Fully revised and updated to address how we understand kids with learning difficulties as well as changes in education today, this is the definitive guide to meeting the needs of students with learning difficulties in all classrooms. This third edition of Teaching Kids with Learning Difficulties in Today's Classroom provides information on integrated learning, problem solving, and critical thinking. In line with 21st-century skills it reflects the use of technology and schoolwide cluster grouping in support of all students and includes proven, practical, classroom-tested strategies and step-by-step instructions for how to use them. Sidebars throughout highlight special information for working with students on the autism spectrum; "tech tips" describe technologies that are especially useful for kids with LD. Digital content includes all of the book's customizable forms, additional content organization charts, and a PDF presentation for book study groups and professional development.
Table of Contents:
Contents
List of Digital Content
List of Reproducible Pages
List of Figures
Introduction
Differentiation for Students with Learning Difficulties
The Power of Expectations: Strategies to Help Students Welcome Learning Challenges
What’s New in This Edition
Using the Book and Digital Content
Teacher Effectiveness Leads to Student Success
Chapter 1: Creating Active Learning for All Students
Welcoming Activities
More Ways to Create a Welcoming Environment
Welcoming English Language Learners into the Classroom
Getting Everyone Involved in Learning
The Name Card Method
Cooperative Learning
Questions and Answers
Chapter 2: Understanding Learning Difficulties and Intervening Effectively
Learning Difficulties
Being Gifted and Simultaneously Having Learning Challenges
Other Conditions That Make Learning Difficult
Other Conditions That Create Special Learning Needs
Attribution Theory and Learned Helplessness
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
Working as a Team with Special Education Teachers
Guidelines for Teaching Students with Learning Difficulties
Questions and Answers
Chapter 3: Using Students’ Learning Modalities to Facilitate Learning Success
Understanding Learning Modalities
Learning Modalities and School Success
Teaching Students About Learning Modalities
Teaching Your Students About Their Learning Modalities
Matching Teaching to Students’ Learning Modalities
Questions and Answers
Chapter 4: Ensuring That All Students Make At Least One Year’s Academic
Growth During Each School Year
The Revised IDEA
Creating a Mindset for Success in Learning and in Life
Goal Setting
Common Core As It Impacts Students with Learning Difficulties
Becoming Aware of One’s Own Thinking
Providing a Meaningful and Challenging Curriculum
Turning Kids On to Learning through Projects
Poverty
Seal the Deal: More Strategies to Make This Chapter Title Become a Reality
Using Technology As an Integral Component of Effective Teaching
Summary of Teaching Strategies for Students with Learning Difficulties and Those Emerging into
English Fluency
How Teaching Behaviors Can Improve Achievement
The School-Wide Cluster Grouping Model (SCGM)
Questions and Answers
Chapter 5: Teaching Integrated Language Arts, Including Literature, Sounds, and Writing
Reading
Formula for Success in Reading
Guidelines for Helping Students with Reading Difficulties Become Successful Readers
The Language Experience Method
Fluency
Improving Comprehension
Literature-Based Reading
Effective Guided and Independent Practice
Teaching Reading: Sounds, Spelling, and Vocabulary
The Evolution of Phonics
Phonics Instruction
Building Reading Vocabulary
Spelling and Vocabulary Instruction
Teaching Writing
What to Do When Students Hate to Write
What to Do When Students Don’t Know What to Write About
Writing Programs
The Writing Process
Penmanship and Handwriting
Making Writing Visual and Kinesthetic
Assessing Students’ Writing
Questions and Answers
Chapter 6: Reading and Learning with Informational Texts
Getting Ready to Learn
The Magic of Using Graphic Organizers
Understanding Content from Written Sources and Lectures
Chunking a Science Fair Project
Questions and Answers
Chapter 7: All Students Can Be Successful in Math
Ways to Get Struggling Students Hooked on Math
Teaching Techniques to Try
Teaching the Basics
Word Problems
Questions and Answers
Chapter 8: Using Assessments to Support Student Learning
Ways to Improve Student Achievement
Assessment and Grading
Effective Assessment Practices
Struggling Students and Standardized Tests
Ways to Make Assessment More Meaningful for All Students
Interaction Between Assessments and the IEP
Questions and Answers
Chapter 9: Improving Students’ Executive Functioning Skills
Bringing Order into the Disorganized Lives of Students with Learning Difficulties
Mnemonics
Teaching Students How to Study
Homework
Ways to Improve Testing Outcomes for Struggling Students
Questions and Answers
Chapter 10: Helping Students Choose Appropriate Behaviors
Looking Dumb or Being Bad—What Would Your Students Choose?
The Relentless Cycle of Threat
Intervening with Inappropriate Behavior
Helping Students Learn to Choose Appropriate Behavior
Improving Behavior for the Whole Class
Conflict Resolution and Peer Mediation
Schoolwide Behavior Models
Dealing with Bullying in Your Class and School
Questions and Answers
Chapter 11: Helping Parents Become Partners in Their Children’s Learning
Ways to Promote Parent Involvement at School
Homework Issues
Productive Parent-Teacher Meetings
Open Houses
Questions and Answers
References and Resources
About the Author :
Susan Winebrenner is a full-time consultant in staff development. She presents workshops and seminars helping educators translate educational research into classroom practice. Lisa M. Kiss has taught in special education and gifted education for over 20 years.
