Real Teachers-Real Strategies 11: The Spelling Game

 Teaching Tips, Uncategorized  No Responses »
Mar 212012
 

From Manning, SC, we are pleased to share with you our second place PCI/We Are Teachers Teacher Grant Winner, Adela. She is a Resource Teacher for 7th and 8th graders. Adela’s strategy is making spelling a fun activity to keep her students engaged, which in turn strengthens her students’ vocabulary and spelling skills.

The Project: Let’s Learn How to Spell.  

Each student thinks of or finds 2 words containing at least 5 letters and is hard to spell. Using Ran Barnes strategies with the “Paper Plate” spelling game, each student writes their words on a paper plate and places them on a table top. Next, a student is chosen to stand in front of the class with their word-plate facing the other students and pronounces their word for the class. The other students then look for the word-plates that have letters that the word in front of them contains. Making this spelling exercise a game helps the students learn new words and how to spell them.

Learning Objectives:

Because the majority of students struggle with spelling and vocabulary, we know that making the task fun to do will improve both spelling and vocabulary.

Materials:

Paper plates, markers or crayons, and “The Differentiated Classroom: Challenging All Students, NOT Dummying Down For Some” by Ran Barnes.

* * *

Brought to you by We Are Teachers partnership with PCI Education’s Teacher Grant Ask: http://www.weareteachers.com/teaching-ideas/grant/teaching-idea?app=17318&grantId=75

 

 

Routines Equal Success and Comfort for Students With Special Needs

 Special Education Classroom  No Responses »
Oct 092009
 

by Jill Haney

HoldingHandsIn the past month, two events have reminded me of the importance routines play in the lives of children with special needs. At my daughter’s “Meet the Teacher” night, she discovered that the only classmate from kindergarten in her first grade class is a boy with Down’s Syndrome who she befriended last year. He has limited speech and primarily uses gestures to communicate. When he came into the classroom to meet his new teacher, he was completely confused. He had expected that going back to school meant going back to the teacher he had the year before. His mother and the first grade teacher did everything they could to make him feel comfortable, but to him, the new classroom felt “wrong.”

My own four-year-old son has autism and is nonverbal. This summer, we had him going to private behavioral and occupational therapy five mornings a week. Two weeks after school started, we cut back to three mornings a week knowing he had school every afternoon. In talking to his teacher this week, she noted that he was simply not himself the past two weeks. And we have noticed at home that on mornings he doesn’t have therapy, he frequently grabs his backpack and paces in front of the door assuming that doing so will make the school bus come. I am reminded of a fellow mom in our local autism support group who noted that her son needs three weeks to truly adjust and settle into a new classroom or situation.

All humans rely on routines. Routines provide us with a comfort zone. When we know what to expect, we can relax a bit and focus on getting the task done. Not knowing what to expect tends to be a major source of anxiety and stress. This stress is especially extreme for children with special needs when routines change.

As a parent, I have learned to work on transition skills to help my son cope with changes in routine. But as an educator and author, I have also learned to craft curriculum and activities that facilitate success through predictable routines. Establishing lesson cycles with predictable stages allows students to focus on the content they need to learn rather than stress about what is expected. This concept is a central part of every major program I have co-written, including PCI Reading Program and Environmental Print Series.

Harnessing the power of routines can help all students successfully navigate both academic and daily life challenges. For students with special needs, established routines are even more critical for student success and should be an integral part of any classroom schedule or core curriculum.

Take the “Arrrddd!” Out of Standardized Tests

 Teaching Tips  1 Response »
Sep 142009
 

Incorporate Teaching & Test-Taking Strategies Now to Minimize Anxiety at Test TimeCompass2

In a society where standardized tests are reality in many states, teachers are faced with an ever-present dilemma: “Should I, or should I not, teach to the test?”

Both sides of the debate have merit. In a world where teacher salaries, school funding, and student promotion are sometimes determined by test scores, it is seemingly impossible not to teach to the test. However, many feel that teaching to the test limits meaningful learning in the classroom, especially for students with special needs, in special ed, and students with learning differences.  

The following activities are recommended for educators to combine meaningful learning with test-taking strategies, thereby facilitating overall academic achievement and standardized test success:

1. Provide repeated exposure to standardized test format. Broaden the curriculum by applying standardized test format and test-taking procedures in other areas of the curriculum. Repeated exposure to standardized test format takes away some of the anxiety experienced when students are faced with “real” standardized tests.

2. Teach necessary components in bite-sized pieces. In an effort to avoid students feeling overwhelmed by too much at one time, break necessary skills down into individual components. For example, when teaching writing, break lessons down into individual components such as topic sentence, supporting sentences, and closing sentence. Allow plenty of time for struggling readers and learners to succeed in one area before moving on to the next.

3. Tailor modifications to meet the needs of each child with learning differences. Not every modification works for every child. Providing more time for one student may not be as beneficial as having a test administrator read the test aloud. Large print accommodations do not benefit all students, and in some cases, may cause them to see the test as longer and more intimidating.

4. Teach test-taking strategies.

• Emphasize first and foremost: read directions thoroughly.
• When reading long selections, teach students to read the questions first so that they know what information they are looking for.
• Have them underline key words and phrases and make notes in the margins.
• For multiple-choice items, teach students to cross out wrong answers with a pencil before choosing the correct answer from the choices remaining.
• Teach the importance of reading all of the choices before answering.
• To help students avoid feelings of frustration and inadequacy by spending too much time focusing on one difficult passage, question, or test area:
           o Help them understand that it is okay to skip an item and come back to it after the remainder of the questions have been answered.
           o Have them circle the question number so they know which one to return to quickly.

5. Encourage critical thinking skills across the curriculum. Provide opportunities each day for students to “think outside the box” in an effort to improve critical thinking skills. Encourage creativity, instead of letting the pressure of standardized tests stifle it.

6. Make every effort to reduce the pressure for students. Employ test-taking strategies as a routine in the classroom, not just at standardized test time. Help them understand these tests scores don’t make or break their grades. Emphasize that all students should do their best, and leave it at that.

Authored by Rachel Kaspar
___________________________

“I feel the most important requirement in success is learning to overcome failure. You must learn to tolerate it, but never accept it.”
–Reggie Jackson, Major League Baseball Player

Special Education is PCI’s Specialty

 Special Education Classroom  No Responses »
Sep 102009
 

Academic Materials Tailored to a Variety of Special Needs

2008 PCILogoNew  by Kristina M. Swann                       

Several years ago, I jumped at the chance to write curriculum and other materials for PCI Education. Previously, as a special education teacher, I had spent hours modifying materials for my students. At PCI, I had the opportunity, along with other former teachers, to create curriculums and worksheets that feature a variety of modifications for students with special needs. We have the unique opportunity to create materials tailored to these students so teachers in the field did not have to go through the extensive modifications on their own any longer.

In my role as teacher, the modifications most frequently included:
•  enlarging the font of a textbook page or worksheet
•  shortening assignments
•  providing study guides so students will know what information they need to know
•  testing only on the most important information

I’m sure many of you can relate that these modifications needed to be accomplished without resulting in pages that look babyish or too different from what other students were using, which is not an easy task. However at PCI Education, the art directors and graphic designers know how to make materials easy to read without being juvenile.

To encompass the variety of special needs and learning differences, PCI’s products are specifically written to these students’ needs to facilitate learning in an inclusion classroom or special ed classroom in these ways:
•  Written at a lower reading level to accommodate struggling readers
•  Are printed in 14-point font
•  Have worksheets that are pleasing to the eye and not visually confusing
•  Questions are broken up into blocks of 5 questions at a time
•  Limiting choices in a word bank
•  Including crossword puzzles that are fun but also provide clues to exercise critical thinking skills
•  Include worksheets that also serve as study guides for the quizzes and tests. Each worksheet tells students on which corresponding student text page they can find the answer.
•  Created to have no surprises on tests and quizzes. Each test question comes from the worksheet pages, and all test and quiz questions have been answered before in a different format.

For example, a true/false question that appeared on a worksheet might appear on the test as a multiple-choice question, like the example below.

1. Abraham Lincoln was President of the United States during the Civil War.
•  True or False?

1. ________________ was President of the United States during the Civil War.
•  A. Abraham Lincoln
•  B. George Washington
•  C. George Bush
•  D. John F. Kennedy

At PCI, our goal is to make it as easy as possible for students to learn and retain the information presented in our student texts. PCI Education prides itself on creating materials that meet academic standards for students with special needs, struggling readers and struggling learners, students with learning differences, and students with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

Um, What Happens After High School?

 Teaching Tips  No Responses »
Sep 042009
 

Incorporating Transition Instruction for Students in Special Education

Research and daily interactions with secondary students support the need for focused instruction in the area of transition, especially students with learning differences, emotional/behavioral needs, mild cognitive disabilities, or students with other special needs. They will be asked to answer what type of career they have an interest in or an aptitude for.

Career research via writing projects can provide valuable information and experiences utilizing critical thinking skills. After researching career options, students with special needs often need assistance charting a transition path and should be encouraged to develop at least two alternate or back up transition plans. An initial outline of their main idea should be put together answering who, what, when, why, where, and how.

Then, the focus needs to be a progression of learning self-advocacy and self-determination skills. It is important for them to know:

  • Their legal rights and responsibilities as an adult with a disability.
  • They understand what type of support they can expect to receive after high school.
  • Students in special ed or with special needs should exit high school with current documentation of their disability to allow a continuation of support services if needed.

These basics along with skills for getting a job and keeping it should be addressed prior to completing an in-depth transition path.

The skills to secure and retain a job need to be taught and practiced along with workplace behavior and social skills. Often the skills of completing applications, interviewing, demonstrating good worker traits and teamwork are expected or at best quickly reviewed. Teaching students’ with special needs how to access and succeed in any of the post secondary options – employment, technical/trade college, college/university, or the military – is crucial. 

Tips for where to begin: 

  • A separate elective course using a transition curriculum
  • Supplementing a regular education “careers” curriculum
  • Integrating it into a self-contained classroom
  • Providing additional assistance during a resource period
  • Coordinate with other teachers for writing and/or research assignments that would work for both classes

There are many resources in a variety of mediums specifically designed and written for students in special education and students with special needs. Several examples of curriculums offered are:

  • Career Folio Curriculum is a reproducible activity binder that contains everything needed to organize relevant career facts into one meaningful whole for students, including blackline masters to help students organize their own Career Folios as well as a career action plan and post-program goals.
  • Career Planning includes student text and an audio cd library, plus teaching strategies, application activities, ideas for classroom projects, and tips on learning styles. Covers a variety of skills job seekers need-reference gathering, résumé writing, communication, interviewing, working with others, and managing time.
  • Everyday Life Skills is a textbook and video series that is a comprehensive career development program for high school students making the transition to postsecondary life. This curriculum focuses on the important “how to live and work” issues not always covered by regular curricular materials. Interactive cd’s and audio cassettes are also part of the curriculum.

“Minds-On” Science Instruction

 Teaching Tips  No Responses »
Aug 282009
 

Science LabHelping Special Ed Students and Struggling Learners Get Their Heads into Science

For years, we have been taught that “hands-on” science activities are the ones that students remember. The writers of the National Science Education Standards state that, “ ‘Hands-on’ activities, while essential, are not enough. Students must have ‘minds-on’ experiences as well… and all students should have access to excellent science education, regardless of age, gender, cultural or ethnic background, disabilities, aspirations, or interest and motivation in science.”

This means that students must develop their understanding of science by not only learning the basics of scientific knowledge, but combining that knowledge with critical thinking skills.  Students are now being asked to say why the demonstration is interesting and how it’s relevant to our lives.

Students need to take in the science information they are being taught and then apply it, whether in a class discussion, a one-on-one conversation, or in writing. Whether you teach an inclusive class, a special education class, or have special needs students, you can provide students with the essential skills that they need to develop a better understanding of the world of science and how it impacts their life.

These activities are a start to getting students to take a minds-on approach along with hands-on practice in your elementary, middle school, or high school science classroom.

• Use a hands-on lab experiment as a springboard for other activities. For example, students could do research to find out if other schools or other classes within your school achieved the same results as them. Add the minds-on to it by having them create a presentation to illustrate their findings, or their results versus another class’s results. Or, have a class debate about why something happened the way that it did in the experiment.

• Assign research projects to students about different experiments. Then, have students recreate the experiments (hands-on) in the classroom and write up their results (minds-on).

• Conduct a hands-on lab experiment, then have the students turn their minds-on writing a short paper about how this experiment relates to something important in our lives today, along with “what if” this experiment never happened, what impact it would have.

For special needs, special ed or learning differences students, using a science word bank journal, a science flip-chart, or science graphic organizer would afford them a visual tool to successfully complete any of these ideas. There are also great software and audio programs available to provide reinforcement and added visual aids.

[ The above quoted information comes from this website: http://www.nsta.org/standards ]

By Kristina M. Swann

If Teachers are Master Carpenters, Who Can They Look to for High Quality Blueprints?

 Special Education Classroom  No Responses »
Aug 182009
 

Part One: Master Carpenters as Opposed to Master Architects, by Jill Haney

carpentersAt the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) Summit in June, I was struck by a statement made by Lawrence Lezotte from Effective School Products, Ltd..

“Think of teachers as master carpenters as opposed to master architects. Master carpenters expect blueprints and materials when they get to a jobsite. Everyone respects a master carpenter, but no master carpenter would ever go to work without a blueprint to follow and materials to build with.”

Numerous research studies have proven the potential power of the teacher in the classroom. Effective teachers are indeed master carpenters, constructing each individual and group activity and modifying for individual student needs to build a strong foundation for all of their students.

As a seventh grade reading teacher, I had to learn to think on my feet. When a lesson isn’t working, knowing how to shift it and to take advantage of a teachable moment is part of the craft of teaching as surely as knowing how to position a beam or adjust for a slope is part of a master carpenter’s craft.

Yet I also found that I rarely came to the classroom with a blueprint from a master architect. The textbooks didn’t work for my inner-city striving readers. I had to create curriculum daily and figure out how to adapt it for each of my students. If a master carpenter is able to rely upon a master architect for a solid blueprint, shouldn’t teachers be able to rely on publishers and districts for solid curriculum with differentiation options and flexibility built right in?

Yes, they should, and in my next blog post, I will share three important questions educators should ask when evaluating curriculum to see if it is a blueprint from a master architect.