Word Warrior of the Week

Thanks to Nancy Young of Lewis and Clark Community College and a current member of the Central SLN group for her Reading/Writing strategy!

Brainstorm/discuss what they think this article or story might be about based on the title/picture.
Read the story aloud together.
Stop from time to time to check the brainstorming answers.
Confirm or debunk what they thought the article or story was going to be about.
Have the students go back over the material and come up with a vocabulary list (Always have a backup list)
Bounce the vocabulary words around the room to allow each student to use it properly in a sentence.
Begin the word war. This is where the students challenge each other to come up with grammatically correct sentences using multiple words. The student that uses the most vocabulary words in one sentence is the "Word warrior of the week".
Go back to the article/story and have the student do some analyzing and summarizing.
Identify descriptive areas and paint a verbal picture of what that looks like, so the student can "see" it in their mind.
Relate the article or story to the real world if at all possible.

Thanks, Nancy, for this fun, interactive, and real world reality check strategy!

Members of the SLN Team Making a Difference!

Tara Schwab and Heather Martin of Waubonsee Community College share ideas on incorporating college and career readiness into the Language Arts curriculum at the IACEA conference in Springfield. They did a fantastic job!

Venise Haynes from South Suburban College has great strategies for teaching multi-level, multi-languge classes. Thanks, Venise, for spreading your knowledge with the field at IACEA last week.

Sally Guy and Richard Wince of Elgin Community College are pros at addressing learning styles as they develop thematic core curriculum. Their session delivered a wealth of knowledge from years of experience teaching.

Not pictured, but also providing great expertise was Alice Daniels of Rock Valley College who presented with Amanda Smith on Crossing the Bridge to ICAPS/Accelerating Opportunity and Jessica Parrent of Illinois Eastern Community College who shared her master's level knowledge on mental health in the classroom.

Thanks to all for helping us learn from each other!

Adapt this "Read and Say" Strategy for Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Readers!

Thanks to Mandy Paquette of Joliet Junior College for this reading strategy.

"Some of my best results and student input have come from the simplest strategy, called Read and Say. Just as it says, the teacher and students collaboratively read a text (usually aloud, with partner reading), and then use sentence starters to say something about what they're read. Sentence starters include: "I wonder... This reminds me of... I was surprised that... I am confused about... I think this means... I learned that..." You really do get the best answers from students, and it works extremely well for students who love being verbal instead of in writing."

Although this strategy is successful for beginning students, the concept can be adapted for more advanced readers to teach critical thinking skills and college reading aptitudes.

Mandy is Literacy Support Specialist for volunteer tutors in the JJC district area and a participant in the northern group for the Institute to Credential Special Learning Needs Resource Specialists.

Use Your Classroom as a Teaching Tool

Dwayne Daniel from Safer Foundation shares the following: I have used a variety of ideas and strategies to ensure that my students were getting math such as using the entire classroom itself including the floor, walls and ceiling to provide an understanding of measurements. Some of my students had difficulties with fractions, decimals and proportions. The floor tiles of our classrooms are usually a certain size such as 12 inches by 12 inches or 16" x 16" and their familiarity with this can translate to our math lesson. Painting a wall for some students helps them understand how much paint is needed to cover the walls of a rectangular room. For example, a room that has 9 feet ceiling height by 15 feet width needs a certain amount of gallons and the gallon can of paint tells us how much area this one gallon will cover. This uses your fractions, basic arithmetic and geometry as well as measurements. Be sure to give them a measuring tape for this hands-on assignment because they’ll enjoy learning this way. 

In addition, the walls can be used to covers fractions and proportions for your visual and interactive students. Don’t’ focus on what we do not have in the classroom, but what we CAN USE to deliver the quality services our students deserve and need to BEST LEARN. So, look around the room and use it as a tool for your assignments. 

   

Thanks Dwayne for sharing some tools from your educator tool belt! Dwayne is a current participant in the Special Learning Needs Resource Specialists Institute in the northern portion of Illinois.

Reading Strategies to use with ESL Completers now in Adult Basic Education Classes

Thanks for the following submission from Annette Barker of Waubonsee College for sharing her great approach to teaching reading! Annette is a current participant in the northern group of the Special Learning Needs Institute.

"I usually read the passage to the students first or have an audio of the author or another person reading it. The point is for students to hear the passage being read correctly. While I, or some other audio, reads to the students, I have them highlight words they are not sure about and underline the words that are difficult to pronounce. When I’m finished reading, we go over the vocabulary words the students marked in the passage. Students then read the passage with a partner taking turns reading the paragraphs. During pair reading, if possible, I try to not have ESL students pair with readers with the same native language. Without student awareness, I also try to pair a weak reader with a stronger reader. When students have finished reading with their partner, I again ask if there were any words they struggled with. Following reading, I immerse the students into studying the passage for meaning. I ask comprehension questions of the students, have students tell me the gist/point/main idea of the story, make inferences, and talk about the author’s approach to his/her writing. I also try to ask discussion questions that generate a reaction to the passage response."

Math Game to Teach Fractions, Decimals, and Percents

Thanks to Carolyn Markel from Jane Addams Resource Corporation for sharing this fun and easy math idea! Carolyn is part of the northern Special Learning Needs Institute group.

For teaching fractions, decimals and percents, I write different fractions, decimals and percents on index cards (maybe 30 or 40).  I shuffle the deck of cards, and I have my students gather around a large table.  I tell the students that one end of the table is "0" and the other end is "1".  Each student takes turns selecting one of the index cards.  The student has to place his/her card at the appropriate spot on the table.  For example, if one student selects 1/10, the student would put the card towards the "0" end of the table.  If the next student selects  55%, the student would put that card between the 1/10 card and the "1" end of the table.  It gets harder and harder as more students put more cards down on the table because the students have more choices as to which two cards their card should be placed between.  At the end of the activity, the whole table is full of fractions/decimals/percents in order from least to greatest - it sort of creates a giant number line.  The students find it helpful to see how the values of different numbers are related to one another.  As a teacher, I learn a lot about my students because I get to watch their decision-making process in action, and correct misunderstandings immediately.

Upcoming webinars on Accommodations for the GED®

 Presenter: David Haugen, M.Ed., M.P.N.A

Date of Webinars: Friday, January 23^rd, 2015

            Part I: 9:00 – 10:15 a.m. CST

            Part II: 1:00 – 2:15 p.m. CST

Please note that it is possible to attend just one of the sessions (I or II) and both will be recorded to be made available for future use by programs/educators.

Background of Presenter: 

Dave has a teaching license in Adult Basic Education and has master’s degrees in Education (University of MN) and Public Administration (Metropolitan State University). He previously worked at Pearson VUE/GED Testing Service^® L.L.C. in the area of testing accommodations, where he developed an understanding and passion for helping students/professionals to navigate the accommodations process in order to ensure that access is available to all learners with disabilities. Dave currently works in adult education for Minneapolis Public Schools, where he counsels, assess and supports GED^® learners daily. Dave likewise presented at the regional conference in Effingham, IL this past November 2014 on testing accommodations for the GED^® and will present again this March in Springfield at the regional conference.

Summary of January 23^rd Accommodation training webinars:

Part I Session (9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. CST)

Webinar Title: Testing Accommodations and the GED^®: An Overview and Update for program/service providers

In this part I of II webinars, participants will receive a general overview of the accommodations process for the GED^®.  Specific attention will be directed at differences between the 2002 paper based GED^® and 2014 computer based test with respect to accommodations (i.e. process, role of staff, practice testing). This session will likewise explore examples of computer based testing accommodations and discuss how the new format may effect issues of access for learners. The webinar will conclude with an overview of key questions and factors for ABE programs to consider if assisting students in seeking accommodations on the GED^®

Part II Session (1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. CST)

Webinar Title: Documentation Essentials: A how-to-guide for disability coordinators and advocates assisting students applying for accommodations

This session builds upon the earlier accommodations webinar but spends most of the time delving into the accommodation request forms and documentation guidelines for the GED^®. The webinar provides many screen shots of sample requests/documentation examples and outlines what exactly is needed for a request to be considered complete (i.e. rationale, functional limitations).  The session concludes with a broader overview of the ADA legislation and a consideration of additional measures to assist/advocate for learners beyond applying for accommodations.

Sign up on Go to Training using the following web address:

https://attendee.gototraining.com/9lc99/catalog/9218899587241409792?tz=America/Chicago