1. METHODS IN TEACHING
READING TOMENTALLY
RETARDED
Many innovations have appeared in recent years to help
teach reading. Some of these new approaches use
fragments of older methods or combine elements of several
methods; some of the new approaches have modified the
sequence or presentation in an attempt to simplify the initial
learning experiences and some new approaches represent
attempts to operationalize recent learning theories.

2. WORDS IN COLOR (GATTEGUO, 1962)
 Words in color is an attempt to making initial
reading easier and more regular through the use
of color, without changing the alphabet or the
spelling. A simple phoneme sound is always
represent by one color regardless of the
spelling. The children learn the sound of the
“with one” the color of short “a”. Whether the
spelling is a, au, or ai, as in pat, laugh, or paid.
It is written in white and pronounced with the
short “a”. The short “u” as in up is yellow and
short “I” as in pink and so on.

3. THE REBUS APPROACH (WOODCOCK, 1969)
 Another attempt to simplify the initial stages
of learning to read is through the use of
rebus symbols for beginning reading. S
rebus is a picture or symbol of a printed word
and it is used in the reading material instead
of certain printed words. For example, the
printed word “be” is represented by a picture
of a bumblebee, “in” is represented by a
square with a dot inside and “dog” is
represented by the picture of a dog

4. DISTAR READING SYSTEM (ENGELMANN, 1969)
 This method makes use of a behavioral approach
to teaching and specify the teacher’s wordings and
actions. The steps to be followed in this approach
include”:
 symbol action games are used to teach skills such as
left-to-right orientation and linear sequence.
 Blending tasks are used to teach children to spell words
by sound (say it slow) and to blend quickly (say it fast)
 Rhythm tasks are used to teach children to recognize the
relationship between sounds and words.

5. LANGUAGE-EXPERIENCE APPROACH TO
READING- (LEE AND ALLEN, 1963)
 The language-experience method views reading
as an extension of the facets of language arts.
The development of reading skills interrelated
with the development of the skills of the
listening, speaking and writing. The raw
materials are the experience and language of
the child begins by dictating stories to the
teacher. These are written down by the teacher,
and they become the basis of the child’s first
reading experience. The language experience
approach to reading permits the child to
conceptualize the following about written
materials:

6.  What I can think about, I can talk about.
 What I can say, I can write.
 What I can write, I can read.
 I can read what others write me to read.

7. NEUROLOGICAL IMPRESS METHOD
(HECKELMAN, 1969)
 It is a system of unison reading by the pupil and the
teacher at a rapid pace. The pupils sits slightly in
front of the teacher and both read together, the voice
of the teacher being directed into the ear of the pupil
at a fairly closed range. The pupil or the teacher
uses a finger as a locator as the words are read. The
finger should be the location of the spoken word. At
times the teacher may read softer than the reading
voice of the pupil who may lag slightly behind. No
preliminary preparations are made with the reading
materials before the pupils sees it. The object is
simply to cover as many pages of reading materials
as possible within the time available without causing
fatigue to the pupil.

8. EDMARK READING PROGRAM
 The Edmark reading program was developed
to teach 150-word sight vocabulary to
retarded learners. i.e can repeat, can point
and have sufficient receptive language to
understand and respond to the teacher. The
program comes in kit form with over 200
lessons consisting of word recognition, story
and picture/phrase matching and direction
book.

9. METHODS AND ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHING
SPEAKING TO CHILDREN WITH MENTAL
RETARDATION/INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY
Here are some methods and activities to improve skills in
verbal expression among mentally retarded children. These
techniques are not intended to be inclusive, but merely
representative of activities designed to improve the child’s
skills in speaking

10.  Naming- have the child name common
objects in the room or outside (chair, door,
table, tree, store). Have collection of objects
in a box or bag. As each removed have the
child name them. Have the child name
colors, animals, shapes, etc. use picture of
objects. A collection or a file of good pictures
provides excellent teaching materials.

11.  Department store- the game of the
department store (or hardware store,
supermarket, restaurant, shoe store, etc.)
gives the child the opportunity to use naming
words. One child plays the role of the
costumers and give orders to another child
who is the clerk. The clerk collects picture of
the items ordered and gives the order his
costumer while naming them.

12.  Rapid Naming- give the child a specified
length of time to name all the objects in the
room. Keep a record on the number of
named to note improvement. Pictures can be
used, having the child name the objects in
the pictures. Another variation could be
related to sports, outdoors, pets, etc.

13.  Missing Words- have the child say the word
that finishes a riddle. Who delivers the mail?
(the mailman) I bounce a ____ (ball). Read a
story to the children, pausing at certain
places leaving out words ; the child is to
supply the missing word. The use of pictures
helps in recall and naming the objects.

14.  Word Combination- some words can best be
learned as part of a group; when one
member of the group is named, the child may
be helped to remember the second. For
example, paper and pencil, boy and girl, hat
and coat, cats and dogs. Series may also be
learned in this fashion; days of the week,
months of the year.

15.  Use pictures to build morphological
generalization
 Picture 1 shows: The boy is painting a picture
 Picture 2: The picture is now (painted)
Point to the picture that describes each sentence
 Picture 1: The dog is running
 The dogs are running

16.  Substitution to form sentences- form new
sentences by substituting a single word in an
existing kernel sentence. Example:
I took my coat off. I took my boots off
The child is reading. The child is running
 Discussion of objects- help the child tell about
the attributes of an object such as label,
category, color, size, shape, major parts,
number and comparison are useful areas for
discussion.

17.  Categories Place items that can be grouped
to teach categories in box. For example:
toys, meat, people, animals, vehicle,
furniture, fruit. Ask the child to find the ones
that go together and tell what they are. Or
teachers can name the category while the
children find and name the items. Put items
together and ask which do not belong.

18.  Oral language activities- a number of
activities can be used to promote practice in
the used of oral language and speaking.
These include conversation, discussion,
radio or television broadcast, show and tell
sessions, puppetry, dramatic play,
telephoning, choral, speaking, reporting,
telling stories, riddles, jokes and role playing.

19. METHODS AND ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHING
HANDWRITING TO CHILDREN WITH
MENTAL RETARDATION/INTELLECTUAL
DISABILITY
The following activities are representative of methods that
have been useful in helping children learn to write:

20.  Chalkboard activities- these provide a
practice before beginning writing instruction.
Circles, lines, geometric, shapes, letters and
numbers can be made with large free
movements using the muscles of the
shoulders, arms, hands and fingers.

21.  Other materials for writing movement
practice- finger painting or writing in clay pan
or sand tray, gives the child practice in writing
movements. Put a layer of the sand,
cornmeal, salt or non-drying clay on a cookie
sheet. Use commercial homemade finger
prints for the painting practice. The finger or
the pointed stick can be used to practice
writing shapes forms, letters and numbers. A
small wet sponge could be used on a
chalkboard to draw shapes.

22.  Position- to prepare for writing have a child sit in a
comfortable chair, have the table at the proper height,
feel flat on the floor, both forearms on the writing
surface. The non-writing hand should hold the paper
on the top.
 Paper- for manuscript writing, the paper should be
placed without the slant parallel with the lower edge
of the desk. For cursive writing, the paper is tilted at
an angle approximately 60 degrees from vertical to
the left for right handed children and to the right for
left handed children. To help the child remember the
correct slant, a strip of tape to parallel the top of the
paper maybe placed at the top of the desk. To keep
the paper from sliding, it maybe necessary to attach
the paper to the desk with masking tape.

23.  Holding the pencil- many, or unable to hold
the pencil properly between the thumb and
middle finger with the index finger riding the
pencil. The pencil should be grasped above
the sharpened point. A piece of paper or a
rubber band can be placed around the pencil
to help the child hold at the right place.

24.  Stencils and templates- geometric forms
(square, circles etc.) letters and numbers can be
represented in stencils made from cardboards
or plastic. Clip the stencil to the paper to prevent
it from moving. Have the child trace the form
with a finger or with a pencil crayon. Then
remove the stencil and reveal the figure that has
been made. The stencil can be made so that the
whole creates the shape, or in reverse, a cutout
of the shape itself where the outer edge of the
stencil create the shape.

25.  Tracing- make heavy black figures on white
paper and clip a sheet of onionskin paper
over the letters. Have the child trace the
forms and letters. Start with diagonal lines
and circles, then horizontal and vertical lines,
geometric shapes and finally use letters and
numbers. The child may also trace with a
crayon or felt-tip pen over a black letter on
paper, or may use a transparent sheet.

26.  Drawing between the lines- have the child
practice making “roads” between double
lines in a variety of widths and shapes. Then
the child can write letters by going between
the double lines or outlined letters. Use
arrows and numbers to show direction and
sequence of the lines.

27.  Dot-to-dot- draw a complete figure and then an
outline of the same figure using dots. Ask the
child to make the figure by connecting the dots.
 Tracing with reducing cues. Write the complete
letter or word and have the child trace it; then
write the first part of the letter or word and have
the child trace your part and then complete the
letter… finally reduce the cue to only upstroke
and have the child write the entire letter or word.

28. METHODS AND ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHING
ARITHMETIC TO CHILDREN WITH MENTAL
RETARDATION/INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY
The following are excellent suggestions for teaching
computational skills among mentally retarded children:

29.  Reading and counting numbers- in reading
and writing and counting numbers, mentally
retarded children should be exposed first to
concrete objects, semi abstract and finally
abstract. Avoid rapid teaching to allow the
pupils to develop concept and skills.

30.  Addition- knowledge of addition facts provides
the foundation for all other computational skills
in arithmetic. Addition is a short method of
counting and pupils should know that they can
resort to counting when all else fails. Addition
can be thought of part of plus part equals whole.
Important symbols to learn are: + (plus or put
together) and = (equals or the same as). As with
other areas, first use concrete objects; then use
cards with sets that represents numbers; and
finally use the number sentence with numbers
alone; 3+2= ___. From this the child can also
learn: 3+2 = ___, ___+3=5.

31.  Subtraction- after a good start on addition
subtraction is introduced. An important new
symbol is – (minus or “take away”). The pupil
places a set of object on the desk and then
takes away a certain object. How many are
left? 6-2=___. Then use cards with sets of
them. Find six by using a card with a set of 2
and a card with asset of 4. Tell the you have
a set of 6 when the cards are joined. Take
away the of 7 and ask the child what is left.

32.  Another way of illustrating subtraction is
using rods. Start with the rod that represent
the total sum. Place on a top a type of rod
that represents part of the sum. Ask the pupil
to find the rod that fills the empty space. The
number line is also useful in subtraction.

33.  Multiplication- very frequently the child with an
arithmetic disability does and know multiplication
tables. If this is so, division will also be impossible to
learn. Multiplication is short method of adding instead
of adding 2+2+2+2, the pupil can learn 2x4=8. the
symbol to learn is x (times).
 One way of explaining multiplication sentence is. How
much 3 sets of 2? Using sets of objects the pupil can
find the total either by counting objects, so by adding
equals addends. The concept of communicative
property can introduced. The sentence 3x5=___ does
not change on the form 5x3=___.

34.  In the number line approach, pupils can use the
number lines for addition probably do well in
using them for multiplication. The child adds a
unit of 5,3 on the line to end up at the 15 on the
number line. The rectangular array approach
contains and equal number of objects in each
row:3x5 is shown as
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0

35.  Division- this computational skill is
considered the most difficult to learn and
teach. Basic division facts come from
knowledge of multiplication facts. Long
division requires many operations, the pupils
must be able to do all the steps before they
put them together. The new symbol is
(divide) using sets :