Handwriting is a complex skill that is not often taught directly. It is not unusual for some students with disabilities to have difficulty with handwriting. These students may also have sensory integration problems. Handwriting Club is a format that provides direct instruction in handwriting combined with sensory integration activities. This article describes all the steps and materials necessary to organize and conduct a handwriting club.
Children who struggle with reading often need extra help. This help usually comes from the school, but some parents choose to look outside the school for professionals who can assess, diagnose, tutor, or provide other education services.
Use picture books to teach young writers how to organize plot logically. This article includes examples of basic plot structures, along with picture books that use those structures.
This article says that according to a new study, former full-day kindergartners were more than twice as likely as children without any kindergarten experiences and 26 percent more likely than graduates of half-day programs to have made it to 3rd and 4th grade without having repeated a grade. This study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association.
ELL students learn new words everyday, and it’s essential that they have a deep understanding of what those words mean. Without comprehension, new words are useless. The key to helping ELL students succeed is to give them explicit instruction in the academic language of the content they are learning in class. This article offers some strategies and resources for getting started!
Signs and symptoms of dysgraphia are described. You’ll also learn about effective accommodations and modifications such as allowing more time, simplifying the task, and allowing assistance for part of the task. The last section of the article has remediation recommendations to help the student improve their writing and overcome their dysgraphia.
Rita Williams-Garcia is the bestselling author of picture books for young readers and novels for young adults and middle grade readers — including Clayton Byrd Goes Underground and her trilogy about the Gaither sisters (One Crazy Summer, PS Be Eleven, and Gone Crazy in Alabama). Many of her books are rooted in recent American history and all her stories brim with the authentic voices of young people. Her novels have received numerous awards, including the Coretta Scott King Award, National Book Award Finalist, Newbery Honor Book, and Scott O’Dell Prize for Historical Fiction.
In this interview, you’ll learn about the origins of One Crazy Summer, why Williams-Garcia always does deep research for her books, and what she does to push through writer’s block (it might surprise you!).
Brenda Smith Myles, Ph.D., is currently a researcher, consultant, and author of many books on autism spectrum disorder, including The Hidden Curriculum, Asperger Syndrome and Difficult Moments, and Simple Strategies That Work! Helpful Hints for All Educators of Students With Asperger Syndrome, High-Functioning Autism, and Related Disabilities.
A school in which students are performing at a much higher (or much lower) level than might be predicted using such standard measures as family SES is often described as an “outlier.”
This list was created to help teachers know which spelling words should be taught to kids in grades 1–5. The list contains 850 words that account for 80 percent of the words children use in their writing — the ones they need to be able to spell correctly.
If your child or student is a “poor” listener, frequently misunderstands speech, and has difficulty following directions, read this article. Learn symptoms of Central Auditory Processing Disorder, how it is diagnosed, and what can be done about it.
Many students with learning or reading disabilities find homework challenging. Here are five research-based strategies that teachers can use to help students.
Choosing a preschool for your child can be a tough decision, especially for a preschooler with special learning or behavior needs. Get some ideas on finding the right setting for your preschooler.
Play with rhymes and words as you read these delightful picture books together with kids. You’ll find silly rhyme games, alliteration, palindromes, a cumulative story, short poems that encourage close listening — and more!
The lovable, literal-minded Amelia Bedelia has been irresistible since she first arrived on our bookshelves fifty years ago. Amelia Bedelia really knows how to “dress” a chicken (in tiny clothes that fit just right). And when Amelia Bedelia is out driving, don’t ask her to look for “a fork in the road!” Herman Parish has been writing fresh Amelia Bedelia stories since 1995, inventing new adventures for the beloved character his aunt, Peggy Parish, created all those years ago.
For learners with sensory, physical, cognitive, or learning differences and their teachers, accessible educational materials (AEM) may open doors to teaching and learning that ordinary print-based materials have closed. Accessible educational materials or AEM are specialized formats of curricular content that can be used by and with students who are unable to read or use standard print materials. Specialized formats include braille, audio, large print, and digital text. The AEM Center serves as a resource for stakeholders, including state- and district-level educators, parents, students, publishers, conversion houses, accessible media producers, and others interested in learning more about AEM and implementing AEM and he National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS). The Center is part of CAST: National Center on Universal Design for Learning.