10: Selecting Instructional Strategies for Teaching
All Learners
Learning Outcomes
After studying this chapter, students should be able to:
• 10–1 Explain how the knowledge of the five student learning stages may impact
teacher behavior and strategy selection.
• 10–2 Provide examples of possible strategy matches for each of the six principles
of curricular design.
INTASC Standards
Standard #1: Learner Development. The teacher understands how learners grow and develop,
recognizing that patterns of learning and development vary individually within and across the
cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas, and designs and implements
Council for Exceptional Children
Special educators are to have knowledge of the following:
Standard #1: Learner Development and Individual Learning Differences. Beginning special
education professionals understand how exceptionalities may interact with development and
Chapter Outline
10–1 Considering Stages of Learning in Strategy Selection
10–1a Entry Level/Acquisition Stages
10–1c Maintenance
10–1e Application
10–2 Using Curricular Design Principles in Strategy Selection
10–2a Begin with Big Ideas
10–2b Activate Prior Knowledge
10–2c Integrate Learning Goals
10–2e Apply Mediated Scaffolding
2. Modeling
4. Shaping
6. Chunking
7. Peer Tutoring
102f Provide Purposeful and Cumulative Review
10–3 Considering Specific Learning Domains in General Strategy Selection
10–3a Cognitive/Generalization
10–3b Giftedness
10–3d Memory
10–3g Social/Emotional/Motivational Challenges
10–4 Using Classroom Web Sites and Other Web Tools
Key Concepts and Terms
acceleration: Moving students who excel in one or more academic areas through
curriculum at a faster rate (for example, skipping a grade, dual enrollment, advanced
courses).
chunking: To organize material into manageable parts to make it more accessible to
learners.
ClassAct Portal: An authentic, web–based learning tool that focuses on a single topic
while strategically integrating learning goals.
classroom response systems: Systems of handheld devices used to record the
cues and prompts: Signals, hints, or step–by–step supports used to support teaching
and guide the learner. These may be verbal, visual, or physical.
curriculum compacting: An instructional procedure that adjusts curricular goals for
high–ability students so that work is challenging and interesting.
Direct Instruction: A specific teaching approach that uses sequenced tasks to teach the
hospital); often used for students who are working at an advanced level in a certain
course of study.
judicious review: A principle of curricular design that offers students multiple
opportunities to review prior learning to increase retention.
keyword mnemonics: A memory–enhancing technique that combines abstract
mediated scaffolding: The personal guidance, assistance, and support that a teacher,
peer, materials, or task provides to learners to help them bridge the gap between their
current level of performance and the intended goal of independent performance.
mentorships: Working with a tutor or coach to advance to a higher level of learning.
mnemonic devices: Evidence–based memory–enhancing techniques that can help
problem–based learning: Opportunities to build safe, caring, and positive communities
in which teachers and students learn from each other as they solve problems.
proficiency: The stage of learning in which a skill becomes fluent and accurate and
learning becomes automatic.
project–based learning: Authentic learning that offers students choices in solving
self–monitoring: Tracking one’s own behavior and making choices to discontinue
inappropriate actions
shaping: A behavioral technique used to take a close approximation of the desired skill
and move it to skill mastery.
Socratic questioning: A questioning method that logically and sequentially guides
speaking while verbalizing his or her own thinking process.
Think–Pair–Share: A strategy in which teachers give students extra time to frame their
response with a partner before actually responding, giving students a chance to find their
words. This usually produces higher–quality answers and allows all students to
participate.
Lecture Notes
By identifying learning stages and appropriate interventions for each stage, teachers can
make more informed decisions in selecting instructional practices.
Intervention practices for teaching and learning are useful in reaching both academic
and nonacademic learning goals.
Using the principles of curricular design to inform teaching strategy/technique selection
can help teachers maximize instructional time.
Anchored instruction allows teachers flexible use of strategies while implementing “big
ideas.”
Suggestions For In–Class Or Online Activities
1. Using a lesson plan that you have developed, add a component that includes
generalization of the skill to another area.
3. Create a KWL chart to be used on a topic of your choice.
5. Create a mnemonic to help students remember the order of the planets.
Discussion Questions
1. Communicating with a student’s family about the skills you are teaching is a
particularly effective instructional practice at which stage of learning? Explain
2. How can authentic learning support the strategic integration of learning goals?
3. Compare Direct Instruction with guided discovery learning. Are these two
methods incompatible, or can they be used together? Explain your answer.
4. When (or, for students having what type of difficulty) might you use backward
chaining? Why?
5. Is cooperative learning appropriate for students with social or emotional
challenges? Why or why not?
6. Why is a KWL chart a helpful tool in planning lessons?
Field Experiences
1. Visit a local classroom and complete a KWL chart with the learners on a future
2. Working with a small group of learners, complete a lesson using Direct
Instruction. What differences, if any, did you notice in learner participation?
Videos
1. What does direct instruction look like? Why do you think it works?
2. Watch the MindTap video for this chapter and have the students write their
answers to the questions.
Web Resources