Susan’s note: Some teachers struggle to effectively use technology in the classroom. During a program I did in Columbus, OH, I met Amanda. She told me about how she uses Google Images to support vocabulary. Amanda was kind enough to outline her strategies so that I could share them here.

Every one of these ideas could be used in any subject area and there are a number of ways you might apply these strategies in your classroom. Please comment below and add your ideas to this list!

1. Continuum of meaning – Have student search a word with degrees of meaning, such as “anger.” Then have them pick five images and order them (from least to most angry), then compare their images with their peers.

2. Continuum of meaning, antonyms – Just like #1, but use antonyms like “hot” and “cold.”

3. Continuum of personal application, close to their lives / far from their lives. For example, use the word “regal.” Students might find an image to represent their cat and and image of Princess Diana to illustrate both ends of the spectrum.

4. Have students make a personal image “glossary” of content vocabulary using google images instead of verbal linguistic definitions.

5. Play “Memory” of words for visual representation. Keep words, definitions, and visual representations of words visible so NO ONE guesses!

6. Play a match game of words and definitions to visual pictures that the teacher finds. This can be used as formative assessment.

7. Post a current events type Google Image. Challenge students to make a link from a vocabulary word to the image, and defend it. Class votes on funniest, best, most meaningful, etc. for prizes or points.

8. Post a word and its meaning. Kids find example and non-example images, and explain why each image fits, or not.

9. Post an image and ask students to find and explain the “most interesting” (or any other qualifier) word to describe that image.

Kids love to use technology and they have fun with these activities!

Amanda McNinch
Struthers City Schools

For more information about using technology to strengthen instruction, see Susan Fitzell’s book, Using iPads and Other Cutting Edge Technology to Strengthen Your Instruction.

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Over 20 years ago, when I first began working and consulting nationally with teachers to implement brain-based, best practice teaching strategies in classrooms, the terms we used were much different than those we use today. We’ve gone from “Learning Styles” and “Multiple Intelligences” to “Differentiated Instruction.” We now have brain-based research to back up much of the strategies some of us have used for decades. We’ve seen and heard the terms, “Brain-Based Learning” or “Whole Brain Learning.” Now we are hearing and seeing terms like “Neuro-diversity.” We’ve gone from “Mainstreaming” to “Inclusion.” Then there’s “Response To Intervention” and, in at least one state in the union,  special education teachers have been re-designated as “Intervention Specialists.” Today, we are hearing  much about “Universal Design for Learning” and we now have the massive research analysis by Dr. John Hattie referenced in “Visible Learning.”

The Shocking Truth

At the heart of all these theories, ideas, and different classifications, regardless of the labels, what we’re really talking about is adjusting our teaching to respect the way our students learn. It’s about employing strategies that reach students, that have been proven to work through research and resulting data analysis, and then using that information to teach so that all students can achieve to their highest potential. Ultimately, it is about applying what I like to refer to as Really Terrific Instruction (See what I did there?).

Honor Your Students’ Learning Preferences (And make your teaching even more amazing!)

To honor all the changes that we’ve seen over the years, I’m highlighting five of my “12 Ways” articles that offer timeless strategies on how to teach  all students, no matter what labels you, your school, or your state are currently using. Even though the language changes, and the framework in which they are presented may be “upgraded”  and “fine tuned,” these are practical, no-nonsense, research-based strategies that help show us how to teach all students.

• 12 Surefire Ways to Remember Vocabulary

• 12 Ways to Help ESL and ELL Students

• 12 Do-Able Homework Assignments for All Students

• A Dozen Ways to Support Learning Styles

• A Dozen Surefire Ways to Boost Memory in the Diverse Classroom

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For Thousands Of Tips To Teach… So Your Students Are Top Performers Get this Book Now!   Gain more knowledge on differentiation strategies to reach ALL learners Get Susan Fitzell’s book Now. Don’t waste any time Special Needs in the General Classroom, Strategies That Make It Work. Available in both print and electronic versions! Want quality professional development you can afford? Save time with this popular PD option: A Professional Development Kit, for all teachers, with a Graduate Credit Option! Bring Susan to your campus! Featured seminar – Differentiation Strategies to Reach ALL Learners in the Inclusive Classroom

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Many students who may need a vocabulary intervention are Bodily-Kinesthetic learners, meaning they learn through their bodies and they need to “move” their bodies in order to learn at their highest potential.

These six strategies will help, those students, and all your students, learn, by making movement a positive learning force in your classroom:

1. Have your students act out vocabulary words with their bodies.  If used as a “skit” activity, this will give them a visual picture to remember their words. When students perform their vocabulary words, they associate the movement, through muscle memory, with their vocabulary and visual learners will benefit, as well.

2. Have the class clap out the syllables of their vocabulary words while they chant or speak them out loud.  This is a great strategy for helping kids remember long and multisyllabic words as it applies to both auditory and kinesthetic learners.

3. Kinesthetic Alphabetizing: Put vocabulary words on individual cards and pass them out to the class.  Then have them move around the room and, at a signal from you, form groups (of five or less, depending on grade level and vocabulary) and line up in alphabetical order. Once they are lined up, each student will recite their word, along with a definition and the spelling of the word. This strategy is great for kinesthetic learners and linear thinkers.

4. Kinesthetic Prepositions: Have students use an object such as a pencil and hold it in, under, over, next to, beside, or above their desk to act out prepositions. The brain associates the position of the object, and the movement, with the preposition.

5. Teach students to finger spell their vocabulary and spelling words using sign language. Not only will they learn vocabulary, they’ll learn a great skill at the same time. Finger spelling has proven to be a valuable tool for many children who struggle with vocabulary and spelling.

6. Build vocabulary skills at home: Suggest to parents that they turn on the closed captioning when their kids watch television. Even though students may not focus on the words shown on the screen, their brains will “see” the words and help to support what they are actively viewing.

How To Teach Mnemonic Movement Cues so Students Learn More!

For more information on differentiation and Response to Intervention, see Susan Fitzell’s book, RTI Strategies for Secondary Teachers.

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I was driving out of my comfort zone to pick up a complete stranger. You can imagine. I was both excited and nervous. Going through my mind were all of the icebreakers and questions I could conjure up while focusing on the road. It was what my heart wanted, I knew deep down that it was all going to be worth it; we’d give it our best shot, and things would work out for the best. One thing that I wasn’t prepared for, though, was that first car ride home.

I figured that the drive would give us a nice opportunity to open up and get more familiar with each other. Before much was said though, Freddie grabbed his earbuds (headphones to me) out of his pocket and plugged in his iPod. I was left alone with my thoughts, “How can you have a conversation when the headphones are in? How do you hear what is going on?”

I have to confess, as Bev told her story, my mind wandered, comparing a typical ride in the car with my two children. When they were little, we didn’t have iPods, but they weren’t allowed to listen to their personal CD players in the car. I felt it was important that we agreed on music in the car. We shared different people’s music. Maybe it was Dad’s turn to choose a CD, then my daughter’s turn to pick one, and so on. Then with the music in the background, we had conversations.

Even today, my kids don’t get in the car and put on their headphones. They listen to the music playing in the car. Why? Because we still often have conversations while we ride. I can get the Internet on my phone with the latest news, and sometimes I will pipe up about something interesting when I’m in the passenger seat. That is just one way we start a discussion.

Tuning back in, I heard Bev continue with her story…

When we arrived at home Chuck was in the backyard busy grilling dinner. I took Freddie out back and introduced the two of them, but still, Freddie didn’t take out his headphones. As we sat down for dinner, I finally asked, “Freddie, I’d like you to unplug yourself while we eat.” Once I had access to his ears I said, “I do not advocate headphones at the table. Dinner is a great time to talk and get to know each other a little.”
He looked at me baffled and asked, “What does ‘advocate’ mean?”

I was surprised. Isn’t that a common word, something a teen should know? But I explained what it meant, and I said, “Thank you for asking about the meaning of that word because we don’t want to use language that you don’t understand. If there is any word we ever use that you don’t know, just ask, and we will tell you.”

Eventually our conversation moved to our plans for the coming weeks. Chuck and I soon realized we had very different opinions about our plans and time commitments. But we discussed our ideas, considered the alternatives, asked Freddie for his opinion, and came to a compromise. Freddie ate but didn’t say much else until dinner was over. As we were leaving the table, Freddie asked, “Do you two always do that?”

“Do what?” I asked.

“You know, talk like that.”

“Like what?”

“Well, in my house everything that gets brought up turns into an argument. People get mad, they throw things, I put my music in and try to block it all out. You guys just talked, talked a lot, and then you agreed, even though you both had different ideas, even though you both thought your idea was better.”

I had to tell him, “That’s the way adults make decisions. And, yes, sometimes we have to compromise.”

Listening to Bev’s astonishment at Freddie’s response, I could appreciate her surprise; my husband and I also talk out our disagreements rather than argue. It brought me to thoughts of my classroom, “Freddie’s the type of kid I have in class. I wonder how many of my students also never see two adults work out a problem in a respectful way.”
This is one of those tidbits that might appear to be a bit of fluff, but it’s not. Research has shown that when students feel safe, comfortable, and positive in their environment and can participate in discussions, achievement goes up.

In another way, for me, this is one of the silver linings because it’s the kind of thing that feeds our souls. When two teachers work together in front of our students, we’re role models of adults working well together, collaborating, and respecting each other. That is something our students might not see otherwise. And that’s powerful.

As a parent, I believe in family dinner or family breakfast. We were often busy at dinner, so breakfast became our family meal. Even though my children didn’t have to be at school until 8:30 a.m., they got up at six in the morning for our family breakfast because I had to be at school by 7:15 a.m. We had breakfast together right up through their high school years until I changed careers, and even then, I usually got up to spend time talking with them before they left for school.

Why is this important? Because I had a paradigm, I had a vision of the world, and the way my children were to be raised. I thought I was the average parent doing the average thing.

I also couldn’t help but relate Bev’s conversation about Freddie not understanding the meaning of “advocate” to my classroom. How often in a high school classroom might we use the word advocate in social studies, literature, or every day conversation? To me, too, that is a common word in high school.

I have taught students with special needs my entire career. I had children in my classroom with lower ability to read. I had gone to Ruby Payne’s workshop on poverty. I read the statistics and heard the speakers say, “Children of poverty come to us with 50 percent less vocabulary than children of the middle class.”

I thought I understood. I really did! When I stood in front of my class and I taught my students, I tried to bring language to their level, enough so that they could understand but still keep up. I thought they understood what I was saying. The story taught me that probably a good amount of the vocabulary I used, my students didn’t know, and they would never raise their hand and say, “Mrs. Fitzell, what does that word mean?”

How many times was I speaking a foreign language? I had read the books! I had the experience! I used the strategies; yet I had no clue.

Bev’s story hit home, and I have become passionate about vocabulary and its importance in our children’s lives. Not to mention its importance in our world. Every research study done that measures a person’s vocabulary against their success in life shows that the better your vocabulary, the more successful you are in life, in your careers, and in every way.

So, it is important that we as teachers, especially those of us who work with kids with special needs or learning disabilities, don’t assume anything about what they know. Assuming that students understand our words is a path for failure with our students. Their home lives and experiences are often very different from ours, and we need to be mindful of that if we are to give them the best possible learning experience in our classrooms.

This article was first published on Teachers.net Gazette

For more information on differentiation and Response to Intervention, see Susan Fitzell’s book, RTI Strategies for Secondary Teachers.

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I quickly grow tired of sitting down when working long days.  Therefore, I can appreciate and understand where a student is coming from when they express the same feeling while studying, doing homework, or even doing work in the classroom. To me there is no reason that I, or a student, should have to remain sitting when working or studying.  Sitting when uncomfortable, or when just plain tired of sitting, could actually be more distracting to your student, and those around her, than moving around.  In fact, motion is a very useful study tool!  Movement oxygenates the brain and involves a deeper part of your brain in the memory process. While some may doubt the motion-memory connection, consider this; when was the last time you sang The Itsy-Bisty Spider?  Unless you have sung it with children, it probably wasn’t recently.  But can you still sing and act out the song? Of course you can! So, maybe motion does help with memory.

Ways to Incorporate Motion into Studying

1. Act out vocabulary words with your student
2. Have your student come up with a (nice) gesture to represent key people, places, or things
3. Use sign language
4. Use basketball memorization: If you have a hoop in your driveway or local gym, help your student to make a game out of stating a fact and then shooting a basket.  It does not matter what rules you make up.  The movement, fun, and challenge in the activity are what are important.  Your student can do this with a friend or classmate and take turns helping each   other.  If your student likes football, soccer, or any other sport better, use that sport as the foundation.  Help your student make their own rules.  As long as memorizing information is part of the game rules, it will be effective.

Watch this Video! Don’t Wait Another Moment! Perform Better On The Test Now!

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Special Needs is ALL types of Learners including gifted, at-risk, English Language Learners, 504, Special Education Needs, and Honors Students. These strategies work for ALL!

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Homework is controversial. There’s research that says it’s not beneficial. There’s research that indicates that it increases achievement. Which is it? Because I know that I need to do some “homework” no matter whether it’s school work or practicing my Kung Fu, I believe there is value on what I call “do-able” homework. The goal of homework is to take something learned earlier in the day and bring it back into working memory before bedtime. Research shows that practice increases recall the next day. It’s not about quantity, or the amount of time spent on the homework. Rather, it’s about forcing your brain to remember what was learned several hours ago and thereby building those neural connections.

As parents, we can use homework strategies to adapt assignments to our child’s learning preferences so that they retain what they learned in school earlier in the day. How? Here is a list of seven strategies that you can use at home to help your child increase their academic performance and make the homework experience more enjoyable, rewarding, and productive.

How to remember the sequence of events

1. To help your child remember the sequence of events in a story or history lesson, have them create a cognitive map with words and pictures. Using visual images to represent facts or a series of events helps to enhance recall and learning. By using colored pencils, crayons, or even colored fonts on a computer, your child can create a step-by-step map of the story – complete with descriptions of events and drawings or clip art to help them remember what happened, in sequence.
2. Another way to help your child remember a sequence of events in a story or history lesson is to have them create a sequence chart. Think of this as a time line or story line that shows events drawn out and written in chronological order. Although this can be done on any type of paper, long adding machine tape works well. Don’t forget to use color and visuals to increase memory.

How to Study Vocabulary Words

3. Increase vocabulary retention by creating visual flash cards. This strategy uses visual images to enhance recall and learning. Have your child write their vocabulary word on an index card and then place a border around it. The border will help them memorize what the word looks like. Then have them draw, print from the internet, or cut out from magazines pictures that help define the word. Attach the visual to the front of the card. On the back of the index card, have your child write the definition and a silly sentence using the word to help them remember the definition.

Foldable Note-Taking

4. Create a “fold-able.” A fold-able is a small book made out of folded pieces of paper that can become a study guide for various things. For example, your child can make a fold-able for a series of vocabulary words, historical figures, or even the cell cycle. Each page of the mini book would display, through words and drawings or pictures, one vocabulary word, a historic figure and related fact, a stage in the cycle of a cell, etc. http://foldables.wikispaces.com/

Have your Child Teach You!

5. It has been shown that we learn and retain the most when we teach someone else – so be your child’s student! Divide up their vocabulary list into manageable chunks (start with two to three words per night), then have them learn to finger spell or sign the words on their list and teach them to you.

Mnemonic Strategies

6. Increase their ability to remember by teaching your child to use various memory devices such as mnemonics, associations, rhyming, chunking, acronyms, and acrostics. These devices help us to remember the order of things as well as facts and concepts. What works for one child may not work for another, so test each device and see what works best. Some examples:

A mnemonic: I Am A Person – The four oceans (Indian, Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific),

An acrostic: Mallory Valerie Emily Meetzahs Just Served Us Nachos – The order of the planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune).

A rhyme: 30 days has September; April, June, and November.

Famous Figure Wanted Poster

7. A fun way to help your child remember facts and concepts about famous figures is to have them create “wanted posters.” Have your child either use the computer or hand draw a wanted sign, complete with a picture of the famous figure. Then have them write the name of the person, their date of birth, and a list the “crimes” (facts) the person is “wanted” (famous) for – these will be facts about the person’s life and accomplishments. For example, Susan B. Anthony would be wanted for helping women gain equal rights.
http://mrslampkinsandmrsshawsclass.blogspot.com/2012/09/wanted-dead-or-alive.html

Remember, no one strategy will work for every child. Talk to your child and give them some options. Help them choose strategies that they are comfortable with and that they think will help them to retain the most information.

Have you, or your student, used any of these homework strategies? If so, how did they work for you? Have you adapted any of these homework strategies to make them your own? Tell us about that.

For more information about study strategies for your student, see Susan Fitzell’s book, Please Help Me With My Homework. Available in both print and electronic versions!

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While each student, and subject, is different and may require different methods for studying and learning, we have included some great ways to help you help your student learn vocabulary.

Vocabulary Study Strategy

1. Choose a vocabulary word
2. Print it on one side of a “flash” card (use index cards, heavy paper cut into strips, etc.)
3. Put a border around it.
4. Ask your child to tell you what he or she thinks it means, so that it draws from things your child already knows
5. Reinforce the correct definition
6. Print the definition on the other side of the “flash” card
7. Stand and act out a movement for the word while spelling it aloud three times!
8. Repeat the process with the next word on the spelling or vocabulary list.

If your child’s teacher requires that he or she write the words three times each in cursive, ask the teacher if your child can write the word two times in cursive and one time printed on a flash card.

Explain that you are better able to help your child using flash cards. Some children will not mind writing the words four times each. My children, however, objected to the extra work and even insisted, “But the teacher says I have to do it THIS way!” So, I made a deal with the teacher to have one set of words on flash cards and the teacher then told my child that it was okay.

Excerpted from Please Help Me With My Homework by Susan Gingras Fitzell.

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As a model for successful teaching of math vocabulary, I’d like to share an example I saw effectively demonstrated at Permian High School in Odessa, Texas.

Ms. McAnnelly and Ms. Pettus, co-teachers at the tenth grade level, made vocabulary review part of their teaching practice. One of the techniques they used was to choose a state test question and spend five minutes a class period, usually at the end of class, reviewing the vocabulary in that item. They did not spend any time working out the math. They only focused on the vocabulary.

They presented a test question via laptop and projector on a screen. Each student had an index card. They were to review the question presented and list any words that they did not understand on that index card. Given that the class had a large bi-lingual population, this was an especially important exercise. The teachers collected the index cards as the students finished. They then used the information on the cards to drive vocabulary instruction throughout the semester.

In addition to having students list the words on an index card, they discussed the question with the class as a whole. I was fascinated to learn that the students found the question phrase, “Which of the following best represents…” the most challenging part of the test item.

We tend to focus on math skill in preparation for state tests in math, however, we also need to concentrate on vocabulary. Many students may do poorly on the test because of a lack of vocabulary understanding rather than a lack of math skill.
It’s important to teach math vocabulary to all students. It’s critical for non-responders.

Also, teach students to look for clue words in math word problems.
• Clue Words for Addition: Sum, total, in all, perimeter
• Clue Words for Subtraction: Difference, how much more, exceed
• Clue Words for Multiplication: Product, total, area, times
• Clue Words for Division: Share, distribute, quotient, average

The post Teaching Math Vocabulary appeared first on Susan Fitzell.

While many teachers and parents often teach students to think positively and use relaxation techniques before a test, one important factor of test taking that is often overlooked is teaching students test vocabulary.  This is the vocabulary most frequently seen on essay questions, although they might be seen in multiple choice questions, too.

If we teach test vocabulary, what the words mean, and how they may look in different forms on a test, our students will be well prepared at test time.  Even when we must teach material below grade level to ensure understanding of content, it is imperative that we teach test vocabulary at grade level to ensure success at test time.

The following are test vocabulary words with definitions of what they mean on a test. This is not the classic definition, but the way the tests wants you to respond to them.

Discuss: Consider important characteristics and main points
Enumerate: List or discuss one-by-one
Explain: Give facts and details that make the idea or concept clear and understandable
Illustrate: Explain, using examples that demonstrate or clarify a point or idea
Compare: Show how items are similar as well as different; include details or examples
Contrast: Show how the items are different; include details or examples
Define: Give an accurate meaning of the term with enough detail to show you really understand it
Trace: Describe the development or progress of a particular trend, event, or process in chronological order
Evaluate: React to the topic in a logical way; discuss the merit, strengths, weaknesses, advantages, or limitations of the topic
Summarize: Cover the major points in brief form; use a sentence and paragraph form
Describe: Tell how something looks or happened, including how, who, where, and why
Justify: Give reasons that support an action, event, or policy
Criticize: Make judgments about quality or worth; include both positive and negative aspects
Prove: Demonstrate or establish that a concept or theory is correct, logical, or valid

Excerpted from Memorization and Test-Taking Strategies by Susan Gingras Fitzell.

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So, how about a homework assignment (students may need access to a school computer) that requires students to create a word collage of sorts with a website like http://www.wordle.net.

Would that encourage practice?  It doesn’t necessarily assist with the definitions; however, it is possible to include both the word and the definition in the Wordle design.  Not only would this be fun, it would be interactive, verbal linguistic AND non-linguistic representation.  We have the best of a few worlds of practice with this activity.  I’d love to hear others thoughts on this idea.

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