Susan Fitzell-Educational Consultant & Speaker
Practical Strategies to Get High Test Scores Now!
To help learn and remember the characters from “Romeo and Juliet,” Carla Byars has students choose a character and bring in a personal theme song for each with printed lyrics.
Debbie Swanson addresses foot tapping by placing carpet squares under their feet. “They love it and can stomp as loudly as they want.”
A. Matching Game: Two students each have a set of word-definition cards. One student’s cards are word up, the other’s are definition up. They then match the words with the definitions, taking the cards away when paired.
B. Play Pictionary with the words showing.
C. Play Pictionary with definitions showing.
A few years ago, I took a course on Bal-A-Vis-X and I loved it. Not only did I love it, the techniques used in Bal-A-Vis-X help students to perform better in school, reduce the symptoms of ADD, have a more positive attitude, etc. Like Brain Gym and the groundbreaking research at the Dore Achievement Centers (www.dorecenters.com), Bal-A-Vis-X uses physical exercises to increase integration in the brain and thereby enhance learning.
The course is being offered again and because these training sessions are difficult to find, I’m posting the workshop information here for any who might be interested.
Bal-A-Vis-X is an interactive course which introduces a means to energize learning––through movement. Bal-A-Vis-X, a series of Balance / Auditory /Vision exercises that are deeply rooted in rhythm will be observed. These exercises encourage full-body coordination and focused attention. The participant will begin to look at their students––special needs or typically functioning, through a noticing and exercise structure used in movement based learning. This structure offers an opportunity to gather classroom activities that enhance the existing curriculum. The effects of these activities lead our students into enhanced brain integration.
This introductory workshop is designed to assist with the ease of learning, reading, math, and creativity along with improved athletic skills.
Instructor: Candis Cosgrove.
Course dates: June 19-20 (follow up dates in case of flood days, June 23-24)
Location: Nettle School Music Room- 140 Boatman Street, Haver hill. Ma. 01834font>
Time: 8:30-2:30 PM
Cost: $150.00 (Additional $150.00 for one graduate credit plus $50 for books) a href=”http://www.candicosgrove.com/”>www.candicosgrove.com for a closer look go to schedule)
The idea of color coding grammar has been brewing in my brain for weeks now. I had heard that some people were using color to attach meaning to the parts of speech, but I have been unable to find a system for doing so anywhere.
I had a two and a half hour drive today from Rockford, IL to Peoria, IL and decided to work on the idea in the car. (I wasn’t driving!) I not only attach color to grammar as a memory strategy, I use a snapshot device and the analogy of a stoplight to ‘hook’ the concepts into long term memory. I’d love to know how you like it, if you use it and if it works! Please write to me and let me know.
To make this one better, have students border the parts of speech in the shape of the word in the color cue. For example, nouns would be bordered using red and following the shape of the word. The brain thinks in pictures and remembers what’s in a border like a snapshot.
Enjoy and feel free to pass this image onto your friends. Look for it on my website in a PDF file. It’s not there tonight, but I hope to get it up there within the week.
