Examples of overall difficulties with Crystallized Intelligence

• Lack of background information to relate new material across subject areas

• Difficulty remembering facts due to lack of ability to relate the new information to background knowledge

• Gaps in skill across areas due to knowledge and acquisition being dependent on exposure to information or specific curriculum

Academic Impact

• Oral Expression: Poor word retrieval; Organization of thoughts; Using precise language to effectively communicate ideas (oral and written)

• Listening Comprehension: understanding language (oral, written); provide off-topic/random responses to questions

• Vocabulary: Difficulty understanding lectures or complicated verbal directions

• Reading -Reading Fluency, Reading Comprehension

• Writing

• Math-vocabulary in operations; word problems

Overall Strategies

Presentation

• Support verbal information with visual information (demonstrations, task charts, story maps, formulas)

Vocabulary Strategies

• Use a quick vocabulary book or reference wall which the student can draw information for discussion or written expression

• Use vocabulary that is understood by the individual when presenting directions and discussing concepts and in assessments

• Use vocabulary cartoons to increase and remember vocabulary

Rich learning experiences/environment

• Museums, field trips, virtual field trips

• Label items, talk through activities, text talks

Scaffold Instruction

• Access prior knowledge prior to introducing new topics/concepts

• Relate new information to prior knowledge

• Incorporate interests into instructional activities

Memory and Retrieval

• Repeat skills and vocabulary

• Use mnemonics to help retrieve knowledge

• Chunk information

Overall Accommodations

• Preferential seating to enhance monitoring of comprehension

• Check in with the student to ensure comprehension of task demands

• Provide study guides

• Allow "think time" when responding to questions

• Highlight key words or facts

Examples of Math Difficulties

Math Calculations

• Difficulty with learning and identifying math vocabulary

• Difficulty retrieving math facts due to the weaknesses in automatizing the relationship between numbers and words

Math Problem Solving

• Difficulty with learning and identifying math vocabulary

• Difficulty with word problems in general depending on the complexity of language used

• Difficulty determining operations in word problems

• Problems understanding the relationships between number symbols and words

Math Strategies

• Teach math vocabulary

• Convert story problems to visual representation

• Teach synonyms for math vocabulary (e.g. sum = add = plus)

Examples of Reading Difficulties

Basic Reading:

• Limited vocabulary

• Weak basic language concepts

• Difficulty understanding language of the text

Reading Comprehension:

• Poor inferences, summarizing, identifying main idea

• “Off-topic” answers to questions

• Poor ability to understand the text (e.g., background knowledge)

*Low vocabulary may be less noticed in reading comprehension due to contextual analysis

Reading Strategies

Vocabulary Strategies and Instruction

• • Pre-teach vocabulary

  • Systematically teach new vocabulary

  • Teach key verbs, such as those that appear in questions (e.g., demonstrate, analyze, synthesize)

  • Provide specific vocabulary instruction such as the meaning of common prefixes, suffices, and root words

• Reading Comprehension Strategies and Instruction

• Read for different purposes -read interactively and frequently to students from a variety of narrative and expository texts, chosen in part for their ability to expand what the students know about the world around them.

Accommodations

• Extended time

Examples of Writing Difficulties

• Redundant word use

• Limited content

Writing Strategies

• Use word bank

• Use graphic organizers

• Model brainstorm activities

Accommodations

• Extended time

Examples of Oral Expression Difficulties

Oral Expression:

• Redundant word usage

• Difficulty using precise language

Oral Expression Strategies

• Word games (e.g., analogies, sentence completion, word association)

Examples of Listening Comprehension Difficulties

• Misses important information or misunderstands information in lectures, verbal directions, social conversations

Listening Comprehension Strategies

• Use short, clear, precise language in directions

• Supplement auditory with verbal instructions

• Provide skeletal notes or copies of notes

• Provide outline or cloze notes for students to fill in.

• Rephrase instructions or questions

• Model and teach active listening skills

Accommodations

• Preferential seating to enhance monitoring of comprehension

• Check in with the student to ensure comprehension of task demands

• Provide study guides

• Extended time, as needed, for reading or writing tasks

• Allow "think time" when responding to questions

• Highlight key words or facts