School has been out for over a month now, and with summer being extended in BC due to the teachers strike, we are not quite half way through yet. It can be hard to adjust to having the kids under foot all day, but I also find summer to be a great time to pick up a few books (well actually I find any time a great time to pick up a few books) and do some learning about how I can better help my kids, and what I can bring to the table when it’s time for IEP meetings in the fall. I have gained a lot of knowledge on subjects that I really never thought about before by alternating my summer reading between fiction and educational books. The following are a few of my recommendations:
I Get It! Building Social Thinking and Reading Comprehension Through Book Chats
by Audra Jensen, M.Ed. BCBA
From the back cover:
Reading comprehension is more than decoding words. It depends less on language comprehension and more on a student’s social thinking ability. Yet little has been written from this point of view, until now.
Contents Include:
- Discussion of the research available on reading comprehension and its relationship to social thinking.
- An organized teaching approach called Book Chat, that uses children’s literature, often picture books, to teach social thinking and improve reading comprehension
- IEP goal ideas and examples.
What is a Thought? (A Thought is a Lot)
by Jack Pransky and Amy Kahofer
From the back cover:
A charming children’s book that introduces young readers to the concept of thought and the amazing power our thoughts have on our lives. Lesson plans and activities on the enclosed CD transform a story into a teaching tool that can be used with regular and special education students alike to explore social thinking concepts such as perspective taking, abstract language, empathy, and human relatedness.
Sticker Strategies
by Michelle Garcia-Winner
The idea behind this CD/workbook package is that once a student has learned a strategy for overcoming behaviors that may be causing him or her problems, presented in the Sticker Strategies CD and book, the instructor sticks the strategy sticker in a flip notebook. The student carries the flip book with him/her throughout the day. With the flipbook, the student can easily and discretely refer to the strategies s/he already learned to solve problems with independence. The result is fewer behavioral breakdowns and classroom disruptions, while teaching self-reliance and problem-solving anytime, anywhere. (www.socialthinking.com)
Superflex Curriculum
by Michelle Garcia-Winner
Superflex ®: A Superhero Social Thinking Curriculum provides educators, parents and therapists fun and motivating ways to teach students with social and communication difficulties (undiagnosed or diagnosed, such as Asperger Syndrome, ADHD, high-functioning autism or similar). The three part cognitive behavioral curriculum helps students to develop further awareness of their own thinking and social behaviors and learn strategies to help them develop better self-regulation across a range of these behaviors.
Whole Body Listening Larry at School
by Kristen Wilson and Elizabeth Sautter
In this charming comic book, based on the idea created by Susanne Poulette Truesdale (1990), the authors, Sautter and Wilson explore how two siblings, Leah and Luka struggle to focus their brains and bodies during the school day. Kindly, a peer mentor helps to explain to these students how they need to use their eyes, hands, feet, heart, brain, etc. to listen in group environments to not only access the information but to work as part of a group. Preschool through 2nd – 3rd grade students love the antics of our characters as they teach this important concept in a very fun manner! (www.socialthinking.com)
Whole Body Listening Larry at Home
by Kristen Wilson and Elizabeth Sautter
This colorfully illustrated storybook, based on the idea created by Susanne Poulette Truesdale (1990), provides fun ways to teach children an abstract but essential idea – that their eyes, hands, brains – their whole bodies! – communicate and affect the people around them. Parents, teachers and therapists use this book to teach this challenging concept through illustrated scenarios at home, in the car, with friends, with grandparents – and a number of other very recognizable situations. (www.socialthinking.com)
You are a Social Detective
by Michelle Garcia Winner and Pamela Crooke
Every one of us is a Social Detective. We are good Social Detectives when we use our eyes, ears, and brains to figure out what others are planning to do next or are presently doing and what they mean by their words and deeds. This entertaining comic book offers different ways that can be reviewed repeatedly with students to teach them how to develop their own social detective skills. Enjoy watching your students and kids blossom day-by-day into successful Social Detectives! (www.socialthinking.com)
These are all wonderful, educational books that will help you support your child at home, and give you ideas about how they can be supported at school too. The best part is that they can now be purchased at Cornerstone Learning Resources in Kelowna. Cornerstone is a fantastic store with many curriculum materials and they have in stock, a limited quantity of the books mentioned, as well as other great resources.
If you have a book that you would highly recommend, please share it with us in the comments below!
Happy reading! 🙂
– Jen