Article Archives - LD@school

Activated Learning for Students with Learning Disabilities: A Mainstream, Whole-Class, Executive Function Intervention that is Necessary for Some and Good for All

“Activated Learning” (AL), also called the “EFs2theRescue Pedagogy” in Guare and Dawson’s 3rd edition of Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents, is an adaptive executive function (EF) intervention that aims to facilitate high-impact teaching and learning that is necessary for some and good for all in typical classrooms. AL is a self-regulated learning pedagogy that, among other benefits, allows teachers to support students with learning disabilities (LDs) as part of their everyday teaching. It was developed in 2014 by a special education teacher (the author) and has been championed by hundreds of educators in several school boards in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.

By LDAOeng|July 9th, 2018|Categories: Executive Function|Tags: Article, Evidence-Based, Intermediate (7-10), Junior (4-6)|0 Comments

Strategies and Structures to Support Independent Reading in Students with Learning Disabilities

Independent reading provides students with an opportunity to practice the decoding and comprehension strategies and skills learned during class time on self-selected materials. Not only does independent reading provide additional practice time for students, but it also fosters independence (Johnson & Keire, 2010). TeachHub (n.d.) cites independent reading as the opportunity for students to “dive [...]

By LDAOeng|July 6th, 2018|Categories: Literacy|Tags: Article, Junior (4-6), Practice-Informed, Primary (K-3)|0 Comments

IEP Development for a Student with a Learning Disability: The Power of Accommodations

The team has made the decision; an IEP will be developed to further support the student. The process begins and sometimes those collaborating in the development of the IEP can end up feeling quite overwhelmed. The timelines, the decisions that need to be made, familiarity with the software and the conscientious desire to develop a [...]

By LDAOeng|June 15th, 2018|Categories: IEPs|Tags: Article, Intermediate (7-10), Junior (4-6), Practice-Informed, Primary (K-3), Senior (11-12)|0 Comments

Identifying and Addressing Stressors in your Classroom

This article is an excerpt from the LD@school learning module Supporting the Well-Being and Mental Health of Students with Learning Disabilities. Click here to access this module. Everyone experiences stress from time to time. It is a natural reaction to certain events in our lives, such as demands at work or at school, uncertainty around [...]

By LDAOeng|June 5th, 2018|Categories: Mental Health & Well-Being|Tags: Article, Intermediate (7-10), Junior (4-6), Practice-Informed, Primary (K-3), Senior (11-12)|0 Comments

Learning to Read: The Importance of Both Phonological and Morphological Approaches

One of the main reading difficulties people with LDs have is in decoding printed words. People without LDs often use a phonics approach to sound out unfamiliar words but that does not work as well for many people with LDs who have difficulty in phonological processing – that is, in hearing the different sounds in words. They may also have difficulty associating sounds with letters (Lyon, 1995). This, in turn, interferes not only with the ability to sound out unfamiliar words but it also strongly affects spelling – for how could someone spell a word accurately when they do not hear all of the sounds in the word?

By LDAOeng|April 25th, 2018|Categories: Literacy|Tags: Article, Evidence-Based, Junior (4-6), Practice-Informed|0 Comments

Beyond Social Skills: Understanding and Supporting Social Competence in Students with LDs

Social competence requires more than just social skills; it is a complex and interconnected set of skills that enables us to navigate social interactions and initiate and maintain relationships with others.

By LDAOeng|February 6th, 2018|Categories: Mental Health & Well-Being|Tags: Article, Intermediate (7-10), Junior (4-6), Practice-Informed, Primary (K-3), Senior (11-12)|0 Comments

Effective Behaviour Management for Students with LDs and Behavioural Disorders

Behavioural disorders, particularly those of the externalized type[1], and learning disabilities often occur together. Indeed, the comorbidity between these two types of disorders in students was identified more than 20 years ago (Hinshaw, 1992). More specifically, empirical studies have shown that 75% of students with learning disabilities also lack social skills (Lane, Gresham, & O’Shaughnessy, 2002; National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities, 2008).

By LDAOeng|July 24th, 2017|Categories: Behaviour|Tags: Article, Evidence-Based, Intermediate (7-10), Junior (4-6), Primary (K-3), Senior (11-12)|0 Comments

Teaching Fractions: a Few Cautionary Notes

In this article, we seek to understand the errors that students make. We offer a number of cautionary notes for creating activities for the acquisition of this mathematical concept. The errors explored in this article come out of research involving students between the ages of 9 years and 12 years, at the moment when they displayed reactions of avoidance, worry or anxiety (DeBlois and Bélanger, 2016, DeBlois, 2014).

By LDAOeng|May 30th, 2017|Categories: Math|Tags: Article, Evidence-Based, Junior (4-6)|0 Comments

Metacognition and Assistive Technology

Metacognition is a process that relates to the knowledge that we have of our own strategies and the control that we are able to exert over these strategies in order to solve problems more efficiently. Metacognition is a high-level executive function that draws on our ability to reflect on what we know in order to understand how we function and assess our approach to learning. It is one of the best predictors of school success (Dévolvé, 2005).

By LDAOeng|May 1st, 2017|Categories: Executive Function, Technology|Tags: Article, Intermediate (7-10), Junior (4-6), Practice-Informed, Senior (11-12)|0 Comments

LDAO’s Parent Resource: LD@home

In 2017, LDAO launched a website for parents: LD@home (www.LDatHome.ca)! LD@home is a free resource for parents of students with learning disabilities (LDs) from kindergarten to grade 8. Its goal is to help bridge the gap between school and home. Click here to visit the LD@home website.

By LDAOeng|April 3rd, 2017|Categories: Educator Supports|Tags: Article|0 Comments