1. Learning Strategies

2. Active Learning Strategies
Alternatives to Whole Class Question/ Answer
Ways to Engage All Learners
Communicate High Expectations
Check for Understanding

3. If You Want Students to Work in Pairs
Think – Pair – Share
Ask a Question
Discuss with Neighbor
Share Responses with Whole Group or Table

4. If You Want Students to Summarize Their Learning
3 Important Events in Person’s Life
2 Questions You Would Like to Ask This Person if You Could Talk to Them
1 Way in Which You Are Like This Person

5. If You Want to Check for Understanding
Use Signal Cards
Instruct Students to Raise Signal Cards to Answer Questions
Example: Mean, Median, Mode, Range

6. If You Want Students to Activate Prior Learning
4 Corners
Pose a Question That has Multiple Answers.
Ask Students to Move to the Corner of the Room With Other Students Who Share the Same View.

7. If You Want Students to Summarize Their Learning
Ticket to Leave
To Provide Formative Assessment Data
Name Something Learned Today.
What Will You Tell Your Parent That You Learned Today?

8. Motivation
Motivation to learn or participate is essential to the success of any intervention approach.
For an intervention to be effective for a student with learning problems, the individual must be motivated.
For adolescents with learning problems, it’s a roadblock to school success.

9. Motivation to Participate
The adage
“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.”
May be altered to …
“Although you can’t make a horse drink the water, you can salt the hay.”
Motivation to Participate

10. Examples of Extrinsic Motivation
Time for listening to music on a CD or MP3 player
Tokens for progress on academics
Tangible reinforcers such as restaurant coupons, magazines, and movie tickets
Exemption from some homework or assignments
Extra time for a break or lunch

11. Extrinsic Motivation Cont.
The most useful techniques include:
token economies
contingency contracting
verbal feedback

12. Content Instruction
In most educational programs, adolescents with learning problems spend the majority of their school day in general education classes.
The general education teacher must individualize and modify instruction to accommodate the needs of students with learning problems.

13. Problem-Solving Sequence for General & Special Educators
Determine the requirements for “making it” in the general class.
Specify the course requirements that the student is not satisfying.
Identify factors hindering the student’s performance.
Brainstorm possible classroom accommodations.
Select a plan of action.
Implement the plan.
Evaluate the plan.

14. Adapting Materials Developing parallel curriculum Simplifying texts
Using audio texts

15. Effective Teaching Strategies for Direct Instruction
Specify clear lesson objectives
Teach directly to those objectives
Make learning as concrete and meaningful as possible
Provide relevant guided practice
Provide independent practice
Provide transfer practice activities
Teacher Vision

16. Strategies for Students with Disabilities *
Sequence – Break down the task, step by step prompts.
Drill-repetition and practice-review – Daily testing of skills, repeated practice, daily feedback.
Segment – Break down targeted skill into smaller units and then synthesize the parts into a whole.
Direct question and response – Teacher asks process-related questions and/or content-related questions.

17. Strategies Cont.
Control the difficulty or processing demands of a task – Task is sequenced from easy to difficult and only necessary hints or probes are provided.
Technology – Use a computer, structured text, flow charts to facilitate presentation, emphasis is on pictorial representations.
Group Instruction – Instruction occurs in a small group, students and/or teacher interact with the group.
Supplement teacher and peer involvement – Use homework, parents, or others to assist in instruction.
Strategy clues – Reminders to use strategies or multi-steps, the teacher verbalizes problem solving or procedures to solve, instruction uses think-aloud models.
H.L. Swanson

18. Study Skills
Many students with learning problems lack study skills and need instruction to learn them.
11 study skills: (Hoover, 1993)
Reading rate
Listening
Note taking/outlining
Report writing

19. 11 Study Skills (cont’d) Oral presentation Graphic aids Test taking
Library use
Reference/dictionary use
Time management
Self-management of behavior

20. Testing
Students with learning problems frequently have difficulty displaying their knowledge or skills on tests. Modifications in test formats often help them perform better.

21. Suggestions for Improving Test Performance
Give frequent, timed mini-tests.
Use alternative response forms.
Multiple choice alternatives.
Short answer alternatives.
Essay alternatives.
Provide a tape of the test items.
Leave ample white space between test questions, and underline key words in the directions and test items.
Provide test-study guides that feature various answer formats.
Provide additional time for the student who writes slowly, or use test items that require minimal writing. Oral tests also may be given and the answers recorded on tape.

22. The five strategies to help students with disabilities get the most from their homework are: 
Give clear and appropriate assignments. 
Make accommodations in homework assignments. 
Teach study skills. 
Use a homework planner. 
Ensure clear home/school communication. 
Cynthia Warger, 2001