Jen Granda – Intervention Research (Student A)
Problem: Student A in my class is having trouble recalling very basic facts, such as number and
letter names.
Interventions/Accommodations:
1. Promoting number sense through games
Research by Ramani and Siegler (2008) on teaching number sense to young children
indicates that collaborating number sense teaching with play-based pedagogy through
number sense board games is beneficial in improving number sense for students who are
struggling.
To implement this intervention in the classroom, the student plays a number-based board
game, which can be created by the teacher or adapted from a preexisting game. The game is
inclusive of numeral identification as well as counting skills, and allows the child the
opportunity to visualize and access specific number values through use of an internal number
line. For the purposes of supporting Student A, the game would ideally be played with the
teacher one-to-one, and the game session should last approximately ten minutes. The teacher
starts by instructing the student on the rules of the game if the student hasn’t played before
(since this is a new intervention for Student A, repeated emphasis on the rules should be
made). One game that could be used is the “Great Number Line Race!”, where the student
and the teacher take turns spinning the spinner, identifying the number of spaces to be
moved, and moving the piece to the target spot. This practice will be most effective if there is
a lot of stress placed upon each individual number. While the game is being played, the
teacher should be making mental notes of the mental strategies that the student uses to
identify the digits as well as the correct/incorrect associations made by the student. The
teacher should be making corrective feedback to the student based on his identifications and
should require repetition for misidentified numerals.
Citation: Ramani, G.B., & Siegler, R.S. (2008). Promoting broad and stable improvements in
low-income children’s numerical knowledge through playing number board games. Child
Development, 79, 375-394.
2. Repeated emphasis.
Research by Robinson et al. (2002) suggests that interventions for students with below-level
arithmetic skills should be a multi-faceted process inclusive of (a) building more rapid
retrieval of information, and (b) concerted instruction in any and all areas of mathematics
where he/she is struggling or developing irregularly.
There are a number of ways to provide the repetition that Student A requires to reach the
independent number recall that is being focused on. Case and Griffin (1990) found that
concepts of number sense are tied, in part, to the amount of informal of formal instruction
that children are given at home. Students must learn the language of mathematics to succeed
in their mathematical futures, and since in this instance Student A is not receiving
supplemental instruction at home, it is the focus of this intervention to work with the student
one-on-one outside of whole-group math instruction to drill the concepts that will drive the
student’s academic future, in this case making associations between the numerals and their
names, so that the student can identify the numbers when they are presented out of context.
This can be achieved through presenting the numbers on flash cards, first in order and
progressively out of order. It is particularly important that this one-on-one instruction is done
regularly, so that the student doesn’t have time to regress due to a missed session.
Citation: Robinson, C., Menchetti, B., & Torgesen, J. (2002). Toward a two-factor theory of
one type of mathematics disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 17, 81-89.
Case, R., and Griffin, S. (1990). Child cognitive development: The role of central conceptual
structures in the development of scientific and social thoughts. Advances in psychologyDevelopmental psychology: Cognitive, perception-motor and neurological perspectives.
Amsterdam: North Holland.