S.M.A.R.T. SpacesAre you struggling to find the right space for your Tactile Trackers or Wagon Wheels? Or are you having difficulty finding a place to put them so you can adjust the height to fit the heights of your students? We recommend using the lockers in the hallway, like Katy from Janesville! Students who lose their place while reading generally struggle with the smooth eye movements needed to maintain their place, so Tactile Trackers Wagon Wheels will help them develop this skill.
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Because Tactile Trackers and Wagon Wheels are teacher-directed activities, many S.M.A.R.T. teachers hang them near the bathroom and use them while students are lining up. This clever tip helps teachers monitor the activity, keeps groups small, and engages students during an otherwise boring wait time. Why are Tactile Trackers and Wagon Wheels so important? These fundamental eye movement activities help increase the stamina of students who avoid visual tasks, have a shortened attention span, or get tired easily when doing visual activities by encouraging the eyes to follow along as the student smoothly traces the line. Keep in mind your students will be at varying stages of development which transcribe into varying levels of abilities. Check out the different stages of development in the S.M.A.R.T. Pre-K CORE Guide.
Resources: Ever wonder what you can do at home to help support your child’s reading ability? We think you’ll be aMAZEd at this simple, fun, and developmentally appropriate idea! Grab the Legos and make a maze with your child! Then grab a small ball and see if your child can move the ball through the maze. The eye movements your child uses to follow the ball through the maze are the same eye movements they need when reading or doing a worksheet. Check out Eye Can Learn (https://eyecanlearn.com/tracking/) to see why tracking is so important to school success.
One S.M.A.R.T. Teacher, Alisha, makes Tactile Trackers that coincide with the units she’s working on with her students! Check out the fabulous Tactile Tracker she made to support her unit on plants; you’ll notice that it also has the parts of the plant labeled to introduce vocabulary.
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AuthorSCheryl Smythe Archives
January 2025
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