<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">From my perspective, which strategies to teach depend on two key factors: (1) students’ level of core basic literacy skills (e.g., reading, writing ability) and (2) setting demands of the students’ general education classes. <div class="">If for example, your students have very limited writing skills AND writing <u class="">really</u> is a needed skill to be successful in the school where you are working, then instruction in the SIM writing strategies would be a good idea. In contrast, if your students have very limited writing skills BUT writing r<u class="">eally isn’t</u> a critical skill needed to be successful in your school (believe it or not, writing often IS NOT critical to success in many high schools), then there may be greater pay-off by targeting other areas where mastery of the learning strategy has a more direct impact on success in the school. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">One of the things we know from research on generalization of strategy instruction is that IF students don’t see a clear connection between learning the strategy and actual success in the school, many will (a) be resistant to learning the strategy in the first place, and even if they do master it, (b) will not retain their ability to apply the strategy. In other words, they will soon forget how to “do" it. It’s a<i class=""> <b class="">“use-it or loose it”</b></i> situation. Put another way, teaching specific learning strategies based on the “one day, you’ll need this” approach tends to be a waste of time. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Having said this, what we know from research is that VOCABULARY RULES! The single best predictor of academic success is knowledge of vocabulary, and learning new vocabulary is THE most common setting demand students face in high school. Thus, chances are pretty good that your students will be facing learning an extraordinary amount of vocabulary. So, if this is a the case in your new school, I’d consider teaching <i class="">LINCS Vocabulary Strategy </i>as one of the first strategies addressed, in part because it’s both novel and relatively easy for students to learn and immediately apply. Then I’d focus on the <i class="">Word Mapping Strategy</i> (not so easy to learn or teach, but <u class="">really powerful</u>!). BTW, I would be happy to share my LINCS PPT presentation with you if you’d like a copy.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Another thing to consider is determining a scope and sequence of learning strategies to teach (e.g., which to teach this coming year, and assuming you’ll be teaching the many of the same students next year, which learning strategies you’ll be teaching them then). Personally, my favorite “starter” strategies that give a lot of initial bang-for-the-buck are <i class="">LINCS, Fundamentals of Paraphrasing and Summarizing,</i> and <i class="">Fundamentals of Sentence Writing</i>. You can make a big impact with just these three strategies.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">By the way, keep in mind that a KEY thing to consider are students prerequisite skills. For example, reading research suggests that if students have not mastered at least a high-3rd grade level in basic decoding skills and word recognition skills, then instruction in reading comprehension strategies (e.g., <i class="">Fundamentals of Paraphrasing</i>) is NOT likely to be nearly as successful as when the strategy is taught to students who have mastered basic decoding skills. This means that if your students’ reading skills are, say, around 2nd grade level, the pay-off will be greater if you focus on basic literacy (e.g., phonemic awareness, basic decoding), and then, once you’ve raised their skills to high 3rd grade levels, switch to reading comprehension strategy instruction such as <i class="">Paraphrasing</i> for <i class="">Self-questioning.</i> </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I must say, I’m a bit jealous. Going back to the classroom sound very exciting! </div><div class="">Best, Ed </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Aug 1, 2016, at 12:02 PM, Christine Bouck via Simtrainer-l <<a href="mailto:simtrainer-l@lists.ku.edu" class="">simtrainer-l@lists.ku.edu</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><span style="font-size:12.8px" class="">Dear Colleagues,</span><div style="font-size:12.8px" class=""><br class="">After 10 years in higher education, I am moving back into the classroom. Starting next week I will be teaching high school again. One of my classes is what's called "curriculum assistance" and the other four will be co-teaching math and English. I could use your help. The CA class is for students with more severe learning differences. It's set up so we can work on IEP goals and (the best part) learning strategies to help the students be more successful in their classes. The principal seemed very impressed with the SIM strategies at my interview, and I am excited to be implementing them. <br class=""><br class="">Here is where I need some help. I have free rein in this class to teach whatever I feel is best for my students. It's been a long time since I've been in the classroom, and I only had a few strategies to choose from. Now that I have most of the manuals and know so much more, I'm feeling overwhelmed. Does anyone have any suggestions for how you go about determining which strategies to teach first? I've always taught the strategy to everyone at once but I was thinking about trying to do some differentiation if possible. If anyone has suggestions for that I would love to hear them. Basically, if you have any advice, I'll take it. I'm thinking that once I get back into the classroom I'll be fine but the planning stages are giving me fits. I would appreciate any suggestions you have. Thanks!</div><div style="font-size:12.8px" class=""><br class="">Christine</div></div>
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