overview
Use the Relate Think Sheet: A Cognitive Strategy for Inclusion Classrooms
(Any subject area)
Matthew F. Curran
Session Description:
Use the RELATE Think Sheet content enhancement to increase student performance in your inclusive classroom. It can be difficult for students to gain meaningful understanding of sophisticated concepts. This deep understanding of concepts is a critical ingredient for students to demonstrate mastery in written assessments. The RELATE Think Sheet is a content enhancement developed by Edwin Ellis. It has shown to be an effective tool in raising achievement of students with learning disabilities and is a powerful way to help all students in inclusive settings. Magruder High School students who are in special education used this tool as part of their instructional routine and had a 19.7 percent passing rate increase on the state social studies assessment. This workshop is skill focused. The first half of the workshop provides the strategy's underpinnings and describes how to teach the strategy in the classroom. The second half is dedicated to participants' practicing the strategy.
Matthew F. Curran
Matthew Curran is a teacher at Magruder High School in Montgomery County, Md. He is certified in special education and social studies. He has a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in special education with a focus on student transition. Curran was a recipient of the Teachers 2000 fellowship at The George Washington University. He teaches human behavior and national, state and local government. Half of his day is spent co-teaching in an inclusive setting, and the other half is spent teaching in a self-contained special education classroom. He is also a case manager for students with emotional disabilities.
