Multiple Means of Representation for Students with Disabilities To provide students various ways of acquiring information and knowledge. Examples:
Present information using a rich mix of media in addition to text, such as video, digital books, audio,data displays, simulations and concept maps.
The use of technology can improve instruction for many students, including those technologies thathave been designed to assist students with specific disability conditions.
Students with hearing impairments often benefit from closed captioning, automated speech-to-text applications, visual symbols and electronic sign-language dictionaries.
Closed captioning is beneficial for students with reading disabilities, students with attention deficits and students who have difficulty filtering out background noise.
Students with visual impairments often benefit from non-visual alternatives such as Braille,tactile graphics, physical models and screen readers that use synthesized speech to “speak”graphics and text aloud. Students with low vision can benefit from visual display options such as screen magnification and the ability to adjust font size and contrast values of text to background.
Due to deficits in reading fluency, students with reading disabilities, including dyslexia, often experience difficulty reading the large amount of text required for each course. As a result, they can benefit from supports such as textbooks on tape, video, audio, text-to-speech technology and additional time to complete assignments.
Use both linguistic and non-linguistic methods to represent key vocabulary, labels, symbols and icons to support comprehension of concepts.
Assist students with disabilities in identifying key ideas and critical information with tools such as graphic organizers, outlines and concept maps.
Providing additional teacher support until a student can apply new skills independently, often referred to as scaffolding, is an effective teaching strategy designed to shift responsibility for learning from the teacher to the student. eginning instruction at a student’s current level of understanding and providing teacher support to assist the student in reaching the next level of mastery are particularly important for students with disabilities.
Adapted from Missour Deprtement of Education
ELL
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Strategies for Diverse Learners Using the UDL Model Focus on English Language Learners (ELLs)(Adapted from Ohio Department of Education, Office for Exceptional Children, March 2011)
These strategies are part good thinking and part best practices. They work for ELLs and English only students because they activate prior knowledge, encourage students to work together, and provide sensible foundations for teaching and learning in a classroom setting. They can be realistically integrated into the classroom and provide all learners with opportunities to use the four functions of language in an authentic context.
Never assume anything! What you think a student does or does not know can greatly affect the success of a lesson or activity. For example, some children may not have had experience with cutting or gluing. A quick demonstration can prevent heartache or a big mess.
Differentiate instruction and recognize multiple intelligences when designing lessons. Activities should include different kinds of opportunities for individual, paired, and group work, as well as tasks that appeal to a range of learners, like creating charts, drawing, gathering information, and presenting. Differentiating enables your teaching to connect with more of your students.
Teach thematically whenever possible so that students have multiple opportunities to use the words they are learning in context.
Provide choices for completing a project.
Guide and evaluate students’ work with a rubric.
Draw pictures to explain vocabulary. Have a student volunteer draw the pictures, too, and post them in the classroom or have students draw pictures in notebooks or on a chart.
Repeat the same lesson or concept in different ways; more exposure to new learning is always better.
Color code and/or number directions posted in your classroom.
Repeat vocabulary in a variety of ways through reading, writing, listening, and speaking experiences.
Infuse activities with higher level thinking skills, such as comparing, evaluating, extrapolating, and synthesizing.
Determine the cultural background of students and consider how their cultural knowledge and experiences can serve as teaching/learning resources (for themselves and for other students).
Determine the level of students’ heritage (native or home) language skills in all four communication modes (listening, speaking, reading and writing), and consider how these skills can serve as teaching/learning resources (for themselves and for other students).
Consult with the students’ English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers or tutors, and share ideas on how to support the students’ learning in both the content classroom and the ESL classroom.
Multiple Means of Representation Pre-assess student knowledge and skills for the lesson and unit and provide acceleration and/or enrichment options for students that have met or exceeded the knowledge or skill.
Gifted students have a vast knowledge and often need in-depth learning. Resources other than textbooks should be available for use including technology, environmental print, and opportunities to learn from experts in the field through presentations.
Gifted students need flexible grouping experiences. Opportunities to work with intellectual peers provide crucial academic rigor. However, gifted students also benefit from time with age peers; this allows for social and academic growth.