MindWing Concepts Blog
Tech Tuesday: This summer, play “Duck Duck Moose” to consider narrative and expository language-building opportunities
One helpful strategy in locating apps useful in language intervention is to know and follow (via their Facebook page, Twitter or Website) the developers. We have previously mentioned developers such as Sago Mini, Toca Boca, Social Skill Builder, and LEGO®. KHAN ACADEMY, the Edtech force known most for distribution of expository video related to curriculum, recently bought the development company Duck Duck Moose, and their terrific apps continue to be offered free of charge. In this post I’ll talk about a few of them, along with great opportunities to use them as a context or context-builder alongside MindWing’s tools for narrative and expository language development...
5+ Books for Summer
When my children were young, one of our favorite summer pastimes was a weekly trip to our local library here in Springfield, Massachusetts. A recent visit reminded me to check out the many interesting programs available for children as well as adults. We are so fortunate! I remember teaching in the classroom and having a much anticipated visit from our city’s librarian who went over the many options for summertime fun. During my days as camp counselor, a walk with the campers to our local library was always on the agenda! A friend of mine who will be teaching elementary school this summer and I visited our local branch library to check out books for her to use to review SGM components with her students. The following are a few of the choices we made...
Summer Story Activities with Dollar $tore Finds!
A trip to a local dollar store is always an adventure for teachers as we keep an eye out for items to use in our classrooms. Today, I netted a package of 75 plastic multi-colored counting chips, an inch and a half in diameter. With summer approaching, I also found a child’s small sand pail. Back at my desk, I took out my set of MindWing's Icon STAMPede Rubber Stamp Set and stamped out a complete episode, one stamp per chip...
Tech Tuesday: 4 (and More) Ways To Tell the Story Digitally
Last month I visited the MindWing Concepts offices to lead a small group workshop on integrating tech tools with Story Grammar Marker® and Thememaker®. One of the biggest topics of interest involved ways to use MindWing’s story and expository maps on laptops, iPads and even within Google Apps, and we spent a chunk of time exploring these possibilities. We thought that this topic could use an update on the blog, so here we go! First of all, some rationale. Why might you want to work with these tools digitally (meaning the files—PDFs—provided with your purchase of any MindWing manual, either via CD-ROM in previous years, or more recently, via a free download code within the manual)? A few reasons:...
DIY Hands-On Activities For Narrative/Expository Text-Based Questions
As I was reviewing blogs written last year at this time in May, I came across one (Magnetic Spinner Activity for Narrative Expository Text Questions) that used the Narrative/Expository Text-Based Question Cards from MindWing’s The “Core” of the Core manual (pages 171-182). This manual is chock-full of ideas for classroom use, both whole group and small group instruction. These narrative and expository questions may be used for both fiction and nonfiction. All you have to do is print them, laminate, and cut… then choose the ones which reinforce your student goals. The questions are easily paired with your current reading selections and with SGM maps. You may also add your own questions, modified for your students, but the ones presented will certainly get you started!...
The Hidden Meaning of Story Grammar Marker’s Icons
Last week, Maryellen Moreau, creator of Story Grammar Marker®, consulted with two special educators in southern Connecticut about a student with Autism. This particular child’s evaluation recommended Story Grammar Marker® as an intervention. The school hired Maryellen to work with this child’s teachers as well as larger groups of staff in the school to get everyone on board with the SGM® methodology. During our first session last week, one special educator looked up at Maryellen and with awe in her voice said, “This is just so amazing. It is so simple…yet so, so deep. I know I will be able to do so much with this – with so many different students. How did you EVER think of this?” The answer to that question is that it happened in the late 1980s while Maryellen, a speech language pathologist, was Curriculum Director at the Curtis Blake Day School in Springfield, MA (a private placement for children with dyslexia and language learning disabilities)...