Walter Payton College Prep

TYPES OF STRATEGIES FOR SPECIFIC DEFICITS

1. Student's attention should be gained prior to giving instructions.
2. Instructions should be given in short, clear language to avoid overload.
3. Monitor the rate at which instructions are given so student can process and respond to auditory input.
4. Provide simple visual/written list or outline of instructions for those who have difficulty filtering essential parts of directions.
5. Pre-teach vocabulary if necessary prior to lecture.
6. Teacher signals - provide cues to students who are off-task.

1. Assist student in the documenting daily and long-range assignments in personal planning notebook.
2. Organize notebooks - trapper keepers, folders
3. Provide reminders for assignments and tests
4. Set aside time at the end of class to assists students in documenting their assignments in their personal planner and to get back packs organized.
5. Teach students to prioritize time to work incrementally on long range projects.
6. Help student break down project work into separate categories/assignments with due dates for each task. This will encourage student to work on project on a daily/nightly basis.

1. Provide readings/assignments on tape or CD format.
2. Reading-use color-coded transparencies over text to improve visual acuity.
3. Encourage the student to read with a finger or marker.
4. Shorten the reading assignment.
5. Provide worksheets, quizzes and tests that that are not visually cluttered and include plenty of white space.
6. Teach proper use of a highlighter to emphasize key points or needed information.

1. Provide worksheets, quizzes and tests that that are not visually cluttered and include plenty of white space.
2. Promote use of laptop, PC or Alpha Smart for note-taking, written assignments and diagramming/graphing.

1. For students who benefit from the multisensory approach, use mind maps and word webs that include text and pictures.
2. Organize concepts visually that parallel the content of the structure such as timelines, compare and contrast, character relationships (for novels), hierarchies and diagrams.
3. Use story maps that outline characters, setting, conflict, interventions, resolution and themes.
4. Use computer software like Inspiration.com to brainstorm or organize ideas.

TEST TAKING STRATEGIES

1. Offer study guides for upcoming exams and include page numbers of where specific information or term can be found.
2. Write the study guide that fits the reading level of the student that it is intended for.
3. Print missing words, phrases on the bottom of the page to serve as cues.
4. Allow 2-3 inches of margin so students can take notes, i.e., definitions of key terms.

1. Teach memorization technique of chunking where student is asked to remember three key points following the reading of a short passage.
2. Provide direct instruction where teacher periodically reviews major topics or key terms with student.
3. Perform mistake analysis of a multiple choice test to closely examine what type of errors are made (e.g., questions missed because all answers are not reviewed carefully or student tends to miss questions from lecture as opposed to the text readings.)
4. Budget time wisely by encouraging students to spend more time on questions for which they have a knowledge base and less time on questions for which they have no knowledge.

1. Always keep the directions as simple as possible
2. Provide examples for the students, if at all possible
3. Read the directions orally and have any specific instructions written on the test
4. Always put the directions at the beginning of the section of the test
5. Ask the students to see if they understand the directions
6. Always type the test rather than handwritten formats
7. Avoid multiple directions in the same sentence
8. If more than one direction is necessary, list them vertically.

1. Do not ask students to draw lines between items.
2. Keep the stems and options on the same page.
3. Try to limit matching sections to no more than eight items.
4. Place the shortest list on the right hand side of the page.
5. Do not provide more than one answer for each stem.
6. Try to put the options in some sort of logical order e.g. ABC order.
7. List one additional option for the number of stems that you provide.
8. Prepare separate matching groups for different sets of material.
9. Leave ample space so that it is not visually confusing.
10. Encourage students to read both columns before matching any items.
11. Encourage students to match the items they know for sure first.

1. Let the students know if you will be counting spelling.
2. Draw the length of the line similar to the length to the missing word.
3. Provide the student with a word bank to choose from.
4. Include more choices than questions to avoid one incorrect answer causing two incorrect answers.
5. Place the blank to be filled in at the end of the sentence.
6. Encourage students to re-read the statement with their response included to see if it makes logical sense
7. If a word is to be used more than one time, place that word that number of times in the word bank.

1. Reward student for efforts or improvement.
2. Allow retake of test after feedback.
3. Allow student to make corrections in order to earn partial credit.