In researching my question of how to support learners with disabilities in learning science, I recently decided to open my search to include all students with special needs (not just those with mild disabilities). Learning new vocabulary in elementary science can often be an overwhelming and difficult task for many students, especially for students with disabilities. One of the techniques that a former special education resource room teacher recommended was asking the student to close their eyes and have them describe what they saw when she said a basic word like “tree.” If the student saw a picture of a tree, then she would focus on helping the student learn the concepts behind the vocabulary words through visual imagery and drawing pictures to represent the concepts. Whereas, if the student said they saw the letters “T-R-E-E,” then she would focus more on developing word associations and making organizational outlines for the vocabulary words.
Simply memorizing the textbook definition of a word, does little to help these types of students actually learn or understand the concepts of scientific vocabulary. Assisting students in breaking down the definitions into key elements, and representing the concepts in a way meaningful to them, helps students better understand the definitions of complex science vocabulary in a more manageable manner. To do this, you really have to get to know your students, and help them understand what forms of information is easiest for them to encode into memory. This technique can be used for learning vocabulary across all content areas, not just for Science.
No comments:
Post a Comment