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.
Special literacy events and celebrations can be a great way to get kids excited about books and reading. But for kids who struggle with reading, these kinds of events can challenge their self-confidence. Here are 15 strategies to help you plan a successful, joyful reading event for all kinds of readers and learners.
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.
This paper presents six principles designed to prevent writing difficulties as well as to build writing skills: (a) providing effective writing instruction, (b) tailoring instruction to meet the individual needs,(c) intervening early, (d) expecting that each child will learn to write, (e) identifying and addressing roadblocks to writing, and (f) employing technologies.
Starting early to grow strong readers. We once thought a child’s education started in kindergarten — but that could be years too late. Hosted by Reba McEntire, this episode examines what it takes to give our preschoolers the early literacy skills they need to become successful readers.
Helping struggling readers in the general classroom is a challenge, but The Access Center offers a solution. By using Response-to-Instruction’s tiered approach and Universal Design’s equal access philosophy, you can bridge the gap so that you are truly leaving no child behind.
Response to Instruction (RTI) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) are two great ideas for making sure the curriculum reaches all students. Learn about how you can implement these ideas as part of your regular routine in the general education classroom.
Activities that stimulate phonemic awareness in preschool and elementary school children are one sure way to get a child ready for reading! Here are eight of them from expert Marilyn Jager Adams.
Students with ASD can have strengths or challenges in either word recognition and language comprehension that will impact reading comprehension. It is important to assess, monitor, and track the word recognition or decoding skills and language comprehension skills as you evaluate reading comprehension.
While some young writers may struggle with traditional literacy, tapping into new literacies like digital storytelling may boost motivation and scaffold understanding of traditional literacies. Three types of struggling writers are introduced followed by descriptions of ways digital storytelling can support their development.
Word study is an approach to spelling instruction that moves away from a focus on memorization. The approach reflects what researchers have discovered about the alphabetic, pattern, and meaning layers of English orthography. This article describes nine tips for implementing a word study program in your classroom.
Helping kids connect with what they read. Hosted by Frank McCourt, this episode highlights effective strategies to help kids understand — and care about — what they read, the ultimate goal of learning how to read.
Getting information from a nonfiction text can be especially challenging for ELLs, who may not have had much experience working independently with expository texts. This article offers ways that teachers can help ELLs work effectively with nonfiction texts and includes strategies for introducing components, structure, and purpose of expository texts.
Inferential comprehension requires both emotional intelligence and cognitive skills, however instructional comprehension strategies typically underemphasize the emotional contribution. This article documents an intervention used by diverse third grade students which centers on teaching story comprehension through character perspective-taking (i.e., Theory of Mind).
Learn the critical social communication milestones for babies and toddlers, from 7-24 months of age. These milestones cover five developmental domains — play, language, social interaction, emotional regulation, and self-directed learning.
Today’s speech language pathologists (SLPs) play many roles in supporting the development of speech, language, communication, and literacy skills. Their roles often include screening, assessing, advocating, and programming/designing augmentative communication equipment in addition to providing direct intervention with students and indirect roles of consulting, coaching, collaborating, and training educators and families.
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.
Launa Hall’s travels take her to Morocco, a multilingual country that has a complicated language history. With one language used in formal education and others used in daily communication, Launa learns about the challenges and gifts multilingualism presents to developing readers.
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.
Communication impairment is a characteristic of autism spectrum disorder. Learn more about how speech-language pathologists can support teachers, including information about different classroom models (e.g., push-in or pull-out), managing an augmentative communication program, and what a service plan can look like.
Find out the characteristics of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that make writing difficult, and how use of technology can help support writing development. Results of a pilot study that utilized First Author® software to improve the writing of secondary students with ASD are described.
