This teaching tip highlights three writing minilessons that help students construct vivid sensory detail (textual detail related to the five senses) in their fiction and creative nonfiction writing. Learning to show, not tell, is a difficult task for novice writers. The author explores reasons why this is the case and provides directions for the…

Using hand gestures is a great way to get students engaged in learning and more focused on reading comprehension strategies. This article presents descriptions of simple hand motions that teachers can use to help their students predict, question, clarify, and summarize while reading.

A strong relationship exists between phonological processing skills and learning how to read and write in an alphabetic language. How easily a child can use this phonological information has an impact on his or her decoding. For most children, phonological processing skills develop through literacy experiences at home and in their kindergarten…

This article discusses a study to determine whether primary grade students can learn comprehension processes via hand motions to portray these mental processes. Comprehension Process Motions (CPMs) were designed to provide students with a way to make abstract comprehension processes more consciously accessible and also to give teachers a way to…

Presents a technique for adapting the kinesthetic method for classroom use. (WR)

Reports on the successful use of a modified Fernald technique with second graders using colored chalk on the blackboard. (MKM)

Explains the game of "Words of Fortune" in which students act out vocabulary words. Notes that this activity provides students the opportunity to make strong visual, aural, and kinesthetic connections with vocabulary lists. Concludes that "Words of Fortune" helps students write better sentences for vocabulary assessment. (PM)

A review of the research indicates that Fernald's technique (VAKT) for learning to read and spell is effective in some, but not all, instances. (MKM)