Effective Inclusion Strategies for Elementary Teachers by Cynthia Simpson

Author:Cynthia Simpson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks

Working With Individual Children

When working with children who have speech or language impairments, teachers should consult with the speech-language pathologist and the child’s IEP. The following are strategies that Ms. Houston specifically implemented for Serena in the classroom:

¤ Augmentative and alternative communication systems. Because Serena’s verbal communication skills were limited, Ms. Houston consulted the speech-language pathologist in implementing AAC systems and devices for Serena in the classroom. For example, the speech-language pathologist recommended the use of photo books to help increase Serena’s language and vocabulary skills. In creating photo books for Serena, Ms. Houston took pictures of Serena involved in a field trip to the zoo. Once Ms. Houston printed out the pictures, she and Serena created the photo book. Because photo books are based on experiences that the child has had, the books are both meaningful and fun and provide a rich context for developing language and vocabulary skills.

¤ Listen to Serena’s responses. Ms. Houston listened carefully to Serena. Even when she could not clearly understand what Serena was saying, Ms. Houston used nonverbal communication (body language and facial gestures) so that Serena was aware that what she was saying was important. Ms. Houston’s efforts created a supportive environment in which Serena could use her verbal communication skills.

¤ Provide instruction in alphabetic principle. Ms. Houston provided explicit instruction in the alphabetic principle to help increase Serena’s phonemic awareness skills. One strategy that Ms. Houston used was the Say-It-and-Move-It Activity.This phonological segmenting task teaches children to represent sounds with a manipulative such as a tile, disk, chip, or button. As the child hears each sound, they represent the sound with the manipulative (Kuder, 1997).

¤ Consult with the speech-language pathologist. Ms. Houston regularly met with the speech-language pathologist regarding Serena’s progress toward her IEP goals and objectives. In addition, these meetings allowed Ms. Houston and the speech-language pathologist time to discuss interventions that had been tried in the classroom. By regularly meeting with the speech-language pathologist, Ms. Houston had a clearer understanding of what techniques and instructional strategies to use with Serena to help increase her speech-language skills.

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