Thursday, March 14, 2024

Helpful Reading Comprehension Videos for Kids

Short reading comprehension videos that help kids learn different reading comprehension strategies and skills.

Comprehension is an area that most hyperlexic kids need extra support with. And it's important to build these skills early as they will lead to greater success as they grow and the texts become more complex.

Now, since these kids are such strong visual learners, using videos is a great way to build skills in this particular area. Besides, videos are way more fun than just listening to a teacher explain or model different strategies.

That's why I compiled this list of reading comprehension videos. They're great for hyperlexic kids, English language learners, and really all kids who might need some help with their comprehension.

The following videos will help you teach your child different reading comprehension strategies and skills. They teach things such as keywords (or signal words) to watch out for. They also provide definitions of important concepts. They even go over things like WH question words, idioms, and metaphors that often confuse autistic and hyperlexic kids.

It's important to note that these educational videos focus on explaining different strategies explicitly or through song, both of which are helpful strategies when it comes to teaching hyperlexic kids.

Also, most of these videos already have built-in captions or subtitles. However, some do not. So remember to turn on closed captioning for any videos that don't have built-in captions as it aids in comprehension for hyperlexic kids. You can read more about the benefits of closed captioning for hyperlexic kids here.

And finally, I focused on picking videos that are short in length. After all, young children generally have short attention spans, especially when it comes to topics like reading comprehension that can often be dry and boring to teach. So all of these videos are under 5 minutes in length.

Reading comprehension strategies videos for kids with hyperlexia & autism

Build Comprehension Skills with these Helpful Reading Comprehension Videos

It's important to remember that comprehension isn't just one thing. It's made up of lots of little moving parts and different skills, which is why these videos cover a variety of important skills to work on and teach.

It's important to remember that comprehension is made up of lots of little moving parts and different skills

So, if you're interested in helping kids with reading comprehension, which you obviously are, then let's dig in!

1. Teaching Main Idea & How to Find it in a Story - Being able to figure out the main idea and summarize a story are important reading comprehension skills. The focus in this video is to teach kids how to find the main idea.

2. Cause & Effect: Keywords to Look For - Hyperlexic kids don't always pick up on cause and effect relationships. That can make it tricky to figure out the problem and solution in a story. Using signal words for comprehending cause and effect is a great reading strategy and this video covers some of these keywords.

3. Author's Purpose: How to Figure Out the Purpose of a Text - Knowing the author's purpose for writing a text can help you figure out the meaning of the story. It's also helpful for analyzing short films and other types of texts. So it's important to know how to figure it out and this video does just that.

4. Fact & Opinion with Practice Examples - Good comprehension skills involve being able to tell when something is a fact and something is an opinion, both in reading and in writing. This video shows the difference between the two.

5. Sequence of Events & Transition Words to Look For - Being able to summarize or retell a story involves knowing the sequence of events. But what's particularly helpful in this reading comprehension video is the list of transition words to look for. It gives kids an actionable plan for determining the order of events in the text.

6. Compare & Contrast: Keywords to Look For - Sometimes a text will compare and contrast two things. Here's an overview of keywords that elementary school kids can watch out for. Learn more about keywords (aka signal words) here.

7. How to Use Context Clues in Reading Comprehension - Sometimes readers will come across an unfamiliar word that impacts their understanding of the text. What you can do is look for context clues. This video explains how to use context clues in reading.

8. Suffixes & How they Change the Meaning of a Word - Teaching suffixes is a great way to boost language proficiency and comprehension.

9. Prefixes & How they Change the Meaning of a Word - Same idea as teaching suffixes. Prefixes can help kids understand the meaning of individual words that might be unfamiliar to them and boost comprehension.

10. Story Elements: How to Identify the Characters, Setting, & Events - When reading a book or short story, a good reader should be able to identify the characters, setting, and events. This video explains what to look for and how to identify these different story parts.

11. Story Elements: How to Identify Problem & Solution - It's important to be able to identify the main problem and solution in reading. This short video clip shows you how.

12. Story Elements Song About Character, Setting, & Plot - But there are more story elements to consider when it comes to reading comprehension and writing, including characters, setting, and plot. This catchy song explains it all.

13. Fact or Opinion for Kids: How to Tell the Difference - Learning about the difference between fact and opinion is a great comprehension skill to have, especially when reading on the internet. A lot of adults could probably benefit from a refresher on the difference between the two...

14. Strategies for Finding the Main Idea - This video covers a variety of different comprehension strategies you can use to figure out what the main idea of the text is.

Comprehension is an area that most hyperlexic kids need extra support with

15. Nonfiction Text Features & How They Help You Understand the Text - I really like how this video shows real life examples of these different features found in nonfiction texts. Kids can use the information in these features to boost their comprehension.

16. Differences Between Fiction vs Nonfiction - This video introduces the concept of genre and compares and contrasts fiction and nonfiction. It even breaks down these two types of reading resources into specific subtypes.

17. Pronoun Song - Comprehension of pronouns and pronoun mix-ups are quite common in hyperlexia (learn more about pronoun reversals here). Thankfully, this fun song teaches kids what pronouns are and how they're used. Don't be surprised if this song gets stuck in your head.

18. Subject Pronouns - Pronouns are used to refer to other things and can definitely impact comprehension. This video digs deeper into teaching pronouns by focusing specifically on subject pronouns.

19. Object Pronouns - Improve comprehension of pronouns further with this video on object pronouns.

20. That's an Idiom Song - Okay, this song is definitely catchy! Idioms and metaphors can cause all sorts of misunderstanding for kids (especially autistic and hyperlexic learners), but this video explains some common metaphors.

21. 10 Common Idioms: Examples & Meanings - This video explains 10 common idioms and what they really mean.

22. What are Metaphors? - This helpful video explains what metaphors are and why they're used. It also includes some examples of common metaphors.

23. Making Predictions Reading Strategy - This is such an important comprehension strategy to learn. And this video explains what predictions are and how to make predictions while reading.

24. Making Text Connections Reading Strategy - Making connections to other books, life experiences, and the world is an awesome way to boost comprehension. This video explains this strategy in detail, but you can read more about the making connections reading strategy here.

25. Parts of a Book Review - This video shows kids all the different parts of the book. This information can be useful for comprehension as it helps give clues about the main idea of the story.

26. 6 Questions to Ask for Reading Comprehension - A song that reviews different WH question words (who, what, when, where, how, and why) and how they relate to the story. These questions can also be used as a writing comprehension strategy as it shows kids different things to think about and include when writing.

27. The Five Ws Song - Hyperlexic kids find WH questions tricky to answer. That means that answering comprehension questions are also hard. This song goes over the 5 WH words: who, what, where, when, and why.

28. WH Question Words - This educational video explains various WH question words beside the main 5 WH question words.

Hyperlexia learners are strong visual learners so using videos can be a great way to build and develop their comprehension skills

Phew, I know that was a lot! But I hope you found this list of reading comprehension videos helpful for your kids, especially if you have a little hyperlexic learner.

These reading comprehension videos teach kids different comprehension strategies and skills

Continue reading "Helpful Reading Comprehension Videos for Kids"

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Counting Sounds Mindfulness Walk Activity

Looking for a mindfulness walking exercise to do with kids? Try this counting sounds mindfulness walk. It's great for kids and adults alike.

Counting has always been a helpful emotional regulation tool for my son. I mean numbers are just his thing.

Of course it's not surprising that a kid with hypernumeracy would find counting soothing. Backwards. Forwards. It doesn't really matter. You start counting with him and it's like, poof! Physical stress and anxiety gone just like that.

So, when we started working on mindfulness skills and strategies with him, it made sense to keep using those interests of his. That's something you'll hear me say a lot around here, by the way. Use your child's interests. Lean into them.

Anyway, we already knew that numbers were helpful for him when it came to calming down or regulating (see our free calm down hero book for instance). So why not use them in other ways too? You know, make them part of his regular mindfulness practice and routine.

Well, that's where this counting sounds mindfulness walk comes in. It's a great way to use my son's interests, sneak in a little mindful practice, and get some physical exercise. Stretch our bodies and our minds, as the saying goes.

Counting sounds mindfulness walk for kids

Counting Sounds Mindfulness Walk: How it Works

No special mindfulness training is required here. No fancy materials either. You just need your feet and your ears. It's quite simple.

All you have to do is go outside for a walk. Then listen for the noises and sounds around you, taking note of what you hear as you walk. Then simply count up how many different sounds you hear. That's it.

For instance, you might hear a bird tweet in the distance. One. 

Then you might hear the sound of a car driving by. Two. 

Next, a twig snaps and cracks as you step down onto it. Three. 

Then you notice the rustle of the leaves as the wind blows. Four.

And so on...You can see how soothing it would be to count the sounds during mindful walking sessions like this.

Counting sounds mindfulness walk: how it works

Additionally, you could bring a small notebook along if you wanted. Then you can keep track of all the different sounds you hear and how often you hear them during your mindfulness walking exercise.

Counting can be a helpful emotional regulation tool for lots of kids, especially those with hyperlexia or hypernumeracy who have a deep interest in numbers

So that's it. I love how easy this counting sounds mindfulness walk is! It's nothing fancy by any means, but it's still quite powerful. Definitely give it a try and see how it goes!

Looking for an easy mindfulness activity for kids? Try this counting sounds mindfulness walk!

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Tuesday, March 12, 2024

12 Animal Walks for Kids Who Crave Sensory Input

Need ideas to get the kids moving? Try these sensory animal walks for kids. They get kids moving and burning off that excess energy!

Last week we received our first official dump of snow and the cold arctic air came with it. Just like that, we're shoveling snow and bundling up to brave the -30 C wind chills.

Wind chills like that though mean that we can't always spend a lot of time playing outdoors. So it doesn't take long for the kids to get a bit squirrely with our long cold winters.

Thankfully, we can burn off excess energy indoors with these 12 fun animal walks for kids. They're also a great way to provide proprioceptive and vestibular sensory input to my sensory seeking kids.

Simple and fun animal walks for kids that provide lots of sensory input

A version of this post originally appeared on the CBC Parents website.

Why Sensory Animal Walks?

You might be wondering: why do animal walks in the first place?

Well, these silly walks make exercise fun for kids, encouraging them to get creative and engage in some imaginative play, all while burning off excess energy. They're great for rainy or cold winter days or for a quick body break at home or at school.

They are also highly regulating and provide calming sensory input. Specifically, proprioceptive and vestibular sensory input through heavy work (more on that here). In other words, these animal walks help kids receive calming deep pressure to their joints and limbs, help strengthen their sense of balance, and develop body awareness, among many other things.

Animal walks also help develop a child's core strength and muscles.

As an added benefit, animal walks require no additional materials. You simply need some open space, you body, and a little imagination.

Benefits of doing animal walks with your kids

Animal Walks for Kids That Will Get the Kids Moving!

You probably remember doing lots of these animal walks yourself when you were a child, but, in case you need some further inspiration, here are 12 animal walks for kids. They'll be moving and giggling in no time!

1. Frog Hop

The frog hop is a classic animal walk that most kids know how to replicate. Simply square like a frog and hop. Or turn it into a game of leap frog if you have more than one child.

Child doing a frog hop

2. Seal Slide

Personally, I find the seal slide super challenging as an adult so it's definitely a great challenge for the kids too. To do the seal slide, simply lay on your tummy, push your hands up until your arms are straight, and move across the floor while dragging your legs behind you.

3. Penguin Waddle

Who doesn't love penguins? They're so adorable when they walk. Your kids will love pretending to be a penguin too. To do this animal walk, simply keep your arms tight against the side of your body then gently waddle side to side as you walk.

For an added challenge or twist, try and encourage your kids to walk with a penguin egg on their feet. Place a small ball or stuffed animal on top of their feet and see if your kids can waddle across the room without dropping their egg.

4. Snake Slither

Lay on your tummy and wiggle along the floor like a slithering snake. This exercise requires a lot of energy and strength to slither across the floor. It's also hilarious to watch!

5. Bear Walk

Here's a classic animal walk that you might remember from your childhood. Simply walk on all fours like a bear, keeping your arms and legs fairly straight as you walk.

6. Crab Walk

Another childhood classic! This one involves leaning backwards on all fours and walking around backwards.

Child doing a crab walk

7. Kangaroo Jump

Jumping is a great way to burn off loads of energy. To do the kangaroo jump, keep your  legs together, bend the knees a bit, and jump around as high as you can. You could also encourage your kids to hold a stuffed animal in front of them as if they have a kangaroo pouch of their own.

Child hopping like a kangaroo

8. Duck Waddle

Your kids will love pretending to be a duck with this simple duck waddle. To do this exercise, squat, tuck your hands into your armpits to make duck wings, and flag your arms as you walk.

9. Donkey Kicks

Donkey kicks are ideal for kids who are extra energetic. Start by getting on all fours. Then simply kick your legs out and up.

For a fun challenge and twist, stack some pillows or cardboard boxes and use your donkey kicks to knock them over.

10. Inchworm Crawl

Move inch by inch with this silly animal walk. To do it, keep your legs straight, bend down, and place your hands on the ground right in front of your feet. Next, walk your hands out in front of you until you get into a pushup-like position. Then walk your feet up to meet your hands all while keeping your arms and legs as straight as possible.

11. Elephant Walk

This walk is all about swinging your long elephant trunk. To form your trunk, put your arms together in front of your body. Then swing your homemade trunk from side to side as you walk. Don't forget to stomp your feet like big elephants as you walk around!

12. One-Legged Flamingo Hops

This animal walk is great for working on balance because it's all about one-legged hops! To do flamingo hops, stand on one leg, hop, and then land one-legged on the opposite leg.

Sensory animal walks exercises to try with your kids

Some Final Notes & Ideas on Doing Animal Walks

Feel free to get creative and let the kids invent their own animal walks too. Maybe they're want to be dinosaurs or horses or sea creatures next. The possibilities are endless!

You could also try doing competitive animal walks. For example, have a crab walk race and see who can cross the finish line first.

Kids doing animal walk races

Need visuals? Try using this free Google Slides deck of animal walks in teletherapy, at home, or in your classroom.

I hope your kids have fun doing these animal walk exercises!

Simple and fun animal walks for kids that provide lots of sensory input

Continue reading "12 Animal Walks for Kids Who Crave Sensory Input"

Friday, March 08, 2024

The Role of Prior Knowledge & Schema in Reading Comprehension

How does background knowledge or schema affect reading comprehension? Find out the importance of activating prior knowledge or schema during reading.

The term schema came up again and again in some recent comprehension webinars and workshops that I attended and it really got me thinking about how I work with my own son on his comprehension skills. 

See, when it comes to improving the comprehension of hyperlexic kids, schema plays a huge role. It also makes a big difference in helping your kids make connections while reading.

But what is schema exactly? 

And what is the role of prior knowledge or background knowledge in reading comprehension?

Well, let's take a closer look at schema and reading comprehension and find out.

What is schema in reading comprehension? Learn how to use prior knowledge or schema to improve comprehension

What is Schema in Reading Comprehension?

Schema refers to the information we have stored in our brain, made up of the background knowledge and prior experiences that we have for different topics and ideas. It refers to everything we know (or, rather, everything we think we know) about those topics.

What is schema in reading? A definition

It's important to note that schemas are dynamic, constantly changing and growing as we learn and experience new things.

Schemas are dynamic and always changing

They also differ from person to person, meaning your schema on one topic will be different than my schema. So it's important to remember that everyone's schemas are different.

Schemas differ from person to person

How Does Background Knowledge or Schema Affect Reading Comprehension?

As much as my husband has tried to explain what he does for a job to me, I truly don't understand much of it because my schema is basically nil. I have no experience using the things he talks about and I don't really understand the jargon and language that accompanies it all. 

But talk to me about piano teaching repertoire, neuroscience, psychology, video games, hyperlexia, or autism? You bet I'll understand what you're talking about because I already have schemas built on these topics to aid in my understanding.

Not having the right amount of background knowledge can make it difficult to understand things. 

Not having the right amount of background knowledge can make it difficult to understand things

Like you might not have a clue what I'm talking about when it comes to piano teaching repertoire, right? But if you had some schema about how to teach piano, what piano method books exist, and had personal experience using some of those books yourself, then you could likely understand what the heck I was talking about.

You can see how being able to access and use your prior knowledge can build a greater depth of understanding. Using schema also allows kids to make connections while reading. And it even aids in visualizing what you read, a core component of the Visualizing and Verbalizing program (review here), because the schema is there to help you picture what it should look like.

Being able to access and use your prior knowledge can build a greater depth of understanding

So if you want to start improving your hyperlexic child's comprehension skills, then building and activating schema is extremely important. 

Building and activating schema is extremely important when it comes to improving your hyperlexic child's comprehension skills

So...How Do You Build Schema?

There are lots of different ways to build schema surrounding a topic, including:

  • Reading books
  • Watching videos or documentaries
  • Looking up information on the internet
  • Listening to a podcast
  • Offering sensory rich experiences
  • Trying something yourself
  • Talking to someone who you deem to be an expert or more knowledgeable
  • Discussing the topic with someone else
  • Asking questions when you're unfamiliar with something

For example, if you don't know anything about sharks, you might read a nonfiction book about sharks, watch videos on YouTube about different types of sharks, read the Wikipedia entry on sharks, make a shark sensory bin, and/or go to a local aquarium to see sharks in person. All of the tidbits of information you gather from these sources will contribute to your knowledge - or schema - of sharks.

How to build schema

Ideas for Activating Background Knowledge & Schema for Reading Comprehension

You now recognize how important it is to build and activate schema, but how do you actually activate schema when reading? Here are some suggestions of things you can do before reading:

  • Share the topic with your child and ask them what they already know about it (you can write these things down or have them just share it verbally, up to you)
  • Ask them questions related to the topic or the book/text you will be reading to help awaken and ready their brain (using a graphic organizer for this step can be super helpful!)
  • Introduce vocabulary words and provide definitions
  • Look at photos or watch a short YouTube video that is related to topics, situations, or experiences that will be discussed in the text

Ideas for activating background knowledge and schema

A Recap of the Role of Prior Knowledge in Reading Comprehension

Let's just recap all that we discussed above regarding schema and background knowledge.

  • Schema refers to the information that we have for different topics and ideas that are stored in our brain.
  • Schemas are dynamic and differ from person to person.
  • Being able to access and use your schema and prior knowledge can boost comprehension by building a greater depth of understanding, helping kids make connections, and aiding in visualizing, among many other things.
  • You can build schema by reading books, watching videos, doing some research, engaging in sensory rich experiences, trying something out, and more!
  • You can activate schema by doing picture walks, introducing vocabulary words, asking questions, and various other activities.

This video would be helpful to show your kids (especially autistic and hyperlexic kids who find social stories helpful!) as it explains how to use schema or prior knowledge when reading. It also includes some concrete examples. Definitely check it out for more info!

I also highly recommend reading how high interest books improve comprehension for hyperlexic learners, as it digs a bit deeper into some of the research on hyperlexia and schema.

So, that's an overview of schema in reading comprehension. Hopefully, you can recognize how important building schema and background knowledge is.

What is schema in reading comprehension? Learn how to use prior knowledge or schema to improve comprehension

Continue reading "The Role of Prior Knowledge & Schema in Reading Comprehension"