By Sara Finegan

         I post on a lot of message boards about learning disabilities and autism, and I also get a lot of emails from people who are following my blogs.  One of the most frequent topics is:  how a teacher told a parent that a student “doesn’t have reading comprehension.”

         Naturally, the parents want to know what to do. 

         The problem, of course, is that reading comprehension isn’t something you “HAVE” or “GET”, as in purchasing at a store or obtaining through a tutor.  You can’t put it on and take it off like a sweater, and you can’t keep it in the fridge until you need it.

         Reading comprehension is all about a reader’s relationship to text, and is based almost entirely on his or  her engagement and interaction with the piece being read.  It’s the relationship.  Relationship, relationship, relationship.

         Thinking of it in terms of a relationship leads me to the next step, which is to ask whether, when a friend discusses  a relationship that is flawed or failing, we simply let him or her  say “it’s not good” and leave it at that, or whether we start probing and asking questions to try to piece out what’s going on (or not going on).

         If you’re the kind of person who runs a demanding classroom, that’s exactly what you do.

What is this relationship with text made up of? 

         What behaviors does one see in a good relationship with text?  I’m ready to talk about a few, and will post more at another time.

         We’ll start with fiction and narrative.  (The relationship a reader has with informational, non-fiction text involves some different behaviors, so that will be the topic of another post.)  Research has shown that good readers of fiction do a number of different things when they read: 

• They visualize what they are reading about.  Like a movie in one’s head, a good reader sees what the text is describing.  This helps the reader enter into the world of the story, and leads to all sorts of other behaviors we like to see.
• They make inferences based on what they’re reading.  Good readers know that, in the best stories, the author shows you what’s happening instead of telling you directly, and they are able to infer ideas, feelings, and motives, not to mention facts, from what the author does with words.
• They ask questions as they read.  Lots of questions, knowing that they will find the answers in the story as it moves along.  This is done especially when they are trying to figure out what is going on, but also when they are thinking about things like character motives, and the conflict in the story.
• They use their background knowledge (personal, and from other stories they’ve read, as well as knowledge about the genre) to make predictions.  A good reader is going to know in a fantasy novel that there is going to be a struggle between good and evil, and that magical or fantastical creatures are probably going to play a role in the battle.  A good reader is going to use her personal knowledge of what it’s like to be the youngest in the family to predict how a baby sister may react during a family holiday. 
• They make connections between their own experiences and feelings and those of characters in the book.  They also make connections between world events and issues and people and events in the book.  And they make connections between stories, comparing one character in a book to a character in another book, etc.
• They check for understanding, pausing periodically to make sure they know what’s happening, and going back and re-reading if it’s unclear to them.

         It is our obligation as teachers to investigate, when a child clearly isn’t understanding what she or he is reading, what behaviors the child is engaging in, and what reading behaviors are weak.  It is based on this information that we can devise interventions that work, supports that help the child begin to make meaning from text.

         In a demanding classroom, the staff pays attention to each reader, keeping notes or logs about conferring sessions, guided reading interactions, and other data that will help them determine what skills to teach next. 

          In a demanding classroom, the teacher can, with pretty good specificity, explain to parents and colleagues what particular areas of need the child has with regard to his or her relationship to a book or story. 

          And in a demanding classroom, a report at a parent conference that “Johnny doesn’t understand what he’s reading” is followed immediately by  “and I have observed him and conferred with him, and I think here’s what’s going on and what our next steps should be.” 

For more of my posts on reading comprehension teaching strategies, see our other blog, Readers With Autism: http://readerswithautism.com .

autism · background knowledge · connections · demanding classroom · fiction · high expectations · inferences · inferencing · learning disabilities · learning disabled · narrative · predictions · questioning · questions · Reading · reading behaviors · reading comprehension · relationship · relationship with text · rigor · Sara Finegan · special education · standards · teaching strategies · understanding · visualization · visualize

By Sara Finegan 

         I’m all in favor of worksheets, as long as they are challenging, require the students to write complete thoughts with detail as opposed to one-word answers, and as long as they are designed for a purpose other than just seat work. 

         The danger of using worksheets in a special ed classroom is that you will inadvertently or through ignorance keep the kids at the most basic levels of  intellectual behavior. 

          We want the kids to move up, not remain static.  This can be done when the information and concepts they learn are re-enforced at ever-increasing levels of intellectual demand.

          I use worksheets in social studies and science to teach and re-enforce students’ independent thinking and learning.  They are designed to get kids thinking, finding information that they’ve learned already, and using it appropriately.  When the system works well, it creates a ladder upwards for kids to move through the critical thinking levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy:

         In many special ed classrooms, students stay at the Knowledge level and never proceed upwards.  In others, Knowledge and Understanding are the sum total of the instructional plan.

         Such limitations will re-enforce student reliance on adults for learning. 

         Such limitations will teach kids that learning is all about knowledge, not what you do with it.

We use charts, and more charts 

        In a typical unit of Social Studies, we will create 5-10 charts of information about a culture, civilization, or era.

          I like to create “thinking maps” (also known as “mindmaps”) while we’re studying, and use different colors of marker to delineate the categories of data we are taking in. 

         We also create mindmaps that have a standard organization; for example, kids know that “Lifestyles” is usually on the right hand side of the “spider,” and time periods and locations are in the upper left and upper middle of the map.

         These charts are posted all around the room or pulled off of hangers to display when we are doing content-area work.  They are used for a variety of activity types, all designed to promote ever-increasing critical thinking among the students. 

         The purpose is for kids to learn where to find and retrieve information that they learn. I don’t require them to memorize historical information.  They will, of course, by the time we’re done with a unit, but the goal is actually for them to be able to apply the facts to ongoing themes of understanding and analyze these themes as we continue to learn.

          I create worksheets several times per week throughout the course of a unit.   When we begin to study a topic, the questions are all knowledge-based: 

• When did Menes unify Upper and Lower Egypt? 
• Where did Homo Habilis live? 
• Which tribes lived in the southeast region of North America?
• Who paid for the Mayflower Pilgrims’ passage to America? 
• List two grains grown by colonists in Virginia.

         Students are encouraged to get up and move around the room looking for the answers to the questions.   (See related topic, “Moving into Learning.”)   They quickly learn in my classroom that they can predict where they’ll find information, using the color-coded organization of the mindmaps. 

I repeat questions using different forms and formats, because I do want the kids to begin to really internalize the facts.  Thus, in almost every worksheet on the Ancient Maya, I’ll have similar questions about religion, clothing, food, and government.  Similar, but not identical, because I want kids to see that we can think of the same information in different ways.

         As we progress through the unit and the kids do more and more searching for and finding facts, the information begins to embed into the kids’ memory banks.  As this happens, I want them to start using the information they have more readily available, and I want them to  think more deeply about the information.

         My questions become more complex or demanding.  I might begin to ask: 

• What did Menes do to symbolize his control over both Upper and Lower Egypt? 
• Why didn’t Homo Habilis eat a lot of meat? 
• Why did many tribes in the southeast region have separate villages in the summer and winter? 
• Why did the  Virginia Company agreed to lend the Pilgrims the money to travel to America?  
• Why didn’t the colonists in Connecticut grow rice?

TIP:  One of the first things we decide in my class at the beginning of the year is how to answer questions. 

We decide what constitutes knowledge and what shows that someone is a smart thinker.  We decide that one or two word answers do not show either knowledge or smart thinking.  We determine that all questions should be answered in complete sentences, unless I specifically state otherwise. 

         We also decide that the use of appropriate word choice is important.  This is something that we work on strengthening throughout the year, and expectations raise as we go.  Within a few months, kids know that verbs such as  “were” and “had” need to be abandoned in favor of more specific ones, such as “resided,” “lived,” “created,” or “contained.”  “Many” and “numerous” replace “a lot.”  “Crafts,” “artifacts,” “tools,” and “belongings” are used instead of “things.”

         Later questions are more open-ended and require the kids to utilize the facts to come to and defend conclusions.  I might give a short paragraph describing an archeological excavation in Spain that uncovers a small settlement used by prehistoric peoples.  Archeologists find remnants of a campfire with animal bones, and a hand axe.  The time period in which they were used is approximately 1.5 million years ago. 

         The kids are asked to identify the probable species of early human who used the settlement, and explain their reasoning.   I will expect them to discuss the use of fire and tools as well as the time period to substantiate their conclusion that it belonged to Homo Erectus.

          By the middle of the year when we study Ancient Civilizations, my students are expected to answer the following question: 

If you were an archeologist wanting to begin an excavation in Ancient China looking for the remnants of the earliest settlements, what points would you look for on a map and why?

         I would expect all of my students to be able to articulate that one would look near a fresh water source, because people needed water to drink and to water their crops. 

         By mid-year, I expect my students to be describing  the types of information they are going to learn when they open to the newest unit in the textbook, and to make predictions using their considerable bank of background knowledge about what each culture or civilization contained as it grew and developed.

         In a demanding classroom, kids are expected to retrieve and use information, not just have it.

Bloom's taxonomy · charts · critical thinking · demanding classroom · high expectations · learning disabilities · learning disabled · mindmaps · rigor · rigorous instruction · Sara Finegan · social studies · special education · standards · thinking maps · word choice · worksheets

By Sara Finegan

           When I first started teaching, I thought that the school’s Speech /Language Pathologist was pulling kids out of the classroom once or twice a week to work on things like stuttering, lisps, and other impediments.  It was several years before I caught on to the fact that more and more kids these days, both in and out of special education, have expressive and receptive language deficits, which is quite different from my initial perceptions.

            That was back when I had no idea what the different types of learning disabilities were.  (Isn’t it odd that in the entire body of coursework we follow to get certificated in special education, most of us are never explicitly taught what each of the disabilities are?  When was the last time you discussed the nature of “Specific Learning Disability” or “Non-verbal Learning Disorder,” or “auditory memory weaknesses”?  It’s the weirdest thing, and one that if we’re smart, we’ll address on our own by doing simple research and talking to our Speech/Language and Psychology experts.) 

Language deficits defined 

            Expressive language deficits mean that a child experiences difficulty retrieving and using the words and grammar necessary to convey ideas.  Receptive language deficits means that a child struggles to understand language, the meaning of words, and the intent of the speaker.

            I have a theory about these deficits; that they involve both biological and sociological factors.   Hear me out.

             Think about the generation we’re working with.  Both parents generally work at least one job, sometimes two.  In-depth conversations, where adults model interactive communication and their thinking processes as they address world and family issues, conflict, and decision-making, tend to be less frequent and often non-existent when the family schedule is filled with activities, work, and time constraints.  What passes for conversation in many of our homes is really just direction-giving and reporting-out:

• “Put the eggs in the fridge and watch your brother.”
• “Get dressed.  You don’t want to be late for school.  I don’t have time to drive you.”
•  “You pick up Timmy today, right?  I have to work late.”

            For kids who already have difficulty with language, this is not a scenario designed to support improvement.  Kids don’t have much opportunity to talk and be engaged in discussions.  Parents don’t have time to think aloud or model how they think about what they do, read, or see on TV.    As a result, an area of need quickly becomes and remains a weakness which impairs not just communication, but learning.

             These deficits are rather unobtrusive and you won’t notice them right away, often not until it’s time for a child to talk or write about what s/he is learning.  Even then, if you accept language like “he got some stuff at the store” instead of “while he was at the store, he bought three oranges and a can of tomato sauce”, you’re not going to be pay much attention to it.

            And there’s the key:  Too many of us accept vague language and do not demand specificity and the use of powerful vocabulary, because we either don’t realize what’s going on, or don’t have time to figure out how to change things, or figure that expressive and/or receptive language deficits are something the Speech Pathologist is going to handle. 

Demand specific and powerful vocabulary 

            In a demanding classroom, specific vocabulary is taught and used, word choice is emphasized, and instruction provides daily opportunities to talk meaningfully and practice expressing and understanding one another in every subject area. 

            I’ll be writing about some things that have worked in my classroom.  I want to hear what you do as well.  It’s good to have a library of terrific ideas to pull out and select from each year.

demanding classroom · expressive language · high expectations · language deficits · learning disabilities · learning disabled · receptive language · rigor · rigorous instruction · Sara Finegan · special education · speech pathology · standards · vocabulary