MiddleHigh

Writing a question or statement on a whiteboard and having students respond during the school day is becoming increasingly popular. It can be used as way to check in with students about a current topic and initiate discussion. Shown is one way to bring in the SGM^® icons. Put this board in view after lunch on the first day of school. You may also post the SGM^® Feelings Poster. Ask the students to write one word to describe how they were feeling before coming to school and one to describe how they currently are feeling...

Getting students back in the swing of a new school year can be a challenge. Here is an idea to help make this transition easier. Ask the students what their favorite summer memory is… Have them think about where they were (Setting) and what they did there. To help facilitate the sharing of these ideas students may use the SGM^® resources as shown below. Invite students to orally share these memories with the group. I used a removable adhesive tape so that I could display student work on the poster board as they orally shared memories. This lends itself especially well to teachers/interventionists/therapists who travel from class to class and who work with multiple grade levels...

Setting is a key area of instruction for students on the autism spectrum not only because they tend not to observe the “expected behaviors” or script for a given setting, but also because they often leave out details about Setting when telling stories to others, thus resulting in loss of a point of reference and confusion on the part of their listener. Students in social thinking/skills groups or individual treatment would therefore benefit from building descriptive skills through the use of the Setting Map contained in It’s All About the Story and other SGM resources. Once again, as visual and kinesethetic learners, working with resources they can see and manipulate assists in building these skills...

For this month’s Tech Tuesday, I will be discussing the use of a phenomenal and versatile app, Pic Collage, which can be used to make storyboards for books that can be analyzed as Complete Episode Narratives with use of Story Grammar Marker^®. Pic Collage has long been a favorite of mine, and I have written about it previously and presented with MindWing Concepts on its uses.  It seems that every time I sit down with a student, I find a new way to use this app! Pic Collage is a free app that is available for both iPad and Android devices...

A recent question from a colleague on our Official Story Grammar Marker® Facebook Professional Learning Community: 

What are your recommendations for working on listening comprehension and written language for middle age students? Thanks for your question, Sarah. In the twenty five years since the first Story Grammar Marker® was used in a classroom, we, at MindWing Concepts, Inc. have created multiple manuals and materials for tweens, and teens as they struggle with the text and how to communicate their responses to it. The academic focus gradually becomes the text of information, also called “expository text.” It is the text of science and social studies and the like...

As another school year winds down, I am reminded of what I always loved about teaching: There was always another year to plan to engage children, change approaches, learn new techniques, and grow as a professional!

As you pack up supplies and begin a few weeks of rest, file this idea away with your materials to consider implementing next year. This picture is an idea that Natalia Kofman, a colleague of mine in Westfield, MA, used to organize her SGM^® materials in her fourth grade classroom...