Accommodating students with dyscalculia through differentiated math instruction

Lesson for Children With Learning Disabilities

Developing a Lesson for Children with Learning Disabilities

Learning disability is a term misused severally. In essence, it applies to students who have different learning challenges. Most people associate learning disability to the development of a child, thus assuming that it is a short-term condition and disappears as the person matures. The accepted definition, provided by the National Adult Literacy and Learning Disability Center states that; learning disability is generic and refers to a composite group of disorders that become evident in the person; through observing that they have challenges in the acquisition and use of speaking, listening, reading, reasoning and execution of mathematical concepts, as well as, understanding social skills. As teachers process the learning procedure in class, they encounter various children with varied challenges, which constitute the learning disorders (Aster & Shalev, 2007). Thus, they have the obligation to accommodate those children in their lesson structure and teaching strategies.

Background information

Expectation of the education ministry and policies governing handling of LD students

The individuals with Disabilities, Education Act states there should be a continuum of placement options that meet the needs of the disabled (Muir, 2013). The act further states that children with learning disabilities, can and should remain in the same class as those, not disabled; with the creation of separation classes occurring only when the nature of disability or its severity is such that the supplementary learning aids employed in the regular class do not meet the learning requirements of the disabled student satisfactorily. The education ministry expects the practitioner who works in a regular class environment with students of both regular and impaired learning ability, to have knowledge on handling the class, to draft lessons that meet the learning expectation successfully and ensures inclusion of all students during the lesson.

The LD student

In my class, there exists a student with difficulties in reasoning; hence, finds challenge in understanding and doing word problems. Additionally, the student has difficulties in sequencing information, following through steps in math operations, manipulating fractions, identifying and understanding patterns, when adding, multiplying, or dividing and putting math in a statement, to process (Canizares, Crespo & Alemany, 2012). Thus, in view of the symptoms the student exhibits, it is clear that the student suffers dyscalculia. Dyscalculia is a condition that affects the math skills of a student, exhibited by signs of difficulty in counting, poor mental math skills, and problems in spatial directions and analyses. For the student to keep track of numbers, they have to visualize the variables presented in the math problem presented to them. The processing of the problem leads to mentally mixing of numbers, thus making mistakes. It may also be a problem of the social environmental influences, such as insufficient instruction, cultural differences, mental retardation, and physical illness, such as vision or hearing challenges. There is not a defined way of meeting the needs of the dyscalculia student; thus, a variety of accommodating strategies are applicable, and depending on the one, that best fits the student (Canizares, Crespo & Alemany, 2012).

Summary of the lessons

The math lesson will entail various activities directed towards the goals on the topic. The topic in coverage is number sense and numeration. In this unit, the expectation is that students will manage to identify and develop concepts relating to the manipulation of numbers in their place value and fractional operations. (Ministry of Education, 2005). Additionally, the student should be able to identify and work with decimal amounts, manipulating their addition and subtraction. Lastly, they should manage to make relationships and manipulate two digit whole numbers and three-digit whole number multiplication. They should also know the procedure of relating fractions and decimals. In covering this lesson, I will engage a lot of visual aid activities such as drawings for illustration and activities that bring a visual understanding of the concept behind the activity. Additionally, I will incorporate illustration that will engage their numerical analysis skills, especially in studying the operations that incorporate two and three digit multiplications, as well as manipulation of fractions and decimals. The visual aids will be the main teaching aid in this mini-unit.

The second lesson, which majors on place value, writing, and reading words into numbers, and operations of the concepts in numerical sense, will entail the following objectives. Locating objects using the cardinal directions, after which, the student can manipulate the sense of whole numbers, by establishing understanding of counting whole numbers. (Ministry of Education, 2005). The second section is to grasp the concept of comparing values of numbers that map the fractions into decimals and vice versa. Lastly, the lesson will entail covering areas of introducing and demonstrating fractions transformation process into decimals and their additions and subtraction. Creating mixed numbers, by translating and reflecting the outcome of the project will entail the entire pursue. In covering this lesson, the focus will be on the observation skills of the students. The lesson will aid the students evaluate their ability to learn through observation, hence helping the student who finds it difficult to concentrate listening to use their visual skills in learning.

The last lesson in this strand of geometry and spatial sense is to understand and demonstrate operations of numbers, fractions, and decimals. In this subsection, the unit addresses the topic of identifying the section of the lesson, where we will learn the practices and create material that simplifies the teaching process (Ministry of Education, 2005). The procedure of learning will incorporate the use of practical modeling in class, in which we will read and write the amounts up to one thousand dollars. Moreover, the lesson will ensure coverage of procedures of tackling real life situations, which relate to the magnitude of the study. This is the practical aspect of my teaching strategy in this unit. Therefore, the unit coverage in the three lessons will cover all the strategies of teaching that I selected as essential for addressing the needs of the student in my class, as well as, the other students inclusively.

Assessment

The learning process will entail continuous assessment of students to evaluate their grasping ability of the content taught. I will provide review and short continuous assessment within a few days of the lesson.

Additional class accommodations

In addition to the strategies that I will employ in delivering the content, I will also engage additional practices. Such activities include the professional cues of engaging students with care and consideration. I will ensure regular use of attention seekers, such as mentioning the student name in a question, in the material covered (Muir, 2013). Additionally, keeping proximity to the student, incorporating discussions and class participation from all students, which will help motivate the dyscalculia student and give him courage. Additionally, I will note the alternation of physical and mental activities during the lesson and regulate the length of the assignments and lessons. Lastly, employing student tutoring from peers will also accommodate the needs of this student.

Conclusion

In view of this lesson plan, the activities will engage all students inclusively, as the act governing education in classrooms dictates; that learning in the classroom should not favor given students and discriminate others. The grade level expectation, which is, to develop the observation skills, critical analysis ability, and spatial analysis of shapes and figures; including giving directions using the cardinal directions will be extensively met through the practices in the lesson plan. The assessments will focus on establishing the level of information synthesis of the students in class; and giving them assignments that will evaluate their reflective abilities on the topic learnt.