MindWing Concepts Blog

“As noted in the previous blog about the DRA, there are many ways to assess the ability to retell a story. A rubric, such as that used on the DRA, is one of them. Other comprehension assessments tap the Wh Questions or general story rubrics to guide assessment. In my experience, there are students who can answer these questions but are not able to retell what they read. Although the causes may be different, the problem is similar, they are unable to express what was comprehended. There are others who are unable to answer questions unless there is focused scaffolding and then only minimal responses are noted. Still, there are others who are “word callers” and have mastered the decoding process but do not comprehend what they are reading. Finally, there are students with language problems who have working memory or word retrieval problems and have difficulty expressing what they comprehend...”

After receiving many positive comments regarding a recent post, Using Data Collection and Collaboration to Enhance Instruction, I wanted to share two other ideas that you may find helpful when first using the SGM^® in your school. If you are not using the SGM^® school-wide, then try working with a colleague as the SGM^® is the perfect vehicle to establish collaboration and a common language around student comprehension questions and the thought processes involved in answering those questions...

In last month’s Tech Tuesday post, we discussed the potential of LEGO^® products in interventions for social cognition and language development. The post focused on the uses of real, hands-on LEGOs for building stories, specifically, using baseplates to collaboratively build a Setting with minifigure characters, with blocks setting the stage for discussion of Actions, Kick-Offs, and Reactions. At the same time, multifunction LEGO blocks provide students with opportunities to apply the Social Thinking^® concepts of “sharing imagination” and “adding thoughts” as they build together. In this post, let’s look at some (mostly) tech-based opportunities to capitalize on students’ interest in LEGO....

Yesterday, we had a great question on our Official Story Grammar Marker Professional Learning Community. This is a closed group on Facebook and it is virtual community of professionals who love SGM^®! Members have the opportunity to share ideas, post photos, ask questions, tell success stories, get help with challenges and basically post anything that might inspire colleagues regarding the use of Story Grammar Marker^® and related MindWing Concepts’ products. Join our Facebook group today. The question asked was regarding using Story Grammar Marker^® methodology with 8th grade science. We shared a sample of a Science Experiment Map that was used by an 8th grader for the Science Fair project...

One of my favorite series of lessons which I taught at the former Juniper Park School in Westfield, Massachusetts, involved the folktale The Little Red Hen. I used three versions of this folktale; one retold by Paul Galdone, one by Margot Zemach and the third by Alan Garner. The use of these books supports the six CCSS standards listed in this blog...

The icons and maps of the Story Grammar Marker^®, Braidy^®, and ThemeMaker^® make abstract concepts of text structure visible and concrete for students. The use of the developmental stages of narrative development (shown below) enables you to differentiate instruction within your classroom. In schools I have worked, one such way we implemented SGM^® methodology to support instruction was to establish grade level group writing conferencing sessions three formal times a year...