Teaching Language Arts
by Linda Childress
Two years ago, I participated in a PPT Meeting to discuss a student who
would be placed on my teaching team. We are a middle school, and our 7th
and 8th grade is looped – meaning the students and a team of
teachers stay together for two years. Along with my fellow team members, I
listened as this student was described as a 12-year-old girl who was
diagnosed with NLD, and had unique educational needs. I had never heard the
term NLD before, and felt uncertain about my ability to support this student
in a fully mainstreamed environment without special education support,
especially for a two-year period. However, I soon learned that although I
had not previously heard the term NLD, the learning differences of this
particular student were by no means new, either to me or to my fellow
teachers.
The NLD student profits from the best teaching practices, as do all
emerging adolescents—with one difference: Where other students merely
benefit, these strategies are a necessity for the NLD student. The
teaching methods described in this article, at best, make school a tolerable
place for these students.
Small Group Discussion
Most students, for instance, benefit from active engagement in small
group discussion. Discourse with teachers and each other helps students to
listen, explore, clarify, and even challenge each other’s thoughts and
ideas. For the NLD student this is not just beneficial, but critical,
because modeling appropriate teacher-facilitated small group discourse will
help her to learn "how to do it." For the NLD student,
teacher-directed groups, using open-ended questions that draw on her
background, and her unique talents, and interests are as essential to her
growing up healthy as water is.
The NLD student needs to know that her environment is a safe and
nurturing one before risking interaction. Knowing that their comments are
being attentively listened to may not be a paramount concern for some
emerging adolescents, but the NLD student likely interprets it as an
indication of her worth as a communicator, and needs guidance and
support along the way.
Frontloading
In the NLD student’s personal and academic environments, they need
to know the rules and expectations. If a teacher initiates a lesson by
telling the students what they’ll be expected to learn that day, it
provides focus – good for everyone, but absolutely necessary for
the NLD student. Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em… "When you
leave today, I expect you to be able to identify an adjective and be able to
use one to expand a sentence." Everyone benefits - the NLD student, the
"typical" student, and the teacher are all focused.
Students with NLD are contextual learners. "Frontloading" an
assignment is critical for this student, because it allows them to see the
lesson in as much context as possible. Frontloading begins by examining what
the class already knows about the subject matter or theme that is being
covered. A flip chart is helpful for jotting down "what we already
know," and works much better than a blackboard, not just for the NLD
student, but for the entire class.
The next step in frontloading is expanding the student’s knowledge by
providing related background information. Sometimes, this includes
vocabulary; other times it includes references to works of art. Always, it
assures me that my NLD student is getting information that will help her
make sense of the lesson.
Let us suppose, for instance, that I want to teach Longfellow’s Paul
Revere’s Ride. Frontloading would surely include a determination of
what the class already knows about the Patriot and Loyalist positions.
Background building might include a discussion of Patriot’s Day in Boston,
a movie about the Battle of Lexington and Concord, a discussion about
figurative language, and a look at a map of Boston to locate the Old North
Church, the Charlestown Shore, and the Charles River. Is all this activity a
lot of time spent to make a poem understandable? Perhaps. But if these
prereading activities increase my NLD student’s (and everyone else’s)
comprehension of the text, it is most definitely time well spent.
Reading
Reading may actually be a bit tricky. Technically, she may read in the
average to high average range, but it may not be that easy. This particular
student read best when the print was larger, with plenty of "white
space" between lines, and strong contrast between print color and page
color. A few things that worked for this student were:
Rather than assign the paperback version of a book, get the hardcover
version of the book out of the school library. You’ll generally find
that the "white space," print size, and contrast are better for
this student than the paperback version.
If the child and the district are willing, order larger print books for
the visually impaired.
If you’re assigning the reading in "chunks," simply copy
the assigned section on a photocopier and enlarge the size.
Don’t forget to consider books on tape from the association for the
Reading For The Blind and Dyslexic.
Always give the student’s reading assignment a purpose. Read to
page "x" to determine "x." You can actually do this for
an entire book fairly simply.
Reading non-fiction material is likely to be a
significant problem. The social studies text, for example, may present a
more complex problem than what you not may see in the reading of literary
material. In this subject area, frontloading
strategies are even more critical for this student before asking them to
process information from a text book. Also consider some of the above
suggestions, most notably text books on tape.
Writing
Equally important for these students is knowing beforehand the
criteria by which their work will be judged. I remember and rue those days
when I assigned my students a topic to write about, and then spent countless
hours red-penciling every error that I could find.
That would be unfair for all students, but devastating for an NLD
student. Today, rubrics, checklists and models let this student know what it
is that I want. Given clear, consistent standards, she knows what counts and
can concentrate on it. She knows exactly what "writing well" means
in my class. Since "my" writing standards are purposefully aligned
with the state’s standards, it is not surprising that my NLD student was 1
of only 5 students (of over 100 students) who scored a perfect 12 on the
Connecticut State Mastery Test Writing Sample.
This student wants to please and wants to succeed. Responding to
her work at the end, without the benefit of intervention, is callous at
best. Both oral and written comments about her work will be heeded
implicitly, but constructive one-to-one comments are probably the best way
to provide feedback. I would not, however, single her out to give this
individualized feedback, because she does not like to feel different. You
would probably want to give several students their feedback in this
same manner. Collaborative "mini-conferences" as I circulate
around the room provide an opportunity to suggest new ways to solve writing
problems and assure my NLD student that it is normal and right to rework her
drafts, even for gifted writers.
I write a model for every writing assignment that I give, and read it
aloud to my students before they begin their writing. Do I mind if they
borrow my words or ideas? Absolutely not! This particular NLD student’s
ability to learn from writing "models" is truly extraordinary, so
much so that she is the only student that I have ever taught who can model
the "voice" of the reader. I was told that this student was an
auditory learner, but I had no idea how critical the combination of an
auditory message and written model were to her success.
Conclusion
These are some of the strategies that I found helpful in working with
this exceptional NLD student. They were helpful, but not enough for her to
function in a public environment that reflects all of the harsh realities of
the 90s. She faces issues that I never had to face in my junior high school
days, challenges that are compounded by her disability. And so, her parents
have found an environment that provides her with the additional support and
advocacy that her special needs demand.
I celebrate any decision that will help this student and her parents
reach their shared vision for her adult life. But I miss her. And I look
forward to her visits and watching her grow morally, physically, emotionally
and socially, knowing that I played a part, albeit small, in that growth.
Today, I know the name for the disorder that affects so many of the
youngsters that we have seen over the years. I just hope that somewhere
along the way that I, or some other teachers, helped to make their life
better for them. They have so much to share and teach us, if we just take
the time to understand and listen. My own son, grown now into a young man
that I respect and enjoy, surely had many NLD attributes that, thinking
back, I either handled poorly or could not accept, but that is another story
for another day.
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Always Remember -
"Safe" Environment
The student needs time to develop a sense of comfort with their
environment before they are able to exhibit the depth of
their ability.
Frontloading
Set the stage - provide the context this student requires.
Rubrics, Checklists, and Models
These students will de exactly what you tell them to do, so be
specific. Say what you mean, and mean what you say.
Small Group Discussion
These children learn best through teacher-mediated, peer
dialog.
Large-Type Print
This compensates for the visual processing difficulties these
students have, and improves reading comprehension.
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