Alison Gehrman

Dr. Cohen

SERP 407B

November 13, 2017

Assignment Modification

An activity that is done on a weekly basis, in the classroom I observe in, focuses on number sense and place value, and it incorporates some addition and subtraction of quadruple digit numbers. Here is the original setup the students receive on their double-sided worksheet, which typically has 4 of these setups.

The teacher, Mrs. Deming, says a number out loud in word form, and the students are expected to write that number down in the correct place value boxes at the top. Mrs. Deming gives a short wait time, then copies the number on the board through use of an overhead projector. She then says out loud the next step in the problem, whether it be adding or subtracting a number. She, again, gives a quick wait time, then writes the command on the left side of the chart, but does not write down the new number; the class is expected to keep up with the commands and totals independently, however, they do have access to teacher assistants. After 3-5 commands, adding or subtracting, Mrs. Deming asks her students to write their final number below the chart in expanded form, and word form. Once this is done for most students, the teacher begins the second chart, and repeats this until 2-4 charts are completed.

ModificationStudent: Marcus* is a seventh grader in a self-contained classroom with an emotional disturbance disorder. He also struggles with his handwriting, and appears to have a form of dysgraphia, although it is not listed in his IEP. In math, Marcus struggles with solving problems because his numbers are written so large and unaligned, making calculation difficult. With this assignment in particular, Marcus often gives up shortly after beginning the lesson due to his frustration with fitting numbers in the boxes. Additionally, his numbers are often illegible, making continuing the strong of computation challenging to follow.

*Marcus is not the real name of the student observed and discussed in this assignment.

Modification: If I was able to modify this assignment, I would do so in a way that benefitted Marcus, and students like him. In order to encourage him to stay on task and put forth effort during place value instruction, I would modify the worksheet itself, making it more accessible for many children in the class, especially Marcus, due to his Dysgraphia-like symptoms. I would do so by altering the worksheet ahead of time, and adding in aspects like prewritten values so handwriting would not affect the actual calculations by the student; if given values were written sloppily, it could affect the outcome of the equations, which provides an inaccurate understanding of the math concepts. Examples are given below. (1) I would write the initial number for him on the chart, so he could start with an easily identifiable number. (2) I would also have the commands written on the left side of the chart before printing it for him, as well. For example, I would have “+200, -10, -2, +3,000” written down the side so his handwriting wouldn’t cause his calculations to be incorrect. As I progressed through the instructions, I would increase my wait time to allow more time for Marcus’s working memory. As the lesson went on, (3) I would make sure Marcus was on the correct step, rather than being left behind with no assistance in hopes that this motivated him to avoid giving up. I would do so by checking on him at his desk in between directions. A quick glance at his paper could tell me if he was on track or behind. Another modification I would put into place is coming to Marcus’s desk during each wait time, and (4) using a highlighter to write the correct total on his paper. This way, Marcus can use a legible number to add or subtract from for the next step instead of being multiple steps behind solely due to his handwriting. (A) A general accommodation I would make for Marcus is to ensure that his desk was placed in the front of the room for this type of lesson, as well as others, so that he can easily check the board and make sure his paper matches the work of the teacher, while also ensuring he stays on task since that can be difficult for him. (B) A tangible item could be another general accommodation that I would provide to Marcus to aid him in following along. It could be simply a half sheet of colored paper, which in this case he could place under the row we are working on. Once that row has been completed, he could slide the paper down and focus on one step at a time. This very simple assistive technology device could be helpful in all aspects of Marcus’s time in the classroom. Below is an example of a modified place value worksheet I might give to Marcus for this lesson in the future. You can see the correct totals written in highlighter on top of the student’s handwriting, as I mentioned, as well as the initial number and commands pre-written down the side.