Science and Social studies ch. 15

IntroSocial studies is an academic discipline concerned with concepts and knowledge of the physical and social world around us.

Many school employ a textbook (or content-oriented) approach in which students are taught and learn content information from a text book.

Schools may also embrace a activities oriented approach where students undertake specific projects, experiments, or other activities to enhance their understanding of the subject.

Either approach may utilize an inquiry-based model of learning, in which students use their knowledge or experience to invent, discover, or construct new knowledge.

Adaptations for inquiry based models may focus on supports or enhancements to promote the thinking and reasoning process in students with special needs.

Adapting Textbook Oriented Approaches

Use Effective teaching strategies

teach using big ideas. Make sure your content is very well organized. Be enthusiastic, provide a lot of examples in a lot of different ways, use direct language, teach mnemonic devises and be sure to go over new vocabulary.

Provide Content-enhancement strategies – this incorporates effective instructional design and makes use of graphic organizers, including study guides, charts, diagrams, outlines, visual-spacial displays mnemonics, and imagery to promote learning and comprehension.

Modify worksheet activity modifying assignments for students with special needs reduces the amount of reading and writing, but covers the same major concepts. (This is an example of differentiated instruction)

Strategies for Promoting Independent Learning from Textbooks. A large portion of learning that takes place in social studies come from independent studying of text books.

Teach Study Skills Strategies for content-area Textbooks

Students with special needs may require explicit instruction in the use of successful study skills and strategies. Things like learning how to predict text structures, how to highlight or outline essential information, and how to use enhancements such as lesson organizers, graphic organizers, illustrations, charts, graphs and diagrams are strategies

for effectively using a textbook.

Teach Students to Identify Text Organization

Teach students how to use features found in the text book. Things like overall parts of the text, organizational systems. Specific features such as objectives, outlines, boldface, vocabulary, illustrations and charts. Also features associated with supplemental materials such as work books, lab books and activity sheets.

Teach Students to Identify text structures

teach the child to paraphrase and summarize

Teach Learning Strategies

Like Multi Pass where you teach students to survey, size up and

sort out information. It Fits where students identify the term, tell the definition, find a

key work, imagine the definition, think about the definition, study what they imagined until they know the definition.

Travel where students write down a topic, read a paragraph, ask about the main idea and three details and write them down, verify the main idea by circling it and linking its details, examine the next paragraph and then link all the circles.

Strategies for Adapting textbook materials.

Promote pre-reading and post reading strategies

PRE READING - present difficult concepts or vocabulary words to students with disabilities in class before having them read about the information independently.

POST READING use per tutoring, group discussions, debriefing and work sheets

Strategies for Adapting Social Studies Activities

Supplement Textbook Based Instruction things like videos, student projects and technological applications as much as possible.

Make Adaptations for Special Needs for Field Trips.

Field trips can be great learning experiences but you needs to call ahead to inform the staff of any special needs the students have. Students with visual impairments may require modifications or adaptations in lighting printed materials, video presentations or seating arrangements.

Students with hearing impairments may need special seating or aids, students with cognitive or intellectual impairments may need preparation or on site teacher support.

Students with attentional disorders may need assistance focusing attention on relevant exhibits and effectively sequencing their visit.