Facilitating Student Engagement

Facilitating Student Engagement

Introduction to the Module

In this module Sonya Kunkel provides some examples of accommodations and modifications for students with reading issues, as well as, strategies for note-taking and memory. Grading tips will also be provided in this webinar that focuses on the middle school through high school curriculum. Please note that the text summary tools may benefit students as young as third grade.

Target Audience: All Grade Levels with an emphasis on middle and high school

Discussion Questions

Answer the following questions as an individual. If possible, have a dialogue with your grade level team, buidling level team, and/or district level team.

1. Describe the barriers or difficulties for you, the teacher, when working with students with disabilities in your classroom?

2. Describe the barriers or difficulties for the students with disabilities who are receiving instruction in your classroom?

3. Explain the most often grouping used for instruction in your room? Why do you use this grouping? How often per week do you use the following configurations?
Whole group? When and Why?
Divided group (parallel teaching)? When and Why?
Small groups? When and Why?

Activities

1. Access www.sparknotes.com and select text to use.

a) Select three of the summary tools below and apply them to your selected text.

Summary Strategies and Tools:b) What resources presented in this webinar would be beneficial to you? c) Which resources would be beneficial to all students?

Resources

SparkNotes (www.sparknotes.com) is a resource to help students understand books, write papers, and study for tests. The content is clear and concise so that it's easier to understand, but it doesn’t leave out important information. This website has fictional books, content area information, quizzes, and flashcards that will help students master hard material.

No Fear Shakespeare (on www.sparknotes.com) puts Shakespeare's language side-by-side with a facing-page translation into modern English—the kind of English people actually speak today.

www.Tools4Noobs.com has an online, free summarizing tool.

Text Compactor (www.textcompactor.com) is a free online text summarization tool that was created to help struggling readers process overwhelming amounts of information. After text is copied into the website, the app produces a summary of the text. The app also has a link to a speech feature which allow the text to be read aloud to the student. There is also a translation link for students that are English Language Learners. The app is not recommended for fictional text.

Pink Monkey (www.pinkmonkey.com) is a "G" rated study resource for junior high, high school, college students, teachers and home schoolers. PinkMonkey has more than 460 free online literature summaries. There are study guides, book notes, and chapter summaries.

60 Second Recap (www.60secondrecap.com) is an educational video project launched in September 2009 to provide 60-second video summaries and analysis of classic literature. The website is dedicated to maeking the great works of literature accessible, relevant, and engaging.

Blio (www.Blio.com) is a free-to-download e-reader software platform created by Ray Kurzweil. The Blio e-reader preserves typography and supports color illustrations, features that make it particularly effective for certain categories of books not well supported by E Ink, such as cookbooks and children's books. Blio also comes with text-to-speech integration, with support for both a computerized voice and synchronization with professionally recorded audiobooks.

Heineman Kunkel, Sonya. Advancing co-teaching practices: strategies for success. Cromwell, CT: Kunkel Consulting Services, 2012. Print.

Heineman Kunkel, Sonya. Inclusion: The Common Core Curriculum and the High Stakes Tests. Cromwell: Heineman Press, 2013. Print.

Video Training: Heineman Kunkel, Sonya. Using Co-Teaching to Increase Learning for All Students, Grades 6-12. Bureau of Education & Research, 2005

Video Training: Heineman Kunkel, Sonya. Practical Classroom Strategies for Making Inclusion More Successful, Grades 6-12. Bureau of Education & Research, 2010
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