The Blog - Page 9 of 9 - Check in with Mrs G

Help your Writing Resistant Students

“But, I Don’t Know What to Write”

Isn’t this how it goes… You introduce a writing topic to your students. Students get excited about the sentence you want them to come up with. You show an example on the board. Then, you turn them loose looking forward to greatness! Within ten seconds you hear the dreaded phrase… “I don’t know what to write”. Such is the life of a teacher.

Writing Interventions

In teaching special education, I have needed to find a concrete ways to help students write. Here are my top three tips to try with students who are resistant writers:

Use a sentence stem! Ask students to complete a sentence and providing them with the first few words.
Take the pressure off! Remove time limits when you can. No more, “you have to do this before lunch.” Instead be sure students understand why it is important in the big picture.
Break it down! Even with older students, start at the very beginning. Make sure their grasp is a tripod. Have them highlight first if needed. Allow them to choose from one of two preselected topics. Given them a visual and written prompt.

Resources to Help Students Start

Ugh, for some of my resistant writers this is the hardest part of their day. It is painful to watch them struggle through it while their classmates scribble away. With these students in mind, I created two scaffolded writing journals as a part of my Elementary Writing Bundle. Both Writing Journal I and Writing Journal II are meant for Pre-K-2nd grade students and have visuals to support each prompt and are set up like this:

1: Highlight the sentence.

2: Trace the same sentence.

3: Copy the sentence.

4: Complete the sentence with support from the picture.

Try It for FREE

What I have found is that this scaffolded approach helps remove that initial “I don’t know what to write” barrier and helps students find confidence. Print a free sample of this journal by clicking here. I hope it reduces some writing anxiety for your students! You can extend the learning by having students complete writing morning work everyday! You can read about it here:)

by admin

Check In and Out with your Students Everyday

As our school moves towards an RTI model we are being encouraged to use a daily check in check out system. We meet with our own students and even make connections with students who may not be in our classes. When I heard this plan I was skeptical, sounds like more layers. I was right! It is more layers and it is wonderful!

Building relationships with students is why I became a teacher. So, the check in check out system already aligned with my values. I believed they would have a positive impact on students. I could not have guessed that these small daily interactions would change me as a teacher!

When I Started CICO…

Classroom behaviors decreased, I saw my students as individuals again, and the joy returned to my teaching practice! Reading these small and personal notes helped me keep my eyes above the waves of paperwork, chaos and all of the other things that weigh us down as teachers. I immediately felt more connected to the reason I became a teacher in the first place!

After two weeks of RTI check ins, I decided that a check in and check out was worthy use of ten minutes each day for all of my students. So… I got to work!

30 Days of Check In Check Out

I and started using a check in check out journal for thirty days with my learning support groups both k-2 and 3-5. This way students had an opportunity to respond to a quick prompt about themselves each morning. I gave them the option of answering the prompt as written or writing something they felt it was important for me to know. On most days, student responded to to the prompts. On other days, I was left near tears with the things my students shared. It helped me know where they were at each morning and gave me many entry points to connect with them.

When students stopped by to check out with me, they quickly used the rating scale to assign a number to their day. This was so insightful especially during high stress times (like state testing)! I found out quickly what was important to the kids in my groups and I used it to inform my teaching during our social group time. On days that we found ourselves with a few extra minutes, I asked for volunteers to share out. Student to student connections were deepened. A sense of acceptance and understanding spread throughout my groups during these ten minute talks. Students supporting their peers…This is the good stuff! The culture in my classroom thrived.

Resources for the Next Step

At the end of the thirty days I was impressed with the deepened relationships I had with my students. When we completed our journals, they asked for more! Some of my most resistant writers were standing in front of me asking if they had any more check ins to complete! This was a huge teaching win for me. I could not let this opportunity pass! I now have check in check out system for the entire school year. To encourage creativity, the new monthly journals allow students to complete their prompts using a combination of writing and sketching. You can try it with your students for FREE by clicking here.

I will continue to experiment in my classroom with different ways of checking in and out with each student! If you have a check in check out system that works with your students I would love to hear about it.

by admin

Listening and Following Directions on a Holiday

Teach your students to follow directions with Following Directions Activities… even on a holiday!

listening-and-following-directions-activities-for-elementary-students

If you have ever stepped foot in an elementary classroom on a holiday you know that there is a buzz. The holiday itself does not seem to matter. It can be a big name event like Christmas, or a B list holiday like Groundhogs day (you can read about my seasonal writing activities here!). You can almost see the energy radiating off of each student.

It makes you wish you could capture it in your coffee cup and drink it in slowly throughout your day. It makes you happy to be with such hopeful little people.

And it makes you scared….

If you don’t contain it or at least direct it, it is an energy that will turn into an ugly classroom management nightmare and take no prisoners.

Listening & Following Directions Elementary Activities

In an attempt to use the power of holidays for good in my classroom, I created a series of following directions activities. And, because I am about inclusion, it is scaffolded to include three different levels!

Each activity includes a messy, holiday themed picture. A one page story about the holiday that has instructions on what to find and color woven throughout. The first version of the story is written in paragraph format. The second version of the story is written in paragraph format but includes a number at the end of each paragraph. This number indicates the number of clues within that paragraph. The third version of the story is a list of instructions telling the student exactly what to look for and what color to use.

How to Use It

In my class, I give all students the coloring page. I read the story aloud and have them search and color as they hear clues. Then, I pass the story out to each student at a level I know will work for them. I give them time to underline the clues and color what they may have missed. These activities are an engaging way to practice auditory processing, looking for text evidence, and reading comprehension.

I have found that when my students who are not strong readers are given the list version of the story, they are able to complete the assignment at the same time or before my students who are reading through the entire passage. Because everyone is working on the same picture, the final product is the same for all students.

I invite you to harness the holiday energy of your students and avoid the classroom management monster! Back to School, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Winter, Reading Week, Valentines, Leprechaun, Earth Day, Last Day of School, and Memorial Day… We are ready for you!

by admin

Vocational Concepts for Special Education

Before I became a Special Ed teacher, I worked at a non-profit with young adults who had cognitive disabilities. These clients were 17-22 years old and were transitioning into their first jobs. The vocational education materials I found were written with academic language. The content was inaccessible for my clients. So, I developed what would become the first draft of my Life Skills Vocational products.

Vocational Education for Special Needs Students

All of the products in my vocational series introduce students to vocabulary and concepts that they will find in the workplace. The Vocational Reading Comprehension Workbooks I & II, teach workplace vocabulary: clocking in, paychecks, job duties, work schedule, interviewing and more. The reading comprehension tasks are broken into five parts to support scaffolding based on individual student need. (You can read about my lesson plan for teaching Vocational Problem Solving here!)

Vocational Interactive Notebook

In the Vocational Interactive Notebook, students walk through each step in looking for a job. It includes searching for a job, applying for a job and interviewing. Students are prompted with meaning making questions such as, “why do people get jobs?” and “what type of job might you want to have?”. Students create their own map for the job application process. I spent four weeks to complete this with my students. You can find the bulletin board visuals here. I love that this notebook sparked so many insightful conversations.

Writing Workbooks & Adapted Books

In the spirit of accessibility and respect, I created a vocational writing workbook for a client with significantly impaired dexterity. His disability meant that he had the most success when using a speech to text program. However, his motivation to do the same work as the rest of our group meant that he wanted to develop his writing with his peers. Unfortunately, what I found were many amazing resources that had pictures and topics appropriate for elementary students.

So, I developed a vocational workbook that has large primary lines and four tasks for each for each vocational vocabulary word: highlight, trace, copy, and complete the sentence. This workbook allowed him to participate in group in a way that was similar to his peers but still met his needs. For extended independent learning, I created Adapted Books.

Want to try job skills resources for FREE?

Life Skills Reading Comprehension Vocational FREEBIE

Vocational Interactive Notebook FREEBIE

FREEBIE Vocational Problem Solving

Looking for vocational education curriculum for special needs?

My favorite thing about teaching special needs is also my biggest challenge. Each student’s needs are uniquely their own. Every student has a completely different ability. Being attentive to the individual’s needs yet respectful of their chronological age is where the magic happens! If you are teaching vocational education for special needs students my Vocational Life Skills Bundle maybe a good fit for you. If you try any of the products in this series, thank you! I would love to hear your feedback!