficiencies, along
  with their feelings of uneasiness when children
  with disabilities are placed in their classrooms.
  This is accomplished through collaborative
  consultation which we learned about early in this
  course.
• The teachers view of adaptations / modifications
  is that they are more desirable than feasible.
  Teachers view adaptations and modifications more
  positively if they are feasible (reasonable) to
  implement with an entire class, such as reading a
  test aloud. This is not an intrusive
  adaptation.

7
Characteristics of adaptations which are accepted
and implemented by teachers

• easy to implement,
• able to be used with the whole class
• beneficial for children experiencing difficulties
  who are not disabled
• (see the textbook page 327-328 for a discussion
  of the Schumm and Vaughn (1991) article)

8
Collaborating with RE teachers

• SE teachers should consider the following
  guidelines
• Ascertain the strengths and needs of the teacher
• Build on the teachers strengths
• Allow the teacher to offer suggestions or select
  from a list adaptations
• Provide coaching and support as adaptations are
  implemented

9
Skills for School Success Materials

• An excellent program for teaching skills
  necessary for survival in the regular classroom
  is published by Curriculum Associates. The Skills
  for School Success materials is highly
  recommended.
• Visit http//www.curriculumassociates.com/publicat
  ions/sss.html

10
Sources of information on adaptations

• The text includes many adaptations and
  modifications, however, the Arkansas Individual
  Education Program forms for documenting also
  contains a list.
• The list, with suggestions for implementing, are
  available on-line and as a document in this
  program.
• Link to AR - IEP Adaptations.

11
Adapting Instruction

• The following are suggestions
• Advanced organizers
• are a pre teaching strategy that structures the
  learning situation or the content so the child
  grasps how this information is associated with
  other information. It is a framework, like an
  outline. Yes, this Power Point presentation is
  your advanced organizer for the chapter!
• Pre teaching key vocabulary is another good
  advanced organizer.

12
Adapting Instruction

• Graphic organizers
• are a strategy used during instruction to
  represent the relationships between facts and
  concepts, and cause and effect relationships.
• The Problem..Solutions..Effects framework is
  cited in the text as especially helpful in
  teaching science and social studies.
• The graphic organizers provided during the
  chapter on written language are excellent for
  representing content information.

13
Adapting Instruction

• Mnemonics are a special type of metacognitive
  devices which aid remembering.
• These strategies address a significant learning
  need of children with disabilities and helps
  level the playing field for them.
• First-letter acronym strategy
• HOMES to remember the names of the Great Lakes
• Thank Goodness Its Pay Day as a means for
  remembering the teach component of DI.

14
Adapting Instruction

• Keyword Method
• another memory strategy where the student forms a
  mental image which incorporates elements of the
  information to be remembered. The text cites the
  acoustic reconstruction using the picture of the
  settlers in coonskin caps, RACING on the trace (a
  narrow roadway)

15
Adapting Instruction

• Reconstructive Elaborations
• are a type of strategy where the student creates
  a picture which has many details to facilitate
  remembering facts and concepts.
• An example
• Suppose you want to remember who stormed up a
  hill in the Spanish American War
• The student imagines a picture of a teddy bear,
  wearing a T shirt with the date on it, riding up
  a rough hill on a horse with a blanket on it with
  the name Juan.

16
Adapting Instruction

• Technology
• the use of interactive computerized multimedia
  programs, as well as, self-correcting quizzes are
  examples of appropriate uses of technology.
• Types of programs which are readily available
  are
• Drill and practice
• Tutorial
• Simulations
• Word Processing

17
Adapting Textbooks

• Adaptations to consider
• select a text of lower reading level, yet same
  content
• tape record the text
• highlight important parts of text
• use SQ3R prereading strategy
• Survey, question, Read, Recite, Review
• For adapting textbooks we would use the strategy
  of
• Content Enhancement

18
Content Enhancement

• Content Enhancement is a category of strategies
  which are implemented by the teacher, like
  advanced or graphic organizers, that makes the
  content more understandable or accessible to the
  student.
• Those which are particularly useful are the
• Unit Organizer
• Lesson Organizer
• Concept Comparison Routine (see written language
  compare/contrast)
• Link to Content Enhancement Routines from the
  Strategic Instruction Model from the University
  of Kansas.

19
Content Enhancement

• Unit Organizer
• A content orientation routine which prepares the
  student for the unit through the use of a graphic
  representation of the main ideas of the unit. It
  could be in the form of a flow chart, or simply a
  topical outline.

20
Content Enhancement

• Lesson Organizer
• This routine helps the student understand how the
  content of the lesson will be taught or what
  tasks will be presented. This could come in the
  form of graphic representation of the lesson,
  study questions, or a summary, which is looked at
  before instruction begins.

21
Content Enhancement

• Concept Comparison
• This could be a list of three columns such as in
  the following example which compares apples and
  oranges.
• Only Apples Both Only Oranges
• red, yellow, green juicy orange
• fruit
• seeds
• skin

22
Quiz for Chapter 13

• After you have finished this slide presentation
  and read the relevant sections of the chapter,
  proceed to course home page on the web and link
  to Quiz13.

23
Exam for Module 4

• When you are ready to take the examination on
  Module 4 Written Language and Content
  Instruction use the Exam4 link on the course
  homepage and go to course SE3633, enter your
  email address and password, and proceed to Exam
  4.
• If you encounter any problems or have questions
  contact me by email ASAP at Ljohnson_at_kiowa.asta
  te.edu
• The end .

24
Metacognition

• An understanding of the cognitive processes in
  learning and performance so that when used by the
  student enhances learning. Strategies that take
  advantage of this understanding are called
  metacognitive strategies.
• Return to page you left