Summer time thoughts

Now that the school year has come to an end, and the lazy summer days beckon, parents may become concerned that a total break isn't always appropriate for every child.  For some kids, summer break can really mean a loss of progress on essential skills.  Summer break may have both positive and negative effects on children with disabilities.  Some students with special needs adjust well to the break from the routine and structure that school provides, while others seem to need the consistent academic and social stimulation.  As such, it's important for parents to recognize their children's needs and respond appropriately during the summer vacation months.  The following are some ideas that may help your child retain both the academic and social skills learned throughout the school year and avoid that “learning loss” that can occur over summer.

•  Join a neighborhood reading program. Many bookstores and libraries run programs to encourage summer reading, offering badges or books as rewards. Some hold discussion-and-pizza book groups - a great way to promote reading and social skills.

• "Read" a movie. Read books that have been turned into movies, then rent the film or see it at the theater. Discuss how closely the movie followed the book, or chart the similarities on a poster board.

• Send postcards. Let your child buy or make postcards to send to friends, whether he's on a trip or in his own back yard. Encourage him to keep up a running commentary - writing is a critical skill to practice over the summer

• Build a blog. If you tell your kids to write an essay about their daily activities, you can be fairly certain they'll balk. But if you set them up with a blog where they can upload photos, share their stories and get feedback from friends and relatives, well, that's a whole different story. Set aside a few minutes to blog each day -- during dinner prep, for example, or just before bed. Even if their spelling makes you cringe, their typing skills will improve, and far-flung family members will appreciate the updates.

• Make a meal plan. Grab the grocery store circulars when they arrive and ask the kids to help you spend the budget effectively. Build your menus around sale items, in-season fruits and vegetables, and family favorites. Have the kids calculate the cost per meal, or per person, then try to figure out if you can do better next week. For extra credit, you may be able to get your kids to put the information into a graph "for Daddy."

• Plan a field trip.  Heading to the zoo? Make it a big deal. Plan the field trip a few days in advance. Figure out when you'll arrive, when you'll eat and when you'll leave. Go online and plan out the route you'll follow once you get there. Pick a few questions to research and answer while you're there. You can still have a lot of fun -- but your kids will also learn a little more than they might have otherwise

• Above all else – Spend time together. The less hectic days of summer provide the perfect opportunity to spend some one-on-one time with your kids.  Let them take the lead and guide the activities at least once a week.  As for you – you just go along for the ride and enjoy!

References

• Summer Learning Loss: The Problem and Some Solutions, http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-5/summer.htm
• Summer Activities for Children with Learning Disabilities, http://www.ldanatl.org/aboutld/parents/help/summer.asp
• Summer Enrichment,  http://www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/814149/the-end-of-the-school-year-summer-enrichment-1

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From Differentiation to Intervention

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Differentiated Instruction is consistently and proactively creating different pathways to help all students be successful

 (Betty Hollis, 2007)

On the road to RtI we begin with the core curriculum and differentiated instruction for students that teachers feel have not yet learned certain skills.  Many teachers mistakenly believe that differentiated instruction means they need to provide different instruction, different assessments, different grading, and different assignments.  While this can be true, most teachers who do differentiated instruction well actual use the same instructional methodologies, the same assessment, the same grading system and many of the same assignments for all their students.  What differs is not the tools used but rather the emphasis that is placed on the different instructional components of the lesson. 

Differentiated instruction often involves:
·      direct, explicit instruction
·      pre-teaching of concepts and/or skills
·      direct whole class instruction followed by small group and/or individual review
·      individualize instruction

Most teachers who successfully differentiate instruction are good classroom managers, are organized and purposeful, and are very much in charge of student learning and the curricular content. Their classrooms may be student-centered, but they are very much teacher-directed.  

Differentiated instruction is for every student!

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Intervention, on the other hand, is not.  For some students the level of instruction in the core curriculum is not successful in helping them achieve the minimal levels of expected competency.  Those students who, despite differentiated instruction, fall below the expected levels of accomplishment (called benchmarks) and are at some risk for academic failure are in need of intervention.  The needs of these students are often identified through the assessment process and ongoing progress monitoring.  Analysis of student data on a continuous basis allows for teachers to “catch” students in need of interventions in specific skill areas early and to provide targeted interventions to help the student be successful.   

This is key to the RtI process!

An intervention is a planned set of procedures that are aimed at teaching a specific set of skills to a student(s).  It is more than a single lesson, less than an entire curriculum.

Interventions contains these components:

·      It is planned – it is a evidence-based set of teaching procedures

·      It is sustained – implemented in a series of lessons over time

·      It is focused – intended to meet a specific set of needs for a student(s)

·      It is goal oriented – intended to produce a change in knowledge/behavior

·      It is in addition – it does not replace the core curriculum but provides for additional instructional support for the student in the area of concern

·      It is typically a set of procedures rather than a single instructional strategy 

References:

Differentiating Instruction in a Whole-Group Setting Betty Hollis, 2007

Mark Pennington. (2010, February 15). 23 Myths of Differentiated Instruction. Retrieved from http://penningtonpublishing.com/blog/reading/23-myths-of-differentiated-instruction/

Curriculum-based Evaluation: teaching and decision making (4^th ed) Howell, Hosp and Hosp

Kathy Steffens is a Special Educator with 20+ years experience.  She is available for questions regarding district RTI implementation and staff development training.  You can reach her at RightResponsetoRTI@gmail.com