Monday, November 22, 2010
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Forget what you know about Study Skills
Yet there are effective approaches to learning, at least for those who are motivated. In recent years, cognitive scientists have shown that a few simple techniques can reliably improve what matters most: how much a student learns from studying.
The findings can help anyone, from a fourth grader doing long division to a retiree taking on a new language. But they directly contradict much of the common wisdom about good study habits, and they have not caught on.
For instance, instead of sticking to one study location, simply alternating the room where a person studies improves retention. So does studying distinct but related skills or concepts in one sitting, rather than focusing intensely on a single thing.
“We have known these principles for some time, and it’s intriguing that schools don’t pick them up, or that people don’t learn them by trial and error,” said Robert A. Bjork, a psychologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Instead, we walk around with all sorts of unexamined beliefs about what works that are mistaken.”
Take the notion that children have specific learning styles, that some are “visual learners” and others are auditory; some are “left-brain” students, others “right-brain.” In a recent review of the relevant research, published in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest, a team of psychologists found almost zero support for such ideas. “The contrast between the enormous popularity of the learning-styles approach within education and the lack of credible evidence for its utility is, in our opinion, striking and disturbing,” the researchers concluded.
Ditto for teaching styles, researchers say. Some excellent instructors caper in front of the blackboard like summer-theater Falstaffs; others are reserved to the point of shyness. “We have yet to identify the common threads between teachers who create a constructive learning atmosphere,” said Daniel T. Willingham, a psychologist at the University of Virginia and author of the book “Why Don’t Students Like School?”
But individual learning is another matter, and psychologists have discovered that some of the most hallowed advice on study habits is flat wrong. For instance, many study skills courses insist that students find a specific place, a study room or a quiet corner of the library, to take their work. The research finds just the opposite. In one classic 1978 experiment, psychologists found that college students who studied a list of 40 vocabulary words in two different rooms — one windowless and cluttered, the other modern, with a view on a courtyard — did far better on a test than students who studied the words twice, in the same room. Later studies have confirmed the finding, for a variety of topics.
The brain makes subtle associations between what it is studying and the background sensations it has at the time, the authors say, regardless of whether those perceptions are conscious. It colors the terms of the Versailles Treaty with the wasted fluorescent glow of the dorm study room, say; or the elements of the Marshall Plan with the jade-curtain shade of the willow tree in the backyard. Forcing the brain to make multiple associations with the same material may, in effect, give that information more neural scaffolding.
“What we think is happening here is that, when the outside context is varied, the information is enriched, and this slows down forgetting,” said Dr. Bjork, the senior author of the two-room experiment.
Full Article Here
The findings can help anyone, from a fourth grader doing long division to a retiree taking on a new language. But they directly contradict much of the common wisdom about good study habits, and they have not caught on.
For instance, instead of sticking to one study location, simply alternating the room where a person studies improves retention. So does studying distinct but related skills or concepts in one sitting, rather than focusing intensely on a single thing.
“We have known these principles for some time, and it’s intriguing that schools don’t pick them up, or that people don’t learn them by trial and error,” said Robert A. Bjork, a psychologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Instead, we walk around with all sorts of unexamined beliefs about what works that are mistaken.”
Take the notion that children have specific learning styles, that some are “visual learners” and others are auditory; some are “left-brain” students, others “right-brain.” In a recent review of the relevant research, published in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest, a team of psychologists found almost zero support for such ideas. “The contrast between the enormous popularity of the learning-styles approach within education and the lack of credible evidence for its utility is, in our opinion, striking and disturbing,” the researchers concluded.
Ditto for teaching styles, researchers say. Some excellent instructors caper in front of the blackboard like summer-theater Falstaffs; others are reserved to the point of shyness. “We have yet to identify the common threads between teachers who create a constructive learning atmosphere,” said Daniel T. Willingham, a psychologist at the University of Virginia and author of the book “Why Don’t Students Like School?”
But individual learning is another matter, and psychologists have discovered that some of the most hallowed advice on study habits is flat wrong. For instance, many study skills courses insist that students find a specific place, a study room or a quiet corner of the library, to take their work. The research finds just the opposite. In one classic 1978 experiment, psychologists found that college students who studied a list of 40 vocabulary words in two different rooms — one windowless and cluttered, the other modern, with a view on a courtyard — did far better on a test than students who studied the words twice, in the same room. Later studies have confirmed the finding, for a variety of topics.
The brain makes subtle associations between what it is studying and the background sensations it has at the time, the authors say, regardless of whether those perceptions are conscious. It colors the terms of the Versailles Treaty with the wasted fluorescent glow of the dorm study room, say; or the elements of the Marshall Plan with the jade-curtain shade of the willow tree in the backyard. Forcing the brain to make multiple associations with the same material may, in effect, give that information more neural scaffolding.
“What we think is happening here is that, when the outside context is varied, the information is enriched, and this slows down forgetting,” said Dr. Bjork, the senior author of the two-room experiment.
Full Article Here
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Jessica Lange's Keynote address at SLC 2008
Keynote Address by Jessica Lange:
Madame President, Board of Trustees, members of the faculty, students, families, friends, I wish to thank you for the privilege of being here today and addressing you on this wonderful occasion.
We gather on this beautiful morning in May to celebrate with you, the graduates. And to celebrate all your achievements, your successes, perhaps certain failures, your courage, your doubts, and your passion. To celebrate your commencement and to mark the beginning of a new chapter in your young lives.
This is a day to feel proud and to congratulate yourselves on your hard work and intelligence. And then, to simultaneously give thanks for the extraordinary opportunity that has been given to you, to acknowledge the professors you've been privileged to study with, to acknowledge the excellent education you have received in this rarified atmosphere, and then, of course, to give thanks to those who enabled you to be here.
The possibilities and the limitations now spread out before you, whatever field you have decided to go into, whether it be the sciences, the arts, the humanities. You have the opportunity to make a better world, to benefit mankind, to ease the suffering of others, to educate, to heal, to entertain, to illuminate. A new beginning, an arising. How glorious for you!
William Blake wrote, "My fingers emit sparks of fire with expectations of my future labours."
When I mentioned to a friend that I was writing a commencement speech, he asked me what my theme was. Now that really threw me. Nobody told me I needed a theme. I'm not great with themes, so I don't have one, per se. I hope you're not disappointed. I do wish I could be funny or profound; however, that's wishful thinking. What I have are some thoughts I'd like to share with you. So if it feels random, it probably is.
I look out at your faces and guess most of you graduates are about 22 years old. I think of the world I was living in at that age. Very different from yours and yet, ominously similar.
At 22, for me, the Vietnam war was in its seventh year. Nixon was employing round-the-clock bombing. We were destroying the infrastructure, the people, and the countryside of Vietnam to save it from the Communists.
History repeats itself.
Today, for you at 22, the Iraq war is in the sixth year. Thousands of American soldiers killed. Tens of thousands wounded. Hundreds of thousands Iraqis dead. The infrastructure and land destroyed to save it from (and this is a movable feast) first, tyranny, and then, terrorists.
Now, some of you may feel this is not the proper occasion to make mention of this. However, I would be remiss in addressing a group of young adults if I were to deliberately ignore the political realities that they are faced with.
We are all citizens of a troubled world, yet it is your generation that carries the weight of the future on your shoulders. We are living in an America that in the last seven and a half years has waged an unnecessary war, established prison camps, condoned torture, employed corporate armies, eliminated the right of habeas corpus, practiced extraordinary rendition, and believe me, this is only a partial list—I had to keep myself in check.
I don't wish to dwell on the misery caused by this administration, but that legacy is being passed down to you. It is a heavy burden to inherit and will require tremendous dedication and hard work to put it right again. You must determine if we are going to measure ourselves on the basis of military might and economic power or if there is perhaps something deeper—more essential in our national character—that needs to be awakened.
We must commit ourselves, wholeheartedly, to the pursuit of peace, equality and justice. This should be the realm of your dreams, the altruistic motivation you go forward with as you are moving towards a world unknown.
I believe you've come of age in a complex and confusing time. The commercial forces surrounding you, the absence of meaningful culture, the constant assault by media, fashion, and entertainment. We have become a society that is placated by gadgets, soothed by consumerism and the empty rewards of upward mobility, the celebration of mediocrity and false celebrity, the obscurations of modern life. We need a sea change.
So, I encourage you not to buy into it. Defy conventions and what is expected of you. Create your own definition of success. Don't let it be judged or guided by someone else's measurement, by someone else's expectations or limitations.
You are our hope. So cherish this time in your life. Remember who you are. Because, right now, you have it all: The power of your imagination, the velocity of your dreams, the language of innocence, and the passion of a beginner. Don't lose it. Don't let it evaporate or get stripped away or worn away. And, as time passes, if you find you've come far away from yourself, allow the breeze of humility to remind you of who you were—who you really are.
Henry James said, "To live is such an art..."
If, from my vantage point now, I could tell my 22-year-old self what I now believe is the most important thing in life (and one I didn't embrace fully at the time because I was young and willful and reckless), it would be—to be present. I would encourage you, with all my heart, just to be present. Be present and open to the moment that is unfolding before you. Because, ultimately, your life is made up of moments. So don't miss them by being lost in the past or anticipating the future. Don't be absent from your own life.
You will find that life is not governed by will or intention. It is ultimately the collection of these sense memories stored in our nerves, built up in our cells. Simple things:
A certain slant of light coming through a window on a winter's afternoon
The sound of spring peepers at twilight
The taste of a strawberry still warm from the sun
Your child's laughter
Your mother's voice
These are the things that shape our lives and settle into the fiber of our beings. Don't take them for granted. Slow down for them, they will take root. And someday 20-30-40 years from now, you may be going about your day when by chance the smell of bread baking or the sound of a mockingbird singing will stop you in your tracks and carry you heart and soul back to yourself. Moments of pure happiness, bliss—if you feel comfortable using that word—come upon you unexpectedly. Don't be too preoccupied to experience them.
We need to slow it all down. I wonder sometimes why we can't just sit and do nothing. Why can't we enjoy idleness—the art of doing nothing. Perhaps it's not in our cultural DNA. We are goal oriented, result driven. Success is measured in how much we can get done.
We seem to have no time for stillness. What is this desperate need we have to fill the emptiness with iPods, Blackberries, cell phones, computers, video games, and television? Perhaps we should ask ourselves, how do we really understand pleasure and happiness? The Tibetan Buddhists have a saying, "Tomorrow or the next life—which comes first, we never know."
So I encourage you—don't keep anticipating that your life is up ahead of you. Don't always be waiting for the next thing. Don't put all your energies into some idea of the future. And with that in mind, you open the door to endless possibilities. Just allow life to take you on an adventure. Be receptive to the winds of change.
I graduated from high school in a worn-out little mill town in Northern Minnesota. Art was going to be my way out. I went to the University on a scholarship and entered the fine arts program. I imagined I would study—get my B.F.A., go on to get an M.F.A. Devote my life to painting. Then the second quarter of my freshman year the drawing class I wanted was filled. At the last minute I signed up for a photography class. My photography instructor introduced me to his friends, young photographers. They were leaving for Spain to make a documentary about flamenco Gypsies in Andalusia. And they asked me, did I want to come along? Yes, I said.
We lived in Europe for that year. When we returned to the States, we settled in New York. The early SoHo days. They had a friend they introduced me to—a modern dancer from the Merce Cunningham Company—who was starting an experimental theater company. She asked me if I wanted to dance with them. I said yes.
A man who had worked with the great mime master, Etienne Decroux, was in New York and came to give us classes. I fell in love with mime and when I learned Decroux still lived and taught in Paris, I decided to go study with him. With $100 in my pocket, I went to look for this old man. I lived in Paris for the next three years taking classes.
I felt I had finally settled in. I never imagined leaving Paris. At the school, I met some actors from New York. On a return visit to the States I ran into one of them. He asked if I wanted to come along to one of his acting classes to see what it was all about. "Yeah, yeah, why not?" I wasn't doing anything. I discovered an immediate passion for acting. It seemed to bring everything together for me. I decided to stay and study.
Suddenly, my life was in New York, working as a waitress and taking acting classes. I imagined it would be a long and steady process. I'd start auditioning, first for showcase theaters, then Off-Off-Broadway—work my way up until, finally, someday, maybe Broadway.
Then, one day, I was asked if I wanted to audition for a film. I would have to fly to Hollywood to do a screen test. It was like something out of an old movie. I didn't want to do film—my life was supposed to be in the theater. But it was winter in New York, I was broke, and my sister was sailing up the coast from Mexico and would be in California—I wanted to go see her. So I said, "yeah, why not? I've got nothing to lose."
They picked me up from my fifth floor walk-up in the Village, flew me to Los Angeles, and took me to MGM to do a screen test. I did it and they gave me the part. And so began a new and totally unexpected chapter in my life.
So, I guess the point I want to make is this—there was no way I could have ever anticipated or planned the twists and turns my life took in those six short years. Sometimes, you just have to let life take you on its glorious journey. And the best time to do it is now—when you're young and full of curiosity and have no fear. Don't constrain yourself with expectations of success. Success will be a by-product of the life you lead. All success is individual, and sometimes, as in my case, completely accidental.
So today you are setting off on your next adventure. You are beginning, and what makes beginnings so thrilling is the unknown. What is vital is this initial confrontation with the unknown and how you decide to embrace it. The world is waiting for you. Explore it through your own humanity. Be guided by your higher self. Don't be dissuaded or discouraged, but do allow yourself to be sidetracked if that's what you want. Get off the fast track, off the grid—go out and wander.
I hope that you will commit yourselves to the pursuit of peace—to the practice of tolerance and compassion. And be good stewards to our precious Earth. I wish you all the courage to have an adventurer's heart and a life lived in the moment.
Madame President, Board of Trustees, members of the faculty, students, families, friends, I wish to thank you for the privilege of being here today and addressing you on this wonderful occasion.
We gather on this beautiful morning in May to celebrate with you, the graduates. And to celebrate all your achievements, your successes, perhaps certain failures, your courage, your doubts, and your passion. To celebrate your commencement and to mark the beginning of a new chapter in your young lives.
This is a day to feel proud and to congratulate yourselves on your hard work and intelligence. And then, to simultaneously give thanks for the extraordinary opportunity that has been given to you, to acknowledge the professors you've been privileged to study with, to acknowledge the excellent education you have received in this rarified atmosphere, and then, of course, to give thanks to those who enabled you to be here.
The possibilities and the limitations now spread out before you, whatever field you have decided to go into, whether it be the sciences, the arts, the humanities. You have the opportunity to make a better world, to benefit mankind, to ease the suffering of others, to educate, to heal, to entertain, to illuminate. A new beginning, an arising. How glorious for you!
William Blake wrote, "My fingers emit sparks of fire with expectations of my future labours."
When I mentioned to a friend that I was writing a commencement speech, he asked me what my theme was. Now that really threw me. Nobody told me I needed a theme. I'm not great with themes, so I don't have one, per se. I hope you're not disappointed. I do wish I could be funny or profound; however, that's wishful thinking. What I have are some thoughts I'd like to share with you. So if it feels random, it probably is.
I look out at your faces and guess most of you graduates are about 22 years old. I think of the world I was living in at that age. Very different from yours and yet, ominously similar.
At 22, for me, the Vietnam war was in its seventh year. Nixon was employing round-the-clock bombing. We were destroying the infrastructure, the people, and the countryside of Vietnam to save it from the Communists.
History repeats itself.
Today, for you at 22, the Iraq war is in the sixth year. Thousands of American soldiers killed. Tens of thousands wounded. Hundreds of thousands Iraqis dead. The infrastructure and land destroyed to save it from (and this is a movable feast) first, tyranny, and then, terrorists.
Now, some of you may feel this is not the proper occasion to make mention of this. However, I would be remiss in addressing a group of young adults if I were to deliberately ignore the political realities that they are faced with.
We are all citizens of a troubled world, yet it is your generation that carries the weight of the future on your shoulders. We are living in an America that in the last seven and a half years has waged an unnecessary war, established prison camps, condoned torture, employed corporate armies, eliminated the right of habeas corpus, practiced extraordinary rendition, and believe me, this is only a partial list—I had to keep myself in check.
I don't wish to dwell on the misery caused by this administration, but that legacy is being passed down to you. It is a heavy burden to inherit and will require tremendous dedication and hard work to put it right again. You must determine if we are going to measure ourselves on the basis of military might and economic power or if there is perhaps something deeper—more essential in our national character—that needs to be awakened.
We must commit ourselves, wholeheartedly, to the pursuit of peace, equality and justice. This should be the realm of your dreams, the altruistic motivation you go forward with as you are moving towards a world unknown.
I believe you've come of age in a complex and confusing time. The commercial forces surrounding you, the absence of meaningful culture, the constant assault by media, fashion, and entertainment. We have become a society that is placated by gadgets, soothed by consumerism and the empty rewards of upward mobility, the celebration of mediocrity and false celebrity, the obscurations of modern life. We need a sea change.
So, I encourage you not to buy into it. Defy conventions and what is expected of you. Create your own definition of success. Don't let it be judged or guided by someone else's measurement, by someone else's expectations or limitations.
You are our hope. So cherish this time in your life. Remember who you are. Because, right now, you have it all: The power of your imagination, the velocity of your dreams, the language of innocence, and the passion of a beginner. Don't lose it. Don't let it evaporate or get stripped away or worn away. And, as time passes, if you find you've come far away from yourself, allow the breeze of humility to remind you of who you were—who you really are.
Henry James said, "To live is such an art..."
If, from my vantage point now, I could tell my 22-year-old self what I now believe is the most important thing in life (and one I didn't embrace fully at the time because I was young and willful and reckless), it would be—to be present. I would encourage you, with all my heart, just to be present. Be present and open to the moment that is unfolding before you. Because, ultimately, your life is made up of moments. So don't miss them by being lost in the past or anticipating the future. Don't be absent from your own life.
You will find that life is not governed by will or intention. It is ultimately the collection of these sense memories stored in our nerves, built up in our cells. Simple things:
A certain slant of light coming through a window on a winter's afternoon
The sound of spring peepers at twilight
The taste of a strawberry still warm from the sun
Your child's laughter
Your mother's voice
These are the things that shape our lives and settle into the fiber of our beings. Don't take them for granted. Slow down for them, they will take root. And someday 20-30-40 years from now, you may be going about your day when by chance the smell of bread baking or the sound of a mockingbird singing will stop you in your tracks and carry you heart and soul back to yourself. Moments of pure happiness, bliss—if you feel comfortable using that word—come upon you unexpectedly. Don't be too preoccupied to experience them.
We need to slow it all down. I wonder sometimes why we can't just sit and do nothing. Why can't we enjoy idleness—the art of doing nothing. Perhaps it's not in our cultural DNA. We are goal oriented, result driven. Success is measured in how much we can get done.
We seem to have no time for stillness. What is this desperate need we have to fill the emptiness with iPods, Blackberries, cell phones, computers, video games, and television? Perhaps we should ask ourselves, how do we really understand pleasure and happiness? The Tibetan Buddhists have a saying, "Tomorrow or the next life—which comes first, we never know."
So I encourage you—don't keep anticipating that your life is up ahead of you. Don't always be waiting for the next thing. Don't put all your energies into some idea of the future. And with that in mind, you open the door to endless possibilities. Just allow life to take you on an adventure. Be receptive to the winds of change.
I graduated from high school in a worn-out little mill town in Northern Minnesota. Art was going to be my way out. I went to the University on a scholarship and entered the fine arts program. I imagined I would study—get my B.F.A., go on to get an M.F.A. Devote my life to painting. Then the second quarter of my freshman year the drawing class I wanted was filled. At the last minute I signed up for a photography class. My photography instructor introduced me to his friends, young photographers. They were leaving for Spain to make a documentary about flamenco Gypsies in Andalusia. And they asked me, did I want to come along? Yes, I said.
We lived in Europe for that year. When we returned to the States, we settled in New York. The early SoHo days. They had a friend they introduced me to—a modern dancer from the Merce Cunningham Company—who was starting an experimental theater company. She asked me if I wanted to dance with them. I said yes.
A man who had worked with the great mime master, Etienne Decroux, was in New York and came to give us classes. I fell in love with mime and when I learned Decroux still lived and taught in Paris, I decided to go study with him. With $100 in my pocket, I went to look for this old man. I lived in Paris for the next three years taking classes.
I felt I had finally settled in. I never imagined leaving Paris. At the school, I met some actors from New York. On a return visit to the States I ran into one of them. He asked if I wanted to come along to one of his acting classes to see what it was all about. "Yeah, yeah, why not?" I wasn't doing anything. I discovered an immediate passion for acting. It seemed to bring everything together for me. I decided to stay and study.
Suddenly, my life was in New York, working as a waitress and taking acting classes. I imagined it would be a long and steady process. I'd start auditioning, first for showcase theaters, then Off-Off-Broadway—work my way up until, finally, someday, maybe Broadway.
Then, one day, I was asked if I wanted to audition for a film. I would have to fly to Hollywood to do a screen test. It was like something out of an old movie. I didn't want to do film—my life was supposed to be in the theater. But it was winter in New York, I was broke, and my sister was sailing up the coast from Mexico and would be in California—I wanted to go see her. So I said, "yeah, why not? I've got nothing to lose."
They picked me up from my fifth floor walk-up in the Village, flew me to Los Angeles, and took me to MGM to do a screen test. I did it and they gave me the part. And so began a new and totally unexpected chapter in my life.
So, I guess the point I want to make is this—there was no way I could have ever anticipated or planned the twists and turns my life took in those six short years. Sometimes, you just have to let life take you on its glorious journey. And the best time to do it is now—when you're young and full of curiosity and have no fear. Don't constrain yourself with expectations of success. Success will be a by-product of the life you lead. All success is individual, and sometimes, as in my case, completely accidental.
So today you are setting off on your next adventure. You are beginning, and what makes beginnings so thrilling is the unknown. What is vital is this initial confrontation with the unknown and how you decide to embrace it. The world is waiting for you. Explore it through your own humanity. Be guided by your higher self. Don't be dissuaded or discouraged, but do allow yourself to be sidetracked if that's what you want. Get off the fast track, off the grid—go out and wander.
I hope that you will commit yourselves to the pursuit of peace—to the practice of tolerance and compassion. And be good stewards to our precious Earth. I wish you all the courage to have an adventurer's heart and a life lived in the moment.
Juliana Margulies
SLC commencement speaker.
I have learned to go fully in the face of my dreams. I would recommend you do the same. Now is the time in your life to be selfish. To explore. To take chances. Remember being selfish is not the same as being self-indulgent. You have the gift of time. Use it to do what you love. Believe anything is possible and then work like hell to make it happen. Your generation has every day tools of information that other generations would simply marvel at. Do not, as President Obama says, make them instruments of distraction. Use them to empower your lives and fuel your dreams. In turn, do not be disheartened by the current state of the world. Simply work to better it.
I have learned to go fully in the face of my dreams. I would recommend you do the same. Now is the time in your life to be selfish. To explore. To take chances. Remember being selfish is not the same as being self-indulgent. You have the gift of time. Use it to do what you love. Believe anything is possible and then work like hell to make it happen. Your generation has every day tools of information that other generations would simply marvel at. Do not, as President Obama says, make them instruments of distraction. Use them to empower your lives and fuel your dreams. In turn, do not be disheartened by the current state of the world. Simply work to better it.
Juliana Margulies
SLC commencement speaker.
I have learned to go fully in the face of my dreams. I would recommend you do the same. Now is the time in your life to be selfish. To explore. To take chances. Remember being selfish is not the same as being self-indulgent. You have the gift of time. Use it to do what you love. Believe anything is possible and then work like hell to make it happen. Your generation has every day tools of information that other generations would simply marvel at. Do not, as President Obama says, make them instruments of distraction. Use them to empower your lives and fuel your dreams. In turn, do not be disheartened by the current state of the world. Simply work to better it.
I have learned to go fully in the face of my dreams. I would recommend you do the same. Now is the time in your life to be selfish. To explore. To take chances. Remember being selfish is not the same as being self-indulgent. You have the gift of time. Use it to do what you love. Believe anything is possible and then work like hell to make it happen. Your generation has every day tools of information that other generations would simply marvel at. Do not, as President Obama says, make them instruments of distraction. Use them to empower your lives and fuel your dreams. In turn, do not be disheartened by the current state of the world. Simply work to better it.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Auditory Processing Disorder
Little-Known Disorder Can Take a Toll on Learning
By TARA PARKER-POPE
Ms. O’Donnell’s quest to help her son led her to Lois Kam Heymann, left, an auditory therapist, whom Blake now works with.
Parents and teachers often tell children to pay attention — to be a “good listener.” But what if your child’s brain doesn’t know how to listen?
That’s the challenge for children with auditory processing disorder, a poorly understood syndrome that interferes with the brain’s ability to recognize and interpret sounds. It’s been estimated that 2 to 5 percent of children have the disorder, said Gail D. Chermak, an expert on speech and hearing sciences at Washington State University, and it’s likely that many cases have gone undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.
The symptoms of A.P.D. — trouble paying attention and following directions, low academic performance, behavior problems and poor reading and vocabulary — are often mistaken for attention problems or even autism.
But now the disorder is getting some overdue attention, thanks in part to the talk-show host Rosie O’Donnell and her 10-year-old son, Blake, who has A.P.D.
In the foreword to a new book, “The Sound of Hope” (Ballantine) — by Lois Kam Heymann, the speech pathologist and auditory therapist who helped Blake — Ms. O’Donnell recounts how she learned something was amiss.
It began with a haircut before her son started first grade. Blake had already been working with a speech therapist on his vague responses and other difficulties, so when he asked for a “little haircut” and she pressed him on his meaning, she told the barber he wanted short hair like his brother’s. But in the car later, Blake erupted in tears, and Ms. O’Donnell realized her mistake. By “little haircut,” Blake meant little hair should be cut. He wanted a trim.
“I pulled off on the freeway and hugged him,” Ms. O’Donnell said. “I said: ‘Blakey, I’m really sorry. I didn’t understand you. I’ll do better.’ ”
That was a turning point. Ms. O’Donnell’s quest to do better led her to Ms. Heymann, who determined that while Blake could hear perfectly well, he had trouble distinguishing between sounds. To him, words like “tangerine” and “tambourine,” “bed” and “dead,” may sound the same.
“The child hears ‘And the girl went to dead,’ and they know it doesn’t make sense,” Ms. Heymann told me. “But while they try to figure it out, the teacher continues talking and now they’re behind. Those sounds are being distorted or misinterpreted, and it affects how the child is going to learn speech and language.”
Blake’s brain struggled to retain the words he heard, resulting in a limited vocabulary and trouble with reading and spelling. Abstract language, metaphors like “cover third base,” even “knock-knock” jokes, were confusing and frustrating.
Children with auditory processing problems often can’t filter out other sounds. The teacher’s voice, a chair scraping the floor and crinkling paper are all heard at the same level. “The normal reaction by the parent is ‘Why don’t you listen?’ ” Ms. Heymann said. “They were listening, but they weren’t hearing the right thing.”
The solution is often a comprehensive approach, at school and at home. To dampen unwanted noise, strips of felt or tennis balls may be placed on the legs of chairs and desks. Parents work to simplify language and avoid metaphors and abstract references.
The O’Donnell household cut back on large, noisy gatherings that were upsetting to Blake. Twice-weekly sessions focusing on sounds and words, using rhyme and body gestures, helped him catch up on the learning he had missed.
Help inside the classroom is essential. One family in Westchester County, who asked not to be named to protect their son’s privacy, met with his teachers and agreed on an array of adaptations — including having his teacher wear a small microphone that directed her voice more clearly to a speaker on the student’s desk so he could better distinguish her voice from competing sounds.
Nobody knows exactly why auditory processing skills don’t fully develop in every child, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Scientists are conducting brain-imaging studies to better understand the neural basis of the condition and find out if there are different forms.
Reassuringly, the disorder seems to have little or nothing to do with intelligence. Blake has an encyclopedic knowledge of animals — he once corrected his mother for referring to a puma as a mountain lion. The Westchester child is now a 17-year-old high school student being recruited by top colleges.
“He’s in accelerated Latin, honors science classes,” said his mother. “I remember I used to dream of the day he would be able to wake up in the morning and just say, ‘Mommy.’ ”
Not every child does so well, and some children with A.P.D. have other developmental and social problems. But Ms. O’Donnell says that treatment is not just about better grades.
“It definitely affected his whole world,” she said of her son. “Not just learning. It cuts them off from society, from interactions. To see the difference in who he is today versus who he was two years ago, and then to contemplate what would have happened had we not been able to catch it — I think he would have been lost.”
A version of this article appeared in print on April 27, 2010, on page D5 of the New York edition.
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A ‘Dose of Nature’ for Attention Problems
Treating Attention Deficit Without Drugs
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From 1 to 25 of 148 Comments
1 2 3 ... 6 Next »
1. April 26, 2010
5:26 pm
Link
APD sounds very much like the audio distortions that occur to those of us who have some hearing loss in the mid-range of audible frequencies. That surely causes havoc trying to follow conversations at a noisy restaurant or raucous dinner table.
Host: Would you like a little more soup?
Hard of hearing guest: No, I don’t think I’d like to go sit on the widow Moore’s stoop. But thanks for asking.
I’m pretty sure some of my auditory twisting came from conditioned listening to my dear Tarheel mother who was known to bemoan the fact that that America had dropped “the Atomic Bum” on Japan. For years I had visions of a massive Clem Kadiddlehopper being hoisted out of the Enola Gay over Hiroshima. The horror, the horror.
Of course auditory distortion in daily life can be no laughing matter if you are trying to comprehend what’s going on in a classroom. At least now there are some strategies and tools to help out. If nothing else works, you can try, “What did you say?”
— ca
2. April 26, 2010
5:28 pm
Link
Listening skills are fundamental to reading–according to brain science researcher & “brain trainer”, Dr. Michael Merzenich.
Here’s an excerpt from his interview with Dr. Ginger Campbell:
Click here for the whole transcript from Brain Science Podcasts:
http://docartemis.com/Transcripts/54-brainscience-Merzenich.pdf
Ginger Campbell: So you have to learn to listen right before you can learn how to read.
Michael Merzenich: “It’s only when you’re sorting information appropriately does this translation of- I mean after all, reading is simply based upon the translation of what you hear in a written form.
And if what you hear is not represented in the brain in the normal way, it’s a very bad representational system. It really doesn’t represent what you hear.
So unless you correct that- unless you correct the listening, you cannot really generate a reader.
I mean you can do it only by using alternative strategies for reading, but you can’t use a phonological approach to reading.
You have to use a whole-word or other approach- then you can be successful. But you can’t use the classical efficient approaches to learn to read. So you have to correct the listening to correct the reading.”
— The Healthy Librarian
3. April 26, 2010
5:32 pm
Link
My oldest (currently 19) and adopted at age 3 from El Salvador, had auditory processing disorder.
When she was 5 we were told she would never learn to read, was mentally retarded, ADHD etc. etc.
What helped even more than the teacher wearing a microphone was going through Fast Forword. This is a computerized auditory processing program that is basically auditory exercises (2 hours/day x 6 weeks). It has been published (under “HAILO”) in both Science and Nature and has been validated in numerous double blind studies.
http://www.scilearn.com
http://www.fastforword.com
It made a huge difference. She was saying “I can understand my teacher within a couple of weeks of starting it. Her IQ increased by 50 points over five years. Currently she’s a B student in college.
— Shari DeSilva
4. April 26, 2010
5:56 pm
Link
When my daughter was in grade school, there was a big discrepancy between some of her skill levels. Though her teacher was not necessarily alarmed, I was. I had her tested and discovered she had an auditory perceptual defecit. She literally could not distinguish between sounds that we all take for granted, as different. She worked with a therapist, addressing those issues specifically. She is a college graduate, who had earned merit scholarships.
If your gut tells you something is not quite right, listen to it. Better to be told you’re wrong or overreacting, that to miss the boat with an unattended problem that could have been improved.
— lessi
5. April 26, 2010
6:38 pm
Link
My neice has been diagnosed 16 years ago. She has her drivers license and just got into college. She is aware of her needs and can ask for study guides and support from her teachers. She learned to advocate and to self soothe her anxiety. She is an A student and will be studying speech pathology.
— brooklyn
By TARA PARKER-POPE
Ms. O’Donnell’s quest to help her son led her to Lois Kam Heymann, left, an auditory therapist, whom Blake now works with.
Parents and teachers often tell children to pay attention — to be a “good listener.” But what if your child’s brain doesn’t know how to listen?
That’s the challenge for children with auditory processing disorder, a poorly understood syndrome that interferes with the brain’s ability to recognize and interpret sounds. It’s been estimated that 2 to 5 percent of children have the disorder, said Gail D. Chermak, an expert on speech and hearing sciences at Washington State University, and it’s likely that many cases have gone undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.
The symptoms of A.P.D. — trouble paying attention and following directions, low academic performance, behavior problems and poor reading and vocabulary — are often mistaken for attention problems or even autism.
But now the disorder is getting some overdue attention, thanks in part to the talk-show host Rosie O’Donnell and her 10-year-old son, Blake, who has A.P.D.
In the foreword to a new book, “The Sound of Hope” (Ballantine) — by Lois Kam Heymann, the speech pathologist and auditory therapist who helped Blake — Ms. O’Donnell recounts how she learned something was amiss.
It began with a haircut before her son started first grade. Blake had already been working with a speech therapist on his vague responses and other difficulties, so when he asked for a “little haircut” and she pressed him on his meaning, she told the barber he wanted short hair like his brother’s. But in the car later, Blake erupted in tears, and Ms. O’Donnell realized her mistake. By “little haircut,” Blake meant little hair should be cut. He wanted a trim.
“I pulled off on the freeway and hugged him,” Ms. O’Donnell said. “I said: ‘Blakey, I’m really sorry. I didn’t understand you. I’ll do better.’ ”
That was a turning point. Ms. O’Donnell’s quest to do better led her to Ms. Heymann, who determined that while Blake could hear perfectly well, he had trouble distinguishing between sounds. To him, words like “tangerine” and “tambourine,” “bed” and “dead,” may sound the same.
“The child hears ‘And the girl went to dead,’ and they know it doesn’t make sense,” Ms. Heymann told me. “But while they try to figure it out, the teacher continues talking and now they’re behind. Those sounds are being distorted or misinterpreted, and it affects how the child is going to learn speech and language.”
Blake’s brain struggled to retain the words he heard, resulting in a limited vocabulary and trouble with reading and spelling. Abstract language, metaphors like “cover third base,” even “knock-knock” jokes, were confusing and frustrating.
Children with auditory processing problems often can’t filter out other sounds. The teacher’s voice, a chair scraping the floor and crinkling paper are all heard at the same level. “The normal reaction by the parent is ‘Why don’t you listen?’ ” Ms. Heymann said. “They were listening, but they weren’t hearing the right thing.”
The solution is often a comprehensive approach, at school and at home. To dampen unwanted noise, strips of felt or tennis balls may be placed on the legs of chairs and desks. Parents work to simplify language and avoid metaphors and abstract references.
The O’Donnell household cut back on large, noisy gatherings that were upsetting to Blake. Twice-weekly sessions focusing on sounds and words, using rhyme and body gestures, helped him catch up on the learning he had missed.
Help inside the classroom is essential. One family in Westchester County, who asked not to be named to protect their son’s privacy, met with his teachers and agreed on an array of adaptations — including having his teacher wear a small microphone that directed her voice more clearly to a speaker on the student’s desk so he could better distinguish her voice from competing sounds.
Nobody knows exactly why auditory processing skills don’t fully develop in every child, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Scientists are conducting brain-imaging studies to better understand the neural basis of the condition and find out if there are different forms.
Reassuringly, the disorder seems to have little or nothing to do with intelligence. Blake has an encyclopedic knowledge of animals — he once corrected his mother for referring to a puma as a mountain lion. The Westchester child is now a 17-year-old high school student being recruited by top colleges.
“He’s in accelerated Latin, honors science classes,” said his mother. “I remember I used to dream of the day he would be able to wake up in the morning and just say, ‘Mommy.’ ”
Not every child does so well, and some children with A.P.D. have other developmental and social problems. But Ms. O’Donnell says that treatment is not just about better grades.
“It definitely affected his whole world,” she said of her son. “Not just learning. It cuts them off from society, from interactions. To see the difference in who he is today versus who he was two years ago, and then to contemplate what would have happened had we not been able to catch it — I think he would have been lost.”
A version of this article appeared in print on April 27, 2010, on page D5 of the New York edition.
E-mail This Print
Share
Sign in to Recommend
Well, ADD, adhd, auditory processing disorder, learning disabilities
Related Posts
FROM WELL
An A.D.H.D. Student Finds Confidence on the Track
Navigating the Special Education System
Testing a Child for Learning Disabilities
A ‘Dose of Nature’ for Attention Problems
Treating Attention Deficit Without Drugs
Previous post
The Slushie Workout
Next post
Living for Years With Late-Stage Cancer
From 1 to 25 of 148 Comments
1 2 3 ... 6 Next »
1. April 26, 2010
5:26 pm
Link
APD sounds very much like the audio distortions that occur to those of us who have some hearing loss in the mid-range of audible frequencies. That surely causes havoc trying to follow conversations at a noisy restaurant or raucous dinner table.
Host: Would you like a little more soup?
Hard of hearing guest: No, I don’t think I’d like to go sit on the widow Moore’s stoop. But thanks for asking.
I’m pretty sure some of my auditory twisting came from conditioned listening to my dear Tarheel mother who was known to bemoan the fact that that America had dropped “the Atomic Bum” on Japan. For years I had visions of a massive Clem Kadiddlehopper being hoisted out of the Enola Gay over Hiroshima. The horror, the horror.
Of course auditory distortion in daily life can be no laughing matter if you are trying to comprehend what’s going on in a classroom. At least now there are some strategies and tools to help out. If nothing else works, you can try, “What did you say?”
— ca
2. April 26, 2010
5:28 pm
Link
Listening skills are fundamental to reading–according to brain science researcher & “brain trainer”, Dr. Michael Merzenich.
Here’s an excerpt from his interview with Dr. Ginger Campbell:
Click here for the whole transcript from Brain Science Podcasts:
http://docartemis.com/Transcripts/54-brainscience-Merzenich.pdf
Ginger Campbell: So you have to learn to listen right before you can learn how to read.
Michael Merzenich: “It’s only when you’re sorting information appropriately does this translation of- I mean after all, reading is simply based upon the translation of what you hear in a written form.
And if what you hear is not represented in the brain in the normal way, it’s a very bad representational system. It really doesn’t represent what you hear.
So unless you correct that- unless you correct the listening, you cannot really generate a reader.
I mean you can do it only by using alternative strategies for reading, but you can’t use a phonological approach to reading.
You have to use a whole-word or other approach- then you can be successful. But you can’t use the classical efficient approaches to learn to read. So you have to correct the listening to correct the reading.”
— The Healthy Librarian
3. April 26, 2010
5:32 pm
Link
My oldest (currently 19) and adopted at age 3 from El Salvador, had auditory processing disorder.
When she was 5 we were told she would never learn to read, was mentally retarded, ADHD etc. etc.
What helped even more than the teacher wearing a microphone was going through Fast Forword. This is a computerized auditory processing program that is basically auditory exercises (2 hours/day x 6 weeks). It has been published (under “HAILO”) in both Science and Nature and has been validated in numerous double blind studies.
http://www.scilearn.com
http://www.fastforword.com
It made a huge difference. She was saying “I can understand my teacher within a couple of weeks of starting it. Her IQ increased by 50 points over five years. Currently she’s a B student in college.
— Shari DeSilva
4. April 26, 2010
5:56 pm
Link
When my daughter was in grade school, there was a big discrepancy between some of her skill levels. Though her teacher was not necessarily alarmed, I was. I had her tested and discovered she had an auditory perceptual defecit. She literally could not distinguish between sounds that we all take for granted, as different. She worked with a therapist, addressing those issues specifically. She is a college graduate, who had earned merit scholarships.
If your gut tells you something is not quite right, listen to it. Better to be told you’re wrong or overreacting, that to miss the boat with an unattended problem that could have been improved.
— lessi
5. April 26, 2010
6:38 pm
Link
My neice has been diagnosed 16 years ago. She has her drivers license and just got into college. She is aware of her needs and can ask for study guides and support from her teachers. She learned to advocate and to self soothe her anxiety. She is an A student and will be studying speech pathology.
— brooklyn
Thursday, April 22, 2010
From the NYT
useums Take Their Lessons to the Schools
By TAMAR LEWIN
Published: April 21, 2010
SUTTON, Mass. — Sitting in the dark, knees crossed, looking up at the stars projected on the planetarium dome, the fourth-grade class might have been on a field trip to the Museum of Science in Boston.
Gretchen Ertl for The New York Times
Brooke Annis, center, a fourth grader in Sutton, Mass., inside a traveling planetarium.
Gretchen Ertl for The New York Times
Nicholas Culross, a kindergartner at the Simonian Center for Early Learning, walked in a dinosaur’s footprints during a traveling lesson from Christina Moscat.
But instead, they were having what Katie Slivensky, an educator from the museum, calls a “backwards field trip” in a portable, inflatable planetarium set up for the morning in the old gym at Sutton High School — a 50-minute lesson on the stars, moon and planets, tied to state learning standards for physical science, earth and space.
Over the last few years, many schools have eliminated or cut back on museum trips, partly because of tight budgets that make it hard to pay for a bus and museum admission, and partly because of the growing emphasis on “seat time” to cover all the material on state tests.
To make up for the decline in visits, many museums are taking their lessons to the classroom, through traveling programs, videoconferencing or computer-based lessons that use their collections as a teaching tool.
“Even if they can’t come to the museum, we can bring the excitement of science to the school,” said Ms. Slivensky, one of seven traveling educators at the Boston museum.
At the Museum of Science, where school visits have dropped about 30 percent since 2007, demand for the 14 school travel programs — from the $280 “Animal Adaptations” to the $445 “Cryogenics’ — is booming.
Annette Sawyer, director of education and enrichment programs, said the museum would do almost 1,000 travel programs next year, 400 more than four years ago.
On a sunny spring morning, the Sutton schools, about an hour from Boston, have brought in both the planetarium program and, for the kindergarten, “Dig Into Dinosaurs.”
“It’s $275 a bus, and we’d need three buses for a grade level,” said Michael Breault, the principal. “We pay for field trips and special assemblies from a magazine fund-raiser at the beginning of the year, and this year, we didn’t sell as many magazines.”
And museum admission costs $7.50 a head.
Thursday, April 08, 2010
iphone and reading
My iPhone has revolutionised my reading
For dyslexics, books are much easier to read on its screen
- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 6 April 2010 19.30 BST
- Article history
Treasure Island . . . a recently discovered pleasure.
I was hopeless at school, messy and terrible at spelling. And although the term dyslexia was not something I came across until much later in life, when I did I understood immediately that I had a number of its symptoms. My writing often had a jumbled logic. The advent of computers, of course, brought spell-checkers, but even so my word blindness can carry such conviction that I sometimes find myself staring incredulously at the red line underneath words, before finally realising that "during" does not begin with a "J".
I'm reasonably well read but I read slowly; books have always been a struggle. I read one sentence, which sparks a thought, maybe causing my eyes to flicker, and I lose my place.
Recently, at the age of 57, I got an iPhone. Like many, I spent the first few hours loading up apps, including a Classics book app. Some weeks later, while mending a client's computer, waiting for the blue line to progress slowly across the screen, I began reading. The first thing I noticed was that, while familiar with many of the books on the app, having seen a film version or been read them as a child, I had not myself read a single one. Books which would have been part of many a youthful literary diet had passed me by. Alice in Wonderland, Treasure Island, Tom Sawyer – I hadn't read any of them (but I have now).
The first title I selected was The Count of Monte Cristo. I raced through this on my iPhone in just over a week, my wife asking why I was continually playing with my iPhone. When I'd finished I enjoyed the story so much that I went to buy a copy for a friend. In the bookshop I was amazed. It was more than 1,000 pages! Had I been presented with the book in this form I would never have read it. It would have been too much like climbing a mountain.
So why I had found it easier to read from my iPhone? First, an ordinary page of text is split into about four pages. The spacing seems generous and because of this I don't get lost on the page. Second, the handset's brightness makes it easier to take in words. "Many dyslexics have problems with 'crowding', where they're distracted by the words surrounding the word they're trying to read," says John Stein, Professor of Neuroscience at Oxford University and chair of the Dyslexia Research Trust. "When reading text on a small phone, you're reducing the crowding effect."
I was so impressed that I contacted the Dyslexia Society, where Sue Flohr, herself dyslexic, recounted how her iPhone had changed her life. She told me that many others share my experience reading books and the society is in talks with the government over making school textbooks available as eBooks. Flohr said that her iPhone has not only brought greater organisation to her life, it has greatly improved her sense of self-esteem. I share this sense and now see that when I proudly show off my iPhone to others it is not just a new bit of technology, but the centrepoint of my newly ordered life.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
You Can Do it
I CAN Do It!
You are very special, and I want you to know,
I loved being your teacher; and it's hard to see you go.
Though our time together this year, has come quickly to an end,
I will remember you forever, my dear second grade friend.
As you continue your journey, you will learn and grow,
Please carry these words I give to you, wherever you may go:
Always do your best, no matter how hard it seems.
And if you do, I promise, you will reach your dreams.
Remember to tell yourself, "I CAN do it", because I know you can;
Think of all you've learned since school first began.
But I am so proud of you for all that you have done.
You will continue learning as you move from grade to grade,
Keep in mind and think about the progress you have made.
If you feel like giving up - - keep trying, you'll make it through.
I know this, for not too long ago, I was a student just like you.
I had special teacher who taught me something, too;
And throughout this year I've tried to teach it to you:
Always believe in yourself and know that it is true;
You will see, you can do anything you set your mind to.
So, as time goes by, you may forget certain things about the second grade
Like the stories we read and the games that we played
But there's one thing I hope you remember your whole life through,
It's to know that you CAN do it, and Amba believes in you.
Part of a script performed by lower elementary students
Step Mother: It is getting dark and you kids look tired. Take a nap and then we will go home.
(The animals pick up crumbs as they exit. Meanwhile stage hands bring on THE FIRE as Hansel and Gretel enter and lie next door to it, asleep. Gretel is the first to wake. Her whisper-shouts...)
Gretel: Hansel….! Hansel…! (Waking Hansel)
Hansel: What is it, Gretel?
Gretel: Stepmother-she’s gone! She left us alone in the forest. I am scared.
Hansel: Don’t worry Gretel. The bread crumbs will show us the way back home.
(Hansel look around the area by the fire, then looks across the stage to discover the bread is gone)
Hansel: Oh no! The bread….is gone. The animals must have eaten them up.
Gretel: Hansel I am scared we will not see our dad again.
Hansel: Yes we will Gretel. We will find the way.
(Next we find an appropriate way to show the children wandering aimlessly about the stage-hopelessly lost in the forest. The passage of time is marked by a tick-tock percussion instrument. At the point of exhaustion, can no longer walk or stand up. Stage the posture: kneeling? Seated on hands and knees? Other? When the tick-tock stops…)
Gretel: Hansel I am so tired.
Hansel: Me too Gretel
Gretel: Let’s just rest for a little while...
Hansel: What is that?
Gretel: It looks like a
Hansel: giant cake…
Gretel: Oh look is this a cookie?
Hansel: It is a cookie mmm its delicious have a bite.
Gretel: Oh my goodness this is wonderful taste this.
Hansel: Oh I hope no one gets angry- but
Both: I am so hungry
Hansel: I think I could eat the whole house.
Witch: Nibbling Nibbling like a mouse who is eating my whole house?
Hansel: (Drop their cookies) Oh my sister and I are so sorry
Gretel: We were just very very hungry.
Witch: (licking her lips) Oh dear children- it is ok. I love to have nice children to gobble…ch... I mean to well heh heh
Come in Come in and my you are kinda skinny. I would love to make you nice and fat! (Arms around enters the house)
In the witches house
Both kids at the table with food pilled high-
Witch: Now come along- eat it all up. If you want more I’ll get you more.
Hansel: I wish we could take some home for father
Gretel: Maybe she will help us get home but I don’t think she sees too well.
Witch: Now off to bed- tomorrow I will tell you my plans. (Pointing to wrong child) Little boy you sleep over here and little girl you sleep here.
Hansel and Gretel go to sleep.
Witch tip toes in and locks Hansel in a cage.
Wilson Terms and Rules
Diagraph Blend: A consonant diagraph combined with a third consonant that makes its own sound.
Example- shred, lunch, throw, depth
Diagraph: Two letters together to form one sound.
Example- sh, ch, ck, th, wh, ph, qu
Base Word: A word that can stand alone.
Example- Bug
Suffix: An ending that can be added to a base word.
Example- bug + s= bugs, pit +s=pits
Blend: Two or more consonants together each making a separate sound.
Example- sk, st, ft, sp, dr, tr, pl, fl, fr, pr, gr, bl, br, lk, lf and lb
Closed Syllable: The vowel sound is short. The vowel is followed by one or more consonants (closed in). The syllable can have 1 vowel.
Example- cup, it, pest, stump
If the word ends with 1 vowel that is immediately followed by an l. s or f. Double the consonants.
Example- hil-hill, mis-miss, puf-puff
Welded Sounds: 3 letters that have individual sounds but are close together and hard to separate.
Example- ang-fang, ing-ring, ing-sing, ong-song, ink-pink, ank-bank, unk-junk, onk-honk.
Editing Checklist on each child's Language Arts, Science and SS notebooks
1. Name and Date
2. Sentences make sense
3. Beginning Capital letters
4. Ending punctuation (.?!)
5. Circle misspelled words
6. Capital letters for names and places
7. Stays on Topic
Examples of writing Prompts
In Goin' Someplace Special, Patricia McKissack writes about a young girl, Tricia Ann, who is on her way to a special place… the library. For Tricia Ann, the library is a friendly place that she looks forward to visiting. Is there a special place that you like to visit? Why do you like it? It doesn't have to be far away, it could be in your own backyard, or down the street, or wherever. The important thing is that this place, and maybe the people there, are special to you. Tell us all about it and/or draw a picture if you like.
Have you ever lost a tooth? Not just lost it from your mouth, but really lost it and didn't have it to leave under your pillow for the tooth fairy? Imagine that you have lost your tooth, can't find it anywhere, and don't have it to put under your pillow. Write a letter to the tooth fairy explaining your situation and how your tooth got lost. See if you can persuade the tooth fairy to leave something under your pillow even though you have no tooth to place there. Include descriptive details about your tooth and where your tooth went missing — just in case the tooth fairy decides to look for it!
Letter to the library Teacher
Dear P,
It’s been a pleasure working with you for the last two years, bringing my first grade and then second grade class to the library.
The children looked forward to coming to the library once a week; they enjoyed selecting books that they would later read in class. The library class helped reinforce skills and the content areas we were learning in class.
For instance when we were working on Story Maps and understanding characters, setting, problem and solution, you recommended books by Pollaco, Arthur Lobel and Eric Carle.
When we were working on Greek Myths you read books about Theses, Odyesses and Cyclops. When we were studying geography you reinforced map skills by showing our students a globe, encyclopedias that had information on the continents, pictures of the oceans, river and lakes. You also read, how I found myself on the map, that the students enjoyed and then you asked them questions that helped us assess student understanding.
I think my students really benefited by coming to the library. They learnt to respect books, by turning pages carefully. We learnt about what students were interested in from hamsters, to puppies to star wars, history and planets.
Thank you for all your support and help to make learning creative, interesting and fun!
Regards
Teaching the Basic Parts of a story
Beginning
Middle
End
Characters (Who)
Setting (Where, When)
Action (What Happens, Problem)
Conclusion (End)
Curriculum For the Year 2009-2010
Curriculum for Room 1010
Teacher: Amba Singh
Co T
eachers: Daphne Rivera and Lorena Williams
Subject:
Teacher: Amba Singh
Textbook/Read Aloud Series: Houghton Mifflin Big Book Series
Picture Books Read Aloud
Flannel Board Stories
Decoding Skills: A multi-sensory instructional format is utilized through both the Wilson Program and the Merill Linguistic Reading Program. The Merill Linguistic Reading System is a highly structured sequential basal reading program. It systematically teaches sounds according to spelling similarities/rhyming patterns. The Workbook reinforces vocabulary and comprehension skills.
The Wilson Program is a reading intervention program which increases the ability to read and spell words by using letter/sound cards. The student learns to “tap out the sounds” of the word. The letter/sound cards are manipulated to form words.
Methods Used: Small groups and individual pacing: usage of letter cards, teacher prepared word cards, games and worksheets.
Targeting Strengths: Challenge/spiral the student’s higher critical thinking.
Targeting Weaknesses: Wilson Program and Merrill Linguistic Program: Additional reinforcement will be given to students at their own learning pace.
Teacher Read Alouds Brainstorm ideas using graphic organizers. Students will be asked to retell main events in sequence. Story pictures will aid the students in retelling and sequencing the story.
Printing: Instructional Format - “Handwriting Without Tears”. Sequential learning order is to print upper-case letters/ Lower-case letters/ words/ sentences using correct letter formation.
Homework: Monday through Thursday. Homework will consist of phonics work, spelling, grammar, reading or writing.
Parent’s Involvement: Please read a story to your child (15-20 min.) Daily.
Subject: Math
Teacher: Amba Singh
Textbook/Series: Math Advantage, Harcourt Brace
Math Advantage, On My Own Practice
Math Advantage, Take Another Look-Reteaching
Methods Used: Small groups and individual pacing.
Curriculum- Some of the topics covered Addition, Subtraction, Word Problems, Solid and Plane Figures, Count by 2, 5 and 10. Money- Add Pennies, Nickels, Dimes and Quarters together. Time to the hour and half hour, Measurement - inch and centimeter ruler, Calendar Months and Days in Sequence, Fractions- halves, fourths and thirds and Multiplication.
Targeting Strengths: Challenge/spiral the student’s higher cognitive thinking.
Targeting Weaknesses: In recognition of his or her own learning pace, additional reinforcement will be given. Repetitive modeling cues, breaking concepts down into smaller sections and a variety of concrete materials will be used to heighten interest as the same skill is reviewed. A variety of manipulative like Blocks, Shapes, Straws, Unfix Cubes, Clocks, Coins, Number Line, 100 chart and multiplication tables.
Homework: Monday through Thursday.
Parent’s Involvement: Check Homework, Flash Cards, Math Games
Social Studies, Science and Health
Teacher: Amba Singh
Textbook: Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
Harcourt Science
In addition Picture Books Read Aloud
Targeting Strengths: Challenge/Spiral the student’s higher /critical thinking.
Targeting Weaknesses: Breakdown of information, hands on activities.
Social Studies Topics Our country of many people, differences in communities, map and globe skills, Country study,
Science Topics: People, Plants and Animals grow and change, Habitats for plants and animals, the Solar System and Weather.
Health: Hygiene, Healthy Eating, Brushing Teeth, Sleep and its importance, Fitness and Exercise.
Method used: Students brainstorm ideas on topic from past experiences. A mini lesson is presented to explain new concepts and clarify understanding. This is followed by a read aloud based on the topic and then a hand on activity such as creating collages, drawing and labeling or working on an experiment.
Notebooks: Vocabulary, diagrams, facts.
Trips: Based on student interest we will be taking class trips and visits to the library to learn more about the topics we are covering. We are going to the Queens County Farm (October 15th).
I am working on organizing a visit to the Children’s Museum in
Homework: Worksheets based on topics covered in the classroom on Tuesday and Thursday.
Parent’s Involvement: Periodically will be asked to send in materials for projects.
Wilson Program: A reading intervention program which increases the ability to READ and SPELL words by using the following:
Sound Cards
Word Cards
(Student manipulates cards in order to “tap out sounds” and read words.)
The student is explained the section for instance if we are doing diagraphs, I say today we are learning about two letters that make one sound, like Sh.
This is followed by practicing words containing Sh, by manipulating the sound card to create words read out by me.
These words are then written down in the student’s notebooks.
This is followed by student reading a sentence (using controlled text-words learned by the student) and then writing it down.
As an adjunct to this program, Merill Linguistics” is utilized as reinforcement. Merill focuses on students reading words in sentences with similar patterns for instance the Cat is in the Hat.
The Writing Process: The procedure for the writing process is as follows:
Prewriting
Ÿ Gather Ideas
Ÿ Brainstorm
Ÿ Use Graphic Organizers
Ÿ Research
Ÿ Imagine, Dream, Explore the possibilities
Writing
Ÿ Write a rough draft or “sloppy copy”.
Ÿ Write, write, and write! Let your ideas flow.
Ÿ Include lots of interesting content.
Revising
Ÿ Add ideas, words or phrases.
Ÿ Remove ideas, words or phrases.
Ÿ Replace frequently used words.
Ÿ Rearrange what you have written to make it better.
Ÿ Support your ideas so your reader really understands what is going on.
Editing
Ÿ Does the story flow?
Ÿ Correct the spelling.
Ÿ Correct the grammar.
Ÿ Correct the punctuation.
Ÿ Use the proper format.
Publishing
Ÿ Write your final, corrected, perfected copy.
Ÿ Number the pages.
Ÿ Staple pages together.
Ÿ Include your name and date.
Editing Checklist for Language Arts and Handwriting
Class Rules R2 Raising Responsibility
Level D Independent
Level C Cooperating
Chose Again
Level B Bothering
Class Rules
We listen to each other
Hands are for helping not hurting
We care about each others feelings
We use I care language
We are responsible for what we say and do.
Responsibilities
Be where I belong
Do my assignments
Be kind to others
Parents Support
Please read with them or to them every night. Visit the library and Museums frequently. Please limit the amount of television and video games. Please check homework to be sure they are following directions. Provide, whenever requested, supplies for science experiments.
Thank you.
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