Special Education and Behavior Modification
An online guide to special education
processes and behavior modification principles
for educators and parents.
Research Based Math
Interventions - Cover, Copy, and Compare Techniques
Math instruction sometimes get a raw deal.After all, the majority
of intervention studies for school aged children focus on reading.That said, you'd be
hard-pressed to find a lot of people who believe math
skills aren't necessary.Such
capabilities are what allow us to figure out change at the store,
determine a financial plan, build things....etc.So research based math
interventions like cover, copy, and compare are important to our
society's overall health.
Cover, copy, and compare techniques have been
proven useful time and time again in improving addition,
subtraction, multiplication, and division skills with children.What's more, it's one of
those simple interventions that many teachers, parents, and
students have probably utilized in some approximate form, though
never actually realized was a
research based intervention.
So without further ado, here's what cover, copy,
and compare is.
Cover, Copy, and Compare- What Is It?
First, you determine what kind of basic math
problem you want to work on.For example, perhaps you're a teacher that wants the
students in your class to improve their multiplication facts.So you write some of
these facts down on the left side of a piece of paper.Thus, the left side of
the paper would look something like this.
20 X1
20
22 X2
44
From there, students look at
each correct item on the left first.Then they cover the problem with an index card, copy the
answer as they remember it on the right, and then uncover the
initial problem in order to compare the two answers (the correct
one on the left and the one they wrote on the right).If their recall of the
problem is correct, they move onto the next one.If not, they repeat
until it is correct.
One of the great things about cover, copy, and
compare procedures is that they also foster self-management and
teach children basic study skills (cover, copy, and compare is a
great way to study certain facts).Thus, cover, copy, and compare requires very little teacher
time and is simple (an educational assistant can oversee, etc.).
Cover, Copy, and Compare Materials
In order to implement cover, copy, and compare
instructional techniques, all you need are the problems that you
want addressed written on the left of a worksheet (with answers),
and those same problems (with no answers) written on the right.Grab yourself a blank
index card to cover up the answers, and you're good to go.
See below for illustration.
8 +1
9
8 +1
3 +4
7
3 +4
Keep in mind that sometimes instructors require
that the student write the entire problem on the right, not just
fill in the answer.For
already made worksheets, please follow this link:
http://www.lefthandlogic.com/mathprobe_old/allmult.php
The Research Backing Cover, Copy, and Compare Techniques
to Improve Math Skills Acquisition
In the age of scientific research based
interventions, the educational world wants to know if the use of
specific interventions are supported in the literature.Luckily, cover, copy,
and compare techniques have been proven helpful in improving basic
math skills time and time again.Follow the links below for more detailed information on
studies.
