Teaching Test-Taking Skills

How and when does a child begin to make sense of the world? Why does a lively preschool child so often become a semiliterate and defeated school failure?

Developmental psychologist Margaret Donaldson shows that much of the intellectual framework on which we base our teaching is misleading. We both underestimate the astonishing rational powers of young children and ignore the major stumbling block that children face when starting school.

Given a setting and a language that makes sense to them in human terms, very young children can perform tasks often thought to be beyond them. The preschool child learns everything in a human situation. Only in school is he asked to acquire skills―reading, writing, arithmetic―isolated from a real-life context. This transition is difficult.

The author suggests a range of strategies that parents and schools can adopt to help children. She argues that reading is even more important than we have thought it to be, since learning to read can actually speed children through the crucial transition.

Phonemic awareness—the understanding that words are made up of sounds—is essential to a child’s early reading success. With this book, children gain this awareness through engaging, easy to teach activities.

This book is filled with the strategies, supports, and interventions that have been found to be the most effective in minimizing the problems and optimizing the success of children and teens with ADHD. In addition, the easy-to-use 8 1/2 x 11 lay-flat format is filled with reproducible checklists, forms, tools, and resources.

A unique and comprehensive reference for K-12 teachers that translates what the experts are saying about vocabulary instruction into easy-to-understand language and graphics, and offers practical sample lesson models in a familiar teacher’s guide format. Includes special tips for teaching ELLs, and is aligned with the requirements of both Reading First and Striving Readers.

This revised and expanded edition of To Be Gifted and Learning Disabled offers up-to-date information on identifying and meeting the needs of gifted and learning disabled (GLD) youngsters. Part I discusses the patterns of accomplishments and failures that many GLD students present as well as identification and diagnosis issues. Part II explores the contemporary psychological theory and research that guides educational applications for GLD students. And Part III offers practical strategies for teaching GLD students and helping them plan and explore options for their future. Three new chapters in this resource cover self regulation, developing comprehensive IEPs for GLD students, and the roles parents and counselors can play in meeting the social and emotional needs of GLD students.

The LD Teacher’s IDEA Companion Grades 6-12 is designed to help you translate the impact of IDEA into how you work with the students, their parents, regular educators, and the general curriculum itself. This book provides materials that correspond to the major IEP changes resulting from the reauthorization of IDEA.