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CRA

  • CEC 2014 Presentation on CCSS Math Support

    This link is for a drop box that contains the handouts for this presentation. Please email me with follow up questions ctspedmathdude at gmail.com.  

  • Intro to Measurement

    The photos below are used to introduce length and area as part of a CRA approach. First a student is asked to build a Lego garage. He first builds the bottom row of a wall and the teacher asks for length in terms of how many Legos are lined up. After building a wall the…

  • CRA for Solving Equations

    This is a photo of a handout from a special ed conference shared by Dr. Shaunita Strozier (sstrozier@valdosta.edu) of Valdosta State University. It shows the use of algebra tiles to provide a concrete level of the concept of an equation and solving the equation. The photos on the left show the R or representational level of the…

  • Linear Functions with Comic Book Context

    This is a follow-up to a previous post about using comics to engage a student with autism. In the photo above the comics are on sale for $2 each which is a situation modelled by a linear function. The student finished this assignment independently, quickly and accurately (aside from the bars on the graph). (Note…

  • Cutouts for Area of Irregular Shapes

    Students have trouble with irregular shapes largely because they cannot visualize or determine the measures the dimensions of the individual parts. The photos below show a hands on activity to help students with these challenges. The students are cut out the individual shapes and write in the dimensions. This method allows them to see the…

  • Matching Cards for Discount and Tax

      This is a photo of matching cards for the topic of percent discount and percent tax. Students are given a card with an item to buy, a percent discount and our state tax rate of 6% (not listed). We’ve identified 4 steps for to find the total amount to pay the cashier: compute discount,…

  • Visual Representations

    In preschool kids are assigned a color and shape as identification. Their names are too abstract at that age. This strategy is effective for teaching in general.

  • Conceptual Presentation of Percents

          Percents is a very challenging concept for students often because it is presented in symbolic terms, e.g. 40% of a 25 is what? Students typically understand what 100% and 50% mean. The concept of percent can build on this intuitive understanding. Here is my approach using a Concrete-Representation-Abstract approach (from a lesson…

  • Unit Rates

    Real life applications in of themselves will not make a concept real for many if not most students with special needs. They likely need the concept broken down into more concrete form (CRA). For this problem I would fudge the numbers and have 42 oz at $6 (7 oz per dollar) and a 5 oz…

  • Representations of Concepts

    Three ways to represent perimeter: I taught a lesson on perimeter to a 5th grade class. First I had them create a rectangular pen for their animals and they counted the number of fence pieces. Then we drew a rectangle to represent the pen. Finally we looked at the formula. This allows a deeper conceptual…