+ Writing: Teach Strategies and Self Monitoring Directly

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A great article in IDA Perspectives (Summer 2009) by Linda H Mason.  Here are some highlights of “Effective Instruction for Written Expression.”

Mason bases the advice on the instructional approach called S. R. S. D.: Self-Regulated Strategy Development.

Researchers have established that explicit instruction is necessary for  teaching strategies to students with learning challenges. 

They need direct  instruction and modeling in ways of generating ideas, organizing those ideas, and regulating writing behavior (self-regulation).

The stages for strategy acquisition are

1. Develop/assess background knowledge relating to the writing content
2. Discuss the strategy to be used (see below)
3. Model it
4. Memorize it
5. Practice it with guidance
6. Perform it independently

Include these steps in every strategy session.

The one Universal Strategy is called P O W  –

• P (pick an idea) 
• O (organize notes)  
• W (write and say more).

Here are some specific strategies for three types of writing  (make charts): 

Story and Narrative Writing – think “W – W – W, What 2, How 2″

• W……..Who is the main character?
• W……..Where does the story take place?
• W……..When does the story take place?
• What…What does the main character do /want to do?
• What…What happens next?
• How….How does the story end?
• How….How do the characters feel?

Persuasive Writing — think “TREE”

• T……..Topic sentence: Tell what you believe!
• R……..Reasons (3+): Why do I believe it; will my readers, too?
• E……..Explain reasons:  Say more about each reason.
• E……..Ending: Wrap it up right!

Informative Writing — think “PLAN then WRITE”

• P………Pay attention to the writing prompt.
• L………List main ideas to develop the essay.
• A………Add supporting ideas (details, examples, etc).
• N………Number major points in the order you will use them.

then

• W………Work from your plan to develop thesis statement.
• R……….Remember your goals.
• I………..Include transition words for each paragraph.
• T……….Try to use different kinds of sentences.
• E……….Exciting, interesting, “$1,000″ words.

Teaching Self-Regulation

 Explicit instruction in self-regulation should be embedded in every session. 

The four self-regulatory procedures are

• goal setting
• self monitoring
• self instruction
• self reinforcement

Goal Setting

First, students should be taught how to set personal, individual and specific goals for learning, using and maintaining the use of the strategy.

Use a learning contract to support goal setting: for example, “Today I will write a story with 7 parts.”  Do this every day.

Self-Monitoring

Students self-monitor by counting the number of strategy parts they have written.  Use a chart or graphic organizer, and have the student count off what he has done.  When finished, have the students count to make sure all parts have been used.

Encourage the student to revise the papers to include any missing parts.  They might graph the number of strategy parts on a graphing sheet.

Students need to understand that self-monitoring is a process to use at every stage of their work.

Self Instruction

You should model self-instructions for problem definition.  For example, “I need to write a story with 7 parts.”  Focus on attention and planning (“First, I need to pick an idea“); strategy implementation (“I know what to do, I do the first strategy step“);  self evaluation (“Did I include all the strategy parts?“) coping (“I can do this, I know this strategy!”); and self reinforcement (“Wow, I can write a good story!”)

Self Reinforcement

After modeling, then  support the student in developing a listing of personal self-statement he can use before, during and after writing.  These personal self-statements are written out, so he can see them at any time.

Finally, teach your student to recognize his own successes in writing.  Often, the graphing sheet serves as an excellent self-reinforcement.  Here again, make a list and write out positive self-reinforcing statements: “I did it!”

sole source: Linda H Mason’s article “Effective Instruction for Written Expression” in the Summer 2009 ”Perspectives on Lanuage and Literacy” magazine of the International Dyslexia Association.  See the entire article for detailed instructions on how to implement this approach.  IDA’s Web site is www.interdys.org

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

 

+ “Poets House” Gets a Beautiful New Home

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For twenty-five years, Poets House has been an anchor for poets and poetry lovers.  It was located first in a home-economics room at the High School for the Humanities in Chelsea, before settling in on the second floor of a loft building at 72 Spring Street in SoHo.

Today, writes Robin Pogrebin in the NY Times, Poets House opens in a spacious new home in Battery Park City, right by the Hudson River at the corner of Maurray Street.

Lee Bricetti, executive director for 20 years, says

The goal of the place is to make everyone feel that poetry belongs to them.  Anyone can come and experience poetry in a new way that will deepen their relationship to language.

Poets House has a rent-free lease through 2069 from the Battery Park City Authority.  Poets House raised the money for construction of the interior, $11 million, from public and private sources, including $3.5 million from the city.

According to Kate D Levin, New York City’s cutural affairs commissioner, “There has been an upswing in the appetite for poetry.” 

She sees the advent of poetry slams and spoken-word events as factors in moving poetry away from an “association with a rarefied crowd to a more populist world, and the Poets House folks are tapped into that.”

Poets House is one of the first cultural organizations to open downtown since 9/11.

David Emil, president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, says “It’s part of an effort to make Lower Manhattan an arts community.”

And Warrie Price, founder and president of the Battery Conservancy, feels  

It gives us an anchor in the creative arts.  Melville lived here, Eugene O’Neill — our landscape has hosted great writers.  To have Poets House create a center is in a sense going back to that history.

Because previously there was always the chance of losing the lease, Poets House patrons and writers always had a provisional feeling.  Poet Edward Hirsch, who is president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, which awards fellowships to artists, scientists and scholars, ays “Now there is the sense that something sold and permanent is there.” 

The interiors of the new Poets House, with its extensive use of glass, was designed by Louise Braverman.  

Stanley Kunitz, who was a founder of Poets House in 1985, wrote in the preface of his “Collected Poems:”

I dream of an art so transparent that you can look through it and see the world.

Glass walls surround the entryway, in which a Calder mobile floats.  Glass walls also enclose the second floor exhibition space.  The blocklong second floor reading room offers views of trees and water and is punctuated by nooks and a quiet reading space, writes Pogrebin.  There is no talking aloud.  Photographs of contemporary poets, taken by Lynn Saville, line the walls.

The children’s room contains old card catalogues with poems in the drawers.  It is to feature special programming beginning next April. 

The staircase is wired for sound, so when people pass, a motion sensor might trigger a spoken line from a poet like Robert Frost.

Marie Howe, a poet and professor at Sarah Lawrence College, says she plans to bring her students to Poets House.  “They should have a huge sign outside: ‘Rest is here.  Safety is here. Nourishment is here.”

Stanley Kunitz, who was US Poet Laureate at the age of 95 and who died in 2006 at the age of 100, is a huge presence in the new space.  The conference room bears his name.  His library was donated to Poets House, and fills the shelves.

And his private collection of paintings by the Abstract Expressionist Philip Guston cover walls.  Many  feature lines from Kunitz’s poems.

Poetry has a history in Battery Park City.  Poets House has held outdoor poetry readings there.  New York Waterway has adorned a few of its ferries with verse from the poets featured in those readings.

In Rockefeller Park, just a few yards south of Poets House, poems are engraved on the stones: Seamus Heaney’s “Death of a Naturalist,” and Mark Strand’s “Continuous Life.”

In North Cove, nearby, lines from Whitman and Frank O’Hara are welded into the fencing that surrounds the harbor.  Lines from Marianne Moore and Claude McKay are etched at Stuyvesant Plaza.

Actor Bill Murray says “Poets need a refuge — they need a hideout, a clubhouse.” 

He gave the lead gift to create a catalog for Poetry house. 

The actor participates in the annual Poetry Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, during which Whitman’s “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” is among the poems read aloud.

Bill Murray says some people may never recognize the literary treasure trove in their midst, just as most people walk by St Patrick’s Cathedral or use it as a place to light a cigarette or make a phone call. 

But those who find themselves in the vicinity of Poets House

will be right next to this sort of human church.  There’s a possibility.  That’s all you can do — create a possibility.

sole source: Robin Pogrebin’s article in the NY Times on 9/25/09.  www.nytimes.com       visit Poets House site at    http://tinyurl.com/ybpfwqz

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

+ Pen: Mightier Than The Keyboard?

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 According to a study at the University of Washington, second, fourth and sixth grade children with and without handwriting disabilities were able to write more and faster when using a pen than a keyboard to compose essays.         

The study, headed by Virginia Berninger, a University of Washington professor of educational psychology, looked at children’s ability to write the alphabet, sentences, and essays, using both a pen and a keyboard.

Says Berninger, who studies normal writing development and writing disabilities, “Children consistently did better writing with a pen when they wrote essays.  They wrote more and they wrote faster.”

Only for writing the alphabet was the keyboard better than the pen.  For sentences results were mixed.

But when using a pen, children in all three grade levels produced longer essays and composed them at a faster pace. 

In addition, fourth and sixth graders wrote more complete sentences when they used a pen.   The ability to write complete sentences was not affected by the children’s spelling skills.

Perhaps one key fact shown is that many children don’t have a reliable idea of what a sentence is until the third or fouth grade.

According to Berninger

Children first have to understand what a sentence or a complete thought is before they can write one. 

Talking is very different from writing.  We don’t talk in complete sentences.  In conversation we produce units smaller and larger than sentences.

This study was designed to compare methods of transcription, a basic cognitive process involved in writing.  It enables a writer to translate thoughts or ideas into written language.  Both handwriting and spelling are transcription processes.

Berninger’s group had done previous research showing that transcription predicts composition length and quality in developing writers. 

 Transcription by both pen and keyboard involves the hands, and researchers are trying to understand why units of language are affected differently when hands write by pen and when they write with a keyboard.

People think language is a single thing.  But it’s not.  It has multiple levels like a tall building with a different ploor plan for each story.  In written language there are letters, words, sentences and paragraphs, which are different levels of language.

It turns out they are related, but not in a simple way.  Spelling is at the word level, but sentences are at the syntax level.  Words and syntax (patterns for organizing the order of words) are semi-independent.  Organizing sentences to create text is yet another level. 

That’s why some children need spelling help while others need help in constructing sentences and others in composing text with many sentences.

Involved in the study were more than 200 normally developing children.  Children in the three grades were given three tasks. 

For one task, they were told to print all lower case letters in alphabetic order with a pen.  They were then asked to select each letter of the alphabet in order on a keyboard.  In both cases, they were told to work as quickly and accurately as possible.

In the second task, they were asked to write one sentence that began with the word “writing” while using a pen.  They were then asked to write one sentence that began with “reading” on the keyboard.

Finally, the children were asked to write essays on provided topics for 10 minutes, both with a pen and by keyboard.

Most children in the study developed transcription skills in an age-appropriate way, although a small number showed signs of a specific learning disability — transcription disability. 

 Both the normally developing and those with the disability wrote extended text better by pen than by keyboard.

Says Berninger

Federal accommodations for disabilities now mean that schools often allow children to use laptops to bypass handwriting or spelling problems. 

Just giving them a laptop may not be enough.  Children with this disability also need appropriate education in the form of explicit transcription and composition instruction.

We need to learn more about the process of writing with a computer, and even though schools have computers they haven’t integrated them in teaching at the early grades. 

We need to help children become “bilingual” writers so they can write by both the pen and the computer.  So don’t throw away your pen or your keyboard.  We need them both.

But we don’t want to lose sight of the fact that it is important for developing writers and children with transcription disability to be able to form letters by hand. 

A keyboard doesn’t allow a child to have the same opportunity to engage the hand while forming letters — on a keyboard a letter is selected by pressing a key and is not formed.

Brain imaging studies with adults have shown an advantage for forming letters over selecting or viewing letters.  A brain imaging study at the University of Washington with children showed that sequencing fingers may engage thinking. 

We need more research to figure out how forming letters by a pen and selecting them by pressing a key may engage our thinking brains differently. 

The study was published in the journal Learning Disability Quarterly, and co-authors were Robert Abbott, UW professor and chair of educational psychology, and research assistants Amy Augsburger and Noelia Garcia. 

 Funding was provided by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development.  Berninger can be contacted by email at vwb@u.washington.edu.  

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

+ Poem: The Student Theme

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From The Writers Almanac for Monday, August 3, 2009, a poem by Ronald Wallace.

The Student Theme

The adjectives all ganged up on the nouns,/ insistent, loud, demanding, inexact,/ their Latinate constructions flashing.  The pronouns/ lost their referents.  They were dangling, lacked/ the stamina to follow the prepositions’ lead/ in, on, into, to, toward, for, or from./  They were beset by passive voices and dead/ metaphors, conjunctions shouting But! or And! 

The active verbs were all routinely modified/ by adverbs, that endlessly and colorlessly ran/ into trouble with the participles sitting/ on the margins knitting their brows like gerunds/ (dangling was their problem, too).  The author/ was nowhere to be seen; was off somewhere.

The poem is  from Ronald Wallace’s collection “The Uses of Adversity,” University of Pittsburgh Press, 1998.  Buy it from Amazon.com – http://tinyurl.com/koozwn

source: email newsletter from The Writers Almanac by Garrison Keillor.  Visit http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/  Sign up for the newsletter!

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

+ Poets Forum in New York October 15-17 2009

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The Academy of American Poets invites you to join them in New York City for the Poets Forum on Contemporary Poetry, a series of events exploring the landscape of contemporary poetry in America.

This year’s events will feature in-depth discussions with an array of distinguished poets, readings, publication parties, and a new selection of literary walking tours through Manhattan and Brooklyn, led by poets.  For more information, visit www.poets.org/poetsforum .

Scheduled Events

• Thursday, October 15, 7:00 pm — An unforgettable evening as some of the most acclaimed poets of our day come together on one stage to read from their lates work.  The Times Center, 242 West 41st St
• Friday, October 16, 10:30 am + 2:00 pm – Poetry walking tours.  Take a trip down the same streets traversed by Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, Marianne Moore, EE Cummings and countless other poets.  The tours will explore the literary history of Brooklyn, Harlem, the Museum of Modern Art, the West Village, and SoHo.  Tour guides include poets Anselm Berrigan, Jordan Davis, Bob Holman, Katy Lederer, Greg Pardlo, Tom Thompson and Monica de la Torre.  Various meeting locations, TBA
•  Poets Awards Ceremony, Friday October 16, 7:00 pm — Celebrate contemporary poetry and the recipients of the premier collection of awards for poetry in the US.  The night will include readings and presentations by J Michael Martinez, Haryette Mullen, James Richardson, Avi Sharon, Jean Valentine and many others.  Reception afterward.  Tishman Auditorium, The New School, 66 West 12th Street
• Poets Forum Discussions, Saturday, October 17, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – A day of candid talks as some of the most renowned poets examine issues central to poetry today.  Participants will include Frank Bidart, Rita Dove, Lyn Hejinian, Edward Hirsh, Sharon Olds, Ron Padgett, Carl Phillips, Robert Pinsky, Kay Ryan, Gerald Stern, Susan Stewart, Jean Valentine, and Ellen Bryant Voigt.  [Past year topics have included "Poems in Place," "The Aesthetic Self or The Anxiety of the I," and "Drawing from the Past/Breaking from the Past."]    Tishman Auditorium, The New School, 66 West 12th St
• Saturday, October 17, 7:00 pm –  Reading and reception for the new fall issue of American Poet,  the journal of the Academy of American Poets.  Noelle Kocot, Robert Polito, and Brian Teare will read from their work.

Says Carl Phillips, “In only three years, the Poets Forum has become the poetry event of the fall, as poets (and fans of poetry) of all aesthetics celebrate and learn about what they all have in common: a desire to give life itself a shape through language.”

All-Events Pass Discounted to $85 until …

Until September 14, the $110 all-events pass is discounted to $85.   Visit  www.poets.org/poetsforum or phone 212-274-0343.

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

+ Dysgraphia Facts from LD Online

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Dysgraphia is a learning disability affecting writing skills.  It manifests as

• difficulties with spelling,
• and/or   poor handwriting,
• and/or   putting thoughts on paper.

Because writing requires a very complex set of motor skills as well as information processing capabilities, students with disorders in written expression will benefit from specific accomodations in the learning environment.   

They will also need additional practice learning the skills required.

Warning Signs

• tight, awkward pencil grip and body position
• illegible handwriting
• writing/drawing avoidance
• tiring quickly when writing
• saying words out loud while writing
• unfinished and/or omitted words in sentences
• difficulty organizing thoughts on paper
• difficulty with syntax structure and grammar
• large gap between written ideas and what the student can express verbally

Possible Interventions

Strategies generally fall into three categories:

1. Accommodations: providing alternatives to written expression.
2. Modifications: changing expectations or tasks to minimize or avoid the area of weakness.
3. Remediation: providing instruction for improving handwriting and writing skills.

Each type of strategy should be considered as you plan instruction and support.  Students with dysgraphia will benefit from help by family and friends as well as by specialists. 

Finding the most beneficial approach is a process; try different ideas and exhange thoughts with other team members on what works best.

Early Writers

• Use paper with raised lines as a sensory guide to staying within lines.
• Try different pens and pencils to find the most comfortable.
• Practice writing letters and numbers with big arm movements (“sky writing”) to improve motor memory of the shapes.
• Also practice letters and numbers with smaller hand or finger motions.
• Encourage proper grip, posture and paper position.  Reinforce this early (it’s difficult to unlearn bad habits).
• Use multisensory techniques for learning letters, shapes and numbers.  Write in shaving cream, sand or dry jello (yum!).  Talk about the movements: e.g. the letter b as “big stick down, circle away from my body.”
• Introduce a word processor or computer early, but don’t eliminate handwriting.  Typing can make it easier to write, but people need to  write to function in the world.
• Be patient and positive; encourage practice and praise effort. 

Becoming a good writer takes time and practice — lots and lots of practice.

Young Students

• Allow use of print or cursive — whichever is more comfortable.
• Use large graph paper for math calculation to keep columns and rows organized.
• Allow extra time for writing assignments.
• Begin writing assignments creatively with drawings or speaking ideas into a tape recorder.
• Alternate the focus of writing assignments — put the emphasis on some for neatness and spelling, others for grammar and organization of ideas.
• Explicitly teach different types of writing — expository and personal essays; short stories; poems etc.
• Don’t judge timed assignments on neatness and spelling.
• Have students proofread after a delay; it’s easier to see mistakes after a break.
• Help students create a checklist for editing work: e.g. spelling; neatness; grammar; syntax; clear progression of ideas etc.
• Encourage use of a spell checker — speaking spell checkers are available.
• Reduce amount of copying; instead, focus on writing original answers and ideas.
• Have student complete tasks in small steps instead of all at once.
• Find alternative means of assessing knowledge, such as oral reports or visual projects.
• Encourage practice through low-stress opportunities such as writing letters/postcards, or keeping a diary, or making household lists, or keeping track of sports teams.

Teenagers & Adults

• Provide a student with a tape recorder to supplement note taking and to prepare for writing assignments.
• Create a step-by-step plan that breaks writing assignments into small tasks.
• When organizing writing projects, create a list of keywords that will be useful.
• Provide clear, constructive feedback on the quality of work.  Explain both the strengths and weaknesses of the project; comment on the structure as well as the information included.
• Use assistive technology such as voice-activated software if the mechanical aspects are still a major hurdle.

Many of these tips can be used by any age group.  It’s never too early or too late to reinforce these skills.

LD Online says that although teachers and employers are required by law to make “reasonable accomodations” for individuals with learning disabilities,  they may not be aware of how to help. 

Talk to them about dysgraphia and explain the challenges  facing a person in this situation.

How to Approach Writing Assignments

• Plan your paper (pull together your ideas; consider how you want them in your writing). 
• Organize your thoughts and ideas.
• Create an outline or web or graphic organizer to be sure you’ve included all your ideas.  (You’ll need to practice doing these graphic organizers to get comfortable using them!)
• Make a list of key thoughts and words you’ll want to  use in your paper. 

Write a Draft

Just get words down on paper.  Do not worry about spelling or grammar.  You can then add and mix and match and cut. 

(Computers do make later editing easy, it’s true, but paper and pencil create a nice static starting place to work from and get back to if needed.) 

Edit Your Work

• Check your work for spelling, grammar and syntax; use a spell checker if necessary.  To check for punctuation and/or spelling only: some writers do a read-through from back to front — that way you have to focus on every single word. 
• Edit your paper to elaborate and enhance content.  A thesaurus is helpful for finding different ways to say something or a more interesting way to make your point.

Revise Your  Work to Produce a Final Draft

• Rewrite into the final draft.
• Read it one last time before submitting it.

sole source: LDOnline.org.   I have added some thoughts and phrasing.  For this topic and much much more in the way of information, advice and resources, visit http://ldonline.org.

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

+ The Nation Magazine’s Student Writing Contest 2009

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SORRY I didn’t know about this sooner!

The Nation magazine is looking for original, thoughtful, provocative student voices to answer the question, “How has the recession affected you, your family or someone you know?”

Essays should not exceed 800 words and should be original, unpublished work that demonstrates fresh, clear thinking and superior quality of expression and craftsmanship.

Five finalists will be selected, and two winners — one from college, one from high school.

Each winner will be awarded a $1,000 cash prize and a Nation subscription. 

Winning essays will be published and/or excerpted in the magazine and featured on our website.

The five finalists will be awarded $200 each and subscriptions, and their entries will be published online.

Entries (only one per student) will be accepted through May 31, 2009.

A winner will be announced by September 15.

Please send entries to studentprize@thenation.com .  Please include the essay in the body of the email.  All emailed submissions will be acknowledged.

Each entry must include author’s name, address, phone number, email and short biography and school affiliation — and say “student essay” in the subject line.

Any questions?  email studentprize@thenation.com

Eligibility

The contest is open to all matriculating high school students and undergraduates at American schools, colleges and universities as well as those receiving either high school or college degrees in 2009.

Submissions must be original, unpublished work (the writing can have been published in a student publication).

The contest is sponsored by the BIL Charitable Trust to recognize and reward the best in student writing and thinking.

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

+ Central Ohio IDA Reading Conference, October 2009

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Save the date: Friday October 16, 2009.

The Central Ohio Branch of the International Dyslexia Association (COBIDA) is hosting a conference on Reading, at the Columbus OH Convention Center, 8:15 am – 5:00 pm.

Louisa Moats, Ed. D., one of the most respected writers and educators in the field, will address the conference.  Moats, an internationally renowned author, researcher and teacher trainer, will speak on

• “Science, Language, and Imagination in Teaching Students at Risk for Reading Failure” –morning keynote session
• “How Words Cast Their Spell” — afternoon workshop

Breakout sessions in the afternoon are targeted to diverse audiences: parents, administrators, teachers, and reading professionals.  Topics include multi-tiered reading programs, effective assessment, explicit & systematic teaching of reading comprehension, writing, social issues, technology and much more.

• Elaine McEwan-Adkins, Ed.D., author of “The Principal’s Guide to Raising Reading Achievement.”  Administrators’ workshop topic: ”Does your school have what it takes to teach them all to read?” 
• Linda Carnine, Ph.D. and  Susan Hanner, authors of “Direct Instruction: Reading Mastery” and “Corrective Reading.”  Topic: “Combining effective assessment and effective instruction: making RTI really work.”
• William L Heward, Ph.D, author of “Exceptional Children” and “Applied Behavior Analysis.”  Topic: “Seven faulty notions about teaching children to read.” 
• Eric Q Tridas, MD, a developmental pediatrician who specializes in the diagnosis and management of learning disabilities, ADHD, neurodevelopmental and behavioral problems.  Topic: “I ain’t got my ABC’s:  reading problems in kids.”

Contact Mary Damer at 614-538-9878; or call the  Cobida Helpline at 614-899-5711.  Online registration available by May 30th: www.cobida.org.

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

+ A Few Web Sites for Handwriting Worksheets

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Here are a few links for worksheets:

• The D’Nealian Method has a site:  http://www.dnealian.com/
• First School Years (templates):  http://first-school.ws/THEME/alphabetp12a.htm
• Worksheets (templates): http://handwritingworksheets.com/denelian-1/make-d.htm

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