Comprehension Connection is a literacy website dedicated to providing teaching tips and resources for instruction for K-5 teachers focusing on comprehension.
People who recognize their own strengths tend to be happier and have greater self-esteem. However, when a person uses their strengths every day, they can...
The young middle school singers who arrive in my choral classroom each August are incredibly diverse. In my room, I have children whose native languages are Dari (the Persian language of Afghanistan), Mandarin, Hindi, German, Spanish, Swahili and many more. I've taught singing to children in my classroom who, believe it or not, are almost completely deaf, some who have trouble matching pitch, some who can barely articulate due to cerebral palsy, children with severe intellectual limitations, extreme cases of Autism, and children who are legally blind. ...And almost all of them come to me utterly unable to read music. My room is a true public school classroom in America, and I absolutely love that fact. There are many resources in marketplace for helping break through language barriers. Smartling, for example, is a translation software company that helps us break through language barriers by translating mobile apps and websites for companies. My feeling is that if children want to sing, they should sing, and it's up to me to find ways to communicate in a way everyone can understand so they can learn. I don't test their voices. Middle school children are so afraid to be put on the spot and forced to sing alone, so I stopped testing their voices years ago. I can hear what I need to hear in the group setting, discretely work on the issues that need addressing, and avoid causing them the extra stress. To be in my chorus class, the only requirement I have of them is that they have a true desire to learn to sing. Each year, there are over 300 children who walk through my doors each day electing to take choir, and I am honored they make that choice. To help them become musically literate, I had to learn to teach using all three learning modalities each day: Kinesthetic, Visual and Aural. When I began developing my Sight Singing Program, S-Cubed, the main goal I had was to help my beginning students, regardless of whether they speak English or whatever their individual challenges may be, truly learn how to take the dots, curves, stems and lines off of the page and successfully and accurately turn them into sound. I wanted to help them understand the language of reading music better, and I wanted them to have fun in the process of learning it. To reach them, I knew that I had to incorporate every possible learning modality. One of the most important parts of my sight singing method is the use of the Kodaly Hand Signs. The hand signs help to connect pitch to the physical movements of the hands. The use of the vowel sounds in the words of the Kodaly scale helps intonation and blend tremendously because teachers can teach students how to use tall vowels when they sing. In the Sight Singing approach I developed, I took the Kodaly Hand Sign movements and added more layers to help my beginners experience more success. When you see my students tackling a new piece of music for the first time, you see them pulsing their hands to keep the steady beat, and you see them lifting and lowering their hands to match the changing pitch. Click here to see an example. I carefully and deliberately teach those skill sets to my students and slowly build the coordinations required to successfully execute them one step at a time. It is all outlined in the descriptions of the individual lessons in my program. ...But the single most important element of my program is "fun". To begin building the skills I've described above, I play a game with the children called Forbidden Pattern. Click here to see a description of the game. Click here to see me playing the game with my students. This is really the "hook" of the program I've developed and it works with all of the children I've described in the first paragraph of this post. Regardless of what language they speak or what other challenges they face, when we turn the learning process into a game, our middle school children listen, laugh, thrive, and best of all, in the end, we all learn to speak the common language of music. Check out my blog!
To help with any teachers dealing with school closures or the possibility of home and distance learning, I've put together these Home Learning Choice
Yes, ANOTHER free printable this week. I know, if I could pinch you from here I would; free stuff is so dreamy! This is a quick matching manners worksheet I made tonight as a supplement to a Manner…
Learn everything about "Growing Roses" in 30 Amazing and Educative diagrams.
SOCIAL MEDIA SPOTLIGHT
A chart showing the relationship between different members of the family in English
Collective resources to study the Periodic Table of the Elements. Supplemental material to support the Classical Conversations homeschool curriculum.
It is the goal of these nursing mnemonics to provide an easy quick-guide to simplify the concepts of pharmacology.
If you have worked with a BCBA in the past, it is likely that you have heard the term FUNCTIONS OF BEHAVIOR. BCBAs look at function to determine WHY
The fill in the blanks game is a great ice breaker game to get everyone involved and participating.
Children will practice using context clues as they identify the correct homophone in this grammar and spelling worksheet.
This post was originally posted back in 2015 on my blog and has been a popular post since that time. I worked for a decade as a family counselor and elementary school counselor before staying
Last time I explored the “The Secret of Learning Languages” with you and now I’d like to talk about just how fast you can learn a language. This is a frequent question people ask me. It is usually followed by, “it gets easier after each one your learn, right?”. It’s practically impossible to answer these... View Article
Your kids will have fun learning fractions with these FREE Fraction Worksheets from Worksheet Fun! Stop by and download your copies today! The post *FREE* Fraction Worksheets appeared first on Mama
Because our words matter.
Use our free printable yahtzee score card so you can have a fun game of yahtzee with friends and or family. Easy and cheap family game night.
Here are 12 Self-Control TALK Conversation Starters to help you teach your child the concept of self-control.
Teach your children the signs for a range of useful verbs.
Natural and Integrative Approaches to Neurological and Behavior Problems
You need to work with your ADHD child's teachers to ensure that their educational needs are met. There are requirements that public schools must meet, but you must ask.
This wellness wheel describes aspects that should be balanced and integrated for healthy well being of kids and families.
Classroom tips and projects for elementary school, middle school, and high school. Teaching resources. Clip art.
IT'S ONLY MONEY offers books, lesson plans and online tools to make kids more financially savvy.
complex sentences lesson ideas
Do you have a budding engineer in the family? Check out these 25 simple activities for little engineers! #5 is my favorite!
These effective de-escalation strategies help parents, or caregivers, defuse meltdowns & outbursts in children. These de-escalation strategies will....
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned in THIS post how I would be taking a giant step forward in “stepping up” my sight word instruction this upcoming year. Not that I need to “teach” sight words any differently, but offer continuous and hands on ways for my kiddos to practice them. Another area I will be offering...
Teaching handwriting to kids with dysgraphia involves modification, remediation and accommodations. This is how I teach my kids with dysgraphia handwriting.
Thanks to Starbucks I have received a free month of the program, Lumosity . It is geared toward improving memory and attention, using ga...
Prompting Hierarchy- How I got duped! What you need to know about the prompting hierarchy. Snag the infographic and info perfect for working with your staff!
Help your students manage stress better by teaching kids about the stress response & their brains. Includes fun stress response lessons ideas.
Playtime is More Than a Fun Activity, It's a Learning Experience! Learn About the 6 Stages in Play Development That Build Your Child's Social Skills!
