Developing specially designed instruction (SDI) for math lessons can sometimes feel like a challenge. Special education teachers frequently ask me for examples of what this might look like in an inclusive classroom when we are using the general education curriculum.
I use seven key questions to help me plan (see my list here). Once I know which IEP goals are related to the lesson, I consider ways that I can teach students a learning strategy that will be transferrable to other lessons and settings.
At a recent co-planning session with a teacher, we analyzed a lesson that teaches students to use comparison bars as a strategy for solving addition and subtraction story problems. As I thought about my Question #5 – What is the metacognitive process a successful learner might use? – I realized that as a learner, I would want to have a step-by-step process in a concrete form. While the lesson expected the teachers to talk the students through the process, there was no visual of the process, nothing explicit or concrete. I have also found it very beneficial to teach students that when they are confused about a process, they can create a clear, step-by-step list of what to do. (This makes this skill more generalizable.)
Based on our discussion, we quickly listed the steps, then reduced the word count and added some visuals. We cleaned it up a bit so that we could print out cards for each student that might benefit.
I use seven key questions to help me plan (see my list here). Once I know which IEP goals are related to the lesson, I consider ways that I can teach students a learning strategy that will be transferrable to other lessons and settings.
At a recent co-planning session with a teacher, we analyzed a lesson that teaches students to use comparison bars as a strategy for solving addition and subtraction story problems. As I thought about my Question #5 – What is the metacognitive process a successful learner might use? – I realized that as a learner, I would want to have a step-by-step process in a concrete form. While the lesson expected the teachers to talk the students through the process, there was no visual of the process, nothing explicit or concrete. I have also found it very beneficial to teach students that when they are confused about a process, they can create a clear, step-by-step list of what to do. (This makes this skill more generalizable.)
Based on our discussion, we quickly listed the steps, then reduced the word count and added some visuals. We cleaned it up a bit so that we could print out cards for each student that might benefit.
To make this more powerful SDI, co-teachers can guide students to see how and when they can develop their own process cards to help with complex tasks. If this is done throughout the year, students will become independent and have a skill that can generalize into other situations.
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