5 Extra Fabulous Must-Have Resources For Extra Help
With schools back to in-person learning, you will absolutely have students come to your classroom after school for extra help.
Sure, sometimes the extra help is a
requirement for certain students as per an administrator. While other times, learners will seek your
help on their own – major props to the students who self-advocate.
In either case, you must be prepared
with resources to help your students succeed.
Note: this list is tailored to the
subject of English language arts, though many of these items can be used in a
variety of subjects.
Five must-have
resources for an effective extra help session
Colored pencils/markers/highlighters
Index Cards
Worksheets
Scrabble
Mad Libs
Colored
pencils/markers/highlighters
Having writing instruments that can
color-code content is helpful for all students.
These items can be especially useful to students who are finding certain
course work to be a challenge.
Imagine that your student is
struggling to remember which prefixes and positive and which are negative. Instruct your student to pick two colored
pencils – one that is his or her favorite color and one that he or she
dislikes. Your student will use the favorite
color for positive prefixes and the least favorite color for the negative ones.
In another instance, if your student
is struggling to understand character development, choosing five colored
pencils will do the trick to identify the five different types of indirect
characterization. Provide your student
with a print-out of text so your student can use colored pencils to circle the
different ways that a character’s personality is being shown, color-coding each
element.
Index cards
When vocabulary or sequence of events
is a struggle, index cards come in handy.
Though using index cards is an old-school study tip, it is a timeless, effective
study resource.
The act of writing combined with
reading silently and aloud aids in remembering and understanding material, such
as new vocabulary.
Let’s say that a student is having a
tough time remembering a sequence of events, such as the elements of a story’s
plot. Index cards are the perfect
resource to represent each event or element.
With the example of plot, have the student write each term (exposition,
rising action, climax, falling action, resolution) on separate index cards and
their definitions on the back. Take this
exercise a step further by including the specific exposition, rising action,
etc. from the literature being read in class.
Also, writing each term in a
different color of ink will help to mentally differentiate one term from the
next. The student can write the terms in
rainbow order (exposition in red, rising action in orange, etc.) or in his or
her preference of favorite color order.
The visual aspect of the different colors will help the student remember
the order of each event.
Worksheets
While this may be an obvious one,
find worksheets that have content and sample problems to give your students
additional practice.
A word of advice: Prepare an answer
key for yourself. Of course, you know
the content because you teach it, but your brain may be exhausted from a day of
teaching. You want to be sure you have
accurate info to review with your student.
Along with worksheets comes study
guides and reference sheets. All of your
students will benefit from these items, but you may need to create customized
ones for a particular student to focus on a specific concept.
It is helpful to have two versions of
reference sheets for extra help sessions.
One version has all of the info filled in – this is your answer key version. The other should have blank sections for the
student to complete.
Just like with self-created
flashcards, having the student write the information aids in the process of
retaining it. Have colored pencils or
highlighters so that the student can color-code info in a way that works best
for him or her.
Scrabble
For a student who struggles with
spelling, using Scrabble tiles to spell words is a fun, interactive way to
practice.
This activity is best when done in
addition to having the student hand-write spelling words. It cannot be stressed enough the benefit of
writing for understanding. Plus, the
action of writing is beneficial to improve penmanship.
To make the use of Scrabble tiles
even more fun (though this requires extra prep work), reward your student with
small prizes based on the points assigned to each letter in the words spelled
correctly.
For example, in the Scrabble board
game, the letter “B” = 3 points, “O” = 1 point, and “K” = 5 points. Correctly spelling “book” results in 10
points.
Prior to the extra help session,
figure out the total points for spelling every assigned word correctly. Let’s say that all words total to 150
points. You may award your student with
a sticker for earning 50+ points, a pencil for 100+ points, and a piece of
candy for 140+ points.
Each day the student meets with you
for extra help with spelling is an opportunity for more practice and more
prizes. The student will be determined
each day to beat his or her score from the previous day all while mastering the
accurate spelling of the assigned words.
It’s a win-win scenario.
Mad Libs
For students who are having trouble
learning the parts of speech, the game of Mad Libs can do the trick.
Unlike the traditional way to play
Mad Libs, keeping the story hidden from the participant, you may want your
struggling student to see the story.
Viewing the story will help your student provide word choices that
grammatically complete each sentence.
This will help him or her understand the role of each part of speech.
Once the student becomes comfortable
with each part of speech’s purpose, then you can try completing the Mad Libs
story the intended way by keeping the story hidden from the student. He or she will have to recall what each part
of speech does and examples of each all while having fun creating a silly
story.
Final
thoughts
Remember:
These resources are just a few of many items to incorporate during extra help
sessions. It is important to tailor each
session to that particular student’s needs and to prepare accordingly.
Presenting the
content in a new way can lead to the “a-ha moment” every student deserves to
experience.
Check out my Teachers Pay Teachers store for a variety
of versatile products for all grades and subjects!
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the Comments Section!
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Peace. Love.
Reading & Writing.
💗 Miss M
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