task analysis - CTSPEDMATHDUDE

December 28, 2021January 1, 2022

Time on an Analog Clock – a Chunked Approach

Telling time on an analog clock is challenging for many students, especially some with special needs. I worked with a middle school student with a disability one summer and after a few lessons he scored 100% over two days on telling time. Below shows the progression I used with him. I used a task analysis approach of breaking the task into smaller steps and chunking the steps to introduce an additional task demand incrementally.

I use math-aids.com worksheets for time and for many topics because it provides dynamic worksheets in which users can choose features. This helps to enable implementation of a task analysis and chunking approach.

The first chunk is whole hour time, which is an option on math-aids. The clocks produced by have color coded hands, with green for hours and red for minutes. I use use additional color coding through highlighters because the handouts are likely printed in B&W and because it engages students kinesthetically.

The second chunk is time with minutes under 5 minutes. Math-aids allows a user to choose specific times and will create clocks with those times. To provide a visual aid, students can write out the numbers on the handout or they can be printed or handwritten on the master copy. You can snip out the clocks shown, paste into a WORD document and then add the numbers. Note: I do not jump to half hours and quarter hours until last. I want students to focus on hours and minutes. This is analogous to counting money. I don’t introduce cents after talking about half a dollar.

The next chunk is time with minutes between 6 and 10 minutes. This is how I introduce the 5 minute mark and have them count on from 5 (see the 5 in the middle bottom). This leads to all the tic marks for 5s.

The 5s are the entry point to navigating the entire clock. I introduce the tic marks for 5s without the numbers for the hours. Students can be prompted to draw in red minute hands for a given numbers of minutes in 5s. If you want to make a handout for this, save the image below and crop.

The students are then given the minute hands and are prompted to identify the minutes as a multiple of 5s (you don’t say “multiples” but can say “in 5s”). An option is to have them highlight the minute hands at first then fade the highlighting. They do this first with no numbers for hours then with numbers for hours – an option on math-aids.

Then students are asked to tell time by identifying the fives and then counting on (as they did with time with minutes under 10). Here are some options.

You can have them highlight.
They can focus on just the 5s and write the multiple of 5 preceding the minute hand.
They can count on from the 5s multiple they wrote, e.g., “15, 16, 17”

Focus first on minutes below 15 as the hour hand is close to the hour (top row in image below). Then address time with minutes between 16 and 30 because the hour hand has moved further away from the hour and it starts to get tricky for students to determine the hour. To address this, you can shade in the tic marks between the hours. Notice that I do not shade the subsequent hour. This also sets the stage for time when the hour hand is close to the subsequent hour (next chunk).

Time with the minute hand on the left side is tricky because the hour hand is close to the subsequent hour. The aforementioned shading can help. I also find it useful to have the student notice that the hour hand is not at the 12 yet, but almost. You can have students draw the marking and word as I did below.

Finally, there is a need to generalize. You can print images of clocks from a Google Images search into a handout and use the same strategies from above. This would be followed by actual clocks.

December 5, 2021January 1, 2022

Intro to Multiplication – A Sequence of Lessons

Below are photos from multiple lessons to introduce multiplication. They are combined into a single document. I use a task analysis approach to first develop conceptual understanding of multiplication as repeated addition. This is followed by skip counting and then using skip counting to multiply. The lessons are not necessary completed in a single day.

Lesson 1 focus is to unpack repeated addition vs simple addition to build on prior knowledge.

Lesson 2 focus is to unpack arrays by identifying rows and columns which are the factors in a multiplication problem. It builds on the previous lesson with repeated addition of groups that are then converted into arrays of items and then into arrays of circles and squares.

Lesson 3 transitions from repeated addition to skip counting (with a future focus of multiplication by skip counting vs fact memory).

Lesson 4 combines skip counting and the rows and columns of arrays into a multiplication sentence.

Lesson 5 uses skip counting to multiply, first with arrays and groups, then as multiplication problems. Here is the link to a post about the Grumpy Cat Jamboard cited in the document.

The nature of the task analysis approach is a sequence of topics building towards the objective of multiplying single digit numbers. Mastery of each of the steps or lessons can be recorded as progress towards mastery of the overall objective. Below is an excerpt from a Google Sheet that is used to record such progress. This can be shared with the team, including parents.

July 8, 2021December 26, 2021

IXL.com – Excellent Tool for Differentiation

IXL.com is a site that provides online practice for math (and other topics). It has a hidden feature that allows for very effective differentiation. This can be highly useful in a general ed math class and in settings for special education services. This includes special ed settings with students working on a wide ranges of math topics, for algebra students who missed a lot of class or enter the course with major gaps, and for the general algebra population to meet the range of needs. IXL can be used before the lesson or after, for intervention.

By way of example, assume you have a student or students working on graphing a linear function using an XY table (image below). Using a task analysis approach, this topic can be broken up into smaller parts: completing an XY table, plotting points and drawing the line, interpreting what all of this means. I will focus on the first two in this post.

IXL has math content for preschool up to precalculus. For the topic of graphing (shown above) many of the steps are covered in earlier grades. For example, plotting points is covered in 3rd grade (level E), 4th grade (level F), and 6th grade (Level H). To prepare students for the graphing linear functions, they can be provided the plotting points assignments below to review or fill in gaps.

The tables used to graph are covered starting in 2nd grade (level D) and up through 6th grade (level H). These can also be assigned to review and fill in gaps.

When it is time to teach the lesson on graphing a linear function, IXL scaffolds all of the steps. For example, the image below in the top left keeps the rule simple. The top right image below shows that the students now have an equation in lieu of a “rule.” The bottom image below shows no table. All 3 focus on only positive values for x and y before getting into negatives.

The default setting on IXL is to show the actual grade level for each problem. I did not want my high school students know they were working on 3rd grade math so I made use of a feature on IXL to hide the grade levels (below), which is why you see Level D as opposed to Grade 2.

June 13, 2021February 5, 2022

Learning Math – The Patting Head and Rubbing Belly Phenomena

In education, math especially, there exist a learning situation I call the patting head and rubbing belly phenomena. In this phenomena students are presented a math problem that consists of several steps they know how to do and then maybe one or two additional steps that are new. Adding the additional step is like adding the task of patting your head while you rub you belly. Many students will struggle with this.

Adding one additional math step to a sequence of steps that are prior knowledge or the students seems so simple. What actually can happen is the entire effort becomes challenging. This is true for all types of math, whether it is the general curriculum or life skills/consumer math.

I have written about how we cut up a hotdog for a baby in a highchair and that we could do the same for math topics using a task analysis and chunking approach. Related to this, I recommended that support class be used not to backfill gaps but to address prerequisite skills for upcoming or current math topics covered in a general ed math class.

This phenomena plays out in life skills math or consumer math in a stealthy manner because the steps or tasks seem so simple. For example, many of us have worked with a child or student who was learning to count money. When learning about a nickel or a quarter, the coin name and value are easily identified. Once both are introduced, many students confuse the two and may even freeze while attempting the work with the coins.

There is an ABA based process for addressing this using a task analysis and chaining in which steps are worked on in isolation before connecting (chaining) the steps together (and not all of them at once until the end). One related strategy to help implement this approach is through scaffolded handouts in which the steps are enumerated and the structure of the handout isolates the tasks. I have used this approach for 1 to 1 correspondence up to AP Statistics (see below).

When working out a draft of an IEP, I suggest having the task analysis and chaining explicitly identified in the accommodations page and ask for an example of what this looks like (using an example math topic).

March 2, 2020July 7, 2021

Shopping at the Grocery Store

There are numerous hidden tasks that we undertake while at the grocery store. We process them so quickly or subconsciously that we are not aware of these steps.

As a result, we may overlook these steps while educating students on life skills such as grocery shopping. Subsequently, these steps may not be part of the programming or teaching at school and therefore generalization is left for another day. Yet, the purpose of IDEA is, in essence, preparing students for life, including “independent living.”

To address this, we can take a task analysis approach in which we break down the act of shopping at a grocery store into a sequence of discrete steps or tasks (see excerpt of the task analysis document below).

Step 1 is to administer a baseline pretest during which we start with no prompting to determine if the student performs each task and how well each is performed. As necessary, prompting is provided and respective documentation is entered into the table (to indicate prompting as opposed to independent completion). For example, I worked with a client who understood the meaning of the shopping list but started off for the first item without a basket or cart. I engaged him with a discussion about how he would carry the items. At one point I had him hold 7 grapefruits and it became apparent to him that he needed a cart. (I documented this in the document.)

Other issues that arose were parking the cart in the middle of the aisle, finding the appropriate section of the store but struggling to navigate the section for the item (e.g. at one point I prompted him to read the signs over the freezer doors), and mishandling the money when prompted to pay by the cashier announcing the total amount to pay.

Step 2 is to identify a task or sequence of tasks to practice in isolation based on the results of the pretest. For example, this could involve walking to a section of the store and prompting the student to find an item. Data collection would involve several trials of simply finding the item without addressing any other steps of the task analysis.

Step 3 would be to chain multiple steps together, but not the entire task analysis yet. For example, having the student find the appropriate section and then finding the item in the section.

Eventually, a post-test can be administered to assess the entire sequence to identify progress and areas needing more attention.

February 28, 2019February 28, 2019

Symmetry Made Accessible

The work shown below posted on LinkedIn by Maria Priovolou. I think this is awesome.

The photo below shows a focus on just the vertical axis and the student has to reflect one object at a time. This is a nice task analysis approach. The stamp creates the objects which makes it hands on and a little different from just mathy work.

This hands on work can be followed with work on this website. In the photo at the bottom you see an example problem. This can make reflection more concrete and eventually more intuitive for the student.

February 17, 2019February 17, 2019

So Easy?!

Problems like the addition problem below are often viewed by adults as straight forward. This perception can make it difficult for adults, including teachers and even special education teachers to help students who struggle with it.

I find that the math teacher candidates and special education teacher candidates struggle with breaking down math topics, especially “easy” ones like the one below, into simple steps. To help students who struggle with math breaking down the math topic is imperative. The analogy I use is to break the topic down into bite-sized pieces like we cut up a hot dog for a baby in a high chair.

For new teachers I use a formal task analysis approach to teach candidates how to cut up the math into bite-sized pieces. A task analysis for the problem above was an assignment given to a group of graduate level special ed candidates. As is common, they overlooked many simple little steps hidden in the problem. These steps are hidden because they are so simple or so automatic in our brains that we don’t think about them. See below for how I break this topic into several pieces or steps. For example, before even starting the addition the person doing the problem has to identify that 43 is a 2-digit number with 4 in the TENS place and 3 in the ONES place. Understanding that the problem is addition which entails pulling the numbers together to get a total (sum) is an essential and overlooked step. If a student struggles with a step the step can be addressed in isolation, as I show in another blog post.

January 29, 2019January 29, 2019

Mailbag Jan 29 2018

A reader asked about an algebra 2 problem and shared (below) his effort to cut up the math into bite-sized pieces. I greatly appreciate his effort because he is trying to meet student needs. While this post is very “mathy” I want to make a couple of points to the readers. First, I wrote out a detailed response (2nd photo below). Second, in both of our efforts we attempted unpack as much as possible. This is what our students need. Also, the reader is developing his ability to do this unpacking and if he continues he will become increasingly more adept at this skill (growth mindset). That means his future students will benefit!

January 26, 2019June 13, 2021

Cutting Up the Math Into Bite-sized Pieces

When I train new math and special education teachers I explain that teaching math should be like feeding a hot dog to a baby in a high chair. Cut up the hot dog into bite-sized pieces. The baby will still consumer the entire hot dog. Same with math. Our students can consume the entire math topic being presented but in smaller chunks.

My approach to doing this is through a task analysis. This is very similar to chunking. It is a method to cut up the math into bite-sized pieces just as we would break up a common task for students with special needs.

While waiting for my coffee order at a Burger King I saw on the wall a different version of a task analysis. It was a step by step set of directions using photos on how to pour a soft cream ice-cream cone. I thought it was amazing that Burger King can do such a good job training its employees by breaking the task down yet in education we often fall short in terms of breaking a math topic down.

November 22, 2017

CTSPEDMATHDUDE Approach to Teaching Math

The purpose for having this website is to share my approach to teaching math. The approach is the use of special ed principles brought to bear on math. Specifically, I use a task analysis approach to break down a math topic into “bite-sized” pieces and to use a variety of instructional strategies and reinforcement to move the student through the individual tasks towards mastery of the math topic (including conceptual understanding).

Tag: task analysis

Time on an Analog Clock – a Chunked Approach

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Intro to Multiplication – A Sequence of Lessons

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IXL.com – Excellent Tool for Differentiation

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Learning Math – The Patting Head and Rubbing Belly Phenomena

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Shopping at the Grocery Store

Like this:

Symmetry Made Accessible

The work shown below posted on LinkedIn by Maria Priovolou. I think this is awesome.

The photo below shows a focus on just the vertical axis and the student has to reflect one object at a time. This is a nice task analysis approach. The stamp creates the objects which makes it hands on and a little different from just mathy work.

This hands on work can be followed with work on this website. In the photo at the bottom you see an example problem. This can make reflection more concrete and eventually more intuitive for the student.

Like this:

So Easy?!

Problems like the addition problem below are often viewed by adults as straight forward. This perception can make it difficult for adults, including teachers and even special education teachers to help students who struggle with it.

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Mailbag Jan 29 2018

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Cutting Up the Math Into Bite-sized Pieces

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CTSPEDMATHDUDE Approach to Teaching Math

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The work shown below posted on LinkedIn by Maria Priovolou. I think this is awesome.

The photo below shows a focus on just the vertical axis and the student has to reflect one object at a time. This is a nice task analysis approach. The stamp creates the objects which makes it hands on and a little different from just mathy work.

This hands on work can be followed with work on this website. In the photo at the bottom you see an example problem. This can make reflection more concrete and eventually more intuitive for the student.

Share this:

Like this:

Problems like the addition problem below are often viewed by adults as straight forward. This perception can make it difficult for adults, including teachers and even special education teachers to help students who struggle with it.

Share this:

Like this:

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