2. Present motivation techniques to help low-achieving
students in secondary school. List effective extrinsic
reinforcers as well as tactics for increasing intrinsic
motivation.
Motivation techniques (extrinsic) –
Time for listening to music on their own
Tokens for progress on academics
Charting or self-recording of academic accomplishments
Allowances at home tied to grades
Time to play games or enjoy a recreational activity
Opportunity to participate in scheduling academic activities
Tangible reinforcers such as restaurant coupons, magazines, and movie tickets
Exemption from some homework or assignments
Extra time for break or lunch.
Intrinsic motivation –
1. provide choices in curriculum content and procedures to enhance the
student’s view that learning will benefit them.
2. Obtain a commitment to options that the student values and indicates a
desire to pursue.
3. Provide feedback that comments on the student’s progress.
3. Briefly outline the Learning Strategies Curriculum of
the University of Kansas Center for Research on
Learning.
There are three strands within the learning strategies
curriculum.
They are the acquisition strand, the storage strand, and
the expression and demonstration of Competence
Strand.
Included in these strands are different strategy
programs. For example, within the acquisition strand is
the Word Identification Strategy which teaches students
a procedure for quickly attacking and decoding unknown
words in reading materials. It allows students to move
on quickly for the purpose of comprehending the
passage.
4. List the eight stages of strategy acquisition and
generalization developed at the University of Kansas
Center for Research on Learning.
The stages are:
1. Pretest and Make Commitments
2. Describe the Strategy
3. Model the strategy
4. Verbal Elaboration and Rehearsal
5. Controlled Practice and Feedback
6. Advanced Practice and Feedback
7. Confirm Acquisition and Make Generalization
Commitments
8. Generalization
5. Related instructional procedures.
To use along with these eight strategies are the instructional procedures that relate to the
acquisition and generalization of skills and strategies.
1. The student should be committed to learning the strategy and fully understand the
purpose and benefits.
2. The physical and mental actions covered in the strategy should be fully described
and explained.
3. The student should be taught how to remember the strategy to facilitate the
process of self-instruction
4. The student should understand the process of learning the strategy and participate
and monitor learning.
5. Multiple models of the strategy should be provided, and an appropriate blance
between the physical and mental activities involved in the strategy should be achieved.
6. The student should be enlisted in the model and become a full participant in guiding
the strategy instructional process.
7. The strategy should be understood fully and memorized before practice in the
strategy is initiated.
8. Practice should begin with controlled guided practice and conclude with advanced
independent practice.
9. A measurement system should provide ongoing information that will demonstrate to
the student and the teacher that the strategy is being learned and used and that the
demands of the setting are being met.
10. Though generalization should be promoted throughout the strategy acquisition
process, specific efforts to promote generalization should follow strategy acquisition.
6. Discuss various types of content enhancements that
can be used effectively with adolescents with learning
problems.
Two specific types of enhancements that can be used are
devices and routines. Devices are tools that teacher use
to promote learning. Devices can be used to help
students
organize, understand, describe, demonstrate, and recall
content. They include verbal and visual modes of
presentation. For example, to describe (or tell a
story), the verbal mode could include using current
events, past events, fictional story, hypothetical
scenario, and personal story. The visual mode might
include using film, filmstrip, and video.
Routines are instructional procedures that involve
students in developing, acquiring, and applying the
device. There are many types of published routines to
use.
7. There are seven types of content enhancements:
1. Advance organizers. These help prepare students for lessons
they’ll learn in advance. It might include linking the upcoming lesson
to a past lesson, new vocabulary, explaining tasks, etc.
2. Visual displays. This is presenting the information in any way
visually (i.e., graphic organizers, posters, etc.)
3. Study guides. Study guides highlight important information that
will probably be tested on.
4. Mneumonic devices. These are verbal or pictorial techniques that
help students remember information (i.e., ESSAY: Elicit, Ask, Study,
Yes).
5. Audio recordings (students can listen to lessons or key
information).
6. Computer-assisted instruction (Instruction through computers).
7. Peer-mediated instruction. This involves using classmates to help
one another through such things as peer-tutoring.
8. Discuss alternatives for adapting materials. Include procedures for
simplifying texts.
Materials can be adapted through developing parallel curriculum, simplifying
texts, and using audio texts. This curriculum is written to go alongside the
regular curriculum. It presents the content in ways that help the problem
learner organize, practice, and master important information.
1. Provide the student with a highlighted text (this way they automatically
know what information is important).
2. Transform words into graphic aids by creating charts, graphs, and
models. This will especially help the learner who is visual.
3. Use advance organizers to prepare the student for the reading material
(includes study guides, questions, outlines, etc.).
4. Reduce the complexity and length of work units to the extent that the
low achiever receives periodic and consistent closure.
5. Provide self-correcting materials.
6. When simplifying texts, concentrate on content, sentence structure, and
vocabulary.
7. For the student with limited reading skills, consider using rewritten texts.
9. Provide suggestions for modifications in test formats
to improve test performances of students with
learning problems.
Give frequent, timed minitests so that testing is not a huge, anxiety
provoking situation (I like this one!)
Use alternative response forms when existing formats appear to hinder
student expression (true/false, multiple choice, short answer, essay, and so
on). I also like this because it gives students opportunities to use their
strengths (some may be really good at writing essays, while others will
excel in multiple choice).
Multiple-choice alternatives include using yes-or-no questions, reducing the
number of choices, providing more information from which to make a
choice, and using matching items.
Short-asnwer alternatives include providing a list of facts and information to
use in the answer, allowing the student to list information or choose from
several prepared short answers, using the cloze technique in prepared
paragraphs, and scrambling information to be arranged.
Essay alternatives include providing a partial outline for the student to
complete, allowing the student to tape asnwers, noting important points to
be included in the response, and using take home tests. One instructor I had
gave us our essay questions in advance so that we could
research, memorize, and come back to class with what we had memorized.
Tests can be modified by providing a tape of the test items as well instead of
reading and written work.
10. Present activities for teaching time management and
for developing self-management.
Give the student a 5-day schedule of after-school time and ask the
student to schedule their activities during this time
Provide the student with a calendar to assist in scheduling daily or
weekly activities.
Encourage the student to include flexibility time in the schedule. Show
the student how to rearrange time for important things.
Either provide assignments or have the student list at least four school
assignments and estimate how long it will take. Record the actual
amount of time so that the student knows how much time to allot
certain activities.
Have the student list and prioritize school assignments in order of
dates to be completed and such.
Encourage the student to work in an environments conducive to
studying.
11. Self Management
Make sure that the student understands specific
behavior expectations regarding assignments and class
routines
Help the student set goals and timelines regarding
schoolwork
Focus on cause and effect relationships of doing or not
doing assignemnts
Provide the student with a self-monitoring chart to
monitor a target behavior. Have the student record a
check mark each time the behavior is displayed.
12. List activities related to acquisition study skills.
Include activities for developing reading and note-
taking skills and present sequential study methods for
students with learning problems.
Teach students how to use an outline format. It may help to fill out part
of the outline when giving it to students.
Show students headings in a textbook of theirs so they can see how an
outline could be broken down from these. I use this all the time in my
current education to emphasize main points.
Teach students how to use a coumned format with space dedicated to
major ideas, concepts, topics; supportive information, details, ideas; and
summary information and questions.
Provide several paragraphs and summary and have the student match
the best summary with the paragraph.
Provide passages from the student’s book and have the student find the
main idea, supportive details, and write information as concisely as
possible.
13. Provide activities for developing study-rehearsal
skills. Present the mnemonic FIRST as a strategy to
create mnemonics to recall information.
Have the student rehearse from various content formats
like notes, outlines, discussion, and demonstrations.
Encourage the student to use verbal rehearsal in
reviewing content.
Instruct the student to use questioning strategies when
reviewing content
14. FIRST mneumonic strategy
F—Form a word. For example, to remember parts of an
atom, students can form the word PENS
(proton, electron, neutron, and shell).
I—insert extra letters to form a mneumonic word.
R—Rearrange the first letters to form a mneumonic
word. This is a great way to remember lists and such as
long as they do not need to be in order.
S—shape a sentence to form a mneumonic. The one I’ve
heard a lot is the order of operation steps for math
(Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally - Parentheses
, Exponents, Multiplication,
Division, Addition, Subtraction).
15. Present the SCORER system.
S – Schedule your time. Spend more time on longer, more difficult
sections
C – Look for clue words (especially on true/false questions- words
like never, always, etc.).
O—Omit difficult questions. Postpone them til later to go back to so
that you do not spend too long on that question and not finish the
rest of the test. Mark them to come back to.
R – Read carefully. Read directions and all questions carefully so
that you do not make needless mistakes
E – Estimate your answers. This is especially helpful with math. If
you estimate the answer beforehand you can eliminate outrageous
answers.
R—Review your work. Go back through and make sure you have
every question answered (if not penalized for incorrect answers) .
16. PIRATES test-taking strategy
P—prepare to succeed. Put your name on the test.
Prioritize sections according to time
I—Inspect the directions. Read instructions and highlight
important details if necessary
R—Read, Remember, and Reduce. Read the whole
question (very important), remember what you have
studied, and reduce the alternatives
A—Answer or Abandon questions
T—Turn back. Go back and answer abandoned items
E – Estimate unkown answers
S—Survey to make sure all items are answered. Change
answers if you have a GOOD reason to.
