- So there's some evidence-based learning tools that you're going to want to add to your lessons. Let's talk about them. The first one is flashcards. It's a really great way to teach new skills or larger ideas.
Students with Down Syndrome benefit from a lot of repetition as they move information from short-term memory to long-term memory. So flashcards make a perfect tool. To implement that, you're going to want to decide on what key skills you want to address, and then how to present those on a flashcard, whether that be with words, pictures, icons, or phrases, depending on the needs of the student. You'll then create sets of flashcards to support student learning and decide on how often you want the students to review those and how you'll measure their success with those skills.
Don't forget, there are plenty of digital options out there too. Music and song are another great tool. Let's face it, people learn better with music and song. So you can pair that with big ideas, task sequences, or concepts and skills.
When you do that, it's proven that a student will have a higher level of recall and be able to be more independent with skills. Accommodative tools are also something you're going to want to consider. A student with Down Syndrome can work on more challenging and advanced ideas or tasks with the right supports. So you're going to want to put those in place so your student can be successful.
You also want to remember that learning how to use that tool will actually support the student in post-secondary so that they can be more independent in their later life. And that can include things like number lines, calculators, text to speech options, dictionaries, and things like digital clocks, calendars, and schedules. The next learning tool is color-coded materials. We all know that color helps us all to remember things and help organize ideas, so let's use that in the classroom.
Visual reminders help our students understand larger ideas and skills and be more independent. A student might use highlighters with certain colors to indicate certain things, like yellow might be the who of the story and pink might be the where as you're reading. You might color code student materials. An example here would be English materials are in red and math materials are in blue.
That way, a student can grab a folder, pencil bag, or any other tools based on color. As a student learns a new schedule in the beginning of the year, you can use color to help a student find where they need to go by marking their schedule in a specific color and then marking a doorway or room so a student can better find their way around when they start a new schedule. You can also use color as a student is learning a new sequence of skills. An example here might be step number one is in red, step number two is in yellow, and step number three is in green, so that a student can work through a sequence with efficiency.
Graphic organizers are a great learning tool because they help us process, organize, and understand ideas and concepts. That helps us chunk information in a meaningful way. And graphic organizers go beyond just English and writing activities. So figure out how you can incorporate graphic organizers into your lessons.
