Teaching Strategies #2

Teaching Strategies

The teaching strategies you will find here are beneficial for students who have experienced trauma. As we have discussed in previous posts these students learn from practice, mnemonics, and routines. Often students of trauma lack routine at home, so instructional practices that implement routine and consistency help to build positive relationships in the classroom. The use of collaborative strategies help students who have experienced trauma to find importance in educational experiences. I have included strategies that employ mnemonics to assist with critical analysis of text (comprehension) as well as how to write strategies which also build comprehension skills. For the younger learners you will find how to use a growth mindset to create brave spellers that use specific strategies when writing independently. Vocabulary growth is another literacy component you will find a research based strategy for in this post. Semantic maps invite students to create personal connections to word meanings, as well as a visual to refer back to as needed. Fluency is another important component of literacy that will be addressed through the use of collaborative peer grouping and teaching. 

Title of Strategy	WIN Summarization Strategy
Literacy Component	Comprehension
Objective	The student will be able to successfully summarize text independently.
Setting	Small group
Directions	Explain the purpose of summaries and discuss important characteristics; shorter than what was read, only the most important details from the passage, written in own words, facts and ideas provided by the author. It should be explained to students that the purpose of summarizing is to help them comprehend what they are reading, as well as remember the highlights, or most important ideas of what they read to share with a peer or their parent. Describe each letter of WIN: W= Write a topic sentence I= Identify important information N= Number the FRI (Facts, Reasons, & Ideas from the author) and write your summary. Encourage students to memorize this mnemonic. Read a short story or passage that can be copied and provided to students, and co-write with students a summary. Prompt for each part of WIN on a graphic organizer. For W explain that the topic sentence is the main idea of the story. For I, (identifying information) model highlighting the most important information as you reread the text.. Students will highlight on their own passage. Discuss why specific details were chosen and others were left out. For the final step, F (Facts, Reasons, & Ideas), guide students to number the highlighted information and organize it into a list format. Describe to the students that the reason for this step is to make it easier to form the final summary. Demonstrate to students placing the FRI that was organized into a list into sentences. Model how to create these sentences using their own language, rather than copying from the text. Ideally, a sentence should be written for each paragraph of the original text. Revise to attempt to make the summary shorter by combining the sentences and deleting repetitive or non-essential words. Show students how to use the Summary Characteristics Chart and reread the prepared summary to ensure the features necessary to make a good summary are present. Continue practicing this strategy, scaffolding to meet students' needs, but removing support as students become more familiar with the WIN strategy.
Assessment	Teacher observation Independently written summaries will be assessed for clarity and comprehension of text.
Materials	WIN Mnemonic Chart visual (pictured below) Graphic organizer Summary Characteristics Chart (pictured below)
Expected Outcome	Students will employ the WIN mnemonic to summarize text and understand the characteristics of a written summary.

Saddler, B., Asaro-Saddler, K., Moeyaert, M., & Ellis-Robinson, T. (2016). Effects of a summarizing strategy on written summaries of children with emotional and behavioral disorders. Remedial and Special Education, 38(2), 87–97.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932516669051 

Title of Strategy	Semantic Mapping
Literacy Component	Vocabulary
Objective	The student will be able to create semantic maps (a visual display) of personally made connections to words, phrases, or concepts. The teacher will first model the skill and provide repeated practice until students can apply the skill independently.
Setting	Whole or small group
Directions	From Connecting Word Meanings Through Semantic Mapping  Pick a word you don’t know from a text you are reading and mark the word. If you're using digital text, you can highlight, bold, or underline the word. Use a blank map or begin to draw a map or web (either on paper or using an online tool). Place the word you don’t know in the center of the map. Pronounce the word. If necessary, use an online dictionary with audio to help you. Read the text around the identified word,, to see if there are related words you can add to your map. If you're using digital text, you can get the computer to read the text to you using the text-to-speech function (if necessary). Use an online dictionary or online thesaurus to look up the word and find a definition. Find words and phrases that fit with the meaning. Select pictures/images (online or from available resources) or draw pictures that fit with the meaning. Add these words, phrases, or images to your semantic map. If you're working online, print out the map. Read the text again, applying the meaning of the word to the text. Share and compare your map with your classmates. With direct instruction and repeated practice, struggling students will find that using semantic maps is a very good way of expanding their vocabulary.
Assessment	Teacher observation
Materials	Paper or graphic organizers Discipline specific text of teacher’s choosing (for modeling)
Expected Outcome	After repeated practice the student will be able to recall and understand new words when independently reading passages by creating semantic maps.

Bibliography:

Westrupp, E. M., Reilly, S., McKean, C., Law, J., Mensah, F., & Nicholson, J. M. (2019). Vocabulary Development and Trajectories of Behavioral and Emotional Difficulties Via Academic Ability and Peer Problems. Child Development, 91(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13219 

Title of Strategy	PALS (Peer Assisted Learning Strategies)
Literacy Component	Fluency; Comprehension; Writing
Objective	The student will be able to build upon strengths and learn how to collaborate with others. Fluency, comprehension, and writing skills will improve.
Setting	Whole group, divide students into pairs
Directions	From “Using Peer Tutoring to Facilitate Access”  Students will need to be introduced to the procedures for this instructional strategy and repeated until procedures become routine. There are three parts to PALS sessions in which the partners take turns reading and describing what they read to each other. Task 1: Partner Reading - the higher-achieving student reads aloud while their partner follows along correcting mistakes. After five minutes the students switch roles and reread the same selection. Task 2: Paragraph Shrinking - students must state the main idea in ten words or less which encourages them to display and monitor comprehension while taking turns reading one paragraph at a time. They earn points when the goals of the exercise are met. Task 3: Prediction Relay - a partner predicts what information will be in the next half page of text, and then reads out loud to find the information. This reading exercise includes use of the prior tasks (i.e., correcting errors and summarizing the text). *Pairs earn points for every correct prediction and for appropriate summaries. These procedures will take time for students to develop the automaticity of the routine.
Assessment	Teacher observation
Materials	Prepared student pairings (higher reader/lower reader) Provide reading materials on the lower readers’ instructional level
Expected Outcome	Students will develop collaboration, and fluency skills.

PALS

Bibliography:

Young, N. D., Michael, C. N., Citro, T. A., Morgan, P. L., Young, C., Fuchs, D., & Bonanno-Sotiropoulos, K. (2018). In From floundering to fluent: reaching and teaching struggling readers (pp. 73–82). essay, Rowman & Littlefield. 

Title of Strategy	Brave Spelling
Literacy Component	Spelling, Writing
Objective	The student will be able to independently use strategies to spell content area and challenge words.
Setting	Whole group, Small Group, Independent Use
Directions	Introduce this in a whole group setting: 1. Discuss and model for students positive self-talk. Explicitly teach strategies that will encourage students to attempt to spell words using invented spelling. “Slowly stretch the word and write down as many sounds as you can hear.” Model stretching a word from one of the picture cards (pre-printed) and writing the sounds down.  2. Provide students with practice words. Remind students that it’s ok if they don’t spell a word exactly like their classmates do. Show students another picture card and allow them to practice the strategy on their whiteboard. Reference the Alphabet Sound Chart that students can use if they need a tool to help them.  3. Provide repeated practice in a whole group setting until students are more comfortable with the procedure. Use daily challenge words (picture cards), and invite students to provide a word they want to try to spell. Continue to encourage and praise students working their hardest to be brave spellers.. Small Group Instruction: 1. This strategy can be used as a center, where students can work individually or as a group.  2. Students will choose picture cards, phonetically regular words, student choice words, and words connected to content being taught in other disciplines (Social Studies, Science, Math, ELA). At the center they will try to spell as many words as they can in their notebook. 3. When students add in their own challenge words, those will be placed on a Challenge Word Chart visual posted in the classroom. Independent Writing: 1. Students can now use this strategy in independent writing time. They will use their tools (stretch and spell; Alphabet Sound Chart) as needed.  2. The teacher should conference with students to analyze their “brave spelling”. Encourage and invite students to push towards a different spelling, using tools as necessary. Provide encouragement and praise throughout the process.
Assessment	Teacher observation Challenge Word Chart
Materials	Picture Cards  Dry Erase Board and Marker Daily Challenge Words Alphabet Sound Chart Mind-Set and Self-Regulation Checklist (To be used as a tool and a reminder to be brave as needed) Brave Spelling Chart Visual Notebook
Expected Outcome	The students will become independent spellers, and move to a growth mindset attitude about challenging words. The student will use the strategy in independent writing.

Bibliography:

Schrodt, K., FitzPatrick, E., & Elleman, A. (2020). Becoming Brave Spellers. The Reading Teacher, 74(2), 208–214. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1923 

Title of Strategy	DRAW - A Close Sentence Reading Strategy (CSR)
Literacy Component	Comprehension - Critical analysis of text
Objective	The student will be able to build comprehension through engagement with text and peers using the CSR strategy of DRAW (Decode, Reread, Ask Questions, What Do You Know?)
Setting	Whole group
Directions	Whole group instruction: 1. Choose a difficult section of text to introduce this strategy with, as it will be reread which will build fluency skills.  2. DECODE. Write unknown words from the passage on chart paper and model using phonics skills that are being learned in class. This provides the opportunity to use direct instruction in decoding as well as other strategies that would be helpful with more challenging words. Scaffold in other strategies as appropriate dependent on text choice. 3. REREAD. include students in the process of rereading the text. They should read aloud with teacher guidance. As this is the second reading, they should be more confident. Support students with the pronunciation of more challenging words.  4. ASK QUESTIONS. This step allows students to build self-monitoring skills for comprehension, vocabulary, and words that are still challenging. The teacher should use different colored markers to highlight the two challenges, decoding, and words that are difficult to understand. Provide students time to voice their thoughts and confusions at what was highlighted.  5. WHAT DO YOU KNOW?. The final step is focused on students constructing meaning through discussion and drawings. Drawing and discussion allow for collaboration among peers in order to make a meaningful connection to the text.  Repeat this process until students are comfortable implementing DRAW in a small group setting. Remove the small group support when students are ready and allow for independent use of the strategy.
Assessment	Teacher observation
Materials	Visual chart for the DRAW steps Chart paper Reading passages
Expected Outcome	Once students are familiar with the routine, decrease support to small groups, and then an individualized setting. Students should implement this independently eventually.

Bibliography:

Minnery, A., & Smith, A. T. (2018). Close Sentence Reading to Foster Decoding and Comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 71(6), 743–748. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1680