Evidence-Based Practices for Teaching Elementary Students with Intellectual Disability
Systematic Instruction
Task Analysis
Opportunities to Respond
In Vivo
Adapted Text
Graphic Organizers
Peer Mediated Supports
Defined, explicit consistent prompting and feedback with fading to teach a defined academic response
Use of timers provides students with a defined time to work independently or in small groups.
I Do, You Do, We Do
Curriculum provided scripted lessons takes out the possibilities of errors in teaching
Frequent and immediate feedback
Visual representation of knowledge; arranges important aspects of a topic into a labeled pattern
Mind/brain maps (like this one!)
Vocabulary Squares to teach new words: Target word; definition; example; non-example; picture and/or sentence using the word in context
KWL chart (What I know; What I want to know; What I learned)
Breaking a skill down into smaller, more manageable components
Chunking of an assignment (evens, odds, 1-5, etc)
Long division small group example: ask each student to tell the next step. If one is skipped, ask, "Oh, what should I do BEFORE I....?"
Define the concept (what are we learning). Identify concept in context (find an example of the concept). Explain the concept (how do we know).
Teaching real life application or in real life settings
Student run "bank" or coffee shop
Trip to the store to buy items
Laboratory experiments
Read and follow the school map to identify and travel to locations within the building
Modifying or augmenting the text
Rebus pictures
Rewritten text to reduce complexity but still identify main ideas
Reduces amount of reading per page (same words/sentences, but fewer words per page)
Providing various opportunities to practice a new skill
"This is the letter B. What letter?" Student response: "B." "Point to the letter B." Students point to the letter B on the wall.
Teacher shows a spelling word and says it aloud. Students spell it aloud. Students clap or "punch" as they spell the word again.
"A shape with 3 sides is a triangle. What is it?" "A triangle." "This is a triangle. What is it?" "A triangle." Teacher holds a picture of a triangle in one hand and another shape in the other - Point to the triangle. Students point to the triangle.
One or more trained peers providing assistance to classmates
Students rank their understanding on a scale of 1-4 and find a classmate at a different level to work with on an assignment.
Peers take turns reading. As they are listening, they will help each other with unknown words.
Trained peer reads the math problem. Target student rereads it. Trained peer guides target student through task analysis/step by step completion of problem.