Behavior Interventions

Working with children who exhibit difficult behaviors in the classroom can be a challenge at times.  But it doesn't mean you have to design and implement elaborate interventions in the classroom in order to achieve success.  Sometimes just the simple can be just as effective.  Below are some suggestions to consider:

1.  Post a class schedule.  Add photos for those students who cannot read.
2.  Alternate challenging activities with maintenance-enhancing activities to prevent student frustration.
3.  Break assignments into "chunks". 
4.  Explicitly teach test-taking strategies.
5.  Teach organizational skills explicitly.
6.  Be aware of how the student communicates.  Do they use a lot of body language?
7.  Provide opportunities for group participation.
8.  Serve as a model for the students.
9.  Let students know your expectations up front.
10. Give clearly stated learning objectives to students.

These are just a few ideas of how to help students who might be acting out in class.  What are some tips that have worked in your classroom?

A great Reading and Math resource!

I love collecting new resources for teachers.  I mean I really LOVE finding them!  You might say I am obsessed with collecting things I can share with teachers.  I visited a new site today and could not wait to get to this post and reccommend it to everyonoe!  Go on over to http://www.readtennessee.org/.  It is a fantstic resource of reading, math, and social/emotional resources for early grades.  The Common Core Standards are also available on this site.  There are lots of things for parents and educators to look at and a great section on community resources.  So take a look and let me know what you think. :)

Reading Skills: Figuring Out an Unfamiliar Word

One strategy that is important for students to learn is how to figure out an unfamiliar or new word in a reading passage.  

1. The student could look for a definition of the unknown word inside the sentence.  Clue words might be "is", "are", and "has".
2. The student could look for a synonym.  Clue words would be "or", "in other words", "that is", and "similarly".
3. The student could look for examples that show the meaning of the unknown word.  Clue words would be "such as" and "for instance".
4. The student could look for a cause-effect relationship.  Clue words would be "therefore", "as a result", and "due to".

What are some strategies that you teach your students for figuring out an unfamiliar word in a reading passage?

Critical Thinking Skills

Mission Critical: Reading Together to Build Critical Thinking Skills

As parents, we hope to develop many positive skills and traits in our children. Critical thinking, the ability to think deeply about a topic or a book, is an essential skill for children to develop.  Critical thinking doesn't develop overnight. It's something that develops and builds through conversations and experiences. It's also something parents can nurture by sharing quality books with their children.

Even though your elementary-aged child may now be able to read on their own, reading together remains just as important as it was when your child was younger. Family read-alouds provide great opportunities to tackle more challenging books together. These longer chapter books may have plots that are more complex and more demanding vocabulary. Working through these books chapter by chapter helps teach persistence. And by reading together, you are there as an important source of support and information.

Reading critically involves slowing down, and taking the time to help your child reflect on what you've just read. Depending on the book, discussions may involve talking about what a character's actions tell us about his personality, or how the book's setting is important to the overall message. It might mean helping your child recognize something about the plot and the conflict that exists. It also means asking more open-ended questions to which there can be

multiple correct answers.

Quality books enable you and your child to talk about the book in depth and with substance. All of this will help your reader develop critical thinking skills that will last a lifetime. Below are a

few recommended titles, by grade level, that you and your growing reader may enjoy reading together and talking about.

Books for second and third grades

• Mr. Popper's Penguins, by Florence and Richard Atwater

• Babe: The Gallant Pig, by Dick King-Smith

• Half Magic, by Edward Eager

• The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster

• Recommended titles from Deconstructing Penguins: Parents, Kids and the Bond of Reading, by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone (HarperCollins, 2005)

For more information, read How to Increase Higher Order Thinking:  www.ReadingRockets.org/article/34655

Helpful information about learning brought to you by Reading Rockets, Colorin Colorado, and LD OnLine

Reading Rockets, Colorín Colorado, and LD OnLine are services of public television station WETA, Washington, D.C. Reading Rockets is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Offi ce of Special Education Programs. Colorín Colorado, a web service to help English language learners become better readers, receives major funding from the American Federation of Teachers. Additional funding is provided by the National Institute for Literacy and the U.S. Department of Education, Offi ce of Special Education Programs. LD OnLine is the world's leading website on learning disabilities and ADHD, with major funding from Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes. 

Strategies Students Use While Reading

Hello to everyone!  We are so sorry for the time lapse in writing.  As  many of you know, getting school started can be a time consuming process!  But now things have settled down and we can go back to our weekly postings.  

We have received questions from classroom teachers asking," What are some strategies that students can use while they are reading?".  There are several strategies that students can use while reading.  One strategy is for the student to adjust their reading rate.  The student can adjust their reading rate for the purposes of skimming, reading for pleasure, or reading to recall information.

Another strategy is for a student to predict or confirm information.  They can support their predictions with the text.  Students can also use prior knowledge to confirm information while they are reading. Readers can also raise questions while they are reading.  The student knows that the text may not answer all of the questions.

Students can reread text.  They reread the text to improve recall, revisit favorite parts, and/or to understand confusing parts. Another strategy students can use while reading is to self-correct.  The student knows when a word or phrase doesn't make sense and makes the correction in the reading without help.  

Finally, students can monitor their own understanding.  They can identify parts of a text that are or aren't understood and ask for help when needed.   These are just some of the many strategies that students can use while they are reading.  What are some strategies you have taught your students?