Question:

Dear Shari;

Recently, I attended one of your trainings. I went over the strategies with our director. His question was, “How do we teach students to become independent learners?”

From what you said in the training, AD/HD students lag behind other students by 3-4 years in maturity. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can support my students with AD/HD to develop independent study skills?

Thanks,

Ellen

Answer:

Dear Ellen;

Becoming an independent learner is challenging for all our students, particularly for students with AD/HD.

Students with AD/HD have the same talents and abilities as other students. However, they lack the ability, or “executive function” (EF), to marshall these resources for goal-directed behavior. This means that they will have trouble identifying a goal, setting priorities for task completion, breaking tasks into steps, monitoring their progress toward the goal over time and completing their work in a timely manner. These problems can particularly interfere with independent study skills and the completion of long term projects.

Dr. Thomas Brown of Yale University likens EF to the conductor of an orchestra. In this analogy, brain function is likened to the orchestra. In the student with AD/HD, all the “musicians” are present and as talented as in the typical student, however, the conductor is absent. The resulting production is chaotic and uncoordinated.

Many models for EF skills have been proposed. Dr. Brown suggests five primary executive functions:

• Activation
• Focus
• Effort
• Emotion
• Memory
• Action

Each of these is linked to specific academic and life skills.

When adapting curriculum for students with AD/HD, teachers must scaffold to support missing executive function skills. The student with AD/HD is initially dependent on this scaffold but can be taught the strategies, although she or he will acquire them more slowly that the typical student. Basic principles to incorporate into instruction are:

• Structure
• Consistency
• Saliency
• Interest/Novelty
• Motivation

When teaching independent learning skills to children with AD/HD, procedures that typical students learn incidently will need to be explicitly taught. For example, in order to ensure that the student with AD/HD participates in a small group inquiry project, each member of the group may need to be assigned a role. Inquiry can be effectively structured through the use of a visual organizer. The K-W-L chart is an organizer frequently used for this purpose. Many variations of this chart are available. Below is an example of the most basic:

To use this chart students identify questions they want to have answered through their inquiry and link these to conclusions following the activity.

When students are required to complete long-term projects independently, the student with AD/HD may need to have specific steps for project completion explicitly outlined. Each step should have a corresponding due date and opportunity for adult recognition of completion of that step. Eventually, the student with AD/HD can move to self-monitoring of steps. The final goal for the mature student should be the creation of his/her own outline for project completion. In contrast, many typical peers, will have the executive function skills to plan a long-term project without instruction in these skills.

Here are some basic steps to use to create a checklist for younger children:

1. Collect Resources
   1. Library
   2. Bookstore
   3. Websites
   4. Other _____________
      
2. Brainstorm
   Identify three main ideas and write them down.
   1. ____________
   2. ____________
   3. ____________
      
3. Big Sentence
   Write one sentence that tells the big idea for the report.
   
4. Fact Sheets
   Write each main idea on a sheet or index card. List at least three facts or details for each idea.
   
5. First Draft
   Put your fact sheets in order. Write them in full sentences so each sheet is a paragraph.
   
6. Edit
   Ask a buddy to edit your draft.
   
7. Clean copy
   Write or keyboard a corrected copy. Add bibliography, illustrations, and a cover sheet. Turn in your report!

These examples can help you start planning accommodations for students with AD/HD to become independent learners. A plethora of resources are available to help you expand your repertoire of strategies.

Additional Resources:

Brown, T.(2005) Attention Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults. Cambridge, MA: Yale University Press

Brown, T. website: www.drthomasebrown.com

Davis, L. Sirotowitz, S, and Parker, H. (2003) Study Skills for Early School Success, grades 3-6 Plantation, Florida: Specialty Press, Inc.

Rief, S. (2005) How to Reach and Teach Children with ADD/ADHD: Practical Techniques,Strategies, and Interventions, Second Edition. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Teacher

Zeigler Dendy, C. (2000) Teaching Teens with ADD and ADHD. Bethesda, MD: Woodbine House

Zeigler Dendy, C., Durheim, M., Ellison, A.T. (2006) CHADD Educator’s Manual. Landover, MD: CHADD

Zentall, S. (2006) ADHD and Education. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education