Learning Strategies for Special Education Needs

Potential area of
difficulty
Implications for mathematics Possible strategies
The student may have a
short-term memory
difficulty.
Retention of number facts can be a problem. Encourage the use of visual clues to aid
memory.
Use number rhymes and songs.
Provide the student with strategies for
remembering facts such as doubles,
near doubles, etc.
Practise estimation sills so that
calculator can be used efficiently
!or on maing number operations
automatic through fun games such as
table darts.

The student finds it difficult to stay on tas.
Provide shorter tass with clear
rewards for staying on tas such as
computer use or game time.
"eep periods of instruction short and
to the point, and recap fre#uently.
Provide short wor sessions with
achievable goals. Encourage the
student to become aware of the
difficulty and to try to $beat their
target$ in staying on tas.
Use teacher observation efficiently
and note achievements, strengths
and preferred learning styles for use in
planning future wor.
Use classroom management which
focuses on contingent praise and
encouragement %i.e. rewarding the
tas behaviour and not &ust the
answer'.This includes accepting
(good) answer that may not be
necessarily correct, e.g.*+ary found
an interesting away of doing that
problem, let$s see how it wors.*
The use of open-ended that have
different problems
that have different possible answers
can help to develop a positive attitude
to problem-solving.
The student may have
difficulty in
understanding
mathematical
concepts-abstractions
The student finds mathematics
particularly difficult and has difficulty with
counting numbers, place value, and with
understanding what is happening when
using the four operations.
.re#uent practice of the concepts
to be learned should be varied by
use of games, /0T, and real-life
problems relevant to the student$s
e1perience. +ae the learning fun
by using funny names, silly
scenarios or unliely settings, for
e1ample2
Tommy went to +ars for his
holiday and met 3 aliens.They
each had 4 arms. 5ow many
Alijahipgik2010
Learning Strategies for Special Education Needs
arms had the aliens
altogether6 7raw the aliens.
!hat if they each had 8 arms6
The student may have
difficulties with spatial
awareness, he-she
may not have had
opportunities to play
with pu99les, blocs,
etc.
The student may have difficulty
organising materials, may display left-right
confusion in recording, may not
recognise shapes if inverted, or may
constantly lose items in the room.
Plenty of wor with three
dimensional ob&ects will be
needed, with particular attention
being paid to the language of
spatial awareness, e.g. up-down,
over-under, shape words.
Use of &igsaws, bloc pu99les and
tangrams in a fun way can help
students with this area.
!or on awareness of own
personal space, especially in PE,
left and right distance from, etc.
"eep consistent organisation
patterns in the classroom.
Use visual cues for location and
direction on charts or table top.
:ive oral cues related to the
student$s own position, e.g. on
your door side.
;llow students to remain in the
same seating position for group
wor.
The student may have
difficulty applying
previously learned
nowledge.
The student may find it difficult to use a
sill or concept in another setting such
as measuring in geography or science.
7raw the student$s attention to what is
happening2 *This is &ust lie the
measuring we did last wee !hat did
we use to measure our boos6 5ow
did we place the ruler6*
0onsciously reinforce mathematical
concepts in other areas of the
curriculum, e.g. sorting and classifying
in science, space and shape in art
%e.g. printing <-7 shapes, both
randomly and in se#uences-patterns'.
7raw the student$s attention to what is
happening2 *This is &ust lie the
measuring we did last wee !hat did
we use to measure our boos6 5ow
did we place the ruler6*
0onsciously reinforce mathematical
concepts in other areas of the
curriculum, e.g. sorting and classifying
in science, space and shape in art
%e.g. printing <-7 shapes, both
randomly and in se#uences-patterns'.
The student may
display poor
vocabulary/other
The student cannot follow complex
sentences or multiple meanings, may
process only part of the instruction (e.g.
Identify and specifically target
mathematical language, ensuring that
it is reinforced in different settings
Alijahipgik2010
Learning Strategies for Special Education Needs
language difficulties. when told to put a red circle around all
the big things, he/she may process only
'circle' and 'things'.
The student finds it difficult to verbalise
what he/she doing in mathematics or to
relate the vocabulary of mathematics to
real!life situations.
and in other areas of the curriculum,
e.g. location words (on, in, under,
etc. in P", drawing games that
involve following instructions
containing target words, e.g. draw a
s#uare in the middle of your page, put
a blue triangle beside (under, to the
right of, etc. the s#uare.
$e clear in communicating to both
students and parents the
language that is being covered each
wee%, e.g. using a note in
a copy or a wall chart to list the
'mathematics words of the
wee%'.
The student may
experience reading
difficulties. (&or
writing difficulties, see
the section on
communication and
language.
'eading difficulties can prevent students
from engaging with mathematics( they may
be capable of completing the mathematical
tas% but become frustrated and confused
by printed words.
) Provide alternative forms
of problems using visual
presentation of material.
) *s% the student to pic% out the
parts of the problem that he/she
can read, and to focus on what
information is relevant+there is
often a lot of redundant
information in a written problem.
) *void presenting the student with
pages of textboo%
problems by giving modified
wor%sheets or verbally delivered
instructions, e.g. ,-ary has six
sweets and she gives her brother
four( how many has she left.,
"ncourage the student to use
drawings to 'write' down the
important features, e.g.
-ary has / / / / / /
(Ta%e away four by crossing them
out 0ow many are left.
The student has
difficulty in following
instructions.
The student becomes confused when faced
with more than one instruction at a time.
:et the student to repeat the
instruction%s'.
Use short, clear instructions or
pictorial cues, e.g. a picture of a
copyboo on the blacboard or on a
card.
Use cue sheets, for e1ample2
Tae out a copy
and pencil
%picture' !hat
ind of problem
is it6 * !hat
do / need to
now6 !hat do
/ do ne1t6
:ive clear guidance on how and when
assistance will be given by the
teacher-other students during the
lesson.
Alijahipgik2010
Learning Strategies for Special Education Needs
The student may be
overwhelmed by the
learning process.
The student becomes overwhelmed when
presented with new information or sills and
conse#uently cannot learn.
=ary the materials given to a group >
some using number strips to 3 while
others are using them to ?@, where
appropriate.
;dapt the teaching style, e.g. use more
discussion at the beginning and at the
end of the lesson to help both teacher
and student to understand how learning
taes place.
/ntroduce variety in the responses
re#uired > the same activity can often
be done with a group or class, but some
students can be re#uired to answer
orally, some by using symbolic
representation, or some by using a
pictorial response, e.g.
A B Q = QQQ
=ary the re#uirements of the tas > one
group or individual may only have to do
si1 of the calculations whereas another
may have to do ten or more. Cet personal
targets for the Ctudents so that they do
not feel that others are getting less to do
than they are.
Alijahipgik2010