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| Peer Tutoring: One of the best ways to help children with dyscalculia. |
Students with dyscalculia are usually enrolled in regular classrooms composed of more or less regular students. This is because children with specific learning disability such as dyscalculia have more or less the same intelligence as with regular students. And like any other students enrolled in regular classroom setting, they follow the the usual curriculum implemented in schools. Therefore, a dyscalculic student's specialized curriculum will be in respect with the imposed national curriculum together with its goals and objectives. Curriculum modification will rather be initiated to address her special needs.
To avoid ambiguity, the term curriculum
modification means modifying the contents, instructions, and/or learning
outcomes for diverse student needs (National Center on Accessing General
Curriculum, 2004). This may be in a form of accommodation, adaptation, parallel
curriculum and overlapping curricula. Specifically, to meet the goals and
competencies required by RBEC, accommodation and adaptation are the primary
modifications made in Julie Ann’s curriculum. Accommodation means modification
to the delivery of instruction or method of student performance and does not
change the content or conceptual difficulty of the curriculum (King-Sears,
2001). Accommodation is a modification of instructional methods intended to
meet individual student’s needs of acquiring necessary input from lessons. The
information that students receive remains the same. However, an accommodation
to curriculum modifies the way that students acquire and/or respond to the
information (National Center on Accessing General Curriculum, 2004). Adaptation
on the other hand, is a modification to the delivery of instructional methods
and intended goals of student performance that does not change the content but
does slightly change the conceptual difficulty of the curriculum (King-Sears,
2001). Adaptation is a goal-driven process: in order to decide on an adaptation
to curriculum, intended goals for individual students must first be specified.
Accommodations and
Adaptations
Part of programs and interventions essential
to address the needs of a dyscalculic child is modifying the usual curriculum
given to a regular class. These considerations are made to address the drawbacks
and hindrances brought about the condition as well as to provide the best
learning possible.
Accommodation and adaptation are the key modifications made for this condition.
In accommodation, the content and the difficulty presented by the curriculum
remains the same. What is being modified is the delivery of instruction or
method of student performance that modifies the way that students acquire and/or
respond to the information Adaptation is much likely the same with
accommodation but does slightly change the conceptual difficulty of the
curriculum (King-Sears, 2001). Specifying the objectives is one of the primary
tasks involved.
The
following are some of the accommodations and adaptations that will/can be
implemented in Math instruction and evaluation:
Instruction
a.
Using concrete manipulatives
to demonstrate and practice problems before moving to symbolic.
b.
Highlighting key
words for steps, directions or operations in questions given to her.
c.
Using visual cues (e.g.
stop signs or red dots) on the paper when changing operations. And then giving
cues like raising hand in order that necessary instructions will be provided to
go on.
d.
Using color coding
(e.g. green for addition, red for subtraction, etc.).
e.
Ensuring of a a clear understanding of the math vocabulary
being used (e.g. use of mnemonic devices)
f.
Using
modeling frequently (by the teacher or a tutor).
g.
Teaching
strategies for checking math work (e.g. quotient x divisor = dividend)
Tasks/Activities
a.
Providing extra-large
symbols next to questions in order that the symbols will be more likely to observed
b.
Providing practice in
math by using a computer software program that gives the student immediate
feedback (if available).
c.
Using large colored
arrows to indicate where to begin working on a math problem.
d.
Reducing the number
of questions given, but not the level of difficulty.
e.
Having a math reference
sheet, cue cards, open book/notes that demonstrate the steps to solving a
particular type of question.
f.
Having worked with a
classroom peer.
Educational
Assessment
a.
Evaluating on daily
or weekly basis rather than on lengthy tests or exams.
b.
If lengthy tests are
required, not mixing of concepts at one time.
c.
Allowing the use of
tables or charts.
d.
Providing a visual
model with test questions to demonstrate what is being asked.
e.
Providing graphing
paper for lining up numbers when working math problems.
f.
Using personal
experiences when designing math problems.
g.
Having oral testing
for word problems.
h.
Providing a quiet
place to work.
i.
Allowing extra time
to complete tests.
j.
Highlighting
operational signs so that the signs are very much obvious before beginning an
operation.
k.
Highlighting key
words on a test so that words will surely be noticeable before answering the
question.
REFERENCES:
Bilbao,
P., et. Al(2009). Curriculum development. Manila: Lorimar Publishing
Butterworth, B. (2005). “Developmental dyscalculia,"
in Handbook of Mathematical Cognition, J. Campbell, Ed. New York: Psychology
Press.
Corpuz, B. and Salandanan G.(2009). Principles of
teaching 1. Manila: Lorimar Publishing
Corpuz, B., Rigor, D., and Salandanan G.(2009).
Principles of teaching 2. Manila:Lorimar Publishing
Department of Education, Bureau of Elementary Education
(2010). Lesson guide in elementary mathematics. Manila: Book Media Press Inc.
Dimalanta, F. X. (2009). Understanding dyscalculia.
Retrieved from http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/211578/understanding-dyscalculia
Emerson, J. and Babtie, P
(2010). The dyscalculia assessment. United Kingdom: Continuum Internationall
Publishing Inc.
Holdbrook, M.D. (2007).
Standard based IEP examples. Alexandria: National Association of State
Directors of Special Education
Internet
Resources:
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