Study Skills Strategies:Meeting the Needs of Students

with Disabilities

Presented byFrank A. Shaffer and Phyllis Seeba

Why Study Skills?

Students learn best when they know their learning and personality style.

Students become proactive in their learning when they know how to learn.

Student confidence and self esteem increases with study skills interaction.

Learning difficulties will affect a student’s ability to

self design and independently apply study

skills strategies.

About Metacognition

Metacognition is used in education to describe the learning process.

Students learn how to learn!

Grading

• Students earn points for participation, assignments, & materials.

• Students earn points for following school rules and attendance.

• Students earn points for independent & cooperative learning.

• Students earn points for being responsible for themselves. A = 90 - 100% B = 80 - 89% C = 70 - 79% D = 60 - 69%

These learning difficulties affect study skills

Weak attention controls

Reduced remembering

Deficient output

Chronic misunderstanding

Delayed skills acquisition

Poor adaptation

Why do students with

learning difficulties

benefit from study

skills instruction?

The Benefits...

Classroom strategies that minimize distractions and maximize information equal higher learning.

Study skills foster self esteem and promote social success which promotes scholastic success.

The Benefits...

If kids know what they are to learn, and get specific feedback, they can increase learning by 37%.

Standards have to drive instruction.

The Benefits...

A study skills class is valued by kids in high school and college settings alike.

Common expectations are reinforced.

Organize for multiple intelligence.

The Goal

The primary goal is to equip students with the tools that enable them to become independent learners.

Course objectives meet the Alaska Content Standards.

Students will demonstrate:

Knowledge of learning strategies and how people learn

Ability to set short term and long range goals

Techniques to build retention and comprehension

Students will demonstrate:

Note taking for reading and listening

Comprehend a basic vocabulary and skills

Skills in following directions

Students will demonstrate:

Identify information in library/media center

Communicate ideas using instructional technology

Knowledge of higher level thinking skills

Students will demonstrate:

Ability to speak and write for a variety of purposes

Think logically and reflectively while taking a test

Study Skills can be taught in a

Resource Room Special Education

class General Education

class Collaborative

Team

Self Contained class

Remedial class Inclusion Model Workshop Tutorial

Study skills can also be taught

By parents at home Or in a summer program

To ensure that students learn and apply study skills

Orientation Activation

Maintenance Study skills are most effective

when taught as they are needed.

Learning Style Inventory

Students learn best when they know their learning and

personality style.

Listening Skills

A student’s success in school depends directly on their ability to listen, as it is

the main channel of classroom instruction.

Time Management

Show students the connection between their goals and their

study efforts

Writing skills

The most important skill for writing papers may be the ability to form and

follow a writing plan.

Reading for a purpose

Students need to make the transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn”.

Note Taking Skills

Note taking encourages students to process

information and put it in their own words.

Self Advocacy

Students taking charge of their education.

Memory skills

Memory strategies are building blocks to a firm foundation to support

academic goals.

Math skills

Improvement in one’s mathematical ability is in part due to collecting,

organizing, analyzing, interpreting and formulating questions about data.

Test Taking

Test taking consists of two phases: preparing for the test

and taking the test.

Library/Research

Students must be taught how to judge the importance of

incoming information.

Organization

Helping students independently apply organization skills by

explaining the rationale behind the skills.

Why teach study skills?

I hear and I forget; I see and I remember I do and I understand

• Chinese Proverb

Grading/Record Keeping

Teaching students to organize their own supplies enable

them to learn more complex organizational skills.

Multiple Intelligences

• Linguistic (in words) • Logical-Mathematical (by reasoning)• Spatial (in images and pictures) • Bodily-Kinesthetic (hands-on-learning)• Musical (via rhythms and melodies)• Interpersonal (social gathering)• Intrapersonal (self-paced projects)• Naturalist (access to nature)

Learning Style

Visual Learners (You have to see it to believe it)

Auditory Learners ( If you hear it, you remember it)

Tactual Learners (If you can touch it with your hands, you will remember it)

Learning Style Evaluation

Use a document or checklist Read each statement Answer if it applies to you Score it - find out about your study

habits and attitudes Apply the information in learning

new material

Record Keeping

• Maintain a three-ring binder with dividers

• Notebook checklist

• Daily/weekly progress reports

• Weekly planners

• Personal evaluation checklist

• Assignment completion

Study Skills Log

• Learning Style• Record Keeping• Organization• Time Management• Library/Research• Listening• Note Taking• Memory Skills• Test Taking• Oral Reports• Reading For A Purpose• Writing• Math• Self Advocacy

Study Skills Strategies:Meeting the Needs of Students

with Disabilities

Presented byFrank A. Shaffer and Phyllis Seeba