November 21, 2013
Chapters 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10
Heidi Hahn and Jennie Stumpf
Regions 5 and 7 SLD Trainers
Agenda
 Chapter 6 – Spelling
 Chapter 7 – Handwriting and Written Expression
 Chapter 8 – Basic Math Skills
 Chapter 9 – Math Problem Solving
 Chapter 10 – Relevance of Cognitive Abilities to
Academic Interventions
Please watch for a follow-up survey in your e-mail
Chapter #6 - Spelling
 Spelling Development
“Reading requires only recognition, whereas
spelling requires the complete recall of every letter in the
correct sequence.”
Characteristics of children with Spelling Difficulties
 Weakness in phonemic awareness
 Difficulty understanding spelling rules
 Difficulty with word structure and letter patterns
 Visual memory problem specific to letters and words
Language Components of
Spelling
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Phonology: knowledge of speech sounds
Orthography: knowledge of spelling patterns
Morphology: knowledge of meaning units
Vocabulary: knowledge of word meanings
 Regular Words – words that conform to the most common
English spelling patterns and rules
 Irregular/Exception Words – one or more elements to do
not conform to the common English spelling patterns (i.e.
sight words)
Developmental Stages
 Emergent or Prephonemic – Preschool to Kndg
“Understands that letters communicate meaning and can be written.”
 Early Letter Name/Semiphonetic – Kndg. – 2nd Grade
“Child has discovered the alphabetic principle & developed some
knowledge of sound-letter relationships”
 Middle to late letter name/phonetic (early 1st – late 2nd gr.)
“Represents both consonant and vowel sounds; usually writes one letter
for each sound.”
Development Stages - Continued
 Within word pattern spelling/transitional (1st-4th)
“mastered most diagraphs and consonant blends………”
 Syllables and affixes spelling (Upper Elem – MS)
“spelling of multisyllabic words”
 Derivational relations spelling (MS – Adulthood)
“Still lack knowledge of word derivations…….focus on the relationships
among word structures, word origins and word meanings”
Analyzing Spelling Errors:
 Are the sounds of words in the correct order?
 Is there an omittion or addition of certain sounds
from words?
 Did they spell the irregular elements of words
correctly?
 Are there vowels in every syllable?
 Did they spell the homophones correctly?
 Did they spell the common affixes correctly?
 Do they understand how to form plurals and change
verb tense?
Effective Instruction
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Segmenting spoken words into their sounds
Matching the sounds to the letter correspondences
Spelling common orthographic patterns
Learning and practicing common spelling rules
Spelling irregular words with emphasis on the
irregular parts
 Adding affixes to words
 Spelling different syllable types
 Spelling word derivatives
 Learning about word origins
Model Instruction:
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Word Sorts
Spelling Rules – Page 130
Spelling Tests
Spelling Flow Lists
Individualized accommodations – certain words for
certain students – needs
 Spelling irregular words
 Multisensory spelling method
 **Commercial Spelling programs – p. 134
 **Spelling related Web Sites – p. 135
Chapter 6 – Spelling
 Any final questions related to spelling?
Chapter 7 – Handwriting and Written
Expression
 Writing is a complex task that requires the integration
of multiple cognitive, linguistic and motor abilities
 Writing may be the most complex task students are
asked to perform in school because of the integration
of so many different skills
 Many students with writing difficulties can formulate
clear, coherent ideas, but they then have trouble
translating these thoughts into written form
Chapter 7 – Handwriting and Written
Expression
 Writing involves:
 Low level transcription skills
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Handwriting, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and
grammar
 High level composition skills
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Planning, content, organization and revision
 It is estimated that 60% of medication errors result
from illegible handwriting or transcription errors
Chapter 7 – Handwriting
 Handwriting
 While technology certainly is used for a large portion of
writing, the need for legible handwriting has not
disappeared
 There has been a decreasing emphasis on handwriting
instruction and competence over the past several decades
 Only 12% of teachers have even taken a course in how to
teach handwriting
 Hand writing has been identified as an important predictor
of the quality of written expression
 Fluent, automatic handwriting has been linked to the
quality of compositions
Chapter 7 – Handwriting
 If a student has to think about letter formation and
production, the quality of the written expression will
suffer because cognitive resources are focused on how
to write rather than what to write
 Children in Kindergarten – Fourth grade think and
write at the same time. Only later do students begin
thinking about their writing apart from their
handwriting
Chapter 7 – Handwriting
 Characteristics of Students Struggling with Handwriting
 Poor motor abilities or coordination problems
 Difficulty with memory of letter forms
 Weakness in orthographic processing (coding)
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Store and retrieve sound-symbol associations
 Poor handwriting is an early warning sign of students at
risk for problems with written expression
 Automatic letter writing has been found to be the best
predictor of composition length and quality
Chapter 7 – Handwriting
 Effective Handwriting Instruction
 Formal handwriting instruction is most effective
 Lessons should be short, 5 to 10 minutes, and followed
by an opportunity to use handwriting in a meaningful
manner
 Teach:
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Letter formation (page 144)
Keyboarding and Technology (page145)
Chapter 7 – Handwriting
 Formation
 Writing Aids
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Pencil grip or weight
Raised-line paper
 Commercial Writing Programs
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Handwriting Without Tears
 Developmentally based, flexible curriculum for teaching
handwriting to children in preschool through grade 5
Chapter 7 – Handwriting
 Keyboarding and Technology
 Keyboarding skills should be taught to children
beginning in first grade, especially those children who
struggle with handwriting

Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing
 Speech Recognition Software
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Dragon Naturally Speaking (translates speech into text)
Chapter 7 –Written Expression
 Writing is often called the “Neglected R” because it ahs
not received the same intensity of focus from
researchers, educators, or legislators as reading or
math
 It is estimated that states spend one quarter of a billion
dollars annually to remediate employees’ writing
difficulties
Chapter 7 –Written Expression
 Characteristics of Students Struggling with Written
Expression
 Lack awareness of what good writing is and do not know
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how to produce it
Lack knowledge of text structures (genre) and content
Do not plan before or during writing
Do not monitor their own performance
Show poor attention and concentration
Limited language skills (vocabulary, syntax,
morphology)
Chapter 7 –Written Expression
 Characteristics of Students Struggling with Written
Expression continued:
 Students struggling in writing have coexisting
difficulties in other areas
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Writing problems are frequently present in students with
attention problems, possibly due to the number of elements
that must be integrated and attended to when writing
Students with reading difficulties often exhibit difficulties in
writing because of the common perceptual and linguistic
demands required of both tasks
Chapter 7 –Written Expression
 Often times a student’s writing difficulties are not
noticed until about fourth grade because it is at this
point that writing demands increase from minimal
level (providing single word responses or filling in
blanks) to higher-level demands (composing)
Chapter 7 –Written Expression
 Effective Written Expression Instruction
 The quality of instruction students receive has a major
impact on writing achievement
 Teach the Writing Process (page 150 – 151)
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Prewriting
Writing/Drafting
Revision
Editing
Publishing
Chapter 7 –Written Expression
 Effective Written Expression Instruction
 Three Effective Elements for Improving Written
Expression (page 151 – 152)
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Use a framework of planning, writing, and revising
Explicitly teach critical steps in the writing process
Provide relevant feedback on what is taught
 Ten Recommendations for Improving Writing (page 153)
Chapter 7 –Written Expression
 Effective Written Expression Instruction
 Strategy Instruction
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Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) (page 153 – 154)
 A writing strategy approached that is a supplemental method
designed to help students learn, use, and adopt the strategies
of a skilled writer
Build Writing Vocabulary
Teach Text Structures
 Narrative Writing
 Expository Writing
Teach Revising and Editing Strategies (page 157 – 160)
Chapter 7 –Written Expression
 Effective Written Expression Instruction
 Technology (page 161)
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Draft: Builder, Co-Writer, Write: Outloud, Read: Outloud
 Writing Workshop
 Focuses on the process of writing more than the end product
 High quality workshops should include:
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Explicit modeling
Frequent conferencing
High Expectations
Flexibility
Cooperative learning
Self-regulation
Chapter 7 –Written Expression
 Effective Written Expression Instruction
 Writing portfolio (page 162)
 Writing frames (page 162)
 Graphic organizers (page 162)
 Writing Prompts (page 163)
 Provide Models (page 163)
Chapter 7 –Written Expression
 Example Accommodations of Instructional Materials
 Highlight key words or phrases
 Simplify language used in writing prompts
 Use graphic organizers and procedural checklists
 Display mnemonic strategies in the classroom so
students can access these cutes
 Develop individual spelling lists and have students keep
personal dictionaries of troublesome words
 Provide (as needed) pencil grips, raised or colored line
paper, personal alphabet strips, and paper positioning
marks on a student’s desk
Chapter 7 –Written Expression
 Example Modifications of Task Demands
 Increase time to complete tasks
 Decrease length or complexity of writing assignment
 Use text frames (partially completed text)
 Reduce or eliminate copying tasks
 Permit use of dictation or a scribe
 Permit use of a word processor
 Use technology supports (spell checker, voice
recognition, semantic mapping, outline software)
 Allow other means of demonstrating assignment (oral
versus written)
Chapter 7 –Handwriting and Written
Expression
 Summary
 Writing is a highly complex task that is susceptible to
difficulties in a multitude of areas
 Students must be proficient and automatic with the lowlevel foundational skills of handwriting and spelling in order
to build fluency and free cognitive resources for the higherlevel tasks of planning, composing, and revising
 The most effective writing instruction is explicit instruction
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When combined with explicit strategy instruction, students
experience more success in developing the writing skills needed to
clearly convey their ideas, feelings, and their knowledge
Chapter 7 – Handwriting and
Written Expression
 Any final questions related to handwriting and written
expression?
Chapter 8 – Basic Math Skills
 Difficulties with math have received less attention
from researchers and educators than have difficulties
with reading
 Between 5 and 8% of school-age children have
significant problems with math
 More than 60% of students identified as having a
learning disability in reading are also achieving below
grade level in math
Chapter 8 – Basic Math Skills
 Difficulties with math may result from numerous
sources, including impairments in:
 Working memory
 Processing Speed
 Language
 Attention
 Sequencing
 Spatial skills
 Reasoning
Chapter 8 – Basic Math Skills
 A student’s success in math reflects the efficacy of the
instruction and can be negatively impacted by:
 Poor teaching
 The design and materials of the curriculum
**Due to the cumulative nature of math with one skill
building on another, poor instruction at any level may
impede future success
Chapter 8 – Basic Math Skills
 Special education training programs and professional
development opportunities focus disproportionally on
the delivery of reading rather than math interventions
 Both special and general educators take few courses in
methods for teaching math and are often inadequately
prepared to teach math skills, particularly at the
secondary level
Chapter 8 – Basic Math Skills
 Some curriculum designs can be especially troublesome for
students that struggle with math
 Spiraling curriculums
Introduces a number of important concepts and then returns to those
concepts in successive years
 In one year, the time devoted to a concept may be too limited for
students that do not learn readily
 Teaching to mastery
 Doesn’t allow ample opportunities to practice “mastered” skills so it
may leave to a false conclusion about the student’s true skill level
 Frequently, a struggling student’s performance is uneven – the student
demonstrates proficiency one day but not the next
 Focusing on procedures versus understanding
 Focus on learning the algorithms instead of developing concept
understanding
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Chapter 8 – Basic Math Skills
 Characteristics of Individuals Struggling with Basic Math Skills
 Difficulty storing and retrieving basic math facts
 Cognitive problems
Long term memory
 Memory span
 Working memory
 Attention
 Processing speed
 Weaknesses in oral language abilities
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 Students who struggle with basic math computations also have
difficulty completing math problems that involve multiple
steps
Chapter 8 – Basic Math Skills
 Number Sense
 The child’s fluidity and flexibility with numbers, as well as
understanding of what numbers mean and their
relationships to others
 Foundational skill that serves as a prerequisite for math
success
 Usually develops during the preschool years and most
children have an initial understanding in place by the age
of 4 or 5
 No one best way to teach
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Use of problem-centered curriculum that emphasizes student
interactions and self-generated solutions has shown to be
effective
Chapter 8 – Basic Math Skills
 Math Facts and Fluency
 Drill and practice approaches are frequently
recommended for helping students master math facts
 As children work on building automaticity of facts, they
should continue to receive instruction in more complex
computation and problem solving.
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Give them supports such a pocket sized fact chart to reference
Chapter 8 – Basic Math Skills
 Effective Instruction (page 174 – 180)
 Direct, explicit instruction with cumulative review
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Most effective instructional approach for teaching basic or
isolated skills
Demonstration or modeling by the teacher, followed by guided
practice with immediate feedback, and then independent
practice to master the skill
 Strategy instruction
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Strategies need to be taught and practiced in a clear, explicit
manner
Mnemonics, visual images, flashcards, rhymes, etc.
 Practice
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Board games, computer-assisted instruction, self-correcting
materials, cover-copy-compare,
Chapter 8 – Basic Math Skills
 Concrete Representations
 Illustrate math concepts with concrete objects or manipulatives
 Children can develop mental images of math concepts
 Can be helpful at any age, especially when introducing a new math
concept
 Concrete-Representational-Abstract (CRA)
 Instruction begins at the concrete level, transitions to a semi concrete or
representational level (pictures) and then evolves to the abstract level
(numerals, symbols)
 Students may require up to seven lessons at the concrete and semi
concrete levels before being able to handle abstract-level problems
Chapter 8 – Basic Math Skills
 Explicit Timings
 1 minute timings
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Provide students with a worksheet of problems that cannot be
completed within 1 minute
Have students complete as many problems as they can within
the minute
Ask students to stop after 1 minute
Score the sheet by counting the number of correct and
incorrect digits written
Plot the total number of correct digits on a graph
Chapter 8 – Basic Math Skills
 Other effective teaching methods (pages 185 – 190)
 Reciprocal Peer Tutoring
 Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies and Cross-Age
Tutoring
 Commercial Products
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Number Worlds
PALS Math
TouchMath
Structural Arithmetic
Software and Web-based Resources
Chapter 8 – Basic Math Skills
 Error Analysis
 One of the most effective ways to help resolve a student’s
errors on basic math computation
 Analyze any mistakes on standardized tests, classroom
exams, school papers, and homework assignments
 Determine the reasons why a student missed a certain
problem
 Students will continue to make the same types of errors
unless intervention occurs
 If you can’t figure out why a student missed a problem, ask
the student to explain step-by-step what they were doing to
solve the problem
Chapter 8 – Basic Math Skills
 Monitor Student Progress
 Helps students become more aware of their growth
 Provides teachers with valuable information about the
effectiveness of their instruction and whether or not
adjustments are needed
 Having students chart their own progress not only
motivates the students, but it also frees the teacher from
this task
Chapter 8 – Basic Math Skills
 Any final questions related to basic math skills?
Chapter 9 – Math Problem Solving
 Math is one of the most challenging academic areas
because it is comprised of numerous domains that
continue to increase in complexity
 Almost 1/5 of the U.S. population experiences high
levels of math anxiety
 Research has found that individuals struggling with
math often use immature behaviors, such as counting
on their fingers
 Over 30% of individuals diagnosed with ADHD are
also diagnosed with math learning disabilities
 Due to working memory and executive function
problems
Chapter 9 – Math Problem Solving
 Characteristics of Individuals Struggling with Math
Problem Solving
 No clear research on what the characteristics are for
students struggling in math problem solving
 May include:
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Processing speech
Short-term memory
Working memory
Oral language abilities
Race and poverty
Executive functions (planning, inhibiting responses, shifting
attention, and monitoring strategies)
Chapter 9 – Math Problem Solving
 Although problem solving is recognized as a critical
element of mathematics by researchers and national
organizations, the emphasis in classrooms, especially
special education classrooms, continues to be on
memorization of facts and computational procedures.
 Little time is spent on developing the conceptual and
procedural knowledge and strategies necessary for
problem solving
 Problems
 Instructional time
 Textbooks
Chapter 9 – Math Problem Solving
 Teachers state that word problems are the most
problematic math problems for students
 Students struggle with following the multiple steps of the
problem and understanding exactly what the problem is
asking them to do
 Effective problem solving requires that an individual can:
 Represent the problem accurately
 Visualize the elements of the problem
 Understand the relationships among numbers
 Use self-regulating
 Understand the meaning of the language and vocabulary
Chapter 9 – Math Problem Solving
 10 Effective Instructional Practices that Improve Math
Achievement
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Opportunity to learn: provide ample math exposure and
practice
Focus on meaning: teach important math ideas
Problem solving: build conceptual understanding to
improve procedural knowledge
Opportunities to invent and practice: provide time for
student to invent ways of solving problems and to apply
skills being learned
Openness to student solutions and student interactions:
use understanding of how students construct knowledge
Chapter 9 – Math Problem Solving
 10 Effective Instructional Practices that Improve Math
Achievement
6. Small-group learning: provide cooperative learning
activities
7. Whole-class discussions: encourage sharing of various
student solutions
8. Focus on number sense: help students determine
reasonableness of solutions
9. Use of concrete materials: provide manipulatives to
increase student achievement
10. Use of calculators: encourage the use of technology to
increase student achievement and improve attitude
Chapter 9 – Math Problem Solving
 Effective Teaching Methods (page 204 – 217)
 Direct/Explicit Instruction
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Cueing, modeling, verbal rehearsal, and feedback
Strategy Instruction
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Self-instruction, self-questioning, self-checking
Problem-Solving strategies (page 207)
Schema-Based Strategy Instruction
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Teaches procedural and conceptual understanding related to
mathematical word problem solving
Concrete-Representational-abstract (CRA)
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Instruction begins at the concrete level, transitions to a semi
concrete or representational level (pictures) and then evolves to
the abstract level (numerals, symbols)
Chapter 9 – Math Problem Solving
 Effective Teaching Methods (page 204 – 217)
 Demonstration Plus Permanent Model
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Used to teach long division
The teacher first demonstrates the steps and then this becomes
a permanent model to help students solve similar problems
Mnemonic Strategies (page 210 – 211)
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STAR (steps to solve word problems)
DRAW (used to solve addition, subtraction, multiplication, and
division problems)
ORDER (to remember which operation should be solved first)
EQUAL (greater than, less than, and equal to)
Please Excused My Dear Aunt sally (executive operations)
Chapter 9 – Math Problem Solving
 Effective Teaching Methods (page 204 – 217)
 Technology
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Calculators, videos, computers and web-based activities
Commercial Products **
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Everyday Math
I CAN Learn Pre-Algebra and Algebra (www.icanlearn.com)
Saxon Middle School math
Classworks
**These were determined to have potentially positive effects
on math achievement for students
Summary – Math Disabilities
 Existing research in mathematics suggests that
instructional practices are more important and
effective in teaching math than any curricula
 A direct/explicit instructional approach is most
effective for teaching basic math skills.
 Strategy instruction is most effective for improving
students’ math problem solving skills
Chapter 10 – The Relevance of Cognitive
Abilities to Academic Interventions
LOTS of great information – worth
reading the entire chapter
Final Thoughts
 Questions?
 Comments?
Follow-Up Survey in an e-mail sent by Jennie. By
completing the survey you will receive your CEU’s
 Contact Information
 Heidi Hahn: heidi.hahn@isd181.org
 Jennie Stumpf: jstumpf@midstate.k12.mn.us
Books
 If keeping the book, please send a check for $31 to
 SLD Project
% NJPA
Cheryl Husman
202 12th St NE
PO Box 219
Staples, MN 56479
Books
 If not keeping your book, it can be returned to:
 Fran Johnson
1248 7th Avenue N
Sauk rapids, MN 56379
Or
 Dropped off at Benton Stearns Ed District in care of
Fran Johnson