Body sensations Interoception Activity for helping pupils to identify the sensations they get in their bodies when they are feeling different emotions
This Blog and Infographic will review tonic reflexes, their significance if the reflex persists beyond the typical age range, and the possible impact on a child’s functioning and role performance. Last but not least, this blog will suggest therapeutic interventions that are known to help inhibit the activation of tonic reflexes and advance postural control as a foundation for optimal functioning.
a lack of motivation A lack of motivation is a common challenge that many people with ADHD experience. The brain's reward system, responsible for
Think of working memory like a mental sketch pad; a place to store information for short periods of time while we're working through a task. Kids, teens, and adults use this skill on a daily basis to completely basic and complex tasks. For students, these tasks range from completing simple mental ma
What I've learned about quickly building relationships as a speaker has helped me better connect with students in my classroom—especially disengaged kids.
Many say the psychological effects of homeschooling later in life are damaging. But that wasn't my experience. But, what does the evidence say about it?
Use these 5 easy impulse control activities for kids to help your child develop impulse control and self-restraint!
Through the years I have had a few students with selective mutism. When I met my first student with S.M., I thought she was just very shy. For this post, I will call her Sally but that is not her real name. But, after a couple of weeks of school, it was clear that there was more going on that a case of shyness. That is when I asked for a meeting with Sally's parents to get their insight into what was happening. Her parents told me that she would only talk to the people in her immediate family and one neighbor. She wouldn't even speak to her grandparents or cousins. After observations and meetings with her pediatrician, counselor, speech pathologist, she was officially diagnosed as having selective mutism. Luckily, Sally's parents were very open to ideas and happy to try anything that we suggested. Sally's mom would send me something to school on a weekly basis. Sometimes it was a bag of cookies that Sally and her mom had baked together. Other times Sally's mom let her pick out a packet of stickers to donate to our class. Sally's job was to hand the item(s) to me. We set the following goals: 1st: Hand the item to the teacher without mom standing beside her. I said thank you but did not ask her any questions about the item. 2nd: Hand the item to the teacher while looking at the teacher. I said thank you but did not ask her any questions about the item. 3rd: Hand the item to the teacher and say you're welcome. I said thank you but did not ask her any questions about the item. 4th: Hand the item to the teacher while looking at the teacher and say you're welcome. I said thank you but did not ask her any questions about the item. 5th: Hand the item to the teacher while looking at the teacher and say you're welcome. Answer teacher's question with one word. I said thank you and then asked her a question that could be answered with one word - usually a yes/no question. 6th: Hand the item to the teacher while looking at the teacher and say you're welcome. Answer teacher's question with 2 or more words. I said thank you and then asked her a question that required a few more details. Once again, Sally's parents provided extra support to help her build relationships with her classmates. Sally and her mom loved to bake. Usually students only brought treats for their birthday. I gave her mom permission to send in treats more frequently. When Sally passed out the treats to her classmates, she was concentrating on the actual process of passing out, and less about her anxiety about communicating with her classmates. We set goals for this too. 1st: Pass out treats without teacher support. 2nd: Pass out treat and make eye contact with classmates. 3rd: Pass out treat, make eye contact with classmates, and smile when student says thank you. 4th: Pass out treat, make eye contact with classmates, and say you're welcome when classmate says thank you. Sally received weekly support from our school counselor. Our counselor let Sally choose a buddy come with her. She and the buddy played games in the counselor's office. In the beginning, Sally would only smile and shake her head for yes or no. But, over time she slowly began to whisper to the counselor and her buddy. I think it helped that there was only one buddy and they were in a quiet office so she felt more comfortable. By the end of the year, she was able to invite 3 buddies to go with her. As you can imagine she became very popular because she got to pick her buddy(ies). Word quickly spread that if Sally chose you, you got to go play games. Students wanted to sit by her at lunch and invited her to play games with them at recess. There are different reasons why a student may have S.M. Sometimes it is an anxiety issue. Click HERE to read more about this topic. Interested in reading more posts? Click on the pictures below.
Dysgraphia is a learning disability that affects fine motor and handwriting skills. Dysgraphia activities, accomodations, and strategies that help.
Are you wondering about the connection between autism and sleep? Keep reading and learn more about autism sleep problems and solutions here.
Sometimes, preventing challenging behavior can be as simple as changing around the furniture. And sometimes it helps to have the furniture you need. Find out how in this post.
We created the Positive Traits printout as a bit of blank canvas. It is, quite simply, a list of 58 positive traits. Try being creative with this tool! If...
This was one of the first books in the series of Superflex books from Social Thinking® and Michelle Garcia Winner. Out of all of the Superflex books, I like it the best.
Does your child struggle with Dysgraphia? There are many ways to help them improve their writing. Tools and strategies to help a child with dysgraphia at home.
Get 9 tips for how to help your child stop being aggressive. This works for consistently aggressive kids and also occasional aggression.
If you're a struggling perfectionist or helping a perfectionist child, learning how to understand perfectionism teaches how to overcome it.
Let’s face it. We’ve all had that student that just doesn’t know where their body is supposed to be in the classroom. We’ve tried TONS of interventions, but they still seem to wander around the classroom and you need to find a way to keep them in the correct space. For our visual learners, visual ... Read More about Creating Visual Boundaries in your Classroom
A new open-source, freely available questionnaire claims to have up to 95% accuracy in screening for potential symptoms of autism. The simple 29-item test was developed by a research team in Ohio.
Frustrated when your child disobeys on purpose or pushes your buttons? Learn how to discipline a toddler who doesn’t listen or ignores you.
This page contains free social emotional learning activities that can be used to help students in elementary and middle school.
Being a new school counselor is exciting and overwhelming. In the first month, make connections, spend time lisenting, and stay visible.
Teaching theme is not an easy task! Not only do students need to have a strong comprehension of the story's elements (like plot, setting, and characters), but they also have to be able to make inferences to find the author's message, since most themes are not overtly stated by the author. So, what are some of my favorite activities for helping kids understand theme? I'll list a number of them here. 1. Make an Anchor Chart Anchor charts are a great way to make learning visual and to have a record that kids can refer to when they need a bit of extra support. Theme may be defined in a number of ways. To me, the theme is the author's message or what he/she wants the reader to take away/learn from the story. It is a BIG idea, with a real-world or universal concern and can be applied to anyone. Besides talking about what a theme is, you'll also want to go over what it isn't. For example, some kids confuse the main idea of the story with its theme. To help students understand the difference, it's helpful to use stories that everyone in the class knows, like previous read alouds or classic stories like The Three Little Pigs. You can take each story and discuss the main idea (what the story was mostly about - specific to the story) vs. the theme (the lesson the author wants the reader to know - not specific to the story), to contrast the two ideas. The second area of confusion for some kids is that the theme is not specific to the characters in the story. In the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, for example. The theme would not be that...A little mouse named Chrysanthemum learned to accept the uniqueness of her name. The theme would be larger than the book and would be something like...It's important to accept oneself. Also, you'll want to explain to your students that often times, a book has multiple themes and there are several answers which work equally well to describe a book's theme. Since theme is very subjective, I tell students that I will accept any answer, as long as they have the text evidence to prove it. For example, in the book, Wonder, by R.J. Palacio, one might argue that the theme is about friendship, another might say family, or even courage, or kindness. Any one of these themes would be right, and counted as such, since they each fit the story and could be supported by text evidence. 2. Use Pixar Shorts to Practice Theme Besides the sheer enjoyment which comes from watching these mini-films, your students can learn a lot about reading concepts from these. They're great for ELL students or for struggling readers, and for all readers really since the text complexity piece is removed. You can find these clips on YouTube, but you'll want to make sure to preview them first, so you're more familiar with the plot and are able to focus on theme questions. Here are some of my favorite Pixar Shorts for teaching theme: Piper Partly Cloudy Lava Boundin' 3. Use Mentor Texts Mentor texts are one of my go-to teaching tools as picture books are able to portray examples of just about any reading concept you need to teach. One thing I like to do when using mentor texts for theme, is to vary the types of questions I ask. Rather than always saying What is the theme?, I might ask... What is the deeper meaning of this story? After reading this book, what do you think matters to this author? Which idea from the story do you think might stay with you? What did the author want people to learn from this story?... Once kids answer, you might say, Ah...so that's the theme! Some of my current mentor text favorites for theme include the following: Ish by Peter H. Reynolds I Wish I Were a Butterfly by James Howe Journey by Aaron Becker (a wordless book) Beautiful Oops by Barry Saltzberg The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal Pete and Pickles by Berkeley Breathed If you're looking for more titles, I have a FREE Mentor Text List for Literature which includes a page on theme which you can download from my TpT store. 4. Use Posters with Themes to Chart Book Themes I like to choose 8 - 10 common themes and place posters of them in the classroom. These are included in my Theme unit but you could easily make them yourself if you'd like. After we finish a class novel, a read aloud, or a mentor text as part of a mini-lesson, I like to have the kids discuss the theme of the book. Once we decide on the theme, I place a miniaturized copy of the book's cover (about 3 x 3 inches or so) under the correct theme poster. You can also make the posters more interactive by allowing kids to write titles of books they have recently read on sticky notes, under the posters as well. 5. Use Songs to Practice Finding the Theme I love to add music to the classroom whenever possible. Not only does it add instant motivation for some kids, but it is also just good for them in so many ways. There are lots of songs you can use to teach theme, from current pop songs to oldies, rap songs, and country songs. While all of these work well, I especially enjoy using Disney songs. Disney songs are easily recognized for some kids, have catchy, fun tunes, and have lyrics that need no censoring (yay!). You can easily find the lyrics online to project on a smartboard or document projector, and the song clips may be found on YouTube, Here are some of my favorite Disney songs which work well for theme: Hakuna Matata from Lion King Just Keep Swimming from Finding Dory Reflection from Mulan Let it Go from Frozen Something There from Beauty and the Beast A Whole New World from Aladdin 6. Introduce Short Texts Using Task Cards Using task cards for theme gives your students a great deal of practice in a short period of time, which makes them a perfect way to begin to practice finding the theme using text. I love the fact that students can read multiple task card stories and practice finding the theme 20 - 30 times, in the time it might take to read a story and find the theme once. You can do task cards as a center activity, to play Scoot, or as a whole class scavenger hunt. One thing I like to do for the scavenger hunt is to make sure everyone has a partner and to pair stronger readers with struggling readers. 7. Add Some Writing After students have worked on theme for a week or two, I like to have students create their own short stories which show a strong theme, without directly stating it. This changes each student's role from a theme finder, to a theme creator and gives students insight into how authors create a situation that allows a theme to unfold. When I introduce this project, we refer back to the task cards we just completed, as an example of story length and rich content. In a matter of 2 - 3 paragraphs, students learn that they can include enough information to let our readers know our message. After students are finished creating these short stories, it's fun to share them in some way, to give more theme practice. Sometimes I have students meet in small groups to share out, with group members guessing the theme. Other years, I leave a stack on my desk and grab several if we have a few minutes. Either the students or I read the short story out loud, and the class discusses the theme. 8. Move to Passages, Short Stories, and Novels. Once we have scaffolded a great foundation for the understanding of theme, there comes a point where kids have to move on to text which is more challenging. I like to use page-long passages which I have created, before using short stories, and ultimately novels. If you're looking for some ready made materials to help you teach theme, here's a packet I love to use which works well for 4th and 5th Graders. Click here to read more about the Theme unit. Want some more teaching ideas and activities to teach theme? Click here to read Teaching Themes in Literature. If you like this post, make sure to share it with a teacher friend! Thanks so much for stopping by! For more ideas and strategies focused on upper elementary, be sure to sign up for The Teacher Next Door's free email newsletter! Bonus, you'll also gain access to my FREE Resource Library which contains exclusive upper elementary freebies that you won't find anywhere else! I'd love to connect with you! The Teacher Next Door's Website Pinterest Facebook Instagram TpT Store
Kids and young adults need extensive practice in strengthening their executive functioning skills. Executive functions are the processes in our brains that help us accomplish all tasks from beginning to end. We use them when we plan our day, organize our materials, begin a chore, focus on important
Ever wonder what Specific Learning Disability your Special Ed student or students have and what it means to have that disability? This chart helps Special Ed and General Ed teachers understand specific learning disabilities and how they can help accommodate to the student(s) so they can learn the best way possible. As a Resource Teacher, I created this chart to help students in my caseload. I distributed this chart to my Administrators, Paraprofessionals, and my caseloads' other teachers, all of whom loved it! They all had a better understanding of the students' disability and followed the accommodations they were able to do. How did I do this? After reading through my caseloads' IEPs, I wrote down each of their processing disorders. Then, under each disability, I typed in each of my caseloads' names. Easy!! You are now helping your students and fellow teachers!! Specific Learning Disabilities Chart by Mayette Bernardo is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Cookie23.
Anger management strategies can be very useful to even young children as they learn to manage their own behaviour. These calming strategy cards can help!
This blog post goes into detail about teaching fluency strategies in speech therapy to help students overcome their stuttering barriers.
Les loyautés familiales inconscientes nous poussent à effacer d'anciens traumatismes, non-dits trangénérationnel. Nous réglons les dettes de nos ancêtres
The Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator can give you a lot of insight into your mind, and personality.
La forte sensibilité est un trait de caractère, un don qui pèse parfois, qui déborde et vous donne l'impression d'être…
This goes way beyond messy handwriting.
Defiance, disrespectfulness, kids yelling “NO!” – this is what a teacher’s classroom management nightmares are made of! These days, most teachers may have had one or two defiant children in their class at some point, even all the way … Continue reading →
Inside: Browse, print, and use this comprehensive list of IEP Accommodation and 504 Accommodations. Includes a PDF.
An effective communication strategy is vital for both organisational and personal growth. Here are 9 practical communication tips you can use.
Listening and following verbal or oral directions is an important skill that many students lack. You may relate to Charlie Brown's teacher after going over step-by-step directions. Students often hear the sound the teacher's voice is making, but fail to tune into the meaning of the words. When students aren't actively listening, they miss important information that can impact their academic AND behavior in the classroom. One way you can help your students practice active listening so they will follow directions is with a fun activity called Listen and Draw. Listen and Draw is a great activity to do with your class at the beginning of the year when you are teaching class procedures. Include these with your plans after breaks as a warmup plus a good reminder about practicing listening and following directions. Grab a free copy of FREE Listen & Draw - Following Directions Activity. Sources to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE. Click HERE to read my blog's disclosure statement.
If you are wondering how to help your child overcome fear, here is a 4 step process to help them manage and overcome feelings of worry and fear.
These sensory red flags may indicate that a child needs extra help or support to manage sensory processing concerns.
These 6 simple strategies to teach social skills when it doesn't come easy to your child will help you in teaching social skills to your child who struggles
Teen Self-Esteem Activities: Explore helpful activities and ideas to help teenagers build their confidence and self-esteem.
Many kids and young adults would benefit academically and socially by improving their executive functioning skills. These skills include: planning, organization, time management, task initation, working memory, metacognition, self-control, sustained attention, flexibility, and perseverance. If you n
