School is a high stakes place these days. Whether you like it or not, every staff member is being asked how they contribute to the bottom line. That bottom line in schools is student learning as measured by some type of testing. So what do you do? I have talked about my academic achievement groups as a Tier 2 intervention. Today, I would like to talk about Tier 1 instruction for use with your entire school: literacy integration through read aloud during counseling lessons.
(PS- if you'd like to know more about Tiered Interventions, check out my professional development presentation.)
Many of my lessons involve reading a book aloud to the class as a way to open discussion before some type of game or activity. Did I just give away my secret formula?! Recently, I was discussing read alouds with a colleague and mentioned a few of the ways that I like to integrate literacy skills. To help, I've created a FREE one page go-to-guide for integrating literacy into counseling lessons that I've included at the bottom of this post.
(PS- if you'd like to know more about Tiered Interventions, check out my professional development presentation.)
Many of my lessons involve reading a book aloud to the class as a way to open discussion before some type of game or activity. Did I just give away my secret formula?! Recently, I was discussing read alouds with a colleague and mentioned a few of the ways that I like to integrate literacy skills. To help, I've created a FREE one page go-to-guide for integrating literacy into counseling lessons that I've included at the bottom of this post.
Literacy-Focused Lessons
I have also recently posted two new literacy focused lessons on Teachers Pay Teachers that I wanted to share with you. The first is based on the book Elmer by David McKee. This is an adorable book about an elephant named Elmer who is patchwork color. This book explores how being different can be special.
I love this book! The kids really connect with it. It has great text-to-world and text-to-self connections. Each class tends to find something different in the meaning and it always sparks serious debate. Some classes notice that patchwork skin vs elephant skin is analogous to race and skin color. Some classes note that sometimes people think they don't fit in when they really do. This story is wonderful!
You can download the lesson plans and the printable activities here.
I love this book! The kids really connect with it. It has great text-to-world and text-to-self connections. Each class tends to find something different in the meaning and it always sparks serious debate. Some classes notice that patchwork skin vs elephant skin is analogous to race and skin color. Some classes note that sometimes people think they don't fit in when they really do. This story is wonderful!
You can download the lesson plans and the printable activities here.
The second lesson is based on the ancient story of Kaulu and his brother. I first encountered this story in the Ka-ulu the Strong DVD. Unfortunately, it is out of print. Because this is a fable (and not written by the storyteller himself), I re-wrote the story in my own words for this lesson. To summarize, Kaulu has to be responsible (or persevere) to rescue his brother who was swept away by the sea. Kaulu never gives up and eventually rescues his brother. Students can make text-to-self connections by writing and drawing a picture on the prompts provided. I included both perseverance and responsibility printables and lesson plans for this one.
The kids love this story and get really into the gigantic wave, the enormous shark, and the journey of Kaulu to rescue his brother. You can download the lesson plans here.
I am starting a new tradition and including the Connections to Literacy guide with every lesson plan. I include questions to ask and connections to make for that specific book. What do you do to incorporate literacy or other academic domains in your counseling lessons?
The kids love this story and get really into the gigantic wave, the enormous shark, and the journey of Kaulu to rescue his brother. You can download the lesson plans here.
I am starting a new tradition and including the Connections to Literacy guide with every lesson plan. I include questions to ask and connections to make for that specific book. What do you do to incorporate literacy or other academic domains in your counseling lessons?
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