Strategy Instruction for Middle and Secondary Students with Mild Disabilities: Creating Independent Learners

Teach your students learning strategies that will last a lifetime! The pressure is on special and general education teachers alike. If we're to ensure that adolescents with mild disabilities achieve the very same gains as their peers, we must first teach them how to learn. Here's a one-stop guide for getting started, pairing the very best instructional methods with assessments and IEP goals so all students can be independent learners. Driven by research, this indispensible resource features: Evidence-based strategies for teaching vocabulary, reading, written language, math, and science, as well as study skills, textbook skills, and self-regulation Clear presentation that describes strategies in context Informal assessments for every content area or skill addressed Case studies that link assessment results, IEP goals, and learning strategies Application activities with questions and suggested responses Whether you teach in an inclusive, resource, or self-contained setting, there's no better guide for teaching your students learning strategies that will last a lifetime.

Table of Contents:
Introduction to Secondary Special Education 1. Instructional Approaches 2. The Strategies Approach Informal Assessments, IEPs, and Strategies 3. Vocabulary: Informal Assessments 4. Vocabulary: Methods and Strategies 5. Reading Decoding: Informal Assessments 6. Reading Decoding: Methods and Strategies 7. Reading Comprehension: Informal Assessments 8. Reading Comprehension: Methods and Strategies 9. Written Language: Informal Assessments 10. Written Language: Methods and Strategies 11. Study Skills: Informal Assessments 12. Study Skills: Methods and Strategies 13. Textbook Skills: Informal Assessments 14. Textbook Skills: Methods and Strategies 15. Self- Regulation: Informal Assessments 16. Self- Regulation: Methods and Strategies 17. Math: Informal Assessments 18. Math: Methods and Strategies 19. Science: Informal Assessments 20. Science: Methods and Strategies

About the Author :
Greg Conderman is full professor of special education at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois, where he teaches methods and collaboration courses for elementary education, secondary education, and special education majors. He was a middle and high school special education teacher and special education consultant for 10 years before entering higher education. He has authored over 70 articles on instructional methods and collaboration, which have been published in special education and general education journals. He is a frequent presenter at local, state, and national conferences. He has also received numerous teaching awards for excellence in instruction at the college level Laura Hedin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Special and Early Education at Northern Illinois University. She teaches instructional methods courses including reading methods in both the graduate and undergraduate special education certification programs. Her research interests include reading in the content areas for intermediate and secondary students with disabilities as well as teacher preparation and co-teaching. Val Bresnahan is an adjunct instructor of special education at Northern Illinois University, where she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in learning disabilities and inclusion. Bresnahan has taught elementary, middle, and high school students in special and inclusionary environments, and she has been a learning facilitator and a speech-language pathologist. In addition to teaching college courses, she is a middle school co-teacher in language arts and social studies in a central Illinois suburb. She has authored books and articles on vocabulary instruction and co-teaching and is a frequently invited presenter on reading and language skills.

Review :
"This is a rare find—a book for practitioners that actually stays on task throughout and provides an abundance of teaching strategies. As a veteran of the classroom, it is nice to find strategies that are useful and can be readily implemented." "It is an exceptional book to use as a ′pull it off the shelf again′ resource for a practicing special education teacher. It would make a great resource for general education teachers as well. I appreciated that the book covered every area of academics that would normally come up with special education students. I really like this book as a comprehensive resource for strategies to teach to special education students. I felt the book was written for people like me, struggling to do the very best for my students to make their time in school truly of benefit."