Classroom Observations and Accommodations
G.K. is a 2nd grader who was observed during his academic classes starting with a
current events activity first thing in the morning. The activity involved going over
current events as a group and identifying a news and sports article followed by the
weather and a joke of the day. There were a few students who had articles they had
brought in about news and sports and they read these in front of the class to begin. Other
students were asked to read the weather from the newspaper or to count the number of
days that they had been in school and write this down on the board in the back of the
room. The teacher asked the students questions about the articles and then read half a
joke to the class and asked them to give rationales as to how the joke would finish (why
was the cake hard as a rock….it was a marble cake). I found that this activity, though not
part of a true academic class, was a high retrieval task for the students. Any students
with word finding difficulties may have trouble reading aloud in front of the class and
this can place a high demand on word retrieval. The teacher did prompt the students
when they had trouble with a word with the first syllable which may allow a student who
is having difficulty processing in the phonological lexicon to overcome their word
finding difficulties, however, the oral questioning and math activities also place a high
demand on retrieval without any scaffolds in place. Students with word finding
difficulties will be reluctant to try and participate in this activity and G.K. did not offer
any responses during this activity.
Following this the class began a reading activity in which the teacher put up a
paragraph on an overhead projector and the students were to locate and correct the errors
that they found. This was done orally with the teacher asking the students to raise their
hand and dictate the error they found and what the correct response was. This task was a
very high retrieval task. The students were required to process the paragraph, comparing
any of the information they found against their semantic lexicon, and then turn around
and process this back to the class orally without the aid of any word banks or multiple
choice options. Students with word finding difficulties could have numerous points in
this activity in which they might display errors in processing. If the student has a word
finding error that stems from either the semantic or phonological lexicon they would have
multiple opportunities in this exercise to have problems with retrieving the correct
information, either in trying to locate if a word is misspelled compared to their form
information or in coming up with what the correction needs to be. This activity as it is
could manifest issues with slip, tip and twist of the tongue errors very easily and should
be altered to lower the retrieval tasks. One way in which this could be done is to ask a
student to come up and circle one error on the overhead and then put on a new sheet with
options for the correct answer they could choose from and circle.
Another activity that G.K. participated in was one that combined spelling and
math. The students had sections of words they would add or subtract to get the correct
spelling of a word (sub + tracts - s = subtract). There were no word banks on the
assignment to help them know what words they would be ending up with if they
processed the equation correctly. This activity was a high retrieval task requiring the
student to produce the answer without the help of any cues or scaffolds. If the students
were allowed to have a word bank or even options of the correct response that they could
circle then this activity could have the retrieval demands lowered allowing students with
word finding difficulties to show their true comprehension levels. During this activity
G.K. did not offer any responses and struggled to complete all of the questions as easily
as some of the other students.
A final activity that I observed was a differentiated math activity for G.K. and a
couple of other students that was done in a separate room. The teacher used a technique
called “touch math” in which the students would either point to a correct number or
group of numbers or the next number that would come in the sequence. This activity was
a low retrieval task in that it did not require the students to process the information and
then verbalize the answer, but just to point to the correct answer when they saw it. This
limiting of the verbal response allows the student to have a lower retrieval load and
allows for a true assessment of their math knowledge. The assignment also allowed them
to have cues in the form of the numbers being visually present which aides in the retrieval
task.
Given the different classroom observations there are a number of
accommodations that should be implemented to allow for a reduction in the retrieval load
for G.K. One of the most prevalent activities that G.K. is asked to participate in during
his day is Oral Questioning. Within this construct G.K. would benefit from having
questions posed in a multiple choice format to lower the retrieval demand. It would also
be beneficial to ask G.K. to slow his pace during responses and oral reading due to the
fact that his teacher stated that he has many repetitions and revisions occurring during
this time. In order to facilitate participation in these oral settings allowing for him to
volunteer or to give him extra time and a priming question would be very helpful as well.
This would allow for him to be able to demonstrate his understanding of the material
without having as many semantic processing issues and subsequent tip of the tongue
errors. Another accommodation that could help with avoiding both tip and twist of the
tongue errors would be to cue the initial letter or syllable for G.K. before he responds
given the fact that he experiences these error patterns too.
Because oral questioning dominates many of his classroom activities in many
subject areas these could be essential accommodations, however, due to the prevalence
there may be some barriers to implementing them such as time for the teacher and other
classroom disruptions that may take time away from the activity. The use of overheads
and other assistive technology tools could also greatly assist G.K. and other students in
the class both with and without word finding problems.
Written language is an area in which G.K. has many struggles with word finding
errors in all three error patterns. Given his word finding difficulties he should have all
assignments accommodated with multiple choice formats, word banks, or true/false
questions. A great strategy would be to use many circle the correct answer forms
particularly for content areas such as spelling in which there is a high retrieval demand on
the student otherwise. Within his homework it would be beneficial to indicate the page
number of questions and to underline the answer in a copy of the text to scaffold the
material sufficiently. Though currently G.K. is not utilizing any word processing or other
electronic software assistance he would greatly benefit from training and utilization of
these mediums. In talking with G.K.’s teacher these accommodations are already in
place and being utilized on many of the assignments that he completes on a daily basis.
However, it should be implemented 100% in order to decrease the demands on retrieval
and demonstrate along all contexts his true understanding of the material.
In the content areas of science, social studies, English, math and computers the
same recommendations as above apply to classroom discussion, oral classroom work and
written work. G.K. should have multiple choice, true/false, word banks, or circle the
correct answer question formats. This should also carry over to evaluations and test
given, there should not be short answer or essay questions present as this will heighten
the retrieval demand and stifle the ability to see his true progress. In the content area of
reading he should be allowed extra time, cued to the beginning syllable of the word and
allowed to volunteer his participation. There should be as much access to assistive
technology as possible such as the use of word processing equipment that can have text to
speech capabilities to again promote a scaffolding of the material and help with any
phonological errors that may be present in reading.
Word Finding Accommodations IEP Goals
Instructional Area: Word-Finding Accommodations
Annual Goal Statement: G.K. will collaborate with his teacher in creating and
implementing strategies that reduce the retrieval load present in activities in class to
reduce the word-finding errors demonstrated and meet the following benchmarks.
1. G.K. will work with his teacher and SLP to identify 3 accommodations necessary
during oral questioning that will allow him to better express his knowledge of the
content area inside and outside of the classroom setting.
2. G.K. will collaborate with his teacher and parents in identifying 3
accommodations for written work that will lower the retrieval load and better
assess his understanding, this can be in classroom work, homework, or exams.
3. G.K. will work with teachers, coaches, parents, and friends to identify 3
modifications to activities inside and outside of the classroom that place a high
demand on his word-retrieval skills.
As with any accommodation program there are many forces that are working together
in order to allow the student to be most successful, however, there are many times
barriers to implementation that make it difficult for all of the supports to work
harmoniously. With regards to G.K.’s word-finding accommodations I believe that time
may be a barrier in creating the modifications on the part of the teacher or the parents.
This may be especially the case outside of the classroom environment when it is more
difficult to control the situation and implement strategies.
Another potential barrier surrounds the use of technology, which may be a very useful
tool in creating and implementing these accommodations. Many times there is not
enough of a budget to acquire the appropriate technology and even if it is there are not
trained professionals who can teach both the student and the teacher the correct way to
implement the technology for the student to receive the maximum benefit of the
accommodation. There are also many teachers who are resistant to utilizing technology
they are not familiar with, this should not be a barrier with the number of excellent
assistive technology resources available, however, it still can be a problem in certain
situations.
The dynamic of the classroom can also have a profound effect, and many times be a
barrier, on how accommodations are utilized in the classroom. Both the makeup of the
students in the class and the teaching style can alter how effective an accommodation
program will be. If G.K. is made uncomfortable by any of the strategies used (i.e. extra
time to respond, or a word bank on a test other students are not receiving) he may fight
their implementation and ultimately not benefit from them. If the teacher has a style that
conflicts with using multiple choice exams or they are not an enlightened teacher than
this could present a major barrier to implementation. G.K.’s teacher currently did not
show a reluctance to utilize this format for the whole class; however, this could present a
long term barrier from future teachers.