+ Columbus OH: Free Parent Seminars at Marburn Academy

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Marburn Academy’s Free Community Parent Seminar Series continue in 2009-2010.

The Free Community Parent Seminar Series has been offered by Marburn Academy for over eight years.   Parents of children with learning differences can access state-of-the-art identification and remediation information that unavailable anywhere else in Central Ohio.

Parents who have attended these seminars over the years have learned about the many unique and innovative programs that Marburn Academy has introduced to the area. 

They have also gained valuable insight into appropriate instructional approaches — those that work best for teaching reading, writing, spelling, math, and organizational skills to bright children with learning differences, such as dyslexia and ADHD.

UPCOMING SEMINARS

• Tuesday, November 17, 2009 — “Improving Self-Management Skills for Impulsive, Distractible, Disorganized Children”
• Tuesday, January 12, 2010 — “How to Get High School to Work For ADHD Students (and How to Get ADHD Students to Work in High School)”
• Tuesday, February 9, 2010 — “Why Wait for Failure? Early Identification, Early Intervention, and Preventing Reading Problems”
• Tuesday, March 2, 2010 — “Correcting Persistent Spelling and Writing Problems”

Marburn Academy is nationally recognized as an innovator in teaching children of average cognitive ability who have not been successful in traditional school programs.

Marburn’s free seminars offer practical information that is grounded in good scientific research and daily practice. 

If you are concerned about a child who isn’t doing as well as expected in school, this information could make a life-changing difference.

All seminars are open to the public and are FREE to parents of children who learn differently.  Professionals: $40 per seminar.  Reservations required.

The speaker is Earl B. Oremus, Marburn Academy’s Headmaster for the past 22 years.  Oremus is nationallly recognized as a leader in developing improved methods for helping nontraditional learners acquire academic and social skills.

ALSO:  Marburn’s Free  Early  Reading  Screening  Program

Find out if your five- to seven-year-old is likely to encounter difficulty with reading, writing, and/or spelling.  Free Reading Screenings are offered by Marburn Academy’s trained professionals throughout the school year. 

Just call to make an appointment or have your questions answered by calling 

614-433-0822

tutoring in Columbus OH:    Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com  

+ Reading With Your Child – from PBS Parents

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 From PBS’s “Booklights,”  Pam suggests three ways to help your child’s reading progress, broken down by the people involved in the process.

1.     Helping the Teacher!

Any parent — you — can help with reading skills, even if you’re not in possession of a state-regulated curriculum. 

If you’re good at reading aloud, offer to come in and read to the kids once in a while.  Or ask about that state-regulated curriculum and find books in your library that can support it.

Pam brought in folktales, when her children were studying Native American culture; How Chipmunk Got His Stripes was a favorite.  When they learned about insects, she brought in Farfallina and Marcel.

You can use storytime to bring more depth to issues teachers can’t cover in class.

Or volunteer to select a book and read along with a single student in a pull-out program.  Send the book home for them to practice.  (You’re giving them a little extra attention; and you need no training.) 

You can help with writing practice.  Or running small book groups.  Or simply preparing materials for the teachers.

2.     Helping Your Child!

Helping your child at the beginning reading stage can be laborious, patience-testing, and frustrating.  But remember that she’ll benefit most by mixing up the type of reading she does. 

Easy books will reinforce the feeling that reading can be fun.  Books in her comfort zone give her confidence.  Books that are a challenge will push her learning to the next level.  And this applies throughout a person’s reading life! 

Don’t be one of those parents who tell your first-grader they can’t bring home a “baby book.”  A better approach, says Pam, is to let her bring home some books that she chooses and other books that you choose.

3.     Helping Yourself!

Avoid the “Reading Game,” says Pam.  It goes something like, “We can’t tear Jacob away from Harry Potter!  What is YOUR child reading…?”  

Parental competition starts early (“Lizzie was smiling at two weeks”) and goes on from there.  “Reggie made all-stars again!”  “Jamal is going to Harvard, but I’m sure that’s a good school too.”

Competition snakes its way in at many levels of a child’s growth, but verbal skills and reading level seem to dominate. 

In my thirteen years as a parent, no one has ever asked me if my kids can do long division or sing in tune or climb a tree.  But from the first year, I’ve been asked to compare what words they were saying and then what words they recognized and then what words they were reading until it was all about reading and levels and books.

According to Pam, there is only one way to win this game and that is not to play.  Don’t get sucked in, don’t let yourself feel bad, and don’t let yourself push your kid based on these conversations.  Also, of course, don’t let yourself get too proud either, because kids have a way of surprising you.

She says it’s meaningless anyway, so don’t take it seriously.  Honest exchange is useful and necessary, and you know the difference.  One kind of exchange makes you feel connected to another mom or dad; the other makes you feel like a failure.  Keep looking for and building connections.

source: Pam’s post on 9/10/09 at “Booklights” on the PBS Parents Web site.  http://tinyurl.com/mblcrz

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Reading With Your Kids: Activities

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Some suggestions offered by Melinda Franklin and Constance Anderson (who also credit the Reading is Fundamental Web site at www.rif.org): 

• Mealtimes: you might gather everyone before or after to read an imaginative story for a few minutes.
• Beautiful day? Take the kids to a park, but take a book along!
• Out to dinner? Take a book and read it while you’re waiting for food.
• Visiting the doctor’s office? Long waits provide shared reading time…
• Encourage interest-based reading, whatever it might be: visit a library or bookstore.
• Keep a book in the car just in case.
• Make a tent with a sheet and chairs for a “reading hideaway.”
• Tell stories to stimulate a young child’s development; make it silly or true.  Singing songs also encourages language improvement.
• Visit Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library at www.imaginationlibrary.com and see about getting your child a free book every month, sent to your house, until they are 5 years old!  (May not be available in all areas quite yet.)

Reading expert Jim Trelease has said

“The more you read, the better you get at it; the better you get at it, the more you like it; the more you like it, the better you do it.  And the more you read, the more you know; and the more you know, the smarter you grow.” 

 Check out his site  at   http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/

source: literacy news at www.literacynews.com; article submitted by Melinda Franklin and Constance Anderson, who teaches and is a grad student at the University of South Florida.  They are co-owners of http://www.tinytotboutique.com 

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Actors from SAG Read Storybooks Online

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Your child will enjoy having some of his favorite storybooks read to him at STORYLINE Online.  Visit http://www.storylineonline.net/

The Screen Actors Guild Foundation says it is proud to bring you this online streaming video program featuring SAG members who read well-known childrens’ books aloud.  

As the story is being read, some of the colorful pages take life with clever animations.

Readers include Jason Alexander, Melissa Gilbert, Bradley Whitford, Esai Morales and many more.  (If you are able to make a donation, more books and stories will be added, they tell us gently. )

Each book includes accompnying activities and lesson ideas.  You can subscribe to a newsletter.

source: I was directed here by Choice Literacy, a site for members ($99 a year) and non-members (there is much great free stuff).  Visit www.choiceliteracy.com

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021  or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ “Wordstorming” to Anticipate Content

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From Janet Allen’s “More Tools for Teaching Content Literacy,” one tool is called “Wordstorming.”  [For her great flipchart book with this actual chart and many more, visit Stenhouse Publishers at www.stenhouse.com.]

Create a Chart for the Class

Create a chart for the entire class with 12 boxes.  Title each of eleven boxes with two letters, ( A-B; C-D; E-F; G-H; I-J; K-L; M-N; O-P; Q-R; S-T; U-V).  Title the final box WXYZ.

Under the boxes, create two areas to be filled in: “Content Prediction” and “Questions Article Should Answer.”  

Wordstorming can be used to anticipate the content of a chapter or article  prior to beginning study.

One way to assess your students’ understanding is to see what terms they know that relate to the topic.  The more topic-related words they come up with, the deeper their substantive knowledge before they begin.  By creating predictions a questions based on the words, kids are given a purpose for reading.

Allen suggests asking students to work in groups.  They will brainstorm as many words as they can think of that begin with the letters you’ve assigned them: words that pertain to the content of the article/chapter. 

Give them four to five minutes to Wordstorm.

Read the title of the piece and assign them their letters.  The words they choose should be ones they predict will be found in the text.

After you call time, let the students give you their words to be recorded on the class chart.  Discuss whether and how the words are relevant to the topic.  From the words that have been generated, create predictions and questions the class needs to have answered.

At this point, with the chart remaining visible to the class, the teacher/everyone reads the text.   Students will now revisit their predictions to see if they were on target; they’ll determine which of their questions have been answered.

If some students missed important points, use the collection of words to clarify and summarize.

How One Teacher Used the Wordstoming Tool

Janet Allen reports that one group of middle school students was about to begin reading “The Watsons Go to Birmingham — 1963” [Doubleday]. 

The article selected by the teacher for a read-aloud prior to beginning the novel was from TIME magazine, “The Ghosts of Alabama,” [5/29/2000].

The teacher decided on the letters B, I, K and S  for her students’ Wordstorming activity.   She was then able to take the words, incorporate them into predictions and questions, and give the class a purpose for reading their book.

source: J. Allen,  “More Tools for Teaching Content Literacy,” 2008, ISBN 978-1-57110-771-8.  See also J. Allen 1995.  “It’s Never Too Late: Leading Adolescents to Lifelong Literacy.”  Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.  Also J. Allen 2000.  “Yellow Brick Roads: Shared and Guided Paths to Independent Reading 4-12.”  Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021  or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Excellent Site for Reading Families

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Recommended by the 2 Sisters Teachers’ Web site, this looks like a fine place for parents and kids to select books, read together and build a love of reading.  Visit  http://litforkids.wordpress.com/.

Lit for Kids is a Web site dedicated to kids, books, families and a LOVE of reading.

If you’re daunted by the (literally) millions of fantastic books and options out there, check it out.  Parents, grandparents, caregivers, or teachers can find suggestions on how to begin and where to go from there.

The site is for anyone with kids in their lives — or those who just love children’s literature.  And it’s for children themselves.  You will find

• Recommendations for books at all ages, reading levels and interests.
• Ways to use a favorite book as a jumping off place to do other things: knitting projects, cooking, trips, outings, play ideas and much more.
• Ideas for choosing a gift, building a library, or finding the perfect dinosaur book for an obsessed kid!
• Developmental information about how kids learn to read and write.
• Activities to try with kids — you’ll learn more about your child and where they are in their reading and writing lives.
• A place to share your own tips, thoughts and recommendations.  Let your child share too!

Who Are These People?

Ruth Shagoury (formerly Ruth Shagoury Hubbard) teaches new and veteran teachers at Lewis & Clark College in Portland OR, where she is the Mary Stuart Rogers Professor of Education.  She coordinates the Language and Literacy program there.  She has written numerous books and articles, most recently Raising Writers: Understanding and Nurturing Young Children’s Writing Development  (Allyn & Bacon), and Starting with Comprehension: Reading Strategies for the Youngest Learners (with Andie Cunningham; Stenhouse).

She is a regular contributor to www.choiceliteracy.com

Meghan Rose  has worked in the Internet industry for the last ten years, specializing in start-ups (like Rent.com and eToys) where 16-hour work days are the norm.  She began consulting part time and being a Mom full time after her twins were born.

and… You:   it is hoped that you will get engaged and leave your thoughts, tips, comments and recommendations.  They would like to build a community of and for people who love literature and kids.

Send them your own lists and blog entries to post (crediting you, of course).  Tell them what you love and what you don’t like, and help them make their site a more useful, fun, helpful and interactive place. 

source: the 2 Sisters  site for teachers which sent me there:  http://www.thedailycafe.com/public/568.cfm 

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Helping Children Make Thoughtful Book Selections

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From “Mosaic of Thought: The Power of Comprehension Strategy Instruction” by Ellin Keene and Susan Zimmerman, helpful thoughts about guiding young readers to good, independent book choices.

Text Is Most Readable When Children:

• have schema (background knowledge) for the text content/author
• have schema for the format, print style, layout, density and illustrations/graphs
• can apply a comprehension strategy to leverage more meaning from both the narrative and expository text
• have had prereading experiences (hearing a read aloud from the text and/or discussion about the content or format)
• have a need and/or desire to comprehend
• have a history of or passion for reading

Variety Is Critical

Kids need to develop a wide range of interest and the capacity to move easily from genre to genre.

• they need to read in a variety of genres
• they need to read text that challenges them in different ways in both surface (decoding) and deep structure (comprehension) learning 
• they should keep track of their choices (ensures variety; enables teachers to see if they’re reading high-quality material, genre-crossing and level-crossing)
• teachers need to ensure children gradually assume responsibility for selecting appropriate texts; they should continue to interact with them about their selections through the year
• MODELING — this is critical at repeated intervals; teacher should model ways they select and recommend books
• teachers should ask children to “field test” text — try a page or two or a section; think-aloud; use the “five finger rule:” put a finger down if they come to a word or idea that’s confusing (five fingers and this is not a good text for me)

source: “Mosaic of Thought: The Power of Comprehension Strategy Instruction” by Ellin Keene and Susan Zimmerman, publisher Heinemann.  ISBN 10-0-325-01035-8.

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ One Teacher’s Vocabulary Tips

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From Kevin Feldman, educator and lecturer who shares his valuable newsletter with anyone who asks:

A 4th Grade Teacher in Billings Montana, Ann Brucker, wrote about the ways she has implemented his strategies in her classroom.

First of all, her process for teaching words follows this sequence:

1. Pronounce
2. Explain
3. Provide examples
4. Elaborate
5. Assess (question, complete, yes-no-why, etc.)

Activities

Brucker wanted to “beef up” vocabulary learning.  She created several activities that require students to actively review words on a weekly basis.

• An activity where students sort words by (for example) parts of speech, or number of syllables
• A think-pair-share activity where groups of students “adopt” and present a word
• An outline for them to write a news article using as many previous words as they could (and have it still make sense)
• A bingo game, in which students must identify words meeting various criteria
• A “chalk talk” activity, in which students silently and collaboratively brainstorm any information they can remember, connect, or share about a given set of words
• A sentence session where students would write different types of sentences using any Word of the Day in a select location within the sentence

Use the Word!

Students always cheer (one year it was clapping, another year students shouted “Fantastico!”) every time one of the old target words is uttered. 

This causes a stir when visitors to the classroom are spontaneously cheered when they — unknowingly – utter a target word!  The school librarian feels like a celebrity and has begun trying to use words she thinks might hit the mark.  Brucker notices that this has quickly and drastically elevated the level of vocabulary in daily use.

Journal Page Entries

Brucker developed a journal page template with room for information about  four words on each page.  For every word entry there is a slot for the word itself; for the definition; for an explanation; for the origin; and for the part of speech.  There is also a small block for an “image” of each word.

Technology

To integrate some type of technology in this vocabulary development project, she decided a blog was much easier than a web site.  She got one set up in about five minutes, she writes.

She and the class decided to call it “Philology Blog.”  It has been a dynamic and engaging way to get students to interact with the words.

After going through the first three steps (pronounce, explain, give examples),  she is now able to pull up the blog where the target word is posted.  In it is found all of the information she wants to use for “elaboration.” 

There are descriptions and links to dictionary, thesaurus and etymology sites relevant to the word; there is some type of video, image or activity providing an example of how the word is used; and there’s a writing prompt where students are asked to use the word in context.  

Brucker also provides the words with their part of speech, so they can be sorted.

She uses a document camera and projector to display this page first thing every morning, so students can complete their paper journal entries and start using the words right away.

Sources For  Words 

Brucker selects the words from the context of the entire daily curriculum and instruction.  This obviously offers a vast array of words to choose from.  But she has also been able to integrate and embed some technology terms which naturally come with the tools she is using.

And the intense focus on vocabulary ties the entire schoolday together: from reading and language skills to math to science and art and music and sports — it all revolves around words.

Students are now not just waiting for her to introduce words for them — they are finding words on their own.

They truly love knowing and using grown-up words.  They are constantly bringing in newspaper and magazine clippings in which their target words appear.  The class has designated a “Wall of Fame” on which to hang their words.  As they watched President Obama’s inauguration address, they listened raptly for “their” words.

Vocabulary Strengthens Writing Skills

And a suprise perk: Bucker’s students’ writing has gained strength as they began responding to her writing prompts and posting their responses as comments.

This took a good bit of front-loading on her part, of course.

If the class is studying compound sentences or apostrophes, she instructed students to use such forms in their written responses.

She has noticed that they are much more eager to get on and write with the blog than they ever were with pencil and paper.  They have really taken ownership of their “site.”

Brucker is proud of her “philologists:” learners and lovers of words.  She is happy to share her experiences with all of us.

Source: Ann Brucker shared her strategies with  Kevin Feldman, whose literacy newsletter you can subscribe to at kfeldman@lists.scoe.org

tutoring in Columbus OH:  Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Summer Brain Drain Worse for Low-Income Students

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Research tells a nuanced story about summer learning losses:  some learning is lost among certain groups while other groups gain, according to Valerie Strauss in the Washington Post..

Experts at Johns Hopkins, the University of Tennessee and the University of Virginia say most students — regardless of family income or background — lose slightly more than two month of the math computational skills they learned last year.

But in reading, low-income students lose two and a half months while middle-class students make slight gains. 

All of this suggests the obvious, says Strauss: children lose math ability when they don’t use it, and middle-class  students read more than those who don’t have a lot of books at home or who don’t get to hone skills in summer reading clubs.

We would think that losing two month of math skills would require two months to make it up.  But educators think it’s not so simple.

When it comes to reading, the experts think, some kids make progress not only because they read more.

“Life experiences other than reading can lead to advantages in reading comprehension,” says Daniel Willingham of the University of Virginia, who is an expert in cognition and the application of cognitive principles to K-12 education.

“If you don’t have a reading problem or a problem with decoding… your ability to read a passage is dependent on having some relevant background knowledge,” he says.

So middle-class kids who go to camp, who take trips and visit museums, historical sites, parks, botanical gardens and planetariums can bring a lot more understanding and life experience to their reading passages the following year.

The lack of resources for poor children in the summer has great consequences, say educators.

“If we can eliminate the summer gap, we can close the longstanding achievement gap between richer and poorer kids,” says Richard Allington, of the University of Tennessee and past president of the International Reading Association.

“Basically, even poor kids grow reading skills at about the same rate as middle-class kids when they are in school.  Two-thirds of the achievement gap occurs during the summers, not during the school year.”

The reason students across the socioeconomic spectrum lose ground in math over the summer, says Ron Fairchild, executive director of the Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins, is in part that schools, libraries and nonprofit organizations also tend to place more emphasis on summer reading than on mathematics.

Another factor in the loss of math skills is thought to be the nature of the subject: facts and knowledge based on specific procedures are easier to forget than concepts.

But Willingham says it is also true that the nature of human memory means that students can re-learn very quickly.  “Someone who loses 2 1/2 months of skills doesn’t need 2 1/2 months to relearn it,” he says.

Fairchild’s center promotes quality summer programs for children, especially those who are less affluent.  The Center works with 5,000 programs in all fifty states, aiming to provide academic and cultural enrichment, healthy meals and physical activity — the elements that help students succeed when they return to school.

The healthy meals are not an afterthought.  Research shows that most children gain weight in the summer, an undesired outcome amid concerns about childhood obesity.

So, writes Strauss, if you’ve been telling yourself that your children don’t need to do anything academic during the summer, listen to the experts. 

Think again.

sole source: Washington Post article by Valerie Strauss on June 15, 2009.  www.washingtonpost.com   For more information about the Johns Hopkins Centers for Summer Learning, visit  http://www.summerlearning.org/

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or eamil  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Testing Gives Information: But Which Intervention is Best?

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When a multifactored evaluation (MFE) informs a parent that their child is lacking  strength in a particular cognitive process, we need to understand what the term means. 

But then we need to know how to intervene in order to address that particular weakness.

Here, from an article by Edward Schultz in LDA Newsbriefs May/June 2009,  is a chart to help in planning intervention. 

These are the seven broad basic psychological processes which are commonly measured.  Dr. Schultz hopes that the strategies suggested will be appropriate to use in addressing them.

“COGNITIVE PROCESS”  deficit – Refers to mental operations that a person uses when presented with a relatively novel task that cannot be performed automatically.  Includes concept formation problem solving, reorganizing and transforming.

Interventions:  Step-by-step instructions, problem-solving strategies, sequencing skills development, explicit and systematic teaching, categorization skills, and graphic organizers.

“CRYSTALLIZED INTELLIGENCE”  deficit – Refers to the breadth and depth of a person’s general fund of knowledge.  These knowledge stores are acquired through formal school experiences and general life experience.  These stores are primarily language based and include both declarative and procedural knowledge.

Interventions:  Relating new information to prior knowledge, vocabulary strategies and instruction, rich learning experiences (e.g. museums, field trips, and virtual field trips), scaffolded instruction, and incorporating student interests in learning.

“SHORT-TERM MEMORY”  deficit  – Refers to the ability to apprehend and hold information in immediate awareness and then use it within a few seconds.

Interventions:  Short, simple instructions, overlearning, repetition, review, and memory strategies (e.g. chunking, mnemonics, verbal rehearsal).

“VISUAL PROCESSING”  deficit – Refers to the ability to think with visual patterns and stimuli.  Includes the ability to rotate, reverse, and manipulate spatial configurations, and spatial orientation.

Interventions:  Manipulatives, note-taking assistance, graph paper, verbal descriptions of visual stimuli, assist with visual discrimination tasks.

“AUDITORY PROCESSING”  deficit  – Refers to the ability to notice, compare, discriminate, and distinguish distinct and separate sounds.

Interventions:  Provide phonological awareness activities (e.g. rhyming, alliteration, songs, imitations), explicit and systematic phonics instructions, and visual aids.

LONG-TERM STORAGE / RETRIEVAL”  deficit  – Refers to the ability to store and then fluently retrieve new or previously acquired information.

Interventions:  Overlearning, repetition, mnemonic instruction, graphic organizers, cues, additional practice and time.

“PROCESSING SPEED”  deficit – Refers to the ability to fluently and automatically perform cognitive tasks (mental quickness).

Interventions:  Provide additional time, focus on quality and accuracy, note taking assistance, fluency building (e.g. practicing to reduce cognitive demands, flashcards).

(This list of Cognitive Processes has been adapted from Flanagan, ortiz, Alfonzo & Mascolo, 2006; the Intervention Strategies are adapted from mather and Jaffe, 2002.)

source: “SLD Evaluation: Linking Cognitive Assessment Data to Learning Strategies,” by Edward Schultz, in LDA Newsbriefs, May/June 2009.  www.ldaamerica.org.    Dr. Schultz is a professor at Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, TX.  He was a presenter at the 46th annual LDA Conference in Salt Lake City in February.

Tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021 or email   aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com .