By Tim Shanahan 2016
Teacher’s letter:
I’ve been reading your blog articles very carefully, and in one entry you recommended having the kids read a lot during the literary block time (and all other subjects), suggesting possibly 50% of the time should be spent reading. My question is how much of that reading time should be teacher-led […]
By Tim Shanahan
Question:
Our district is wrestling with how much emphasis to give rhyming as an early literacy skill. We had previously downplayed rhyming as a necessary focus but the new CA ELA/ELD Framework and CCSS where rhyming is specifically called out has resurfaced old questions.
Our struggle is this…. with our very high (87%) English Learner […]
Read More....By Dan Willingham
Commenters on the teaching of mathematics sometimes express impatience with the idea that attention ought to be paid to conceptual understanding in math education. I get it: it sounds fuzzy and potentially wrong-headed, as though we’re ready to overlook inaccurate calculation so long as the student seems to understand the concepts—and student understanding […]
Read More....by Tim Shanahan
Don’t overdo it. Research shows that providing readers with key information about a text can improve comprehension, as does reminding them of relevant information that they already know. But in the research studies these things were usually accomplished pretty economically; often the researcher did not do more than tell students the topic. To […]
Read More....By Dan Willingham
Researchers emphasize there are very few circumstances in which you can do two things at once without cost (relative to doing each on its own). Yet some drivers sneak a look at their phone while on the road, and some students have the television playing while they complete an assignment.
Why? One possibility is […]
Read More....By Tim Shanahan
“I am a reading specialist working in an urban school district with struggling readers in K-5. Do you have any suggestions on intervention programs that you find the most beneficial to students? Currently, we are using LLI (Fountas and Pinnell), Sonday, Read Naturally and Soar to Success, at the interventionist’s discretion. […]
Read More....By Rosemary Tannock, Ph.D.
Q: What is SLD1 according to DSM-5?
A: DSM-5 considers SLD to be a type of Neurodevelopmental Disorder2 that impedes the ability to learn or use specific academic skills (e.g., reading, writing, or arithmetic), which are the foundation for other academic learning. The learning difficulties are ‘unexpected’ in that other aspects of development seem […]
Read More....By Alice Thomas
All children are motivated. However, not all children are motivated about that which we want them to be motivated. (The same is true for adults.) How, then, do we keep students in our classrooms motivated and engaged?
The underlying knowledge a teacher must have to orchestrate differentiated instruction day after day, hour after hour, […]
Read More....By Daniel Willingham
Question: It seems like students today have a love affair with technology. They are much more up-to-date on the latest gadgets, and they seem to have a sixth sense about how to use them. Is it true that growing up with cutting-edge technology has left them thinking differently than students of past generations? […]
Read More....By Alice Thomas
The underlying ability a teacher must have to orchestrate differentiated instruction day after day, hour after hour, by assessing his/her students and adjusting strategies and tactics moment by moment, requires sophisticated knowledge and skills.
To successfully use differentiated instruction, a teacher must first have a firm understanding of each of the cognitive components of […]
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