functional math and in v ivo i nstruction

2010 Region 3 Education Service Center / Texas A&M University

By the end of this training, you will be able to

• describe strategies for teaching functional math

• explain teaching approaches of different functional math skills

• define in vivo instruction

• illustrate using in vivo instruction to teach math skills


• Basic math skills– Prenumber skills

– Counting

– Numerals and place value

– Computational skills

• Questions—What are some math skills applied in adulthood? In what activities and settings?– Money skills

– Time

– Calendar use(Best, Heller, and Bigge, 2010)

2010 Region 3 Education Service Center / Texas A&M University 3

Handout #1

• Functional academics are skills that can be applied when performing daily activities

• Functional math skills are basic math concepts that can be applied to other skills, such as money skills, telling time, and using calendars

• Most studies about teaching math skills to students with moderate to severe disabilities are focused on teaching functional math skills– Store purchases (Wheeler et al., 1980; Westling, Floyd, and

Carr, 1990)

– Writing and cashing checks (McDonnell and Ferguson, 1989)

– Using vending machines (Browder, Snell, and Wildonger, 1988)


• One-to-one correspondence

• Object discrimination and classification

• Descriptive comparisons

• Seriation

(Best et al., 2010)2010 Region 3 Education Service Center / Texas A&M University 5

Activity #1a

• Rote counting—“How far can you count?”

• Rational counting

• Patterned counting

• Counting on

• Skip counting(Best et al., 2010)


***

* **

* * * *

******

****

********

************

* **

* **

*********

Activity #1b

Steps:

• Matching numerals

• Numeral identification

• Matching numerals to items

• Identifying place values

(Best et al., 2010)


Activity #2

Easy

Difficult

• Addition

• Subtraction

• Multiplication

• Division


TouchMath—www.touchmath.com


MathLine—www.howbrite.com

Video


Math Marks (Best et al., 2010)


8 + 4__ \\\\ 12

1. Student makes tally marks beside the smaller number (4).

2. Student says the larger number, “8.”3. Student touches each mark and counts, “9, 10, 11,

12.”4. Student writes the answer “12.”

8 - 4__ \\\\

1. Student says the small number, “4.”2. Student says, “5,” and makes a mark below the

line, says, “6,” and makes a mark, says “7” and makes a mark, and says, “8,” and makes a mark.

3. Student counts the marks.4. Student writes the answer “4.”

Traditional money instruction1. Matching “like” coins2. Identifying the name and value of a penny and a nickel3. Identifying the name and value of a dime4. Identifying the name and value of a quarter5. Identifying and counting dollar bills6. Counting “like” coins7. Counting “unlike” coins8. Verifying change9. Decimal notation10. Making purchases with money11. Word problems12. Money management and related skills

(Best et al., 2010)


• Using real money to teach • A dollar-first sequence for teaching money skills

1. One-dollar bill2. Ones to tens (one-more-than/next-dollar strategy)3. Ten-dollar bill4. Mixed tens and ones5. Equivalence6. Coins


Coin counting (Lowe and Cuvo, 1976)

1. Count nickels by five2. Count dimes by counting each coin with two

5s3. Count nickels and dimes together with finger

prompting4. Count quarters by counting each coin with

five 5s5. Count pennies last


John is learning how to count a combination of five coins (a quarter, two dimes, a nickel, and a penny). John arranges them as quarter, dime, dime, nickel, penny. He will then use finger tapping to count in a sequence as follows:


Coin Finger Prompt Coin Tap and Verbalization

Quarter 5 fingers “5, 10, 15, 20, 25”

Dime 2 fingers “30, 35”

Dime 2 fingers “40, 45”

Nickel 1 finger “50”

Penny No finger “51 … it is 51 cents”

(Snell and Brown, 2000, p. 534)

Steps:1. Clock identification

2. Telling time to the hour

3. Telling time to the half hour

4. Telling time to the quarter hour

5. Telling time in 5-minute increments

6. Telling time to the minute

7. Alternate ways of expressing time

8. Minutes before an hour(Best et al., 2010)


Video

• Using a schedule card and digital watch

• Modifying the analog clock


• Days-weeks-months-years

• Daily calendar

• Weekly strips

• Resource—templates for calendar


• Object• Object paired with photograph• Photograph• Photograph paired with color line

drawing• Line drawing (color or black/white)• Line drawing paired with text• Text

Lower visual discrimination level

Higher visual discrimination level


• Kelly is a twelfth grader who has severe intellectual disabilities. She has very limited vocabulary.

• Jason is an eighth grader who has autism. He is included in all general education classes.

• Simon has moderate intellectual disabilities and is working on reading some simple words.

• Charles has a visual impairment. He can see text by using a magnifier, but he has difficulty in differentiating colors, pictures, and line drawings.


• Use individualized instruction

• Address phases of learning

• Use explicit and systematic instruction

• Use in vivo instruction

(Collins, Kleinert, and Land, 2006)


• In vivo (“in life”) instruction, also known as community-based instruction, means the teaching takes place in an actual community setting involving a real-life activity (Snell and Brown, 2000)

• Several studies have employed the in vivo instruction to teach purchasing skills and other functional measurement skills

– Using vending machines (Browder, Snell, and Wildonger, 1988)

– Making purchases by using the next-dollar strategy (Colyer and Collins, 1996)

– Cashing checks and using an ATM (McDonnell and Ferguson, 1989)


• Systematic instruction– Task analysis (TA)– Time delay and system of prompting– Feedback– Reinforcement

• Scheduled sessions• Both in classroom simulated training and

community-based training• Varied instruction format

– Group instruction– One-to-one instruction

• Generalization to different sites


Activity #3

Three questions to ask:• Where will the instruction occur?

(post office, bank, mall, department stores, home, gym)

• With whom will the instruction occur?

(teachers, job coaches, family members, peers)

• How often will the instruction occur?

(twice a week, every vocational training session, daily)


Task Where Instruction Will Occur

With Whom Instruction Will Occur

How Often Instruction Will Occur

Follow a daily schedule

School:–Use a locker–Have lunch–Walk to school bus

Coach;home room teacher;peers

Daily

Community:–Vocational training site

Job coach Twice a week

Home:–Get up–Catch a school bus–Go to sleep

Family members;friends

Daily


• Choosing appropriate instructional setting

• Accommodating students’ special needs

• Transportation arrangement

• Instructors

• Balancing community-based instruction and general education inclusion


Functional math skills can be taught through direct instruction through different formats:

• One-to-one teaching

• Small-group instruction

• Observational learning

• Independent practice under the guidance of a teacher, paraprofessional, or peer


• ScenarioKelly is a 10-year-old student with severe cerebral palsy. She is learning the task of using an elevator. The teacher will tell her which floor to go to. Kelly will identify the current floor number on the wall, decide whether to go up or down, and then use the elevator to go to the designated floor.

• DirectionsBased on this scenario, plan a community-based lesson by completing a table.


Activity #4

Take out your Change of Practice Plan. Think about what you learned in this module, and relate it to your classroom. Write down some ideas of what you want to start using in your classroom.


functional math and in v ivo i nstruction

Documents

education service center

university2010 region

com2010 region

comvideo2010 region

1a2010 region

1b2010 region

2easydifficult2010 region

teaching math skills