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ADD in School: Introducing and Concluding
Lessons.
The first major component of the most effective
instruction for children with ADD in school is effective school
instruction. Teachers can help prepare their students with ADD to
achieve by applying the principles of effective teaching when they
introduce, conduct, and conclude each lesson during the school
day. The discussion and techniques that follow pertain to the
instructional process in general. ADD school strategies for
specific subject areas appear in the subsequent subsection
“Individualizing Instructional Practices.”
This guide on teaching the ADD child, provided
by the U.S. Department of Education, provides an
overall educational strategy
for successful instruction, academic instruction tips on
introducing lessons,
conducting lessons, providing
individualized
instructional
practices for math and
language arts,
organizational and
study skills, effective
behavioral techniques and techniques designed to
encourage
positive behavior,
along with
classroom
accommodation tips. To order a hard copy of this ADD teaching
report, e-mail edpubs@inet.ed.gov or call (877) 433-7827.
Introducing Lessons:
Students with ADD learn best with a carefully structured academic
lesson—one where the teacher explains what he or she wants
children to learn in the current lesson and places these skills
and knowledge in the context of previous lessons. Effective school
teachers preview their expectations about what students will learn
and how they should behave during the lesson. A number of
teaching-related practices have been found especially useful in
facilitating this process:
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Provide an advance organizer: Prepare students for the day’s
school lesson by quickly summarizing the order of various
activities planned. Explain, for example, that a review of the
previous lesson will be followed by new information and that both
group and independent work will be expected.
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Review previous school lessons: Review information about
previous lessons on this topic. For example, remind children that
yesterday’s lesson focused on learning how to regroup in
subtraction. Review several problems before describing the current
lesson.
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Set learning expectations: State what students are expected to
learn during the lesson. For example, explain to students that a
language arts lesson will involve reading a story about Paul
Bunyan and identifying new vocabulary words in the story.
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Set behavioral expectations: Describe how students are expected
to behave during the lesson. For example, tell children that they
may talk quietly to their neighbors as they do their work or they
may raise their hands to get your attention.
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State needed school materials: Identify all materials that the
children will need during the lesson, rather than leaving them to
figure out on their own the materials required. For example,
specify that children need their journals and pencils for journal
writing or their crayons, scissors, and colored paper for an art
project.
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Explain additional resources: Tell students how to obtain help
in mastering the lesson. For example, refer children to a
particular page in the textbook for guidance on completing a
worksheet.
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Simplify instructions, choices, and scheduling: The simpler the
expectations communicated to an ADD school student, the more
likely it is that he or she will comprehend and complete them in a
timely and productive manner.
Concluding Lessons:
Effective teachers conclude their lessons by providing advance
warning that the lesson is about to end, checking the completed
assignments of at least some of the students with ADD, and
instructing students how to begin preparing for the next activity.
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Provide advance warnings: Provide advance warning that a school
lesson is about to end. Announce 5 or 10 minutes before the end of
the lesson (particularly for seatwork and group projects) how much
time remains. You may also want to tell students at the beginning
of the lesson how much time they will have to complete it.
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Check assignments: Check completed assignments for at least some
students. Review what they have learned during the lesson to get a
sense of how ready the class was for the lesson and how to plan
the next lesson.
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Preview the next lesson: Instruct students on how to begin
preparing for the next lesson. For example, inform children that
they need to put away their textbooks and come to the front of the
room for a large-group spelling lesson.
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