All posts by Julie Gisbon

Holiday Fun: Language Comprehension Activities Using your Favorite Movies!

Helpful Tips

 

Besides being fun and relaxing, movies can also be a great jumping off point for valuable conversations. We’ve rounded up four favorite holiday movies and given you some suggestions for ways to talk about bullying, what to do in an emergency and how to prepare your child for changes in routine this holiday season.

 

Elf (2003) PG | How to Handle Bullies

Buddy’s half-brother Michael is pelted with snowballs by some bullies from school, and Buddy is able to use some elf magic to defend himself. Real life situations aren’t always solved as quickly and neatly. According to the National Center for Learning Disabilities, kids with differences and special needs have a greater than 60% chance of being bullied. Students who have a weakness in concept imagery — the ability to create an imaged gestalt or whole —  may have trouble keeping up in conversations with their peers, understanding jokes/ social cues or recognizing bullying when it occurs.

 

Use imagery to help your child prepare to navigate challenging peer situations. Ask, “What do you picture a bully might say or do?” or “What do you see yourself doing if a classmate says unkind things to you?” Click here for more information on how to identify and handle bullying.

 

For middle school and high school students, it’s helpful to remind them that to be careful about what they say or post online. It’s often easier to be harsh to a classmate from behind a keyboard, but the effects can be just as damaging for the person on the receiving end.

 

Home Alone (1990) PG | What to do if You’re Separated in a Crowd

Luckily, cell phones and electronic boarding passes make it much more difficult to head to the airport without your son, but it’s still important for your child to know what to do if he gets separated from you in a crowded mall. Having a conversation while everyone is safe and calm can be a great way to stimulate your child’s imagery and critical thinking — just in case. “If you couldn’t find me in a store, what do you picture you would do?” Offer suggestions of people to ask for help: a store employee, a police officer, a mother with children.

 

If your child is old enough, have them memorize your cell phone number (having them draw the letters in the air with their fingers can help cement it in their visual memory). Keep a recent photo of your child on your cell phone and dress them in bright colors when you will be in a crowded place. It’s helpful to dress yourself in the same color as stressful, scary situations can make it hard to remember details.

 

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) PG-13 | Prepare for Visitors

Clark’s stress was compounded by having relatives visiting, and that can be difficult for children or teenagers, especially if changes to a routine are unsettling or frustrating. Prepare your son or daughter for any changes that may happen — whether they’ll be giving up their bed for Grandma, having to wear uncomfortable, fancy clothes or trying unfamiliar foods at a holiday party — by discussing what will happen beforehand. Come up with a plan geared toward whatever is most challenging for your child and help them picture what to do and say if they’re uncomfortable. Click here for more tips on how to help your child during family visits or social gatherings.

 

The Santa Clause (1994) PG | Stimulate Your Child’s Mental Imagery

While Tim Allen’s transformation into Kris Kringle is the focus of the movie, Laura and Neal Miller reminisce about the gift they wanted but didn’t get when they were younger. Ask your children to think about the best gift they’ve ever gotten, but instead of having them tell you what it was, have them describe it to you and see if you can guess based on the imagery they provide! Tell them to picture it, and then ask questions about the color, size, shape, texture etc. “Your words are making me picture something brown and furry with two floppy ears. How big should I picture it?”

 

You can also turn this activity into a game on its own. Choose a category and take turns describing and guessing. For example: “I’m picturing a person with a red triangle hat and a long, white beard. I see him standing in the snow next to eight brown reindeer…”

 

 

For more ideas on how to build language comprehension during the holiday season, check out our blog about family read-aloud time.

Why Intensive Instruction Now?

Instruction, Learning Centers

 

A bright and articulate third grader, Jacob shifts uncomfortably in his seat when his teacher announces that they’d be taking turns reading aloud. “Maybe if I ask to go to the bathroom, I’ll miss my turn,” he thinks.

 

Jacob has a high vocabulary and his teachers frequently tell him how smart he is, but he’s beginning to doubt them. “How smart can I be if I can’t even read?” he asks himself. In the mornings he gets a stomach ache thinking about facing the school day. When he opens a book, “was” turns into “saw” and “through” and “though” and “thought” never sound like they’re supposed to. How is a person supposed to remember all of that?

 

Mrs. Jones calls on Emma, who always seems to be a step behind in class, and tells her to read from Chapter 2. “What?” Emma asks. She twists the ends of her blonde ringlets as she waits for Mrs. Jones to repeat her request. It’s not that she doesn’t care or isn’t listening in the classroom — but  directions still seem to go in one ear and out the other. Emma reads the page quickly and accurately but falls silent when Mrs. Jones asks her what she thinks will happen next in the story.

 

For Jacob, reading is the hardest thing in the world, and no one seems to know why. His teachers and parents thought eventually it would just “click” on its own. But students with a weakness in symbol imagery, or the ability to visualize letters and sounds within words, may require remediation or additional explicit reading instruction. Weak symbol imagery will cause difficulty in establishing sight words, contextual fluency, and spelling.

 

A few seats over, Emma is able to spell perfectly and decode new words with ease, but she doesn’t seem to comprehend what she’s read. When someone tells a joke, she quickly scans the room and notices other people are laughing, so she laughs too. For Emma, weak concept imagery—the ability to image a gestalt (whole)—may be the cause of her struggles. Weakness in concept imagery will interfere with reading and listening comprehension, memory, oral vocabulary, critical thinking, and writing.

 

As the critical third grade year continues, Jacob and Emma are likely to fall further and further behind. They may be present in class every day, but they’re both missing out on content and their self-esteem continues to quietly plummet.

 

At Lindamood-Bell, we believe that all students can be taught to read and comprehend to their potential. We identify strengths and weaknesses that may be affecting school performance, and our instruction is based on an individual’s learning needs. The school year is a great time to address those learning needs — helping your child develop the underlying foundational skills for reading and comprehension will ensure that they don’t start to miss curriculum-based content because they’re unable to decode or comprehend it. For a student who has fallen behind, the way to close the gap is often intensive instruction. Click here to learn more about how we’re able to make years of gains in weeks of instruction.

 

We want to be your partner in education and help make your child’s school year a success. To learn more, contact your local Learning Center.

[In the News]Cañon City School District: One year into the project and students are showing gains in every area

* News, For Schools, Professional Development

Cañon City School District students participate in literacy instruction in August.

(Photo: Sara Knuth / Daily Record)

Cañon City School District is using a Colorado Department of Education grant to change outcomes for their struggling readers. The Cañon City Daily Record has been following the progress of teachers and students alike and has exciting news to report after the first year of the project. Go to story.

Lindamood-Bell can be a key factor in making RtI work for schools. Explore our workshops and contact us with any questions or to discuss how your school can get started: 800-233-1819.