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Strategies for Learning

Empowering Students for Success, Grades 9-12

By: Karen J. Rooney

Give struggling students the study skills they need to achieve across the curriculum!

In this book, Karen Rooney, Ph.D., offers general and special education teachers field-tested learning strategies to help struggling learners. Designed for students with or without learning disabilities, these strategies can improve cross-curricular skills in areas that include reading, writing, spelling, and math, and help teachers to:

Engage students in the learning process
Provide students with an effective skill set for all content areas
Improve motivation, increase comprehension, and foster confidence
Offer intense, explicit, and reiterative systems to help students "learn how to learn"
Work with entire classes or individuals

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Product Details

Grade Level: 9-12
ISBN: 9781412972864
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2009
Page Count: 160
Publication date: December 10, 2009

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Author(s) Table of Contents Reviews

Description

"Having used Dr. Rooney's learning strategies for many years, I can affirm their high-yield effectiveness. Best of all, students enjoy this 'take charge' approach to their own learning."—Rebecca H. Aldred, Reading Consultant and Private Tutor
Ivy Creek School, Charlottesville, VA

"A gate barring success often needs but the right key. This book provides the keys to unlock the knowledge of how to learn for those who have always possessed the ability to learn."
—G. Emerson Dickman, Immediate Past President
The International Dyslexia Association

Give struggling students the study skills they need to achieve across the curriculum!

Knowing how to learn and study is an important part of the learning process and can make the difference between failure and success in school. This book offers specific techniques that are research-proven to result in significantly improved classroom grades for all struggling students, including those with attention problems, learning disabilities, and underachievement issues.

Strategies for Learningoffers both general and special education secondary teachers a collection of field-tested learning strategies to help struggling students improve cross-curricular skills in areas that include vocabulary, reading, spelling, writing, math, word problems, grammar, foreign language, note taking, time management, and organization. Karen Rooney, Ph.D., draws on more than 25 years of practice to provide concrete, user-friendly strategies that help teachers to:

Engage students in the learning process
Teach a set of skills that are effective for all content areas
Improve motivation, increase comprehension, and foster confidence
Offer intense, explicit, and reiterative systems to help students "learn how to learn"
Work with whole classes or individuals

Without the need for time-intensive lesson planning, these strategies can be implemented immediately to help struggling students become independent, motivated, lifelong learners.

Key features

Comprehensive, cross-curricularstrategies enable secondary general and special education teachers to spend a minimal amount of time teaching students how to be more efficient learners
The strategies help in tracking individual progress and levels the playing field for students without requiring time-intensive lesson planning
Each strategy features a brief narrative introduction, graphically illustrates the process usinga student example, and showswhat the student accomplished
All strategies can be used with classes or individual students based on the need or situation

Author(s)

Karen J. Rooney

Preface

Acknowledgments

About the Author

1. Introduction

Before Reading This Book

Before Teaching the Strategies

General Principles, Techniques, and Important Concepts

Part I. Vocabulary and Note Taking When Reading

2. Vocabulary

Learning Vocabulary

3. Note Taking When Reading Material With Subtitles (Textbooks, Handouts, and Web Site Material)

Card Format

Paper/Column Format

4. Note Taking Using Shortcut Advance Organizers

Shortcut Advance Organizer: Using Cards

Shortcut Advance Organizer: Using Paper/Columns

5. Note Taking for Material Without Subtitles (Teacher Handouts, Review Sheets, or Class Notes)

Card Format

Paper/Column Format

6. Visual Organizers for Note Taking

Wheels for Reading

Wheels for Literature

7. Additional Reading Strategies

Literature Grids or Columns

Notation Strategy for Literature

Margin Notes

Sticky-Note Strategy

Page Note Taking

Part II. Note Taking When Listening

8. Note Taking During Oral Instruction or Lecture

Streamlined Note Taking (for Lecture)

Two-Column Note Taking (for Use in Content-Area Subjects)

Reduced Note Taking

9. Additional Note-Taking Strategies

Note Taking From Visuals (Blackboard, Projector, or PowerPoint)

Wheels for Note Taking

Note-Taking Grid Advance Organizer

Using Pictorials During Note Taking

Using Pictorials After Note Taking

Note Taking During Math Class

Reorganization of Notes After Class

Part III. Language Arts

10. Decoding and Spelling

Decoding

Spelling

11. English Grammar

Concept or Rule Cards: Option One

Concept or Rule Cards: Option Two

Personal Review Journal

12. Writing

Sentence-Building Strategy (Syntax)

Wheels for Writing

Part IV. Math and Foreign Language

Proofing for Errors

Upgrade Proofing

Wheels for Speech Writing

13. Mathematics

Concept, Rule, or Problem Type Cards

Personal Review Book or Journal

Word Problems

14. Foreign Language

Vocabulary

Chart Cards

Concept, Rule, or Topic Cards

Personal Grammar Review Book or Journal

Part V. Test Taking

15. Test Preparation and Test Taking

Imagery

Pretest Preparation

General Review

Vocabulary Review

Shortcut Review From Notes

Essay Test Review Using End-of-Chapter Questions

Reviewing Old Tests

Sudden-Death Review

Practice-Test Strategies (Conten-Area Subjects)

Practice-Test Strategy for Math, Foreign Language, and English Grammar

Question Strategies

Test-Taking Vocabulary

After-the-Test Strategy

Part VI. Organization, Time Management, and Solving Problems

16. Organization

Notebook Organization: Self-Containted Notebook

Backpack Organization

Self-Monitoring Strategies

Self-Graphing of Grades or Performance

Individualized Homework Assignment Planner

Strategies for Following Directions

17. Time Management

Sunday-Night Planning Overview

Homework, Activities, and Exam Review for a Semester

Time Management of Weekly Homework

Other Examples

18. Problem Solving

Wheels for Problem Solving

Wheels for Feelings

19. Conclusion

Resources

A. How to Help Students Choose an Appropriate Strategy

B. List of Well-Known Literacy Remediation Programs

C. List of Helpful Special Education Resources for Teachers

D. Glossary

Index

Reviews

"A gate barring success often needs but the right key. This book provides keys to unlock the learning for those who always possessed the ability to learn. The knowledge, instinct, dedication, and passion of Karen Rooney gives a special clarity and power to her instructional recommendations. I wish my teachers had this book when I was in school."

G. Emerson Dickman, Immediate Past President
The International Dyslexia Association

"A practical reference, this book adds to teachers' toolboxes of useful learning strategies. All students, whether or not they have learning disabilities, benefit from practicing how to learn!"

Patricia W. Newhall, Associate Director
Landmark School Outreach Program, Prides Crossing, MA

"Easy-to-implement strategies to successfully develop and maximize learning for all students."

Loukea Kovanis-Wilson, Chemistry Instructor
Clarkston High School, MI

"Contains proven, practical, and explicit strategies that secondary students with learning disabilities can use to become independent and motivated learners. Wedding years of clinical experience with the most up-to-date research, Rooney provides teachers with evidence-based techniques they can use with their most difficult-to-teach students."

Daniel P. Hallahan, Charles S. Robb Professor of Education
University of Virginia

"Having used Rooney's learning strategies for many years, I can affirm their high-yield effectiveness. Best of all, students enjoy this 'take charge' approach to their own learning. The strategies are logical, concise, and excellent for students to achieve improved understanding, retention, and memory retrieval for concepts. This book is a must for teachers who want to help their students become independent, self-confident, and successful learners."

Rebecca H. Aldred, Reading Consultant and Private Tutor
Ivy Creek School, Charlottesville, VA

"Karen Rooney's study techniques had a very profound impact on my academic performance. As a ninth- and tenth-grade student at a very competitive and academically rigorous private school, I studied long and hard to keep up with my peers, only to come up with mediocre results. After two years of hard work and little to show for it, I was discouraged and frustrated. My parents made an appointment with Dr. Rooney, who did diagnostic testing. Based on these tests and an understanding of my particular style of learning, Dr. Rooney taught me the techniques that would maximize the time I was putting into my studies. The results were nothing short of miraculous. Through Dr. Rooney's techniques, I was able to tackle more complex information while significantly increasing my comprehension. My grades and test scores improved dramatically, and I gained admission to every college where I applied. Not that I didn't have to continue to work hard, but Dr. Rooney gave me the tools that allowed me to leverage that hard work in a much more productive and efficient manner. Ultimately, Dr. Rooney taught me how to learn, and I strongly recommend her teaching strategies for every struggling student."

Emily K. Bowles, Student
University of Virginia