Learning Methods, Frameworks, and Approaches

ALL KINDS OF MINDS

All Kinds of Minds joins with others to support teachers and provide opportunities for them to build their expertise on how students learn.

The All Kinds of MInds approach translates the latest research from multiple disciplines into a neurodevelopmental framework and approach to help teachers better understand how students learn and vary in their learning.

This framework provides educators with a foundation of expertise about learning. It also serves as an effective system for richly describing, organizing, and addressing students’ learning strengths and weaknesses.

Below is a summary of the eight constructs of the All Kinds of Minds learning framework:

Attention: maintaining mental energy for learning and work, absorbing and filtering incoming information, and overseeing the quality of academic output and behavior.

Higher Order Cognition (Complex Thinking): Comprehending concepts, generating original ideas, and using logical approaches to address complex problems.

Language: Understanding incoming oral and written information and communicating ideas orally and in writing.

Memory: Briefly recording new information, mentally juggling information while using it to complete a task, and storing and then recalling information at a later time.

Neuromotor Functions (Controlling Movement): Using large muscles in a coordinated manner, controlling finger and hand movements, and coordinating muscles needed for handwriting.

Social Cognition (Making and Keeping Friends): Knowing what to talk about, when, with whom, and for how long; working and playing with others in a cooperative manner; and nurturing positive relationships with influential people.

Visual-Spatial Thinking: Understanding information that is presented visually, generating products that are visual, and organizing materials and spaces.

Temporal-Sequential Thinking (Keeping Track of Time/Order): Understanding the order of steps, events, or other sequences; generating products arranged in a meaningful order; and organizing time and schedules.

LINDAMOOD BELL: VISUALIZE/VERBALIZE

The Visualizing and Verbalizing® (V/V®) program develops concept imagery—the ability to create an imagined or imaged gestalt from language—as a basis for comprehension and higher order thinking. The development of concept imagery improves reading and listening comprehension, memory, oral vocabulary, critical thinking, and writing.

LINDAMOOD BELL: LIPS

The LiPS® Program teaches students to discover and label the oral-motor movements of phonemes. Students can then verify the identity, number, and sequence of sounds in words.

Once established, phonemic awareness is then applied to reading, spelling, and speech.

ORTON-GILLINGHAM

The Orton Gillingham approach is most often associated with a one-on-one teacher-student instructional model. Its use in small group instruction is not uncommon. A successful adaptation of the Approach has demonstrated its value for classroom instruction. Reading, spelling and writing difficulties have been the dominant focus of the Approach although it has been successfully adapted for use with students who exhibit difficulty with mathematics.

The Orton-Gillingham approach always is focused upon the learning needs of the individual student. Orton-Gillingham (OG) practitioners design lessons and materials to work with students at the level they present by pacing instruction and the introduction of new materials to their individual strengths and weaknesses. Students with dyslexia need to master the same basic knowledge about language and its relationship to our writing system as any who seek to become competent readers and writers. However, because of their dyslexia, they need more help than most people in sorting, recognizing, and organizing the raw materials of language for thinking and use. Language elements that non-dyslexic learners acquire easily must be taught directly and systematically.

STEP-UP-TO-WRITING

The Step-Up-To-Writing method is a multisensory approach that breaks down the complex tasks of extended writing into small, easy steps. Students follow eight steps that guide them from brainstorming and planning to creating a final, polished composition. Students learn these steps individually and then practice putting them together. Scoring guides and quick check forms are provided to help students monitor their progress. These guides give specific information about what is needed to move from below basic or basic to proficient and advanced levels of writing.

MAKING MATH REAL

Making Math Real is a multisensory approach developed by Educational Therapist David Berg. This method addresses the needs of all learners by breaking down all basic math content into its concrete elements as it creates story-based visual imagery that connects manipulatives with informal language. Math becomes a relevant experience wherin memory load is greatly reduced while all instruction moves gradually from the concrete to the semi-concrete to the semi-abstract to the abstract.

PROJECT ZERO, HARVARD

Anchored in the arts and humanities, and with a commitment to melding theory and practice, Project Zero works towards a more enlightened educational process and system that prepares learners well for the world that they will live, work and develop in.

LINCOLN CENTER SUMMER FORUM

Lincoln Center’s Summer Forum offers year-round programming for arts professionals in the education and community engagement fields. Through dynamic speakers, innovative panels, immersive workshops, and mentoring, participants hone their skills, develop their leadership potential, and create an effective network of arts professionals. Summer Forum, now named Activate, connects and inspires leaders in the education and community engagement fields to spark change in classrooms, communities, and beyond.