Monday, October 17, 2016

Multi-sensory Spelling Multisensory Word Work

TEACHING SPELLING USING HANDS ON MULTISENSORY TECHNIQUES ARE WIN WIN!

Multisensory Spelling “VKAT” (Visual, Kinesthetic, Auditory, and Tactile)

Learning how to spell in my class is more about building auditory, visual and sequential memory. Teaching spelling is also about building strong language and vocabulary skills. 

HOW TO PASS ANY SPELLING OR VOCABULARY TEST with zero stress, plus build working memory at the same time! Win Win! 

All “VKAT” ELA activities are done standing up, to enhance

student engagement and to trigger Vestibular balance which can enhance and deepen learning. Instructional Grouping and setting in the Classroom is critical to student success. Student always work in cooperative groups standing face to face so they can teach and repeat all instructional materials using a think pair share model and or a call and respond model.
  1. Say the” vocabulary” word
  2. Spell the “vocabulary” word (trace and say each letter on your hand or a hard surface, "taction and voiced")
  3. Chunk the “syllables” word (phonetic and mnemonic memory devices can be expanded on when chunking) to-get-her together
  4. Count the number of letters
  5. Use the word in a complete sentence (visual gestures, ASL, and pantomime "dramatise and emotional articulations are required")
  6. Repeat over and over to build auditory and sequential memory.
MORE MULTISENSORY LEARNING TECHNIQUES! 
  1. ACT IT AND PLAY IT OUT 
  2. JUMP AND SAY IT OUTLOUD 
  3. TRACE IT OUT ON THE FLOOR, YOUR BACK, IN THE SAND, ON THE CARPET, WITH ART MATERIALS 
  4. JUMP SKIP ROPE AND JUMP IT AND RHYME IT OUT 
  5. SING IT OUT 

Multisensory Vocabulary “VKAT“ Word-Work (Visual, Kinesthetic, Auditory, Tactile)

BUILDING LISTENING AND SPEAKING SKILLS! 


Part ONE! Students take turns asking and answering. 

  1. Ask the question: What is the denotation and connotation of the term … (students are standing and using American Sign Language and or gestures and dramatic emotional articulations when engaging with peers) 
  2. The student answers the question: The primary meaning or denotation of the term…, is…., a possible connotation of the term is… (visual gestures and dramatic or emotional articulations are suggested) 
Part TWO!
  1. Ask the question: Please give me a contextual exemplar or the terms common usage… (students are standing and using American Sign Language and or gestures and dramatic emotional articulations when engaging with peers) 
  2. The student answers the question: An excellent contextual exemplar of the term is … , a secondary contextual exemplar might be… … (answer the question, visual gestures, and dramatic or emotional articulations are suggested) 
Part Three!
  1. Ask the question: Please give me an important detail or attribute that is associated with the term … (students are standing and using American Sign Language and or gestures and dramatic emotional articulations when engaging with peers) 
  2. The student answers the question: An important or critical detail of the term is … , a secondary trait of the term would be… (visual gestures and dramatic or emotional articulations are suggested)


  3. The vestibular system includes the parts of the inner ear and brain that help control balance and eye movements!

Friday, October 14, 2016

Games for Autistic Children and Adults

Can Games Improve Autistic Children and Adults Executive Functioning Skills and Theory of Mind?

Executive functions are a set of critical cognitive processes – including learning positive behaviors, attentional control, cooperation, self-control (inhibitory control), working memory, and cognitive flexibility, as well as reasoning, problem-solving, and planning – that are necessary for the cognitive control of social-emotional behaviors. Executive functions gradually develop and change across the lifespan of an individual and can be improved at any time over the course of a person's life. Similarly, these cognitive processes can be modified, improved and affected by a variety of activities including playing board games which affect an individual quality of life.

     Theory of mind (often abbreviated ToM) is the ability to attribute cognitive states— perspectives, beliefs, intents, desires, empathy, knowledge, etc.—to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires, intentions, and perspectives that are different from one's own. Deficits can occur in people with autism spectrum disorders and can impact the quality of social interactions in a family. By playing games that require cooperation, taking turns, planning, sharing, and patience, many social skills related to ToM are improved. 

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Wednesday, October 12, 2016

"The Chaos" a by poem Gerard Nolst Trenité

"The Chaos" is a poem demonstrating the irregularity of English spelling and pronunciation. Written by Dutch writer, traveller, and teacher Gerard Nolst Trenité(1870–1946), it includes about 800 examples of irregular spelling. The first version of 146 lines of text appeared in an appendix to the author's 1920 textbook Drop Your Foreign Accent: engelsche uitspraakoefeningen, but "the most complete and authoritative version ever likely to emerge", published by The Spelling Society in 1992–93, has 274 lines


Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Susy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.

Pray, console your loving poet,
Make my coat look new, dear, sew it!
Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it's written.)
Made has not the sound of bade,
Say-said, pay-paid, laid, but plaid.

Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as vague and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Previous, precious, fuchsia, via; Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.

Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.

Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation's OK
When you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.

Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
And enamour rhyme with hammer.
River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
Doll and roll and some and home.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
And then singer, ginger, linger,
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.

Query does not rhyme with very,
Nor does fury sound like bury.
Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
Though the differences seem little,
We say actual but victual.
Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
Foeffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
Dull, bull, and George ate late.
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific.

Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.
We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the differences, moreover,
Between mover, cover, clover;
Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice;
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.

Petal, panel, and canal,
Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor.
Tour, but our and succour, four.
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Sea, idea, Korea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.

Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion and battalion.
Sally with ally, yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.
Heron, granary, canary.
Crevice and device and aerie.

Face, but preface, not efface.
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.
Ear, but earn and wear and tear
Do not rhyme with here but ere.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.

Pronunciation—think of Psyche!
Is a paling stout and spikey?
Won't it make you lose your wits,
Writing groats and saying grits?
It's a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.

Finally, which rhymes with enough—
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is to give up!

Socratic Seminar: Bushi, Jedi, Seth Code

Socratic Seminar Purpose: What do the Bushi (Samurai), Jedi, and Seth Codes teach us about Virtues? 
  • What are Virtues and what can we learn from cultures that live by a Code of Conduct?
  • How do the Jedi and Bushi codes of conduct compare and contrast with each other?
  • The development of virtues to guild thinking and actions are more important or less important today? 


Socratic Seminars promote thinking, meaning making, and the ability to debate, use evidence, and build on one another’s thinking. When well designed and implemented, the seminar provides an active role for every student, engages students in complex thinking about rich content, and teaches students discussion skills.

The Socratic seminar is an effective discussion format that promotes critical thinking and fosters diverse perspectives. The following procedure outlines how to conduct a successful Socratic seminar:

  1. Select a significant piece of text or collection of short texts related to the current focus of study. The chosen text should be rich with possibilities for diverse points of view. This could be an excerpt from a book, an article from a magazine, journal, or newspaper, a poem, a short story, or a personal memoir.

  2. Develop an open-ended, provocative question as the starting point for the seminar discussion. The question should be designed to elicit differing perspectives and complex thinking. Participants may also generate questions to discuss.

  3. Participants should prepare for the seminar by reading the chosen text actively, building their background knowledge for participation in the discussion. The pre-seminar task could incorporate work on reading strategies, such as text coding by underlining important information, putting question marks by segments they wonder about, and exclamation points next to parts that surprise them. Completion of the pre-seminar task is the participant’s “ticket” to participate in the seminar.

  4. During the seminar, all participants should be involved and ensure that others in the group are drawn into the discussion.

  5. The seminar leader begins the discussion with the open-ended question designed to provoke inquiry and diverse perspectives. Inner circle participants may choose to move to a different question if the group agrees, or the facilitator may pose follow-up questions.

  6. The discussion proceeds until the seminar leader calls time. At that time, the group debriefs their process. If using a fishbowl, the outer circle members give their feedback sheets to the inner group participants.

  7. If using a fishbowl, the seminar leader may allow participants in the outer circle to add comments or questions they thought of while the discussion was in progress.

The Socratic seminar is a powerful tool for encouraging critical thinking, deepening understanding, and promoting respectful dialogue. Following these steps can help ensure a successful and productive discussion.


Bushido is the traditional code of conduct and way of the samurai in feudal Japan. It was a set of ethical principles and virtues that emphasized martial spirit, self-discipline, and honor. The seven values of Bushido are:

  1. Gi (honesty/integrity): It means to always be honest and truthful. Samurai were expected to be honest in their dealings with others and to be truthful in their actions and words. An example of this is the story of the 47 Ronin, who avenged their lord's death by killing his murderer but then committed seppuku (ritual suicide) to restore their honor, even though they knew it was illegal and would result in their own deaths.
  2. Yu (courage): It means to have bravery in the face of adversity. Samurai were expected to have courage and to be willing to sacrifice themselves for their lord or their cause. An example of this is the Battle of Shiroyama, where the last samurai of Japan fought against modernized troops and died with honor rather than surrendering.
  3. Jin (benevolence/compassion): It means to have empathy and kindness towards others. Samurai were expected to be compassionate towards the weak and the needy. An example of this is the story of Musashi Miyamoto, a legendary swordsman who spared the life of his opponent's son after defeating him in a duel.
  4. Rei (respect): It means to show respect to others and to follow the proper etiquette. Samurai were expected to show respect to their elders, their superiors, and even their enemies. An example of this is the story of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a powerful daimyo who showed respect to a peasant who helped him cross a river during a battle.
  5. Makoto (sincerity/honesty): It means to be true to one's word and to be genuine in one's actions. Samurai were expected to be sincere in their dealings with others and to keep their promises. An example of this is the story of Tsukahara Bokuden, a famous swordsman who refused to fight in a duel because he had promised his mother that he would never use his sword for personal gain.
  6. Meiyo (honor): It means to have a sense of personal honor and to act accordingly. Samurai were expected to have a strong sense of honor and to do what was right, even if it was difficult or dangerous. An example of this is the story of Oishi Kuranosuke, the leader of the 47 Ronin, who refused to let his lord's death go unpunished and led his men in a risky and illegal revenge plot.
  7. Chugi (loyalty): It means to be loyal to one's lord or master. Samurai were expected to be loyal and to serve their lord or master with unwavering devotion. An example of this is the story of Kusunoki Masashige, a loyalist who fought against the emperor's forces in defense of his own lord, even though he knew he would lose the battle.

Socratic Seminar: Bushi, Jedi, Seth Code Background Research 

The Sith Code 
The Sith Code, as written by Sorzus Syn[1] and taught by Darth Bane:[2]
  • Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
  • Through passion, I gain strength.
  • Through strength, I gain power.
  • Through power, I gain victory.
  • Through victory, my chains are broken.
  • The Force shall free me.

Jedi Mantra

  • Emotion, yet peace.
  • Ignorance, yet knowledge.
  • Passion, yet serenity.
  • Chaos, yet harmony.
  • Death, yet the Force.

The refined version established by Odan-Urr and transcribed by Homonix Rectonia during the Early Manderon Period was perhaps the best known:


  • There is no emotion, there is peace.
  • There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
  • There is no passion, there is serenity.
  • (There is no chaos, there is harmony.)(*)
  • There is no death, there is the Force.—
  • The Jedi Code (Based on the meditations of Odan-Urr)


[PDF] What is a Jedi? Extensive 200-page document on warrior code, Bushi (Samurai), Jedi, Seth Code.

[PDF]The Bushido Code: The Eight Virtues of the Samurai - USC US-China ...
The Bushido Code: The Eight Virtues of the Samurai. Tim Clark. A Brief History of the Samurai. The word samurai originally meant “one who serves,” and ...

[PDF]bushido: the soul of japan - Comunidades.net
by I NITOBÉ - ‎1904 - ‎Cited by 29 - ‎Related articlesBushido, then, is the code of moral principles which the knights were required or instructed to observe. It is not a written code; at best it consists of a few maxims.

[PDF]Bushido (Chivalry) and the Traditional Japanese Moral Education
by N Sonda - ‎2007 - ‎Cited by 6 - ‎Related articlesthe revival of such traditional values and thoughts; Bushido seemed to be an ... Bushido is not just acode of ethics for samurai warriors but rather a moral.

Monday, October 3, 2016

Free printable scrabble letters for word games

Free printable classroom scrabble letters for word games!

[PDF]Bananagrams Game Instructions (game available at www.morselmunk ...
Bananagrams Game Instructions (game available at www.morselmunk.com) ... IMPORTANT: Words can be horizontal or vertical, going from left to right or top to ...

[PDF]The addictive word game enjoyed by millions just got ... - Bananagrams
The addictive word game enjoyed by millions just got WILDER! Included are 6 WILDTILES, putting a spin on the original. BANANAGRAMS game. Ready to go ...

[PDF]Bananagrams rules here - Fun outside games for kids
Mar 5, 2009 - Each player may rearrange his/her own words as often as ... Players then play the regular BANANAGRAMS game, but there is no "peeling".

[PDF]Rules for BANANAGRAMg it...“
connecting and intersecting word grid. Words may be horizontal or vertical, reading left to right or ... Players then play the regular BANANAGRAMS game but there is NO PEELING or. DUMPING. ... letters to spell a type of animal. letters in each ...

[PDF]Appletters Game Instructions (game available at www.morselmunk.com)
Appletters Game Instructions (game available at www.morselmunk.com). How To Play: The goal of the game is to get rid of all your tiles. As an option to make ...

[PDF]appletters instructions MASTER - Exodus Books


WILD CARDS!