Walk-throughs provide a snap shot of student learning. Protocols can effectively structure classroom visits and focus them to observe for components of effective instruction. Brief, frequent, routine classroom visits with explicit “look-fors” can be powerful opportunities for collaboration between educational leaders and teachers (Protheroe, 2009). Literacy Walk-throughs Principals and literacy leaders can access this collection… Read More Leadership Tools and Literacy Walk-through Protocols
Professional Development Modules to Increase Communication
Communication looks different for everyone. Some may communicate using words, gestures, behaviors, sounds, refusals, and more. It can be different for each learner. Analyzing the form of expressive communication your student uses, can assist educational staff in designing a communication system with and for the student (Downing, Hanreddy, & Peckham-Hardin, 2015, pp. 60-61). Project Core,… Read More Professional Development Modules to Increase Communication
Free Resources for Students in Virginia
A great free resource for students is Find It Virginia, which includes many links to websites that students can use for literacy, learning, and research. Free to residents of Virginia are e-books and digital resources including newspapers, magazines, and encyclopedias for elementary, middle, and high school students. Under the Elementary/Middle School tab, try Kids InfoBits for researching… Read More Free Resources for Students in Virginia
Writing Strategies for Students Who Struggle
Research indicates that the Self-Regulation Strategy Development (SRSD) model is more effective at improving writing performance than are all other instructional approaches. The POW+TREE strategy, a SRSD writing strategy, can help students produce better persuasive essays. You can complete the IRIS Center module, Improving Writing Performance: A Strategy for Writing Persuasive Essays. It highlights the… Read More Writing Strategies for Students Who Struggle
Effective Vocabulary Instruction that Increases Reading Comprehension
Semantic gradients is a group of related words placed on a continuum that allows students to make connections between known words and new vocabulary. Reading Rockets has fun and engaging activities that help students deepen their understanding of related words. Research states that vocabulary instruction is an essential skill that students need to improve reading… Read More Effective Vocabulary Instruction that Increases Reading Comprehension
The Power of Writing to Strengthen Reading
It is often suggested that if learners struggle with reading they should do more writing! Students can benefit from multiple writing opportunities such as writing about books they are reading (with sentence starter prompts as needed), small -group, shared writing called Predictable Chart Writing, and Thinking Logs for mathematical writing. The Center for Early Literacy… Read More The Power of Writing to Strengthen Reading
Writing and Assistive Technology
Speech-to-text, also known as speech recognition, is replacing word processing and word prediction. Recently, it has improved dramatically and is usually a built in feature with new products (i.e., tablets, smartphones, TVs, cars, and glasses). Unlike dictating to a tape recorder, speech-to-text can display text for the student and be repeatedly read as often as… Read More Writing and Assistive Technology
