Activity 2:
Differentiated
Instruction Strategies
Ian Barnett
Case Study Information
The student has been identified
as being Intellectual
Exceptionality - Mild Intellectual
Disability (MID) and has been
placed in an Applied Grade 9
English Class. Students with MID
tend to have lower than average
intellectual functioning, have
difficulty paying attention,
perceiving letters and numbers
accurately, processing and using
language. This can lead to
sudents not being able to retain
information and struggle with
problem solving.
Case Study Information
Students with MID tend to
have difficulty accepting
criticism, demonstrate
extremes in behaviours,
lower self esteem,
reluctance to participate
and take chances. They
require consistency,
reassurance and positive
reinforcement.
Thoughts
•
Just initially looking at the writing, I was •
struck by how the writing first begins very
neat and straight, but becomes sloppier and
slanted as the writing progresses. Now this
could be a result of having low fine motor
skills, but I wouldn't guess this as they wrote
that they like to play basketball, and says
they are a good player, which requires to
have more control over your fine motor
skills. This would lead me to think that they
may have dysgraphia. Dysgraphia can cause
some to have messy handwriting and they
are unable to automatically write a word.
The student also writes a few of the same
words differently, which can also be a sign of
dysgraphia in older students.
The student is also an English language learner, as they
stated that they came to Canada from Somalia. Somolia
uses a phonetic latin alphabet for writing, which is why, I
assume, the student wrote "yous to" instead of "used to."
The student also makes some small grammar mistakes,
not using the proper tense when writing words "I go to my
friend house and start play soccer." This should be taken
into account when planning an individualized learning
plan for the student
The student seems to also enjoy sports, especially
basketball and soccer. Knowing this can help in
builiding a better relationship with the student, talking
about recent games that they have seen, their
favourite players or even encouraging them to join the
school team or an intramural club. Using something
that the student enjoys to connect can help lead to a
more comfortable classroom environment.
Accommodations for Dysgraphia:
•
Wide ruled paper or different gripped writing tools
can help, also speech to text
•
Grade based on what the student knows,
not on handwriting or spelling.
•
Graphic organizers help with putting ideas down
before writing
•
•
Help the student break writing assignments into
steps.
Use a scribe or speech-to-text so the
student can dictate test answers and
writing assignments.
•
Let the student choose to either print or
use cursive for handwritten responses.
•
Allow a “proofreader” to look for errors.
•
Provide extended time on tests.
•
Provide a quiet room for tests if needed.
•
•
•
•
Provide a rubric and explain how each step is
graded.
Give examples of finished assignments.
Offer alternatives to written responses, like giving
an oral report.
Adapt test formats to cut down on handwriting. For
example, use “circle the answer” or “fill in the blank”
questions.
Assitive Technology for Dysgraphia:
Speech to text
applications, like
GBoard, may help
students, but in
this case
depending on
the accent that
the student has,
it may be difficult
for the
application to
pick up the words
Allowing the student to type out
their responses on a computer,
tablet or smartphone may also
help and make them feel
comfortable in writing their
thuoghts and opinions. Using
computers to reduce variables
that may impact expression and
can allow for easy corrections to
avoid the stigma of mistakes.
Apps like
Handwriting
Without Tears,
Wet-Dry-Try and
SnapType( which
allows for
worksheets to be
photographed and
notes can be added
on top)
Accommodations for the ELL Student:
•
•
•
Maintain good and consistent communcation
with the ESL teacher. Let the ESL teacher
know what you are doing in class so that
vocabulary can be taught and practiced in the
ESL classroomVisuals can help improve
comprehension but will also allow for easier
grasps of concepts. Also, write down on the
board whenever possible
More work in groups can help the ELL student
feel more comfortable in low-risk
settingScaffold with the native language, if
possible, if there is another student who speaks
their language and can help, ask.
Also, allow the student to do certain thinking
activities (brainstorming, journals and math
responses to be in their native language)
•
Sentence frames posted around the class
can benefit all students who are struggling
with writing, not just ELL students, and can
show students how to structure language
in a formal way
•
Provide the ELL student a chance to
preview and go over any material that you
will present in class; send them a video link,
or an article a few days before
•
Learning more about their cultural
background can go far in trying to connect
with and make the ELL student feel more
comfortable in your class
(Ways to Support Engl ish Learners in the Cl assroom - Jennifer Gonzal ez - Cul t of Pedagogy https://www.cul tofpedagogy.com /supporting-esl -students-m ainstream -cl assroom /)
Assistive Technology for ELL Students
•
The simplest technology to provide
the ELL student is a digital translator;
Google Translate can be a useful tool
when trying to discuss complex
vocabulary or even to try to get an idea
or opinion across
•
Kurzweil 3000 can also be a great tool
in helping the ELL student by providing
text to speech in 18 languages and
dialects, can provide translation of
words and full passages on the fly, has
bilingual dictionairies with pictures and
also has vocabulary study guides.
•
Providing video lessons from
YouTube or Khan Academy with
subtitles in the native language
can be beneficial for initial
introduction and understanding
of a topic
•
If possible,finding videos on the
topic with audio in the students
native langauge will also be
beneficial
Accommodations for Student with Mild Intellectual
Disability
•
Provide direct one-on-one instruction for
the student using a multimodal
instructional approach that can help the
student get as much information as
possible. For this student, being an ELL
student, I would try to use as many visual
aids as possible to help and provide step by
step instructions
•
Use peer tutoring can help in creating a
more comfortable atmosphere, especially
in the tutor is someone from the same
cultural background as the student, but
also if there is a friend in the class, grade or
an above grade that can help
•
Vary the pace of lessons and activities for the
student, making sure to provide as many
concrete examples you think may be needed.
Also, allow for longer response times,
extended deadlines and adjusted testing and
exam periods; allowing the student to take a
test or exam after class, alone with you to
provide help with understanding
•
Have the student take a pre-test before each
unit to determine what they already know and
the areas that they need to focus on and allow
the student to work indpendently on the
lessons until they feel confident
•
Integrate personal experiences and interests
of the student to elicit an intrinsic motivation
that may help engage the student more
(Learning Disability - Mild Intellectual Disability (MID) - http://specialneedsguide.w ikidot.com/learning- disability- mild- intellectual- disability- mid)
Assistive Technology for Mild Intellectual Disability
•
Predictive text can be a great tool to help students
who are struggling with spelling, as this ELL student is,
but it can also show students what words can come be
combined with other words
•
Speech to text can help the student when notes are
needed to be taken, but can also help the student
better present their thoughts and ideas. In the case of
this student, it may not be easy as the student may
have an accent that is not easily detected by the app.
•
Graphic organizers, either digital or hard copy, can
assist the student in actually seeing what it is that they
are required to do. These can include Venn Diagrams
to compare and contrast, Concept Maps for organizing
informations and brainstorming, Mind Maps for solving
problems and showing relationships and flow charts for
documenting the process that the student needs to
follow to complete a task.
•
Co:Writer is a great tool to help all students become
better at writing and organizing their thoughts and ideas as
it provides predictive text with multiple options, speech
recognition, phonetic and inventive spelling (yous to-used
to), academic and topic specific vocabulary for over 4 million
topics and translation for for over 25 languages (Don
Johnston Human Learning Tools)
•
Snap&Read is also a great tool to help MID students who
may be struggling with reading as it reads both accessible
and inaccessible text aloud, it levels vocabulary, and it
translates, delivering usage data to teachers who then can
more easily assess students’ reading needs individually.(Don
Johnston Human Learning Tools)
•
Pentop Computers are cheaper alternatives to iPads but
can provide text-to-speech and can provide feedback during
writing or math activities; they are also able to remind
students of things they MUST do to complete a task
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