MindWing Concepts Blog

My father always told us to begin our essays with a clear definition of the topic. Thus, a promise to do something differently in the new year defines what many of us will be thinking of as 2018 rolls in! Several years ago, we presented a blog, “SGM is 25 Years Old & New Year’s Resolution Worksheet,” with a free downloadable for your classroom use. The worksheet, which would make an enjoyable group book for your classroom or with a few added touches, a bulletin board, has been updated and is available at right, modify as you wish...

In a previous post, I described a number of ways to complete language mapping activities digitally, taking paper out of the equation. Working with digital materials supports students who have difficulty writing and organizing their papers, and also makes strategic methodologies such as MindWing’s more shareable for consultation purposes. In that post I outlined how you can: • Annotate Maps on a Mac/PC • Annotate on iPad • Annotate in Google Drive • Create digital story maps in the SGM^® app. Recently we became aware of another resource, SnapType (Free to try, $4.99 for the full version), which was developed out of interventions in occupational therapy. SnapType was designed to be simple enough for a student to use independently, and has an interesting story behind it...

If you are looking for a delightful book to go along with cold, snowy weather, check out one I came across the other day, Snowmen at Night, written by Caralyn Buehner and illustrated by Mark Buehner. After a little boy notices that the snowman he built the day before looks a bit different, he begins to wonder what snowmen actually do at night. That is the kick-off of this rhyming story. The story is presented as a series of actions of the many activities of snowmen at night! It would be an ideal selection to use with Braidy the StoryBraid Doll...

If you are looking for a quick lesson to review the Character and Setting icons with preschool and K students, check out the two versions of Do You Want To Be My Friend? by Eric Carle. In both versions, a mouse runs to many animals in search of a friend, asking, “Do you want to be my friend?” At the end of the story, he accomplishes his goal with an added surprise! For each animal the mouse asks, we are given a clue of seeing the animal’s tail and then the page turns to show the entire animal. The miniature version has text which follows the same format throughout…The mouse asks each animal, “Do you want to be my friend?”...

Technology, as always, can help us bring contexts to the table, including the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Here is an updated list of tech-based visuals and interactives that can be used to elicit narrative and expository language using Story Grammar Marker^®, ThemeMaker, MindWing’s narrative and expository maps, magnets, and the SGM^® iPad App (still on sale through November for $14.99 in celebration of ASHA Convention). Epic! Books for Kids: This terrific resource offering free educator accounts and a huge variety of e-books (readable on iPad, web or Apple TV), offers some great contexts when you search for “Thanksgiving.” Among these are P is for Pilgrim: A Thanksgiving Alphabet (Crane/Urban), an alphabet book for all ages. Consider using this book to explore two different settings: past and present...

I recently have read several articles in our local papers describing encounters between residents and wild turkeys within our state (Massachusetts). I was surprised to learn that wild turkeys once were extinct in our area. Not knowing many facts about wild turkeys, my nephew and I came across a book at our local library here in Springfield, Massachusetts, written and illustrated by Jim Arnosky, All About Turkeys. This book and the companion fact sheets referenced above would be ideal to use with the Expository “My Research” Cut–and-Fold Booklet found in our “Core” of the Core manual. After reading both, invite students to fill in the booklet with a partner and share their results...