Special education classroom, sometimes called resource classes, are provided to give quality instruction to students with disabilities who are working well below grade level. While the push in education is to include all special education students in mainstream, or regular education, classrooms, the special education classroom could be an option for the more severely involved student. The whole purpose is to provide intensive individualized instruction.
The problem, however, is that those classrooms can wind up with students who have a wide range of skill levels. How can teachers provide intensive instruction to all students when they are each trying to learn different things at the same time? Along with teaching basic skills such as study skills and organization tools, there are strategies to use to individualize and still not give up instruction time for any student.
Small Groups and the Lesson Cycle
Grouping students into two or three within class groups according to what they are working on can make it easy to individualize while still not giving up group instruction time. For example, in math, one group could have students working on basic operations while another group could have students working on higher level pre-algebra skills. Students could be grouped according to similar objectives on their education plan.
Classroom centers are an effective way to group students. Each center focuses on one area or level of content. The centers are each self-contained with the instructions for the lesson and all of the materials. The centers are self-explanatory and the teacher rotates between the centers providing guidance. While the centers are self-explanatory, they do not have to give up direct instruction time, though.
The lessons in different groups or centers could be rotated on different cycles so that on any given day, the teacher might be introducing new material to one group or center while only having to check in on another group who is working on independent practice. Additionally, since most special education classrooms have a teacher’s assistant, the teacher could work with one group or center while the assistant works with another (under the teacher’s direction, of course).
Whole Group Instruction and Pull Out
Another way of teaching multiple levels is to teach and reinforce general concepts to the whole group and then pair that with individual instruction in a pull out model. Every subject has general concepts that might be relevant, no matter what the individual student levels are or what they are studying.
For example, the properties of math, reading comprehension strategies, organizing writing ideas, or even a scientific theory are more general concepts that could be taught in a given subject area to support what each student is learning. Each student can then apply that knowledge to their individual assignments, although the teacher might add additional instructional content for any given student.
Thematic instruction, where a single theme is used to tie into multiple content areas, has also been shown to be effective as a teaching strategy that can be used in special education classrooms. Themes could be anything from an event in history, to a writing organizer, for example. Teaching reading comprehension could apply to any content area. The theme should preferably be something that captures student interest.
Individualize Student Textbooks
There are multiple textbooks written on different levels that cover the same information. There are also accommodations provide by publishers. In a special education classroom, students are often working well below grade level and reading level is a big factor in their ability to progress. Publishers of the regular education text often provide tapes of the texts. Listening to the tape while following along is one way to accommodate reading needs for students.
Another option is to provide texts on different levels (but with the same general content) to students. Texts can be purchased that are written on anything from a primary level to a secondary level. For example a ninth grade science class could use a text written on a third grade level, one on a fifth grade level and the regular text. Students learning the same material could use the text on their reading level.
Special Education Teaching Methods
Teaching special education students in a pullout classroom, due to the severity of their disability and their level of functioning, does not mean having to give up quality intensive instruction time, regardless of the variety of levels or content areas they are working on at the same time. Strategies such as within class grouping, learning centers, thematic units, and grade level texts written at lower levels can help teachers to provide needed instruction.
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