If the student has difficulty learning by listening, then try
Before the lesson:
- Pre-teach difficult vocabulary and concepts
- State the objective, providing a reason for listening
- Teach the mental activities involved in listening — mental note-taking, questioning, reviewing
- Provide study guides/worksheets
- Provide script of film
- Provide lecture outlines
During the lesson:
- Provide visuals via the board or overhead
- Use flash cards
- Have the student close his eyes and try to visualize the information
- Have the student take notes and use colored markers to highlight
- Teach the use of acronyms to help visualize lists (Roy G. Biv for the colors of the spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet)
- Give explanations in small, distinct steps
- Provide written as well as oral directions
- Have the student repeat directions
- When giving directions to the class, leave a pause between each step so student can carry out the process in his mind
- Shorten the listening time required
- Provide written and manipulative tasks
- Be concise with verbal information: “Jane, please sit.” instead of “Jane, would you please sit down in your chair.”
If the student has difficulty expressing himself verbally, then try…
- To accept an alternate form of information sharing, such as the following:
- Written report
- Artistic creation
- Exhibit or showcase
- Chart, graph, or table
- Photo essay
- Map
- Review of films
- Charade or pantomime
- Demonstration
- Taped report
- Ask questions requiring short answers
- Provide a prompt, such as beginning the sentence for the student or giving a picture cue
- Give the rules for class discussion (e.g., hand raising)
- Give points for oral contributions and preparing the student individually
- Teach the student to ask questions in class
- Specifically teach body and language expression
- Wait for students to respond — don’t call on the first student to raise his hand
- First ask questions at the information level — giving facts and asking for facts back; then have the student break in gradually by speaking in smaller groups and then in larger groups
If the student has difficulty reading written material, then try…
- Find a text written at lower level
- Provide highlighted material
- Rewrite the student’s text
- Tape the student’s text
- Allow a peer or parent to read text aloud to student
- Shorten the amount of required reading
- Look for same content in another medium (movie, filmstrip, tape)
- Provide alternative methods for student to contribute to the group, such as role playing or dramatizing (oral reading should be optional)
- Allow extra time for reading
- Omit or shortening the reading required
- Substitute one-page summaries or study guides which identify key ideas and terms as the reading assignment
- Motivate the student, interesting him
- Provide questions before student reads a selection (include page and paragraph numbers)
- Put the main ideas of the text on index cards which can easily be organized in a file box and divided by chapters; pre-teaching vocabulary
- Type material for easier reading
- Use larger type
- Be more concrete-using pictures and manipulatives
- Reduce the amount of new ideas
- Provide experience before and after reading as a frame of reference for new concepts
- State the objective and relating it to previous experiences
- Help the student visualize what is read
If the student has difficulty writing legibly, then try…
- Use a format requiring little writing
- Multiple-choice
- Programmed material
- True/false
- Matching
- Use manipulatives such as letters from a Scrabble game or writing letters on small ceramic tiles
- Reduce or omit assignments requiring copying
- Encourage shared note-taking
- Allow the use of a tape recorder, a typewriter, or a computer
- Teach writing directly
- Trace letters or writing in clay
- Verbalize strokes on tape recorder
- Use a marker to space between words
- Tape the alphabet to student’s desk
- Provide a wallet-size alphabet card
- Provide courses in graph analysis or calligraphy as a motivator
- Use graph paper to help space letters and numbers in math
- Use manuscript or lined ditto paper as a motivation technique (brainstorm the advantages of legibility with the class)
If the student has difficulty expressing himself in writing, then try…
- Accepting alternate forms of reports:
- Oral reports
- Tape-recorded report
- Tape of an interview
- Collage, cartoon, or other art
- Maps
- Diorama, 3-D materials, showcase exhibits
- Photographic essay
- Panel discussion
- Mock debate
- Review of films and presentation of an appropriate one to the class
- Have the student dictate work to someone else (an older student, aide, or friend) and then copy it himself
- Allow more time
- Shorten the written assignment (preparing an outline or summary)
- Provide a sample of what the finished paper should look like to help him organize the parts of the assignment
- Provide practice using:
- Story starters
- Open-ended stories
- Oral responses (try some oral spelling tests)
If the student has difficulty spelling, then try…
- Dictate the work and then asking the student to repeat it (saying it in sequence may eliminate errors of omitted syllables)
- Avoid traditional spelling lists (determine lists from social needs and school area needs)
- Use mnemonic devices (“A is the first capital letter,” “The capitol building has a dome”)
- Teach short, easy words in context:
- On and on
- Right on!
- On account of
- Have students make flashcards and highlight the difficult spots on the word
- Give a recognition level spelling test (asking the student to circle correct word from three or four choices)
- Teach words by spelling patterns (teach “cake,” “bake,” “take,” etc. in one lesson)
- Use the Language Master for drill
- Avoid penalizing for spelling errors
- Hang words from the ceiling during study time or posting them on the board or wall as constant visual cues
- Provide a tactile/kinesthetic aid for spelling (sandpaper letters to trace or a box filled with salt or cereal to write in)
Publication Date:
Kathleen L. Bulloch was a speech/language pathologist for the Riverside County Office of Education in Riverside, California. Portions of this article were adapted from The Mystery of Modifying: Creative Solutions published by the Education Service Center.
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Education Oasis