Students need to understand number concepts in order to be successful and independent with many post graduate activities. While most instruction for these skills is concentrated in the early grades, not all students with disabilities grasp the concepts during those years. Here are activities designed to help give older students meaningful practice while in middle […] The post How To Target Number Concepts With Older Students appeared first on Mrs. P's Specialties.
Students need to understand number concepts in order to be successful and independent with many post graduate activities. While most instruction for these skills is concentrated in the early grades, not all students with disabilities grasp the concepts during those years. Here are activities designed to help give older students meaningful practice while in middle and high school.
WHY PRACTICE NUMBER CONCEPTS WITH OLDER STUDENTS?
Special educators and families should be constantly thinking about the long term goals for students after graduation. While all goals will require a strong understanding of number concepts, you should tailor practice as much as possible to the setting they’ll be used in if you are still working on the skills in upper grades.
For example, here is a list of a few situations students will need to understand and use these concepts at home and in vocational settings.
- Setting the table
- Gathering cooking ingredients (ie: 3 eggs, 1 stick of butter and 2 slices of bread)
- Stocking shelves and cabinets
- Taking inventory
- Filling orders
If the family expects the student to be living at home and attending a Day Habilitation program, practice should be focused on items 1 and 2. This will help the student be independent and safe at home while contributing to family life.
If the family expects the student to have a job after graduation, then practice should be centered around items like 3, 4 and 5. Completing a career interest inventory first will help you get a clearer picture of what type of job the student would like. Take that information and tailor number concept practice, if possible.
HOW TO PRACTICE NUMBER CONCEPTS IN LATER GRADES
With older students, it is imperative to teach and practice these critical math skills in the settings or tasks that they’ll need to use them in. Targeting generalization of these skills is also a must. Without generalized practice, students won’t be able to use these number concepts in all of the settings and activities they’re needed in.
Teaching students to generalize their skills isn’t hard, but it takes some planning. To start, make a list off 3 to 5 different ways and places your students will need to use the skills. Next, plan ways to practice your identified list.
Here are 4 ways to practice number concepts in ways that will help students develop number concepts that will lead to greater independence in life outside of school.
GENERALIZE WITH COOKING
Cooking activities offer opportunities to practice many different skills. In addition to number concepts, you can also target these skills:
- Reading comprehension
- Functional vocabulary
- Sequencing
- Following written directiions
- and many more!
We practice number concepts in a variety of ways during cooking groups. Again, it’s important to vary how you are practicing to help students grasp the concepts and be able to use them whenever needed. Here are some examples of the different ways we practice these math skills:
- While gathering ingredients ask the student to, “Go get 3 eggs.”
- Have a student stir the batter for a specific period of time. For example, stir for 30 seconds.
- Ask a student to reheat an ingredient or soften butter in the microwave for 1 minute.
- Direct the student to place one pancake on all 4 plates.
For students who are still really struggling with getting the quantity correct, I would add in a visual support. For example, I would give a graphic organizer that had 3 circles or spots for students to count out the correct set of eggs. The most important part of adding in supports like these, though, is that you have a plan in place for fading out the prompts. If we don’t fade prompts, the students will struggle to be independent when cooking in other settings.
TARGET NUMBER CONCEPTS WITH GROCERY SHOPPING
Grocery shopping is a life long skills that includes a variety of number concepts to practice with students. For example, students need to know how to gather the correct amount of items they need when shopping or using a grocery list (ie: 4 apples, 1 carton of eggs, 2 bags of chips, 3 cans of soup, etc.) This is especially important when students are trying to cook and follow recipes. If they haven’t purchased the correct amount of the needed ingredients, the recipe won’t work.
Other ways to target math concepts during grocery shopping is:
- Comparing prices… which is more or less?
- Do I have enough money?
- At the register, can students count out the correct amount of money to make the purchase?
Once you start breaking it down, it becomes clear that there are many needed math skills related to grocery shopping to target.
We use this grocery shopping themed life skills unit to work on building the math and reading skills related to grocery shopping.
PRACTICE FUNCTIONAL ACADEMICS DURING MORNING MEETING
Morning meeting is the perfect time to work on generalizing or using these number concepts in different ways. Here are a few of the ways we practice in morning meeting:
- Comparing numbers: Our class does a daily poll that we each share our vote for one of the 2 choices. I then ask one students to count the first column of names and a different student counts the other column. I have a 3rd student tell me about the numbers. For example, “5 is greater and 2 is less.” other students take turns answering questions about more or less. This is a super easy way to target the concepts where ever the student is at and individualize the questions.
- Create a weather graph and ask questions about it. For example, “How many sunny days have we had this month?” or “Have we had more cloudy or rainy days?”
- After taking attendace, we count how many students are in here and not here. We compare the numbers and talk about are more students in school, where are less students, etc.
TARGET NUMBER CONCEPTS DURING SNACK
There are a few ways you can target number and money concepts within snack time. Prior to snack time, my students practice packaging and preparing snacks. This is a great way to combine math and vocational skills. We use these Small snack containers and baggies to package up the snack options.
Students have to count out a set amount of snack items and put them in the cup. For example, 3 peanut butter crackers, a 1/4 cup of nuts, etc. We do the same for snacks in baggies. For example, 1 cup of popcorn, 1/2 cup of pretzels, etc.
At snack time, we use a ticket system that helps students learn beginning money concepts and begin to understand that we need to pay for items we want. Once students understood the basic understanding of “buying” a snack, we increased the rigor. Now students have options. Some snacks (cheese stick, fruit, crackers, etc.) cost 1 ticket while larger snack items (popcorn, pudding, yogurt, etc.) cost 2 tickets.
Increasing the options helps students learn to make decisions such as:
- Do I have enough tickets (or money) for what I want?
- Which do I want more?
- What should I do if I don’t have enough tickets for what I want?
Read more about the ticket system: Introducing Money Concepts
As you can see, understanding number concepts is imperative for developing independent and functional skills for post graduation. As educators, we need to continue prioritizing these skills and concepts as long as it takes.
The post How To Target Number Concepts With Older Students appeared first on Mrs. P's Specialties.
