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CLASSROOM MATERIAL ADAPTATIONS HINGE ON "BIG IDEAS"

December 7, 1999

A group of educators introduced some big ideas Tuesday about how to make curricular materials easier to teach in an inclusive classroom, to all types of learners. In a telephone conference for teachers, University of Kansas Associate Scientist Janis Bulgren explained that finding ways to graphically illustrate and connect "big ideas" to each other and to smaller bits of information is critical to reaching children with learning and cognitive disabilities.

The conference, sponsored by the Council for Exceptional Children as part of its continuing education series, introduced the three-book set, "Adapting Curricular Materials," for special ed. and general ed. teachers. The books were written with funding from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs by Edward Kame'enui, Deborah Simmons, Jeanne Shay Shumm, Jean Shumaker and Keith Lenz, with Bulgren contributing.

In elementary education, Bulgren says, the background knowledge gap between children with no learning problems and those with cognitive disabilities tends to grow larger with time, making it essential that the children start with as much help as possible in the middle elementary grades. As a student moves to an inclusive classroom, moreover, both general ed. and special ed. teachers or resource room teachers must be aware of the child's level of understanding of such background concepts, she noted.

Using teaching methods outlined in books such as the "Adapting Curricular Materials" series, teachers can help students build that background knowledge and connect concepts more easily, Bulgren said. "Big ideas," concepts and principles that will be used repeatedly throughout a specific course, function as the building blocks of that basic understanding, making learning easier in subsequent classes and grade levels.

Once the teacher has identified the curriculum's big ideas, methods of supporting the student through the learning process can be devised. Just like a builder's scaffolding, the "mediated scaffolding" the curricular materials book series advocates is a temporary structure that puts the teacher to work helping the student make cognitive connections. It can be gradually taken away as the student starts learning more independently.

Such supports can take different shapes, but graphic presentations of the information may be one of the most powerful, Bulgren argues. Presenting lessons in a way that shows students the relationship between one piece of information and another, rather than as a laundry list of facts or concepts, makes learning easier for students with learning disabilities. In addition, such graphical supports -- such as a graphic organizer worksheet, with the spaces left empty -- prompt the students to take notes and put the information in their own words. Such participation dramatically enhances the learning process, she said. "As a rule, asking a student to be as active as possible is an important part of learning," she said.

On a more practical note, these strategies of focusing on the big ideas and providing graphical, adjustable teacher supports for children with disabilities also makes standard, non-alternative textbooks still usable. That is valuable from an economic standpoint but critical from an inclusion standpoint. By adapting standard texts with added teacher support, teachers can ensure that any adaptations made continue to meet the needs of all the students in the classroom, Bulgren said. In a well designed teaching plan, all students know their roles and all take an active part in the learning process, she said.

The "Adapting Curricular Materials" series offers a checklist to help teachers determine whether their current texts can easily be adapted to the demands of specific types of learning disabilities. In addition, the books offer several different ways to adapt materials without "diminishing or watering down" the content, Bulgren said. Concepts range from direct assistance and supplements for a high level of teacher intervention to collaborative reading and other strategies for more independent learning.8