Instructional adaptations in the mainstream

classroom

Why Instructional Accommodations and Adaptations?

Instructional accommodations and adaptations may be the most important area that the
inclusion teacher will address.  Because students with disabilities may not perform at
the same levels of other students in the classroom, the general education teacher
needs to be prepared to make accommodations and adaptations to his or her lesson
plans so that each student has an opportunity to learn the material.

Major Issues and Areas of Discussion:

Some of the major issues that general education teachers may have with creating
instructional accommodations and adaptations in the classroom may include the need
for a starting point with examples of how to modify lesson plans for students with
special needs in addition to looking at what different types of adaptations there are.
Even though most pre-service teachers are taught to create lesson plans for the general
education setting, it is also necessary for these teachers to be aware of how to modify
lesson plans for students with individual needs.  All children do not learn the same way,
therefore general education teachers need to be aware of methods they can use to alter
lesson plans to benefit students with special needs.  Being aware of different types of
accommodations and adaptations is another important part of being a general education
teacher, as these specific areas of adaptations will help teachers focus on what exactly
they can change in their lesson plans to meet the specific needs of learners.

According to the Council for Exceptional Children, there are several methods that

teachers can consider when creating instructional accommodations and adaptations to
meet the needs of diverse learners (Council for Exceptional Children, 2011):

o Altering existing materials: Teachers can re-write, reorganize, add to, or re-
cast the information so that the student can access the regular curriculum
material independently.  For example, teachers could prepare a study guide and
audiotape for students.

o Mediating existing materials: Teachers can provide additional instructional

support, guidance, and direction to the student in the use of the materials.
Teachers can instruction to mediate the barriers presented by the materials so
that one may directly lead the student to interact with the materials in different
ways. For example, one might have students survey the reading material,
 collaboratively preview the text, and create an outline of the material to use as a
study guide.

o Selecting alternate materials: Teachers might select new materials that are
more sensitive to the needs of students with disabilities or are inherently
designed to compensate for learning problems. For example, use an interactive
computer program that cues critical ideas, reads text, inserts graphic organizers,
defines and illustrates words, presents and reinforces learning in smaller
increments, and provides more opportunities for practice and cumulative review.

The New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities lists nine different types of
adaptations that teachers might use when addressing the needs of different
learners (Curriculum modifications, n.d.):

1. Input: Adapting the way the instruction is delivered to the learner (such as using
different visual aids).
2. Output: Adapting how the learner might respond to instruction (such as allowing
a verbal instead of written response).
3. Time: Adapting the time allotted for learning, task completion, or testing (such as
increasing or decreasing time given for tasks).
4. Difficulty: Adapting the skill level, problem type, or rules on how the learner
might do the work (such as simplifying directions).
5. Level of Support: Increase the amount of personal assistance for a specific
learner (such as assigning peer tutors).
6. Size: Adapting the number of items that the student will complete (such as
reducing the number of answers on a multiple choice test).
7. Degree of Participation: Adapting how much the student will be involved in an
activity (such as having the student write answers on the board).
8. Alternate Goals: Adapting the goals or outcomes expectations while using the
same materials (such as asking the student to be able to recall book titles instead
of recalling both book and author names).
9. Substitute Curriculum: Providing different instruction and materials to meet a
learner's individual goals (such as asking a student to read the graphic novel
version of a text instead of the entire novel).

Five approaches for adapting instruction in your inclusive classroom, so students with
and without disabilities can participate and learn academic content. Adapted from
Rachel Janney & Martha Snell’s practical guide to Modifying Schoolwork, these
strategies can be used in any combination to best meet the needs of your individual
learners. Try these in your classroom, and let us know which adaptations have worked
best for your students!
Alter the instructional arrangement

Groups of the same size don’t always work for all students. Keep an eye on what types
of arrangements different learners respond to best. Here are some options for adapting
the arrangement of students during classtime:

 Let your student work in a group of three when most of her classmates work in
groups of four or five.

 Have your student team up with a peer partner when most of his classmates are
working individually.

 Add variety to small-group work: when most classmates are working in student-
directed small groups, have the student and a few selected classmates work in a
small group that you sit with and help support.

Alter the physical or social environment

A student’s surroundings can have a huge impact on how he or she learns. Be mindful
of and responsive to students with sensory and attention issues, and make changes to
the learning environment to meet their needs. Some examples:

 Give your student the choice to sit at a table instead of a desk (or vice versa).

 Get your student a larger (or smaller) desk, depending on her preference.
  Let students with sound sensitivities work in a particular part of the classroom,
such as a “quiet space” or study carrel.

 Give easily distracted students the option of sitting at a desk closer to the board.
You could even arrange for the student to complete certain tasks in another part
of the school campus, such as the media center or outdoors.

Alter your methods and materials

Multiple means of engagement and representation are two pillars of the UDL
framework. When you teach a new lesson, offer your learners many different ways to
engage with and absorb the content. For example:

 Incorporate more visuals to present content in different ways, such as maps,

pictures, drawings, objects, or videos.

 Use graphic organizers to arrange key points in a way students can easily grasp.

 Provide additional models or demonstrations for students who need extra support
during the lesson.

 Select concrete materials instead of symbolic representations, or illustrate

symbolic representations with concrete examples.

 Make the most of whatever technology is available to you–enhance your lesson

with whiteboards, streaming videos, or remote clickers.

 Check for understanding more frequently, using methods that require active
responses from your students. For example, try asking questions about the
lesson material and have your class vote on the answers.

 Provide students with differentiated reading material based on their reading level
and/or interests.

 Make content easier to learn by giving your student enhanced texts in which key
parts are highlighted, pictures or symbols are added, and/or text is enlarged.
Alter the process or task

For some learners, you may want to modify or reduce the requirements of assignments.
And be sure to give all your learners multiple means of action and expression (the third
pillar of the UDL framework). Let them show what they know in a variety of innovative
ways, depending on how they best express themselves. Some examples:

 Have your student follow written, pictorial, or audio-recorded task steps instead
of giving them oral instructions.

 Modify essay assignments–instead of writing an essay, your student could

demonstrate understanding of the content by completing a chart, developing a
text-to-speech presentation, or creating an outline.

 Reduce the number of items students are expected to complete. For example,
your student can receive the same math worksheet as the rest of the class, but
you can ask him to complete only the odd-numbered items.

 Give your student the option of using the same materials as the rest of the class,
but in a different way. On a math worksheet, she could locate and mark certain
numerals instead of completing problems.

 Suggest note-taking helpmates such as guided notes or a slot-note note format,

so students can more easily record and recall key information.

 Allow for more creative ways for students to show what they know. Artistic
students might build a model, create a poster, or draw a map a in place of a
written assignment.

 
Alter the level of personal assistance

For learners who need extra support with some tasks, enlist helpers such as peers, a
special educator, or a paraprofessional. They can provide assistance in a variety of
ways, depending on the learner’s needs:

 Have the helper model the steps of a task before the student performs them on
her own.

 Encourage helpers to provide additional prompts (verbal, gestural, or partial

physical) when students need them.

 Assign the helper to complete some of the task steps with or for the student.

 Ask the helper to give the student immediate feedback and additional
encouragement to reinforce successes.