Children with executive function problems have difficulty with planning, organizing and managing time and space, and weakness with “working memory.” Learn more about executive function, how it affects learning, and strategies to help children in school and at home.
Learn about four strategies for structured teaching to support students with ASD: (1) physical structure, (2) visual schedules, (3) work systems, and (4) visual structure.
Vocabulary is word knowledge — knowing what the words mean. Word learning is an ongoing process — we are always adding to our “word bank.” The goal is to recognize and understand the meaning of spoken and written words.
The U.S. Department of Education developed this brief guide for reading tutors. It lists ways that tutoring helps both the learner and the tutor, and provides practical tips that can help tutors be more effective in their work.
A veteran teacher describes how she used visualization, Google images, video, and Skype to build background knowledge and enrich her students’ classroom read aloud of a fiction book about ospreys.
Do you spend most of the fall reviewing what was taught last spring? Help prevent summer reading loss by finding out why it happens and encouraging family literacy while kids are at home for the summer.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) provides the opportunity for all students to access, participate in, and progress in the general-education curriculum by reducing barriers to instruction. Learn more about how UDL offers options for how information is presented, how students respond or demonstrate their knowledge and skills, and how students are engaged in learning.
Teaching reading is a complex process that draws upon an extensive knowledge base and repertoire of strategies. This article argues that many novice teachers are underprepared to teach reading effectively, and examines some of the reasons why.
Your child may be at a school where they are using an approach called “flipped classroom” or “flipped lesson.” Find out more about the concept, and three ways that you can support flipped learning at home.
Learn more about social communication problems in young children, how delays in social communication skills can be the earliest signs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and what early intervention looks like.
Dr. John Gabrieli is on the faculty at MIT, in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science. Dr. Gabrieli’s research focuses on the brain mechanisms of memory, cognition, and emotion in the human brain, and how those mechanisms are disrupted in neurological disorders, including dyslexia.
Research has demonstrated that the most effective read alouds are those where children are actively involved asking and answering questions and making predictions, rather than passively listening. This article describes in detail a technique for a three-step interactive read aloud using sophisticated storybooks.
Have you ever heard of “assumicide”? For generations, too many people assumed that children with disabilities couldn’t learn to read — so they never gave them a chance. Hosted by Molly Ringwald, A Chance to Read looks at the reading challenges facing kids with disabilities, and what schools across the country are doing to help them find success.
Parents are often the first to suspect their child has a reading problem. An expert alerts parents to some of the earliest indicators of a reading difficulty.
Browse this list of organizations and web resources focused on advocacy, information, and support for families and educators of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. We’ve also identified helpful federal agencies and ASD projects funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs.
Dr. Guinevere Eden is a professor in the department of pediatrics and director of the Center for the Study of Learning (CSL) at Georgetown University. She uses MRI scans to map brain activity and study the biological signs of dyslexia. Eden hopes that this will soon make it possible to diagnose dyslexia very early in children.
As we head towards September and a new school year, here’s advice from special education expert Rick Lavoie that may be helpful as you attempt to make special needs kids in your class feel warm, welcome, and wanted. Using the word SEPTEMBER, he shares nine concepts that can help you in this effort.
The challenges of teaching English language learners to read. Hosted by Rita Moreno, Becoming Bilingual examines the challenges of teaching children to read in a new language. We visit six cities across the country to learn about the different ways schools are working to create bilingual readers.
An effective way to begin the writing process is to focus on prewriting, which involves organizing ideas, setting goals, and exploring topics. Learn about technology-enhanced strategies to help students create a “road map” that can guide them through the writing process.
