Everybody Counts! Curriculum Guide
Fifth Grade Learning Disabilities
OBJECTIVES
1. To increase the understanding of people who have a learning disability, including their feelings, goals, and frustrations and to relieve anxieties that may be present during encounters with learning disabled people.
2. To develop knowledge of the characteristics of learning disabilities and to distinguish learning disabilities from other disorders such as developmentally handicapped or behavior problems.
3. To present and reinforce the idea that all people, including people with disabilities, have the same social needs and feelings.
MATERIALS (supplied to you, on the day of the program, by the PTA)
· Mirrors
· Large lower case “b”
· Tracing pattern
· Read aloud worksheet
· Sequencing worksheet
· Reading page
· Plastic drinking cup
SUGGESTED TIME ALLOWANCES (50 minutes total)
10 minutes Introduction, Misunderstandings, Activity and Causes
20 minutes 2 small group activities
15 minutes Whole class problem solving discussion
5 minutes Conclusion
INTRODUCTION
For several years, you have done activities with Everybody Counts and learned about different disabilities. You were reminded that all people are different in many ways--their likes/dislikes, height, appearance etc. You were also reminded that all people are the same in many ways--they want to be happy, to have friends, they like good things to eat, they get angry sometimes, etc.
Today we are going to talk about people who can’t learn things by the ordinary methods that most of us use. This is called a learning disability. This disability may be difficult to understand since you can’t see the disability.
A learning disability is defined as a problem understanding or using spoken or written language. This may be a problem with listening, talking, reading, writing, spelling or math. It does not include learning problems due to visual, hearing or motor handicaps. It also does not include cognitive development or emotional problems. A person with a learning disability has difficulty learning by the ordinary method.
Explain/discuss with the students that we all have problems learning, sometimes. This does not mean they have a learning disability, but it may help us understand how a person with a learning disability may feel.
Discuss the following with the class: (ask a question, let students answer and discuss feelings)
· Have you ever felt it was difficult to concentrate because there was so much background noise?
· Think about the subject you like the least. Why don’t you like it? Is it hard for you? Would you like school if most subjects were hard for you to understand?
· Have you ever read aloud in class and made a mistake and others students laughed at you? Were you embarrassed? How would
you feel if you always made reading mistakes and others laughed at you?
· Have you ever had a problem thinking of just the right word to describe a situation?
Explain that we all have problems like this sometimes, but when it is always hard to read, write or concentrate, it is hard to feel good about yourself.
MISUNDERSTANDING ABOUT LEARNING DISABILITIES
It is very possible for a very smart person to have a problem learning by ordinary methods. In the past, even doctors or teachers did not always recognize a learning disability. Parents and teachers often felt that a student was just misbehaving if he didn’t follow directions or complete work on time. If a student did not copy information from the board correctly, a teacher may have thought he just needed glasses. It is now understood that a person with a learning disability can see and hear but these messages are not being properly “decoded” by the brain. It is not understood exactly why this happens, but some part of the brain is not working properly. The message that the eyes and ears send to the brain seem to get scrambled sometimes, sort of like a computer with crossed wires.
Write the word Jumbled on the board. Reading this word may be difficult for a student with a learning disability. A word may look different every time he sees the word.
Write the word Jumdled on the board next to the first word. The student with a learning disability will certainly have a difficult time learning to read when the brain makes a different interpretation of the message sent from the eyes. The word may look different every time he tries to read it. Write Jnmbleb and/or Jumdlde on the board next to the first two words. Ask the students if they ever worked with a secret code made with letters. How would they feel if the key changed every time they thought they had the code figured out?
ACTIVITY
Show the students a cup. Hold it upside down, sideways, and right side up. Ask the students to identify the cup in each position. Now show them the cardboard letter ”b” and ask them to identify the letter. When the letter ”b” is turned, it suddenly becomes “p”, or ”d”, or “q”. We have all been taught that a cup is still a cup when it is held in any position. However, an alphabet letter must always face a certain way to be correct. There can be no variation. It is very difficult to learn to read if our brain doesn’t “see” the letter the same way each time. Refer the students back to the word Jumbled on the board.
CAUSES AND TYPES OF LEARNING DISABILITES
Learning disabilities can be divided into two very general categories, problems with messages processed through the brain from hearing or seeing. Some people can learn things more easily by listening and others must see everything they learn. There are many specific types of learning disabilities. Discuss briefly any of the following:
· Inability to find the right word
· Inability to recognize differences between left/right, up/down, next to/on top of, over/under
· Difficulty copying from the board
· Difficulty with handwriting
· Inability to block out background noise, even minor noise
· Difficulty remembering what is seen
The class will now be divided up into two groups. Explain that everyone will have the opportunity to try each activity. Explain that they are going to have the opportunity to experience some of the problems and challenges that a student with learning disabilities must face while trying to do school work. Allow about 10 minutes per each group. It is important to discuss the activity after it is completed. Take the time for the children to discuss their opinions and feelings.
Group 1: Mirror Tracing On Paper and Reading Activity Worksheet
Give each student or partnership a copy of the tracing pattern made from the curriculum guide. Instruct them to lay the pattern on their desk and place the mirror upright at the top of the page. Ask them to trace over the pattern while looking only into the mirror. They will discover how difficult it is for some students to copy a shape or even copy from the board. They know what they want to write or draw and they can even see the pattern but they can’t seem to copy it easily and correctly.
Next, have the students turn their tracing paper over and write down these math problems: 293 plus 654 and 462 minus 395. They must only look into the mirror and not at their paper. They will experience the frustration of feeling that their hand is writing backwards and that it is difficult to coordinate when there is a visual perception problem. Tell them that the written work must look correct to hand in to the teacher. Afterward remind students of the extra effort it takes to concentrate and how frustrating distractions or interruptions would be around them.
Give each student a copy of the worksheet made from the sample in the Curriculum guide. Ask students to match the word in one column with the same word in the next column. Emphasize that this is a very simple, second grade level worksheet. Urge them to hurry and allow them to feel the frustration and embarrassment that accompanies the inability to complete a simple task. The words on the sheet are turned and reversed, and a simple task becomes as difficult as breaking a secret code. Discuss with the students the many problems this causes. Examples could be taking a test, filling out a job application, reading a scoreboard at a game etc.
Group 2: Read Aloud Activity and Sequencing Activity
Give students the worksheet made from the sample in the curriculum guide. Fold the sheet in half so the students only see the “jumbled story” when they are reading out loud. Ask different students to read parts of the story out loud to the group. The story is difficult since it is composed of reversed words, reversed letters and substituted phrases. Ask students how they felt while reading. Ask them if it would bother them if others laughed when they tried to read. Remind students that they can see the pages well enough, but they do not see the familiar patterns that they know make up words. Ask students if they would have a hard time doing homework or reading directions if this happened every time they tried to read. Instruct the students to open the sheet and compare the two versions of the story. Encourage them to notice the specific changes that result in words when letters are turned or whole words are reversed.
Some students have a hard time sequencing or putting things in order. Make certain that the students understand that to write a report or do a project, you have to be able to put things in order. You can’t explain the middle first and then the beginning and then the end. Hand out copies of the worksheet on sequencing. Fold the paper in half so example 1 is all that the students are working on.
Ask the students to number the steps on making a snowman so they are in order. This should be very easy and only take about a minute. Tell them that they are a smart group and you want them to do one more. Ask them to flip over their papers to Example 2 and number the Outdoor Fun section so it is in the proper order. Remind them that they did the first part quickly and you expect them to do this part as quickly. They will tell you it does not make sense and is stupid. Just tell them to hurry up and quit complaining and that they are fifth graders and should be able to do a simple sequencing activity. After a minute or two ask them what the problem is with this activity. Ask them how they would feel if everyone else could do this activity quickly and made fun of them for not ”getting it”. Explain that some kids really have a hard time putting things in order and this makes it very hard for them to do a report or study for a test. They will certainly have to work very hard and will need some extra help. How would they like a friend to react if they had this problem? Would it be fair to make fun of someone or be impatient? Always remember, most people are doing the best they can and that teasing never solves a problem. Friends always make an effort to understand.
WHOLE GROUP BRAINSTROMING AND PROBLEM SOLVING
After the two groups have had time to do both small group activities, bring the class back together as a whole to do some problem solving activities.
Most students with a learning disability spend a great part of the day in a typical classroom. One of the greatest problems that these children face is acceptance from their peers. Children often get frustrated and irritated if one student takes longer to answer or do their part in a group project.
Their limited patience may result in lack of friendship for the student with the learning disability. Most kids want everything to happen immediately. Problem solving is not always a skill that is common when it comes to friendships and acceptance of other people. We want more than just tolerance from typical students. Empowering students to seek solutions changes them from “problem makers” to “problem solvers”. This is certainly an important life skill.
PROBLEM SOLVING DISCUSSION
Divide the whole class into small groups of three or four students. Each person will give input and then the group will come up with common answers or solutions that they will share when the whole class comes back together. After they are divided ask one student to be secretary to take some brief notes so they will remember their data.
Explain to the whole class that students with learning disabilities may have a problem with written work and/or reading. This does not mean that they can’t understand a story or that they don’t remember the story.
Problem 1
Book reports are a part of any school career. As fifth graders, you probably have been expected to read and then write a book report.
-If a person has had a hard time reading and/or putting information in written form in an orderly manner, how can they do a book report? Remember they want to do the assignment independently and they are able to understand the story.
-How could this assignment be adjusted so it was fair for everyone?
-Could other students have the option of doing their report in the same way so no one feels “different” or other students don’t feel their way is harder?
It may be necessary to prompt the students to get them started. Ask them if there would be another way to understand the book other than read it? (Examples: book on tape, someone else reading the book aloud etc.) How else could a book report be given other than written form? (Examples: collage, oral report, drawing a book cover, illustrations, etc.)
Problem 2
Fifth graders often do Social Studies projects as groups.
-If a person with a learning disability is in your group for a project on colonial days, what part of the project could he do?