Take Aim Semi-Independent Format: Adapting the program

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You may need to adapt the Take Aim at Vocabulary program for some students in order to maximize success. The following sections describe adaptations that may work well for certain students.

ADAPTING TAKE AIM FOR INDEPENDENT WORK

Some students working in Take Aim may require less teacher assistance than others. If students are capable of making progress while working independently for the entire period (e.g., during station work), you may adapt Take Aim to accommodate these students.

To increase independence, you may allow students to mark the checklist in the upper-right corner of the student packet worksheet page themselves. When students complete all four requirements, they move on to the next lesson. Then, at the end of the period, you will collect the student packets and correct the students' activities, circling incorrect answers. The next day, students make the necessary corrections.

This adaptation eliminates the need for teachers to advance students from lesson to lesson. However, teachers still must be involved to check students out of each unit. Your involvement at unit checkout ensures that a student does not begin working in a new unit until he or she scores well on the posttest and has a solid understanding of the target words.

ADAPTING TAKE AIM FOR HIGH-PERFORMING STUDENTS

In addition to increasing independence, you may consider making further adaptations for high-performing students. Use your discretion to determine which activities are most beneficial for high-performing students, and adjust the program so that they spend more time on these activities and less time on activities that are too easy for them.

Consider the following adaptations for high-performing students:

• Allow students to read their stories and definitions without audio support.
  Note: Students should still use the audio support for the context clues and word parts lessons.
• Allow students to skip the Read to Master activity. They should spend their time studying the vocabulary instead.
• Assign the optional activities (e.g., enrichment questions, crosswords, and open-ended questions) as homework.

ADAPTING TAKE AIM FOR LOW-PERFORMING STUDENTS

Some students may find certain activities challenging. Others may struggle with reading the stories. The following sections provide ideas for helping these students have increased success. If a student continues to struggle in all areas and becomes frustrated, you may consider reassessing the student to determine whether the level of material is appropriate.

Student Has Difficulty With Activities

If a student has trouble with the Answer the Comprehension Questions activity, check the scores summary to see which type of questions the student tends to miss. Then teach the student how to answer these types of questions. Remind the student to look back in the text for clues. The detail, vocabulary, and inferential questions typically refer to a specific section of the story. Encourage the student to re-read these sections to figure out the answers to the questions. The main idea question asks the student to determine what the story is mostly about. The student may re-read the story as many times as is needed to figure out the answer.

If the student has trouble with the Clarify Target Words activity, the student should go back and carefully re-read the target words and their definitions, both in context and by themselves. Remind the student to use the audio support to read along with the definitions. Also remind the student to use the clues around the target words to help the student understand the words' meanings. You may also require the student to study the target words using the flashcards in the student packet. If students fully understand the target words, they should be able to answer these questions.

If a student has trouble with the Analyze Target Words activities, you may want to work through each type of activity in this section with the student to be sure the student understands what to do. You may also need to provide additional instruction on parts of speech, synonyms, and antonyms.

Student Has Difficulty Reading the Story

If a student finds the story too challenging, it is important to make sure the student actually reads along and subvocalizes with the narration. The student can also do additional read alongs with the story audio, using the first version of the story in the lesson.

In addition, while the student practices the story, remind him or her to look up challenging words in the glossary and read the definitions along with the CD. Understanding all of the vocabulary in the story will help the student understand the story and read it more fluently.

Student Has Difficulty With Unit Posttests

If a student has difficulty with the unit posttest, ensure that the student is putting in sufficient, meaningful study time. You may consider requiring the student to complete the enrichment questions and some or all optional unit activities in the student packet. The crossword and flashcards require the student to refresh his or her knowledge of each definition.

If a student scores poorly on the posttests and you suspect that the time limit creates too much stress, you may consider letting that student try the posttests without a time limit. If you give a student an untimed posttest, indicate this on the student's target graph.

ADAPTING TAKE AIM TO INCLUDE A FLUENCY COMPONENT

To boost motivation or build fluency, you may want to adapt Take Aim to include a fluency component. For this option, students do timed readings of the story. When the student reaches Section F (Read to Master), the student times himself or herself reading the story out loud. The student does this several times until he or she can read the story well. You may also consider setting a fluency goal for the student. In this case, the student times himself or herself reading the story until he or she reaches the goal. The student marks words correct per minute (wcpm) scores in the student packet.

At the lesson checkout step, you determine whether the student is able to read the story fluently. He or she must read the story with minimal errors and good expression. If you set a wcpm goal, the student must be able to read at the goal rate. If the student reads the story fluently, he or she gets a check mark toward the bull's-eye.