The student with learning disabilities often has a hard time storing and retrieving information from his memory. Mnemonics is a method of teaching math that helps a student recall verbal and content area information. Examples of mnemonics are keywords, pegwords and letters.
A keyword mnemonic is a word that links to what students need to know, because it explains the concept in a visual form. For example, if a student needs to remember that two times two is four, the teacher says a phrase such as skateboard with two sets of wheels. The student will then know it's four because a skateboard has four wheels. Another example is two times three and the keywords are six pack of soda pop.
Pegwords are ryming words used to represent numbers. Pegwords are helpful to use when teaching information that requires remembering numbers in a sequence. The teacher first teaches the student all the pegwords and what numbers they correspond to. The pegword for six is sticks, so then the teacher can teach the student sticks times sticks is 30 sticks. A student might then find it helpful to remember the six times tables with the word "sticks."
The letter strategy is effective for teaching steps to solving a math problem. The teacher creates letters that represent words. For example, when teaching the order of operations, the letters PEMDAS (parenthesis, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, subtraction) will help a student remember which operation comes first.
Word problems are something that students with learning disabilities struggle to understand. A given word problem requires the student to define what type of problem it is, visualize the situation and come up with a solution. Graphic organization is a method that teaches the student the concepts behind problem solving.
The first step is to teach the student how to recognize different problems by making him aware of keywords that represent different operations, such as "the difference that requires subtraction." Providing the student with many examples can to help him understand why the keywords represent a certain operation. Then the teacher provides a graph with arrows, such as a graphic organizer made up of three large ovals lying horizontally across the page for the student to write in the important information. After the three ovals is an arrow and then another oval. Above the arrow, the student writes the operation and in the last oval writes the solution. A student benefits from the graphic organization method because it helps him organize the information in his mind by seeing it on the page.
The best way to empower a student is by teaching him how to regulate his own learning with self- monitoring methods. Math equations involve steps that build on one another, so a student must make sure that every step is done accurately. Therefore, he needs to learn how to check his own work. This can be done by creating checklists for a student to check off to ensure he has done all the correct steps in the math equation. The teacher monitors for the students and demonstrates how to look over the problem and check to make sure each step was done correctly.
Students with learning disabilities often experience a lot of failure when it comes to mathematics. A student may feel that he is incapable of doing well and decide not to try at all, which is called learned helplessness. The teacher can teach the student how to empower himself by teaching him things to say to himself such as "I am capable of solving this problem" and "If I don't do well, it doesn't mean I cannot do it, it just means I need to try harder." Once a student feels as if he can do well, he is more likely to succeed.