Autism and Tompkins Chapter 6

Well, first of all I read Tompkins Chapter 6 for this week even though we are not discussing it until next week. The focus of this chapter was teaching students new vocabulary. I believe the best way to do this is through reading, reading, and more reading. I think that I really get this aspect from my mom. She is a really big supporter of reading, especially for younger children to learn new words. Reading is a great way to learn new vocabulary. The words are usually in a context such that the child can figure out the meaning of the word. When a child cannot figure out the meaning, there are many ways that they can do so. They can ask a parent, a teacher, a friend, or even consult a dictionary, which I recommend as a last resort. When students learn a new word from reading, they get to see that word used in a meaningful way, and will therefore learn how to use that word for themselves. I absolutely disliked learning new words from definitions while I was in school. Learning by definition or copying definitions from the dictionary gave me no context in which to use the word. So, I usually learned a new word and its meaning, and by this I mean I could state its definition, but never learned to use that word as an active part of my vocabulary. There are many opportunities in the classroom to allow students to read. I think that there is no excuse for students not to get ample reading time during the day in the classroom. This reading does not always have to be independent or story based, but can be with partners, the teacher reading aloud, and through reading informational texts. What is most important is that students get plenty of opportunities to read and be read to and to explore or discuss words that are currently not part of their vocabulary.
Secondly, I really enjoyed this past Thursday. I learned a great deal about Autism and how students with Autism can be incorporated into main stream classrooms. I really liked the different strategies given for behavioral approaches. I also like how these behavioral approaches can include the whole class so the child with Autism is not singled out, which will only produce more of a sense with the class that this one child is different than the rest. We, as teachers, need to work our hardest to ensure that all of the children in our classroom see each other as equals.

Until Next Time
*Lisa*

GO GREEN, GO WHITE, GO STATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!