NH Bureau of Adult Ed Bulletin Board

By Susan Bubp

Mentor Teacher and Merrimack County Adult Learner Services Coordinator

Mary Pipher’s newest book, Writing to Change the World, (ISBN 1-59448-920-3, Riverhead Books, 2006) should be on the nightstand of every adult educator. Whether you’re a teacher or administrator, or a little of both like me, you’ll find this book to be both useful and inspirational.

One section is devoted entirely on writing to elected officials… (We’re no strangers to that) According to Pipher, “Politicians pay attention to personal stories about the impact policies have on voters. They are also influenced by letters of appreciation. Many politicos said they choke up when they receive thank-you notes. I inferred from this that gratitude is in short supply for people in public life.”

She goes on to give some concrete guidelines when writing to your political representatives:

• Respect your reader


• Find common ground


• Keep to what you hold in common


• Empathize with the person


• Say what you want to achieve


• Say what actions you would hope the recipient will take


• Keep your language simple


• Avoid academic language and acronyms


• Be hopeful


• Use the “sandwich method” to place any criticism between two positive comments


• Always end your letter with a suggestion for action

Every chapter is loaded with stories of the power of words. Pipher’s goal in wrting this book is “to help you translate your passion and idealism into action. This is not a book on how to write; rather, it’s a book on how to write in order to improve the world.”

Posted by Susan Bubp

Over the last few years, the educational resources developed by Dr. Richard Cooper for learning disabled students have been of value to me. Although he is not in the business of creating educational materials for marketing purposes, Dr. Cooper has made many of his resources available in an inexpensive catalog. These resources have proven useful at the his Center for Alternative Learning in Havertown, Pennsylvania. Dr. Cooper, who has ‘learning differences’ himself, developed these simple instruction booklets and tools which are not sold elsewhere. One appeal of these tools is that they are related to specific difficulties that a student may be experiencing. Dr. Cooper (and recently some other professionals) identifies and addresses specific difficulties rather than general learning disabilities. Dr. Cooper uses specific phrases such as ‘students who have difficulty keeping their work organized on a page’.
My first recommendation is an instruction manual for the Tic Tac Toe math system. This technique uses grids to help ‘students who have problems with multiplication and division’. Using the system, I have found that it is possible for students to learn their math times tables and solve problems related to multiplication and long division. This technique uses visual spacial memory effectively.
The Cooper Screening of Information Processing has a long and short form. The short form takes about ten minutes. The longer form helps teachers develop an educational plan based on its findings. There is also a Spanish form for those able to use it.
The Mnemonic Guidebook lists guidelines and examples for effective mnemonics. The mnemonic technique employs clues for memorization that help ‘students having difficulties with memorization’.
A Packet of Dice is another inexpensive tool used for teaching ‘students with difficulties learning number facts and organizing their numbers’. The packet includes a set of 16 die, eight white and eight red, which are used for assessing organizational skills and increasing speed with number facts.
The Modified Rulers are another device that can be used to reduce confusion for ‘those who have difficulties learning measurement’. These rulers keep the inch and half inch labels directly below the actual distances.
The Comprehension Companion provides notepads printed with the words ‘who, what, when, where and how’ on the front, and ‘why and summary’ on the back. ‘Students with difficulties remembering and organizing what they read’ can use the sheets as bookmarks and write notes as they read.
Another resource worth mentioning is the graph paper with half plain and half graph lines to help ‘students who have difficulty keeping their math calculations straight’. There are also clock faces with the minutes printed on them, and a talking math calculator for ‘students who need to hear the numbers when they enter them’. Finally, there is a discrete checkbook insert for those who resist writing checks because they can’t spell the number words correctly.
These and many other teaching aids are available in the Learning Disabilities Catalog. I have found them useful in my own work with students with learning difficulties and I hope you will find them helpful as well. The catalog can also be found on line at www.learningdifferences.com or requested by calling 1-800-869-8336.

By Christine Powers
ESOL Mentor teacher, ESOL Teacher and Coordinator, Manchester Adult Education

Do you have trouble finding just the right idea or activity for your lesson? Do you find yourself looking for a new “hook” to get your students motivated? Do you find planning time a difficult thing to fit into your busy schedule? If your answer is yes to any or all of these questions then I have a book for you!

“ZERO PREP Ready-to-Go Activities for the Language Classsroom”
by Laurel Pollard & Natalie Hess
Alta Book Center Publishers
ISBN 1-882483-64-2

This book is set up into seven chapters covering the four skill areas as well as ice breakers, vocabulary and structure. The activities are written very clearly with simple, easy to read directions. The level it is intended for, the aim of the activity and the procedure to carry it out as well as variations for some activites are included. With a little bit of experience and time you will find yourself thinking of new ways to use some of the ideas.

An example of an Ice Breaker: “MY ADJECTIVE”

This is suggested as a Monday morning wakeup to encourage conversation as well as a focus on adjectives.
Students brainstorm adjectives that can be used to describe people. This can be done in small groups or as a class. They then choose the adjective that best describes them at that moment. They mingle throughout the class telling each other which adjective they have chosen and why.
They can then talk about what classmates told them in plenary.

This could be expanded by having students choose a few classmates to write about. This lesson can lead to work with comparisons and superlatives as well as the use of pronouns.

An example of a Writing Lesson : “CLOZE DICTATION”

This activity promotes attention to detail and student self-correction.
It is for beginning to advanced levels and works on spelling, vocabulary and content review.
Choose a passage the students have read. It should be about 2 paragraphs, less for beginners. In pairs have the students create 2 cloze passages with different words left out in each. Next have each pair trade with another pair and then dictate to each other the passage with the left out words. When both dictations are finished they should be the same and they can check by looking at the original.
This requires little teacher work but the students have practice in writing sentences in the correct word order with the correct punctuation.

These are only two of the 100 activites that are in this great book. It is handy for the times you are tired and need a quick lesson and for those times when you need an idea to stretch to meet the needs of your class.

If you have this book let me know how you have used it. If not, put it on your wish list for materials to get. As with all ideas and lessons, think about how else you could use any of the ideas in this book.

Posted by Christine Powers