Strategies for Teaching Students with ADHD
This page provides some strategies for how to teach a student with ADHD. These strategies can be very effective in helping students maintain focus and attention so learning can take place.
Engage and Maintain Attention
- Use technology to present the information.
- Use highlighter, bold print, or auditory cues to call out information
- Use high-interest materials
- Build-in movement opportunities
Behavior Management
- Adjust the environment so there are no distractions
- Post the learning environment rules where the student can always see them.
- Be consistent about routines
- Teach and model strategies for anger management, conflict resolution, and thinking before acting
Organization and Time Management
- Teach the student how to organize their materials
- Use a calendar and a daily schedule
- Limit the number of items on the student’s desk
- Provide office supplies such as a three-ring binder or folders to organize materials
Reading Strategies
- Break down the reading into smaller segments
- Pre-teach vocabulary
- Preview the text before reading and brainstorm ideas about what the story could be about
- Stop at strategic points throughout the reading to stop and discuss the story
Writing Strategies
- Provide sentence starters and graphic organizers
- Use “quick-writes” to help student to start brainstorming ideas
- Allow the student to type instead of hand-write
- Use multi-sensory techniques such as a magnetic letter board or tracing letters
Math
- Use color to increase focus and highlight parts of the math problem.
- Block part of the page while working on one problem
- Make abstract concepts more concrete with manipulatives
- Allow the use of calculators or multiplication tables to ease the number of calculations necessary to complete more difficult problems.
For more information about ADHD, you can visit these resources:
Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder (CHADD)
www.chadd.org
Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA)
www.add.org
