Academic and Behavioral Interventions

Are you looking for hacks for teaching students to use subject-verb agreement while writing? If so, keep reading.

1. After checking the student’s written work, make sure they make all appropriate corrections in subject-verb agreement.

2. Assess the type of grammatical model that the student is exposed to at home. Without placing negative connotations on their parents’ grammatical style, explain the difference between standard and nonstandard grammar.

3. Correct the student every time they use subject-verb agreement incorrectly when speaking.

4. Get the student to make up sentences with given verbs and subjects.

5. Explain that specific forms of verbs go with specific subjects and that correct subject-verb agreement requires an appropriate match of subject and verb. Teach the student several possibilities of subject-verb agreement and how to choose the correct one.

6. Provide the student a choice of answers (e.g., more than one possible answer, multiple-choice items on a worksheet, etc.) to facilitate their capacity and ability to recognize the correct answer.

7. Get the student to pick out the correct verb when given choices on “fill-in-the-blank” worksheets.

8. Give the student an app or a hand-held educational device that gives practice and reinforcement in subject-verb agreement.

9. Provide the student a sequence of sentences with both incorrect and correct usage of verbs and ask the student to find which are correct and incorrect.

10. Get the student to find examples of correct subject-verb agreement in their favorite books or magazines.

11. Provide the student a sequence of sentences, both written and oral, and have them find which ones are grammatically correct and incorrect.

12. Get the student to practice correct subject-verb agreement by providing the student with several sentences with errors on the smartboard or overhead projector. The student is then expected to correct the subject-verb errors and discuss them with the teacher.

13. Converse with the student to explain that they are using unacceptable subject-verb agreement and emphasize the importance of writing grammatically correct sentences.

14. Get the student to read the written work of peers in which subject-verb agreement is used correctly.

15. Spotlight subject-verb agreements in the student’s reading to call attention to appropriate combinations.

16. Get the student to write sentences with given verbs and subjects.

17. Play Concentration to match subject-verb agreement.

18. Get the student to help correct other students’ written work by checking the subject-verb agreement and correcting the task.

19. Find the most common errors the student makes in subject-verb agreement. Get the student to spend time each day writing one or more of these subject-verb combinations in correct form.

20. Create a list of the correct forms of subjects and verbs the student has difficulty writing correctly. Get the student to keep the list at their desk for a reference when writing.

21. Consider using one of the apps on one of our best writing apps lists:

The Tech Edvocate’s List of 31 Grammar & Writing Apps, Tools & Resources

Ten Apps to Help Learners Develop Writing Skills

10 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for Elementary School Learners

11 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for High School Learners

10 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for Middle School Learners

Are you looking for ways to teach students to use punctuation? If so, keep reading.

1. Get the student to practice using one form of punctuation at a time before going on to another (e.g., period, question mark, etc.).

2. Spotlight punctuation in passages from the student’s reading task. Get the student to explain why each form of punctuation is used.

3. Do not require the student to learn more information than they are capable of learning at any time.

4. Utilize a newspaper to locate various types of punctuation. Get the student to circle periods in red, commas in blue, etc.

5. Make the student proofread all written work for correct punctuation. Praise the student for each correction they make in punctuation.

6. Use appropriate punctuation through charts and overheads for student reference during all creative writing learning activities .

7. Give practice with punctuation using a computer program or hand-held educational device that gives the student instant feedback.

8. Give the student the appropriate learning materials to finish the task (e.g., pencil with eraser, paper, dictionary, handwriting sample, etc.). Make sure that the student has only the appropriate learning materials on the desk.

9. Create a notebook for punctuation rules to be used to help with proofreading work.

10. Acknowledge quality work (e.g., display student’s work, congratulate the student, etc.).

11. Minimize the emphasis on competition. Competitive learning activities may cause the student to hurry and make errors in punctuation.

12. Give the student a list of examples of the forms of punctuation they are expected to use (e.g., periods, commas, question marks, exclamation points, etc.). The student keeps the examples at their desk and refers to them when writing.

13. Teach the student punctuation at each level before introducing a new skill level.

14. Praise the student for using correct punctuation when writing: (a) give the student a concrete reward (e.g., classroom privileges, line leading, 10 minutes of free time, etc.) or (b) give the student an informal reward (e.g., praise, handshake, smile, etc.).

21. Consider using one of the apps on one of our best writing apps lists:

The Tech Edvocate’s List of 31 Grammar & Writing Apps, Tools & Resources

Ten Apps to Help Learners Develop Writing Skills

10 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for Elementary School Learners

11 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for High School Learners

10 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for Middle School Learners

Are you looking for strategies for teaching students to use punctuation? If so, keep reading.

1. After checking the student’s work, require them to make all appropriate corrections in punctuation.

2. Inspect the student’s work at several points throughout a task to make sure the student is using punctuation when appropriate.

3. Display a chart of punctuation rules in front of the classroom.

4. Provide the student a list of sentences in which the punctuation has been omitted. Get the student to supply the correct punctuation with colored pencils.

5. Examine with the student common punctuation rules before starting a creative writing learning experience.

6. Provide the student a sequence of sentences representing all the punctuation rules. Get the student to find the rules for each punctuation. Remove each sentence from the task when the student can explain the rules for punctuation in the sentence.

7. Give the student apps that gives practice and reinforcement in punctuating sentences and other creative writing tasks (e.g., addresses, letters, etc.).

8. Provide the student sentences requiring them to fill in specific punctuation they are learning to use (e.g., periods, commas, question marks, etc.).

9. Make sure the student receives instruction in the rules of punctuation (e.g., periods belong at the end of sentences, question marks are used when a question is asked, etc.).

10. Get the student to take part in writing learning activities that should cause them to do as well as possible on punctuation and other writing skills (e.g., writing letters to a friend, rock star, famous athlete, etc.).

11. Teach the student what all punctuation marks look like and their uses.

12. Get the student to keep a list of basic rules of punctuation at their desk to use as a reference when writing (e.g., use a period at the end of a sentence, etc.).

13. Provide the student a set of three cards: one with a period, one with a question mark, and one with an exclamation point. As you read a sentence to the student, have them hold up the appropriate punctuation card.

14. Get the student to practice correct punctuation on the smartboard by providing the student with several sentences with errors. The student is then expected to correct the punctuation errors and discuss them with the teacher.

15. Draft an agreement with the student stipulating what behavior is required (e.g., using punctuation correctly) and which reinforcement will be implemented when the agreement has been met.

16. Consider using one of the apps on one of our best writing apps lists:

The Tech Edvocate’s List of 31 Grammar & Writing Apps, Tools & Resources

Ten Apps to Help Learners Develop Writing Skills

10 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for Elementary School Learners

11 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for High School Learners

10 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for Middle School Learners

Are you looking for ways to support students who cannot write within a given space? If so, keep reading.

1. Give the student physical encouragement by guiding their hand as they write.

2. Get the student to correct their own writing errors.

3. Get the student to perform a “practice page” before turning in the actual task.

4. Get the student to practice writing letters, words, and sentences by tracing over a sequence of dots.

5. Give the student extra-large sheets of paper on which to write. As the student shows success, slowly lessen the size of the paper to standard size.

6. Acknowledge quality work (e.g., display student’s work, congratulate the student, etc.).

7. Give the student the appropriate learning materials to finish the task (e.g., pencil with eraser, paper, dictionary, handwriting sample, etc.). Make sure that the student has only the appropriate learning materials on the desk.

8. Utilize vertical lines or graph paper to help the student space letters correctly.

9. Create a border, so the student understands when they have written to the edge of the writing space.

10. Assess the appropriateness of the task to ascertain (a) if the task is too easy, (b) if the task is too complicated, and (c) if the duration of time scheduled to finish the task is sufficient.

11. Give the student shorter writing tasks. As the student shows success, slowly increase the number of writing tasks over time.

12. Provide the student with one handwriting task to finish at a time. Present the next task only when the student has successfully finished the prior task.

13. Get the student to take part in writing learning activities designed to cause the student to want to be successful in writing (e.g., writing a letter to a friend, rock star, famous athlete, etc.).

14. Consider using one of the apps on one of our best writing apps lists:

The Tech Edvocate’s List of 31 Grammar & Writing Apps, Tools & Resources

Ten Apps to Help Learners Develop Writing Skills

10 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for Elementary School Learners

11 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for High School Learners

10 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for Middle School Learners

Are you looking for strategies to help students who cannot write within a given space? If so, keep reading.

1. Get the student’s vision reviewed if it has not been recently reviewed.

2. Inspect the student’s work at several points throughout the task to make sure that the student is writing within a given space.

3. Inspect the student’s paper position. A right-handed person writing in cursive should tilt the paper to the left, so the lower left-hand comer points toward the person’s midsection, and as the writing progresses, the paper should shift, not the writing arm.

4. Inspect the student’s pencil grasp. The pencil should be held between the thumb and first two fingers, holding the instrument one inch from its tip.

5. Make sure the student is shifting their paper as the writing progresses.

6. Draw a margin on the right side of the student’s paper as a reminder for them to write within a given space.

7. Put a ruler or construction paper on the baseline, making sure the student touches the line for each letter.

8. Utilize a ruled paper with a midline, explaining to the student that minimum letters (a, b, c, d, e, g, h, etc.) touch the midline.

9. Spotlight lines on the paper for the student to use as encouragement.

10. Praise the student for each word or letter correctly spaced.

11. Get the student to look at correctly written content to serve as a model for them to mimic.

12. Darken the lines on the paper so the student can more easily use them to write within the given space.

13. Let the student draw their own lines on paper for writing learning activities .

14. Let the student use a ruler as a guide or “bottom line.”

15. Consider using one of the apps on one of our best writing apps lists:

The Tech Edvocate’s List of 31 Grammar & Writing Apps, Tools & Resources

Ten Apps to Help Learners Develop Writing Skills

10 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for Elementary School Learners

11 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for High School Learners

10 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for Middle School Learners

Are you looking for ways to help kids who reverse letters and numbers while writing? If so, keep reading.

1. Get the student to keep a card with the word bed at their desk to help remember the correct form of b and d in a word they understand.

2. Get the student to keep a list of the most commonly used words that contain letters they reverse. This list can be used as a reference when the student is writing.

3. After identifying those letters and numbers the student reverses, have them highlight or underline those letters and numbers found in a magazine, newspaper, etc.

4. Spotlight the subtle differences between letters and numbers that the student reverses. Get the student to scan five typewritten lines containing only the letters or numbers that are confusing. Get the student to circle the “n’s and the “h’s with various colors.

5. Cursive handwriting may prevent reversals and may be used by some students as an alternative to manuscript.

6. Acknowledge quality work (e.g., display the student’s work, congratulate the student, etc.).

7. Give the student a number line and alphabet strip on their desk to use as a reference to make the correct forms of letters and numbers.

8. Minimize the emphasis on competition. Competitive learning activities may cause the student to hurry and reverse numbers and letters when writing.

9. Get the student to take part in writing learning activities designed to cause the student to want to be successful in writing (e.g., writing a letter to a friend, rock star, famous athlete, etc.).

10. Praise the student for making letters and numbers correctly when writing: (a) give the student a concrete reward (e.g., privileges such as leading the line, handing out learning materials, 10 minutes of free time, etc.) or (b) give the student an informal reward (e.g., smile, handshake, praise, etc.).

11. Get the student to practice writing letters, words, and sentences by tracing over a sequence of dots.

12. Make the student proofread all written work. Praise the student for each correction made.

13. Consider using one of the apps on one of our best writing apps lists:

The Tech Edvocate’s List of 31 Grammar & Writing Apps, Tools & Resources

Ten Apps to Help Learners Develop Writing Skills

10 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for Elementary School Learners

11 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for High School Learners

10 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for Middle School Learners

Are you looking for strategies to help students who reverse letters and numbers while writing? If so, keep reading.

1. Get the student’s vision reviewed if it has not been recently reviewed.

2. Utilize board learning activities (e.g., drawing lines, circles, etc.) to teach the student proper directionality for each letter or number.

3. Guide the student’s hand, providing the feeling of directionality.

4. Put letters on transparencies and project them on the smartboard or paper. Get the student to trace the letters.

5. Get the student to trace letters and numbers in magazines, newspapers, etc., that they typically reverse when writing.

6. On occasions where correcting papers with reversed letters, use direction arrows to remind the student of correct directionality.

7. Find the letters and numbers the student reverses and have them practice making one or more of the letters correctly each day.

8. Teach the student to recognize the correct form of the letters and numbers when they see them (e.g., b, d, 2, 5, etc.).

9. Teach the student to check all work for those letters and numbers they typically reverse. Praise the student for correcting any reversed letters and numbers.

10. Give the student visual signals to aid in making letters and numbers (e.g., arrows indicating strokes).

11. Give the student large letters and numbers to trace that they typically reverse.

12. Make sure that the student’s formation of letters is appropriate and continuously correct.

13. Provided with letters and numbers on separate cards, have the student match the letters and numbers that are the same.

14. Consider using one of the apps on one of our best writing apps lists:

The Tech Edvocate’s List of 31 Grammar & Writing Apps, Tools & Resources

Ten Apps to Help Learners Develop Writing Skills

10 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for Elementary School Learners

11 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for High School Learners

10 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for Middle School Learners

Are you looking for strategies to help students who cannot use correct spacing between words or sentences while reading? If so, keep reading.

1. Get the student’s vision reviewed if it has not been recently reviewed.

2. Get the student to sit in a properly sized chair with feet touching the floor, their back pressed against the back of the chair, shoulders slightly inclined, arms resting on the desk, and elbows just off the lower edge of the desk.

3. Inspect the student’s paper position. A right-handed person writing in cursive should tilt the paper to the left, so the lower left-hand comer points toward the person’s midsection, and as the writing progresses, the paper should shift, not the writing arm.

4. Put dots between letters and have the student use fingers as a spacer between words.

5. Make sure the student is shifting their paper when writing.

6. Using appropriate spacing, print or write words or sentences. Get the student to trace what was written.

7. Minimize the emphasis on competition. Competitive learning activities may cause the student to hurry and fail to use correct spacing when writing words and sentences.

8. Give the student samples of handwritten words and sentences they can use as a reference for correct spacing.

9. Get the student to leave a finger space between each word they write.

10. Draw vertical lines for the student to use to space letters and words.

11. Give the student the appropriate learning materials to finish the task (e.g., pencil with eraser, paper, dictionary, handwriting sample, etc.). Make sure that the student has only appropriate learning materials on their desk.

12. Teach the student to always look at the next word to ascertain if there is enough space before the margin.

13. Give the student graph paper, instructing them to write letters in each block, while skipping a block between words and sentences.

14. Acknowledge quality work (e.g., display student’s work, congratulate the student, etc.).

15. Inspect the student’s work at several points throughout a task to make sure the student is using appropriate spacing.

16. Provide the student with one handwriting task to finish at a time. Present the next task only when the student has successfully finished the prior task.

17. Designate the student with fewer tasks. As the student shows success, slowly increase the number of tasks over time.

18. Get the student to practice writing letters, words, and sentences by tracing over a sequence of dots.

19. Utilize vertical lines or graph paper to help the student space letters correctly.

20. Get the student to take part in writing learning activities designed to cause the student to want to be successful in writing (e.g., writing a letter to a friend, rock star, famous athlete, etc.).

21. Get the student to look at correctly spaced written content to serve as a model.

22. Praise the student for each word and/or sentence that is properly spaced: (a) give the student a concrete reward (e.g., classroom privileges, line leading, 10 minutes of free time, etc.) or (b) give the student an informal reward (e.g., praise, handshake, smile, etc.).

23. Get the student to perform a “practice page” before turning in the actual task.

24. Consider using one of the apps on one of our best writing apps lists:

The Tech Edvocate’s List of 31 Grammar & Writing Apps, Tools & Resources

Ten Apps to Help Learners Develop Writing Skills

10 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for Elementary School Learners

11 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for High School Learners

10 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for Middle School Learners

Are you looking for ways to help students improve their glossary and dictionary skills? If so, keep reading.

1. Praise the student for demonstrating knowledge of glossary and/or dictionary skills: (a) give the student a concrete reward (e.g., privileges such as leading the line, handing out learning materials, 10 minutes of free time, etc.) or (b) give the student an informal reward (e.g., praise, handshake, smile, etc.).

2. Converse with the student to explain (a) what the student is doing wrong and (b) what the student should be doing.

3. Praise the student for demonstrating knowledge of glossary skills and/or dictionary skills based on the number of times the student can be successful. As the student shows success, slowly increase the number of times required for reinforcement.

4. Connect with parents (e.g., notes home, phone calls, etc.) to disseminate information about the student’s progress. The parents may reinforce the student at home for demonstrating glossary and dictionary skills at school.

5. Assess the appropriateness of the task to ascertain (a) if the task is too complicated and (b) if the duration of time scheduled to finish the task is sufficient.

6. Select a peer to model glossary and dictionary skills for the student and to assist the student with instructions, etc.

7. Get the student to be a peer tutor to teach another student a concept they have learned.

8. Provide practice in glossary and/or dictionary skills by using an app that gives the student instant feedback.

9. Make sure the student has mastery of ideas at each level before introducing a new skill level.

10. Make sure the student is not required to learn more information than they are capable of at any time.

11. Minimize the emphasis on competition. Competitive learning activities may cause the student to hurry and commit errors.

12. Give the student an increased chance for help or assistance on academic tasks (e.g., peer tutoring, instructions for work sent home, frequent interactions, etc.).

13. Daily, examine those skills, ideas, tasks, etc., that have been previously introduced.

14. Consider using AI to teach reading comprehension.

15. Consider using Alexa to teach reading skills.

16. Try using one of our many apps designed to teach literacy skills and help students with reading issues:

10 Apps That Teach Your Child to Read

7 Must-Have Apps to Make Learners Love Reading

7 Must-Have Phonics Apps and Tools

9 Reading Apps and Tools for the Elementary Classroom

The Tech Edvocate’s List of 24 Literacy Apps, Tools & Resources

10 Apps to Teach Children Early Literacy Skills

Are you looking for strategies to help students who have trouble identifying supporting details while reading? If so, keep reading.

1. Get the student to find the main idea of each paragraph. Then have the student list all information from the paragraph that relates to the main idea.

2. Teach the student mapping techniques to find supporting details.

3. Give the student a diagram in which supporting details are like the legs of a bug. The student can learn to make “bug notes” in this way: An oval shape is the bug’s body on which the teacher writes the main idea of a paragraph. Then each supporting detail is written on a line coming out from the oval. These represent the bug’s legs. The number of legs each bug has depends on the number of supporting details there are for a given topic.

4. Get the student to pretend to be a detective and play the game Prove It. After reading a selection, the main idea is determined and written on the smartboard. The student must “prove it” by telling the supporting details that were discovered in the reading selection.

5. Praise the student for identifying supporting details: (a) give the student a concrete reward (e.g., privileges such as leading the line, handing out learning materials, 10 minutes of free time, etc.) or (b) give the student an informal reward (e.g., praise, handshake, smile, etc.).

6. Converse with the student to explain: (a) what the student is doing wrong and (b) what the student should be doing.

7. Connect with parents (e.g., notes home, phone calls, etc.) to disseminate information about the student’s progress. The parents may reinforce the student at home for discovering supporting details at school.

8. Get the student to question any directions, explanations, and instructions not grasped.

9. Assess the appropriateness of the task to ascertain (a) if the task is too complicated and (b) if the duration of time scheduled to finish the task is sufficient.

10. Select a peer to model discovering supporting details for the student and to assist the student with instructions, etc.

11. Indicate what is to be done for the conclusion of the task (e.g., indicate definite starting and stopping points, indicate minimum requirements, etc.).

12. Get the student to be a peer tutor to teach another student a concept they have learned.

13. Consider using AI to teach reading comprehension.

14. Consider using Alexa to teach reading skills.

15. Try using one of our many apps designed to teach literacy skills and help students with reading issues:

10 Apps That Teach Your Child to Read

7 Must-Have Apps to Make Learners Love Reading

7 Must-Have Phonics Apps and Tools

9 Reading Apps and Tools for the Elementary Classroom

The Tech Edvocate’s List of 24 Literacy Apps, Tools & Resources

10 Apps to Teach Children Early Literacy Skills