LD/ADHD Initiative Executive Functions Modules

1. LD/ADHD Initiative Executive Functions Modules SessionThreeStrategy Sheets

2. Executive Functions Session 3 Strategy SheetHow Do I Teach Emotional Control Skills? Environmental Supports Teaching Strategy Teach students to recognize situations or early signs. Provide opportunities to discuss upcoming situations or events that may provoke an emotional outburst. Teach calming strategies and help students learn what coping mechanisms work best for them. Teach students to count to 10 before acting. Practice this by counting together aloud before making a decision. Build independence by having students control their own emotions (taking a walk or giving themselves a time out. Rehearse strategies repeatedly until they are internalized. Teach students a concrete, simple metaphor for measuring anger/other feelings (“thermometer” or Speedometer”) Make sure verbal and written directions are clear and given one at a time. Model “stopping” behavior or take a “time away”. Verbalize your strategies.  Process situations that have led to emotional outbursts in a non-threatening setting and manner. Choose a situation when students are relaxed and therefore more receptive to discuss what happened. • Reduce or eliminate triggers. • Manage antecedents that appear to produce emotional changes or outbursts. Some situations, peers, or tasks may need to be avoided or limited until students experience more success. • Post clear rules and expectations for behavior and predictability/consistency. • Give student a script to follow. • Remove student from problem situation. • Use visual cues • Model effective strategies for emotional control. • Provide external supports LD/ADHD Initiative Department of Special Education and Student Services, HCPSS What might this look like in your classroom?

3. Executive Functions Session 3 Strategy SheetHow Do I Teach Working Memory Skills? Environmental Supports Teaching Strategy Prompt students to access past experiences. Generate options and have students choose. Practice verbal memory skills: rehearsal (whispering directions), chunking (whittle down two-step instructions to one), or mnemonic devices. Game Play: students maintain information in their minds from previous game experiences, use rehearsal strategies (talk to themselves) to navigate new steps, complete multi-step actions and keep in mind sequences and goals. Use short, simple direct instructions, easier for students to recall. Establish eye contact prior to giving essential instructions or new material. Have students repeat or paraphrase what they have heard or understood to check for accuracy and provide an opportunity for rehearsal. Teach self-initiated “comprehension checking” strategies. Emphasize that it is okay to ask the teacher to repeat instructions. Reduce distractions in the environment that can tax or disrupt working memory. • Use memory devices: Agenda books/calendars, notebooks, (to do lists), electronic devices & APS (i-pad, phone). • Provide a written checklist of steps required to complete a task. • Use visual reminders: drawings, photographs, colorful pictures or graphic organizers for sequential tasks, word walls and posters. • Encourage students to ask for help from others. • Simplify or chunk directions. • Create a safe environment. LD/ADHD Initiative Department of Special Education and Student Services, HCPSS What might this look like in your classroom?