Cross Categorical Approach - Implications

What is a Cross Categorical Approach? A Cross categorical approach considers a student’s instructional relevant needs rather than a disability label. (Haeger & Klingner 2005)

Cognitive and Academic Difficulties Speech, Language and Communication Difficulties

Cognitive and Academic Difficulties What are they??

“ Cognition” refers to ‘understanding’ – the ability to comprehend what you see and hear, and to infer information from social cues and body language. Students with these difficulties may have trouble learning new things, making generalizations from one situation, and expressing themselves through spoken or written language. (Disability Law Resource Project)

Clinical Approach - have a base in physiological or biological processes within the individual (genetic disorders; brain injury;) - based in chemical imbalance or structure of the brain (Down Syndrome; Autism Spectrum; Attention/Hyperactivity; Dyslexia)

Functional Approach focuses on the abilities and challenges faced (problem solving; attention; memory; math comprehension; reading; visual comprehension and verbal comprehension difficulties)

ACADEMIC DIFFICULTIES - refers to a child’s performance in the classroom, but may also include a child’s behaviour towards teachers or fellow students. They may include Learning difficulties; Bullying; Disinterest in school; Underachievement; Procrastination and time management issues; Traumatic experiences Poverty and neglect; Family problems;

Students who exhibit Cognitive and Academic Difficulties may:- become stressed because of pressure to earn better grades; become frustrated with teachers who do not offer assistance and support; become anxious about school become aggressive towards teachers and peers; consistently underachieve in the classroom; struggle with reading and short term memory;

How Do We Recognize These Difficulties? Classroom strategies

Memory difficulties – long and short term Processing Difficulties Visual Spatial Thinking Reading and Reading Comprehension Difficulties Spelling Difficulties Math reasoning and Problem solving Penmanship and Copying Hyperactivity Social Skills Organizational and Study Skill difficulties

1) Memory – long and short term Student – Cannot quickly retrieve information Difficulty memorizing strings of information, numbers and letters; Frequently forget or lose things; Often forgets basic information – names, their age etc; Experiences holding information in immediate mental awareness; Has difficulty following oral instructions, taking notes or understanding information presented in lecture format;

Strategies: Limit the amount of information to be learned during an Instructional Session – Before introducing new concept activate prior knowledge to enhance understand; Employ multiple modalities (writing, speaking etc.) Enhance meaningfulness by relating concept and information to child’s experiences; Provide opportunities foe us of concept or skill to solve a problem; Help student use mnemonic devices to retain information: repetition, acrostic, acronyms, method of loci;

Visualization – help student form mental image associated with information; Have students serve as peer tutors to help each other; Employ computer programs to help student learn information; Provide visual references - as model, graphic organizer, for key concepts etc. Break up information into small parts; Employ test formats that require recognition (multiple choice) rather than recall (essay);

2) Processing difficulties: The student :- works at a slow rate on simple or tasks; this affects ability to copy, complete assignments in a timely manner, take notes with speed or express self quickly and efficiently. Attention is a prerequisite condition to processing speed.

Slow processing speed can significantly reduce the rate of task completion and make long tasks unreasonably difficult to complete. can impede the time to decode a word. can reduce reading fluency/rate and as a result impair reading comprehension. The student experiences difficulty analyzing, synthesizing, and discriminating auditory stimuli; Frustration or boredom can result

Strategies: Allow extra time to complete tasks. Reduce volume of writing and copying allow the student time to formulate responses so the student can be an active participant. monitor comprehension of text reading and, if necessary, summarize information orally. Provide preferential seating that supports monitoring of student; Provide a peer assistant or buddy to provide information when the student; Articulate clearly and avoid speaking quickly or slurring words.

3) Visual Spatial Thinking : The student :- experiences difficulty perceiving and thinking with visual patterns; it can affect ability to store and recall visual information as well as difficulty with tasks that require awareness of visual detail. may experience confusion gaining information from charts, graphs and tables

Strategies: Provide assistance when time measurement, estimating time or temporal concepts are required on a task Encourage the student to clear desk of extraneous materials and reduce extraneous visual stimuli; Avoid relying on visual models, diagrams and demonstrations during instruction with this student. Accompany visual demonstrations with oral explanations. provide hands on, concrete experiences and manipulatives when teaching an abstract concept that is visual in nature

4) Reading and Reading Comprehension Difficulties The student: lacks knowledge and/or language development to support academic learning. may demonstrate difficulty with comprehension of directions and material read, difficulty with oral expression and content of written language. lacks skills in reading readiness, phonetic decoding, word recognition and reading fluency. Often has a slow reading rate, may skip words, lose place and mistake one word for another;

Strategies: orally review written directions with the student; Provide text with larger print Encourage significant persons to read high interest materials to the student. Enhance motivation by using a positive reinforcement program Teach the student that words can be broken into syllables Make new words by changing individual letters in a base word; Use word families; Use a multi-method, multi-sensory approach to teach sight words

Incorporate sight words being taught into the student’s weekly spelling list; Provide extra time for the student to read a passage or shorten the amount to be read; Encourage the student to read regularly. Provide reading material of interest at independent reading level and assign time for the student to read; identifying concrete and meaningful purposes for reading a passage; Provide a word bank from which the student can draw; Review and/or teach key vocabulary words before a student is asked to read; Use catalogs to associate pictures with vocabulary;

5) Spelling Difficulties: The student - experiences difficulty correctly identifying and spelling words in written expression; May reverse letters, drop or add letters; Misspell common words as well as unfamiliar words;

Strategies: estimate how many words a student will be able to learn in one session Then introduce this many words each day or every other day. Continue to practice newly learned words. When possible group spelling words according to spelling patterns (i.e., root words and word families). Insure that the student is able to read, understand and use spelling words in oral expression incorporate spelling words into daily reading and writing activities; Turn spelling tests into an instructional opportunity; Use visual, auditory and kinesthetic modalities in instructional activities;

6)Math reasoning and Problem solving The student:- experiences difficulties in skills prerequisite to computation (e.g., number recognition, math facts) or in computation itself ; demonstrates difficulty with understanding mathematical concepts and using math skills to solve problems

Strategies: Provide a number line on the student’s desk to help the student identify numbers, write numbers, visualize number relationships or for use in simple addition and subtraction. Provide adequate space on the page to write and erase numbers during computation; Provide graph paper to help the student organize rows and columns when computing math problems. Avoid confusing the student by mixing problem types (e.g., subtraction an addition) until the student has achieved mastery.

Provide numerous opportunities for the student to use counting in daily activities and to play games that require counting; integrate activities to identify the number by name as well as write the number from memory. Discuss with the students how math facts can be used to quickly solve many daily problems; use real life examples; Provide adequate drill and practice; Use manipulatives and concrete objects to teach math concepts and to demonstrate application; teach a quantitative vocabulary as well as key vocabulary term and words; Help the student identify the various steps required to solve a word problem;

7) Penmanship and copying fluency:- The student: experiences difficulty with letter formation, spacing, organization of the page or speed; has difficulty putting written information on paper. Has difficulty copying from a book, board or other equipment; May have difficulty proofreading their own work; As a result, writing is often laborious for the student and difficult to read.

Strategies: Reduce volume of writing and copying; Permit the student to respond orally rather than in writing; Provide opportunities to learn keyboarding and word processing skills; Provide wide lined paper and expanded space on a page; When copying from the board, provide seating close to the board. Provide a pencil grip to facilitate manipulation of the pencil;

Provide a stress ball that the student can manipulate for a few minutes as a warm-up activity before writing or copying; Monitor performance and provide prompts when necessary to assist the student to organize writing or copying on a page. When copying from text, encourage the student to use a ruler to mark location of text being copied. Encourage the student to use and maintain appropriate posture during a task requiring writing.

8) Hyperactivity Difficulties The student: may have difficulty focusing, sitting still and paying attention; may have difficulty following instructions and following through with tasks assigned; may fidget, feel restless or talk excessively, easily distracted may become tired or overloaded quickly; short attention span; students tend to have a very high energy level, act impulsively and can be behaviorally distracting

Strategies: Learn about their child’s strengths, weaknesses, interests and achievements outside of school Establish a courteous, working relationship with the student’s parents; Decide together on a sign or a code that you can use to remind the child to be on task; Make classroom rules clear and concise; Avoid power struggles; Use a point system, tokens, stars, or other methods to reinforce appropriate behaviors; Have the child complete one step before introducing the second step. Notice and provide feedback on any improvement in the areas of behavior and academics

Divide lessons into relatively short segments and use a variety of teaching aids such as films, tapes, computer programs and small group work to reinforce the child's learning. Have all of the students stand and stretch, run in place, or do an exercise or movement activity when deemed necessary; Seat child in close proximity to you and in the area that has the least amount of distractions and stimulation; Provide opportunities for physical activity

Remove unnecessary items from the student's work area; Select a 'Supportive Peer’ and seat the student next to distraction-resistant peer; Structure Instructional activities to allow interaction and movement; to reduce distracting verbal or motor behaviours is to use 'response cost': first, awarding points or tokens and then deducting those points or tokens whenever the behavior distracts other students Use brief reminders about appropriate behavior and conduct;

9) Social Skills The student Has difficulties in interpreting social cues that may result in low self esteem, trouble meeting and interacting with others and working cooperatively with others; Is unable to distinguish subtle changes in tone of voice, body language and behaviours; Has difficulty in recognizing differences n sincere / sarcastic comments;

Strategies: Incidental teaching — using a natural interaction between a student and adult to practice a skill; Reading and discussing children's literature and videos; using multimedia and virtual environments; after a social interaction discuss what the child did, what happened, whether the outcome was positive or negative and what the child will do in the same situation in the future; teaching classroom procedures and routines around the school-wide expectations; Use of 4 Ps: Practice, Praise, Point Out, and Prompt

Lead by example; Teach values - Pick out the values that are important to your class or your school; take photos, share examples, display them, praise and share with the parents. Give the children responsibility - Develop ways to make the children responsible; Train the older children to become play leaders, referees or coaches, and they will learn their own strategies for dealing with friendship issues, arguments and anger. Restorative Justice -Where possible, try to develop the way you deal with conflicts and behaviour incidents; The opportunities for developing social skills are everywhere and in everything that we do.

10) Organization and Study Skill Difficulties Poor time management Inefficient use of resources Difficulty in getting a project completed; Poor organization in written work Difficulty in organizing tasks into manageable parts

Strategies Help students keep paperwork and materials organized and in one place and refrain from carrying around unnecessary clutter. A ‘Home – School Book’ for two way communication; as well as a’ Home Work Notebook’ which parents must sign when task is completed; create a homework checklist; Routines about when and where homework is completed are essential; encouraged the use of a daily schedule or calendars to structure student daily activity;

establish communication with parents as soon as possible –and maintain it throughout the year. Develop note taking skills/strategy with students, teach a structured process – Note taking requires the integration of listening, comprehension, sequencing, eye-hand coordination, writing, and spelling skills Encourage students to use markers and highlighters to organize notes, highlight the key words, names, dates, and the like. Break larger tasks into smaller sub-tasks; Schedule Regular ‘Clean Outs’ – keep their desk organized or other class workspace, backpacks, and/or locker/shelving etc