1. Teaching all Children mathematics
Module 8
Teaching all
Children
mathematics

2. Children with learning problems
Become informed – find out about how special children in your classroom learn.
Consider how inclusion benefits students:
Special students develop good socialization skills
Regular students serve as learning models
Students with learning disabilities often offer unique alternative solutions to challenging problems
All students develop an awareness of & respect for differences
All students are exposed to good mathematics!

3. Constructivist Theory provides the best directions for teachers of special students.
Pay careful attention to the child & how she learns. Design instruction, not content, that maximizes the strengths of the child while minimizing the impact of weaknesses.

4. Learning Disabilities
Students with learning disabilities have very specific problems with perceptual or cognitive processing.
These problems may affect memory or the ability to:
Speak or express ideas in writing,
Perceive auditory or written information,
Integrate abstract ideas.

5. Adaptations for perceptual deficits
Some perceptual problems are visual & others auditory. All involve confusion of input in one way or another.
Give the child preferential seating
When using visuals, show only one main idea or problem at a time
Maintain a classroom environment where only one person talks at a time
Design worksheet pages for the child
Provide templates to block out all but one problem at a time
Use centimeter graph paper – write one digit per square
Use headphones to explain material
Assign a buddy to repeat directions

6. Adaptations for memory deficits
Memory deficits may be visual or auditory.
Short-term memory deficits can have trouble recalling things for even a few seconds (copying a problem to paper)
Break tasks & directions into small steps
Provide a buddy to help with recall
Long-term memory deficits may appear to have not learned material at all a day or a week later (mastery of basic facts)
Frequent practice!
Children must “overlearn” the material
Provide associations with other ideas to “connect”

7. Memory deficits (continued)
Provide only one instruction at a time
Have students retell instructions, in their own words
When working on oral problems, allow students the option to use paper/pencil
Exercise memory skills through mathematical games
Use strategies & number relationships to improve mastery of basic facts
Allow calculator use

8. Adaptations for integrative deficits
Children with integrative deficits have difficulty with abstract ideas & conceptualization.
Use familiar physical models as long as needed
Have students use written & oral expression to tell what they do
Require explanations so that students can make a connection to new ideas
Repetition!
Restate word problems in their own words
Peer teaching
Use multiple representations such as words, symbols, drawings, etc.

9. Adaptations for attention deficits
ADD or ADHD students have chronic difficulties with attention span, impulse control, & sometimes hyperactivity.
Establish clear routines
Make expectations and consequences clear
Avoid lengthy periods of silent seat work
Independent practice should be done in an environment free of distractions
Highlight key ideas in text
Keep assignments short. Plan smaller subtasks within projects
Assign a buddy for a separate group of two – avoid cooperative groups of 3 or more

10. Intellectual Disabilities
Intellectual disabilities are generally identified as IQ scores between
This limits the kind and degree of mathematical reasoning such children can perform.
Severely disabled children are generally best served in a special classroom, but are also likely to be present in the regular classroom.

11. Modifications in Instruction
Limited abilities alter the means by which children experience and acquire their learning. They often require:
More repetitiveness
Use of concrete learning tools

12. Ideas for cooperative grouping
The mentally disabled child should participate in hands-on activities with their peer group. Roles might include:
Materials organizer
Encourager
Input data into the calculator
Drawing or making graphs
These roles are consistent with the kinds of jobs these children are likely to have in the adult world.

13. More on cooperative grouping
Partner the child with limited abilities with different students periodically. *Other students will gain from serving as the explainer *The special needs child receives repeated exposure to ideas All children gain an appreciation & acceptance for differences.

14. Multicultural & social equity
Research repeatedly shows that African American, Hispanic, and Native American children & children from homes with low socioeconomic status do poorly in mathematics.
Students in at-risk populations are not getting the same access to quality teachers, resources, technology, & curriculum.