Reading instruction changes the brain. New before- and after- images that show what happens to children’s brains after they get systematic, research-based reading instruction show that the right teaching methods can actually normalize brain function and thereby improve a child’s reading skills.
What should you do if you think your child is having trouble with reading? Sometimes children just need more time, but sometimes they need extra help. Trust your instincts! You know your child best. If you think there’s a problem, there probably is.
Children come to our classrooms from so many different ability levels and backgrounds. As a teacher, it’s important to recognize and know what to do to help a struggling reader.
Share these six social-emotional learning activities with your students’ families. Activities include a growth mindset action plan, a strengths chain, and an accomplishment box. Downloadables are available in English and Spanish.
There are over two dozen individually administered screening tools produced for the primary grades. Considering their subject matter and purpose, schools must decide which assessment best fits their needs. This article gives an overview of the screening tools and the kind of information they provide.
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.
In this provocative article, the author argues that reading achievement hasn’t changed much in several decades, and that many common notions about a reading crisis are, in fact, myths.
Comprehension strategies are conscious plans — sets of steps that good readers use to make sense of text. Comprehension strategy instruction helps students become purposeful, active readers who are in control of their own reading comprehension. These seven strategies have research-based evidence for improving text comprehension.
Almost every week there is a news story about a new finding or discovery in science. These news stories are one of the exciting steps in the science world: sharing what you find! Helping kids share their own scientific findings will make them feel like part of the scientific community.
Sharing wordless books is a terrific way to build important literacy skills, including listening skills, vocabulary, comprehension and an increased awareness of how stories are structured.
Honoring books for self-selection, sharing the excitement of read-alouds, building a balanced book collection, making your passions public, and providing rewards that demonstrate the value of reading are just a few simple but transformative suggestions that can nurture the love of reading in your classroom.
Child care providers can play a pivotal role in helping young children learn how to read. This collection of tips will help you incorporate reading into your programs.
Schools play a pivotal role in helping young children learn how to read. This collection of tips will help administrators, teachers, and other school staff members set children on the path to reading.
Schools play a pivotal role in helping young children learn how to read. This collection of tips will help administrators, teachers, and other school staff members set children on the path to reading.
Student writing can be evaluated on five product factors: fluency, content, conventions, syntax, and vocabulary. Writing samples also should be assessed across a variety of purposes for writing to give a complete picture of a student’s writing performance across different text structures and genres. These simple classroom help in identifying strengths and weaknesses, planning instruction, evaluating instructional activities, giving feedback, monitoring performance, and reporting progress.
To get the most out of a shared reading, encourage your child to appreciate the pictures, and also guide their attention to printed words. Doing so may help your child’s reading, spelling, and comprehension skills down the road.
Playing games is a great way to provide additional practice with early reading skills. Here are six games parents or tutors can use to help young readers practice word recognition, spelling patterns, and letter-sound knowledge.
Learn the six types of syllables found in English orthography, why it’s important to teach syllables, and the sequence in which students learn about both spoken and written syllables.
This article explains how to consider your child’s present levels of academic performance and use baseline data to develop goals and objectives for a individualized education program.
When a doctor develops a treatment plan for a sick child, the doctor uses objective data from diagnostic tests. Your child’s individualized education program is similar to a medical treatment plan, and you need objective tests to know that your child is acquiring reading, writing, and arithmetic skills.
