Handbook for The Learning Window: Section One

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A Handbook for The Learning Window
Section One:
Getting Started: Establishing Baseline Performances
Establishing baseline performances is important for many reasons. Spatial disorders are rarely tidy and neat. Instead they overlap into many performance and behavioral arenas. Therefore, carefully identifying beginning behaviors and attitudes is necessary both to plan what to teach and to monitor progress.
Evaluation should, however, be rapid and practical. The "can do-cannot do" list on the following chart works very well and can be completed in minutes. The classroom teacher and parents can both complete this checklist.
The same form can be used to monitor progress. You may also wish to use the sections titled: Motor Control -- Overview and Visual Perception of Space -- Overview as checklists for skill evaluation.
Identifying what a student can and cannot do frequently brings instruction closer to student needs. This analysis also focuses an student strengths rather than just on disabilities.

"I really like this simple approach to analysis. Without it I sometimes get so caught up in student disabilities and how I can meet those needs that I forget to appreciate and see how far the student has come." --Pam Taylor, teacher and parent

Go to Chart 1: Motor Visual/Spatial Skills Analysis

Motor Control
Overview

This overview introduces the instructional suggestions outlined in the following section:

Developing Motor Control by Using the Learning Window
To gain greater motor control, students must acquire a specific set of behaviors. This is not an absolute sequence: learnings may overlap. The usual sequence for learning motor control is:

learn the language of space (shape, position, motion)

establish tracking

know and connect the distinctive features of basic forms
The distinctive feature is the least input needed to identify the item. Thus the distinctive features are the essence required to convey the shape of anything whether the item is a face, letter, geometric shape, or rabbit. Thus, the distinctive feature for a face is for the letter "e" is , for a triangle is , and for a rabbit is . The exact drawings might differ but the essential components of the distinctive feature are the same.

trace basic shapes and label them

duplicate the basic components of script and label them

draw or write the basic shapes and script components upon hearing the label

draw 3-dimensional objects

Most students can then draw shapes or objects without tracing them.

Developing Motor Control by Using the Learning Window

1. Learn the language of space

Students need to know words that describe shape, position, and motion. If students do not know this language, it should be taught before proceeding to other steps. Examples:
a-shape: square, triangle, circle, diamond, rectangle, cube, cylinder, cone
b-position: above, below, beside, over, under, across, diagonal, vertical, horizontal, parallel
c-motion: loop, cross, dot, forward, backward

Teach words for space with illustrations and objects. Limit the number of shapes presented at one time for students who have great difficulty with this. Teach by showing shapes and naming them. Practice the language of shapes with the "Say Where" game described at the end of this section.
For the remaining steps, the teacher stands on one side of the Window and guides the student on the other side. Early stages involve the teacher modeling movement with and for the student. Students must always write or draw left to right. The teacher will be on the other side of the board and, therefore, must write in the opposite direction.
The teacher's guidance includes modeling both the movement and the verbal script (words) that describes the line or shape. Each of these components is equally important. Modeling the movement helps the student who has insufficient motor control learn the motion. Modeling descriptive language ("I go up and around.") helps students develop scripts for guiding their pen as they make a loop independently. Students need to develop their own descriptive language for the motions. This becomes their script.
Record of Progress

2. Learn tracking

a-- The student can follow a pen on the other side of the Learning Window to make:

relatively straight lines
gentle curves
more complicated lines
b-- The student can draw lines above/below previous lines.
Record of Progress

3. Know and connect the distinctive features of basic forms

a-The student can connect dots that form lines.
b-The student can connect dots that form shapes.

Record of Progress

4. Trace basic shapes and label them

a-trace solid shapes.
b-draw these shapes.

Record of Progress

5. Given a written x, say the script and write the x

Record of Progress

6. Hearing a letter named, say the script and write the letter

Example: The teacher says "X," and the student responds:
"Two slanty lines cross."

Record of Progress

7-Trace and then draw 3-dimensional forms upon hearing the label or description such as "Draw a cylinder" or "draw a can of corn."
Record of Progress

Go to : "Say Where"
A game that teaches the vocabulary of direction and position

Transferring Skill From Window to Paper

Transferring control from the vertical board to writing flat on the desk with pencil on paper is easy for most children while others need more guidance.

The majority of students will be able to transfer without any special provision after initial Learning Window work.

A few children who have very depressed fine motor skills need to draw and write on paper that is tacked up in the vertical position before they can transfer to the flat desk.

Some children need to write and draw on adding machine tape as an intermediate step before transfer to paper.
The paper tape provides size limits and strong horizontal emphasis. Many therapists close each session with exercises on paper tape which they save as a record of progress.
This documents the improvement from each session.

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ARK Institute of Learning
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Copyright © 1996, 1998 ARK Institute of Learning
Permission is granted to copy for clinical or instructional purposes but not for commercial use.

Posted with permission by
New Horizons for Learning
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1. Learn the language of space Students need to know words that describe shape, position, and motion. If students do not know this language, it should be taught before proceeding to other steps. Examples: a-shape: square, triangle, circle, diamond, rectangle, cube, cylinder, cone b-position: above, below, beside, over, under, across, diagonal, vertical, horizontal, parallel c-motion: loop, cross, dot, forward, backward Teach words for space with illustrations and objects. Limit the number of shapes presented at one time for students who have great difficulty with this. Teach by showing shapes and naming them. Practice the language of shapes with the "Say Where" game described at the end of this section. For the remaining steps, the teacher stands on one side of the Window and guides the student on the other side. Early stages involve the teacher modeling movement with and for the student. Students must always write or draw left to right. The teacher will be on the other side of the board and, therefore, must write in the opposite direction. The teacher's guidance includes modeling both the movement and the verbal script (words) that describes the line or shape. Each of these components is equally important. Modeling the movement helps the student who has insufficient motor control learn the motion. Modeling descriptive language ("I go up and around.") helps students develop scripts for guiding their pen as they make a loop independently. Students need to develop their own descriptive language for the motions. This becomes their script.	Record of Progress
2. Learn tracking a-- The student can follow a pen on the other side of the Learning Window to make: relatively straight lines gentle curves more complicated lines b-- The student can draw lines above/below previous lines.	Record of Progress
3. Know and connect the distinctive features of basic forms a-The student can connect dots that form lines. b-The student can connect dots that form shapes.	Record of Progress
4. Trace basic shapes and label them a-trace solid shapes. b-draw these shapes.	Record of Progress
5. Given a written x, say the script and write the x	Record of Progress
6. Hearing a letter named, say the script and write the letter Example: The teacher says "X," and the student responds: "Two slanty lines cross."	Record of Progress
7-Trace and then draw 3-dimensional forms upon hearing the label or description such as "Draw a cylinder" or "draw a can of corn."	Record of Progress