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FOUNDATIONS OF SPECIAL AND INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

Lesson 10: Strategies of Teaching Learners with Difficulty Remembering and
Focusing
Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the chapter, the student is expected to be able to:
 identify the different strategies of teaching learners with difficulty remembering and
focusing;
 develop response cards
Learners with difficulty remembering and focusing have learning characteristics that
make receiving and interpreting information challenging. Due to these difficulties, these
learners require intensive and frequent individualized interventions that this chapter suggests
for possible implementation in the classroom.

EDUCATIONAL APPROACHES
Below are general educational approaches intended for learners with difficulty
remembering and focusing.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

This is an educational framework and set of principles that maximize learning
opportunities for all learners by creating and implementing lessons with flexible goals,
methods, materials, and assessments. It originally emerged from the fields of urban design
and architecture, and refers to the process of crafting practical solutions to meet the needs
of those with disabilities and at the same time, benefiting those without disabilities. When
applied to curriculum and instruction, it incorporates three principles:

1. multiple means of representation to give diverse learners options for acquiring

information and knowledge (e.g., present information and content in different ways);
2. multiple means of action and expression to provide learners options for
demonstrating what they know (e.g. differentiate the ways that students can express
what they know); and
3. multiple means of engagement to tap into students' interests, offer appropriate
challenges, and increase motivation (e.g. stimulate interest and motivation for
learning).
Table 1. UDL Lesson Guide Sample
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Direct Instruction (DI)

This is an evidence-based practice effective in increasing learners' achievement
across different skills and content areas. This incorporates active responding to learners with
systematic error and a system for monitoring progress. Some ways in doing DI include:

a. Response Cards. This helps identify scenarios that learners will give response to
through the following steps: (1) creating student response cards using coded index
cards; (2) posing a question regarding the lesson discussed and waiting for learners'
response cards; and (3) performing quick scan across the classroom to see learners'
answers. This strategy is guided by teachers' feedback by praising correct answers
and systematically correct errors. Variations of response cards include pinch or clip
cards (multiple choices), content categories (true/false, fact/opinion, add/subtract),
popsicle sticks, and paper point-out.

b. Self-monitoring. This is a behaviorally-based intervention that promotes self-

regulation, in which a person observes own behavior systematically and records the
occurrence and non-occurrence of a specific behavior. Below is a sample of self-
monitoring form.

Table 2. Self-monitoring Form for Elementary Pupils

Explicit Instruction
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This is a direct and systematic approach to instructional design and delivery in which
"students are guided through the learning process with clear statements about the purpose
and rationale for learning the new skill, clear explanations and demonstrations of the
instructional target, and supported practices with feedback until independent mastery has
been achieved" (Archer & Hughes, 2011, p.1). After identifying the lesson goal, the following
teaching components could be used.

A. Lesson Opener. This could be in a form of a question to arouse the interests of the
learners about the topic to be discussed.
B. Explanation and Modeling. This is a clear step-by-step procedure providing
examples and non-examples of the topic for the day.
C. Guided Practice. These are opportunities for learner practice and exercise where
providing of feedback is provided if necessary.
D. Independent Practice. These are developed activities intended for learner practice
in independent approach.

TEACHING STRATEGIES
Reading Instruction

The strategies below are recommended for learners with problems in reading
acquisition and reading difficulties. Teaching reading comprehension includes using self-
questioning, use of graphic organizers, mnemonics, and summarizing. Additionally, teachers
are also recommended to teach pupils to develop their own learning strategy or their
personal approach to learning tasks to help them individualize their own way of studying and
learning.

A. Language Experience Approach. This approach attempts to integrate reading skills

with that of development of listening, speaking and writing skills, following three basic
elements: (1) what a child thinks about, can talk about; (2) what the child can say,
can write; (3) what a child writes, can read. The sequence proposed therefore starts
from thinking to talking to writing to reading. In determining reading material, it is
recommended to use the child's interest and experience in learning a text.

B. Kinesthetic-Auditory Visual Emphasis

Methods. Fernald (1943) originally designed
this method, and as presented in the Figure
13.3, this method makes the reader to
correctly write and read their own written
words, combining the sense of touch, hearing
and seeing, and then move to a more
extensive reading materials. The stages in this
method include (1) finger tracing of words on
the paper (tactile-kinesthetic) while
pronouncing the same word aloud (auditory);
(2) learning new words by looking at the Figure 3. Kinesthetic-Auditory
teacher's written copy of the word (visual), Visual Pathways to Reading
Comprehension
speaking to self and writing it down; (3)
learning directly from the new words by
looking at a printed word and saying it to himself before writing; (4) recognizing new
words, learning about their similarity to printed words or path of words previously
learned.
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C. Directed Reading-Thinking Activity. Reading is a thinking activity, and in order to

direct reading to the thinking process, metacognition should be applied by the reader,
asking himself questions such as: (1) what do you think? - determine the reading
material; (2) why do you think? - find out the meaning out of it; and (3) can you prove
it? - find the purpose to develop reasoning (Jena, 2013). Some studies view reading
disabilities as "strategy deficiency" and thus teaching cognitive learning strategies to
them can help them improve in their reading. Some suggested activities are:
Using advance organizers. Using general concepts and linking them with learner
schema.
Verbal-rehearsal. Teacher modeling, self-verbalization and silent reading. Question
strategies. Giving questions on comprehension and interpretation.

D. Miscue Analysis of Oral Reading. This is an assessment strategy first introduced

by Goodman (1969) that helps the teacher identify cueing systems used by readers.
Instead of focusing on errors, miscue analysis focuses on what the reader is doing
right, to help build on the existing reading strategies. It is further believed that
readers' mistakes when reading are not random errors, but actually their attempt to
make sense of the text with their experiences and language skills. Table 13.2
presents how to organize miscue analysis.
Table 4. Organizing a Miscue Analysis

Writing Instruction
Learners with difficulty in writing have problems with basic skills in handwriting,
spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Studies suggest that explicit instruction including
practice and feedback could help learners develop basic skills in writing. The use of
technology can also aid writing difficulties. Below are other suggested teaching strategies.

A. Study Test Technique. This is giving of pretests at the beginning of each unit of study
where the words misspelled become the learners' study list. Posttest is also given after the
unit to determine the learners' mastery.
B. Cognitive Strategy Instruction in Writing (CSIW). Developed by Englert and her
associates (1992), CSIW was a research program aimed at developing learners' expository
writing skills and knowledge of various ways that a text could be organized. In using this
program, the learners are asked to describe their plans of writing and are guided to
internalize and perceive themselves as informants in the action of writing.
C. Self-regulation. This strategy requires the writer's continuous vigilance of the graphic,
syntactic and semantic errors that happen in writing. Graham and Harris (1987) developed
instructional procedures for this strategy which include: (1) pre-skill development; (2) review
of current performance level; (3) discussion of executive strategy, (4) modeling of the
strategy and self-instruction, (5) mastery of the strategy; (6) collaborative practice; and (7)
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independent performance. This training is done to internalize the strategies of writing, to the
extent that there is minimal dependence on the teacher or therapist to learn writing.

Mathematics Instruction
The same as previous areas, the use of explicit instruction is suggested in teaching
mathematics. Additional strategies are also recommended below.

A. Motivational Approach. Teaching mathematics should be more motivational than

teaching computation skills without a context (Jena, 2013). This means that when
teaching mathematics, learners should be exposed to problem-solving approach and
strategies, using day-to-day life examples instead of making them learn "rules of the
thumb" or fundamental rules alone.

B. Error Analysis. The reason for committing errors in mathematical computations

provides information on specific problems experienced by learners. Common errors
include the concept of place values, computational facts, using the wrong process of
calculation, the poor concept of carryover and working from left to right and reversal
direction. Likewise, the reasons for committing such errors may include absence of
prerequisite mathematical skills, unfamiliarity with basic number facts and problem of
conceptualization, speed of processing, and deficits in adopting effective calculation
strategies. These errors, once identified, could be the focus of discussion to remedy
further math difficulties.