Gilmanton School Works to Reach All Learners
Last Friday, I did my “Differentiated Instruction Strategy Blast” seminar at Gilmanton School. Not only was a treated to breathtaking foliage on the way to this New Hampshire town, I spent the day with a motivated, positive staff who truly care about helping their students succeed.
Here’s the first indicator: The front tables filled up first! When I saw that happen I knew that I was in for a great day! Ok, it’s true, we presenters are partial to people who are willing to brave the front row.Teachers were also willing to share their best practices and resources with me.
Following are strategies and tips that are working for Gilmanton teachers.
- For students to build vocabulary skills at home, suggest to parents that they turn on the closed captioning on tv.
- Use the sign language alphabet to have students practice spelling words. We used it very successfully with special education students in grades 4-8. One first grade teacher plans to use it as a center. Idea contributed by Amy Small
- A great website for building vocabulary and doing a good deed is www.freerice.com – grammar, foreign languages, multiplication, vocab, science elements. Idea contributed by Erika Langlais
- For pictures to connect to vocabulary for visual vocabulary review cards, try http://www.makebeliefscomix.com – This site is a wonderful tool for teachers and students alike!
- Lastly, here is a a free online tool that has the potential to meet the needs of more than just the students with learning disabilities for whom it was intended. Read the Words — http://readthewords.com “Originally designed for students with disabilities, ReadTheWords accepts multiple input formats such as MS Word, PDF, or html for users to create readings. Output is a synthesized speech file in one of fifteen voices that can be heard online, downloaded, saved, and shared. If you download the toolbar, you can convert text in a web page to speech without having to go to ReadTheWord.com”