How to Adapt Your Teaching Strategies to Student Needs

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)

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. Education Oasis is a trademark of educationoasis.com.