Understanding Underachievers

As a parent, a teacher, and a school psychologist, I know first-hand how frustrating underachievement is.  In this post, I discuss possible sources of underachievement and provide potential interventions.

Undiscovered weaknesses or uneven learning skills
Most of us are strong is some areas and weak in others. Often these weaknesses go undiscovered and the child appears to be an underachiever.  Here are some often overlooked areas of weakness:

• Weak visual learners. Some students are excellent verbal learners but cannot process information presented visually in graphs, charts, or process details in illustrations or visual clips.  If undiscovered, "talented" students appear to perform "below their expected performance level".   Possible paths of action:
• "read" pictures together - comics and graphic novels are GREAT materials for this.  Talk about how the information is relayed using letter fonts and sizes, different colors, facial expressions and visual icons. Here are some links with suggested kids' graphic novels and another that discusses visual literacy;
• have students practice visual learning at home (outside of school so there is no embarrassment) encourage students to practice reading graphs and charts at home. Here, for example, is a link for mapping skills which will help kids learn to relay information with target words and visual organizers;
• here's a link on reading graphic images - discuss how concepts and objects can be labeled with words or with icons - take out your phone or computer and play with the icons, when walking or driving, talk about the visual signs and billboards and the messages the pictures relay;
• discuss this with your child's teacher.  Ask for a 'heads-up' before an up-coming unit, exam or even a lesson with a lot of visual icons, graphs, charts, etc. where you (or some other responsible adult) can preview the unit with your child BEFORE the class or exam - to boost and bolster their skills and confidence.  If your child walks in cold, he or she can easily just 'shut down' and you want to try to avoid this pattern of behavior.

• Weak verbal learners cannot process lectures, or dense dry passages (having receptive language weaknesses) and/or they cannot efficiently express - in writing or in speech what it is they want to say (expressive language weaknesses).  Here too, if undiscovered, "talented" students appear to perform "below their expected performance level".  Possible paths of action:
• have your child practice expression at home with an adult (outside of school so there is no embarrassment).  You can leave notes for each other on pillows, refrigerators, in lunch/snack bags;
• talk and play with words - have fun with them - look at nonsense words and play with them or make up your own;
• check this link to play with different means of verbal and visual expression;
• argue /debate here's a fun link to check out: "The Power of Argument";
• check out this link for reluctant readers.

• Graphomotor weaknesses can hinder test performance and students 'underachieve' because they cannot efficiently relay the information they know and have learned. It may take your child too long to write what he or she needs to write; OR your child may be so daunted with having to write an essay, he or she may just relay 'the basics' and chose not to write in detail because it is too difficult to physically write, or they may not be enough room on the page or in the allotted space for his/her large, uneven handwriting; OR in math the 4's become 9's, the 3's become 8's. the 7's become 1's. In such cases, they may have accurately solved the problem while the answer itself is wrong because somewhere along the way they inadvertently changed the digits in the problem. Possible paths of action:
• check this link that discusses what graphomotor weaknesses look like and how to help boost them;
• here's another link on handwriting and dysgraphia;
• practice penmanship AT HOME (outside of school so there is no embarrassment);
• have your child write out all math problems with large spaced graph paper, where they put each digit in one of the 'boxes';
• for tests, talk to your child's teacher and ask him or her to make sure there is enough space right under the question for your child to respond.  In math, for example, if students have to turn the page over to write their answer, I guarantee they will miss-copy the question.

ATTENTION weaknesses can be another contributor to underachievement. One word may trigger associations and these kids are off on fascinating "mind trips" or tangents, often missing  important details (see youtube clip below). OR, students may fail to see the 'relevancy' of the lesson and simple turn off because it 'is boring'. Bart Simpson and Billy Madison are two such characters who have 'tuned out' because they saw no relevancy to their school lessons. Possible paths of action:

• help students find relevancy to what they're learning. Talk about what they learned at home (dinner, maybe) or when driving to after-school activities.  You may want to relate what they are learning about to current events or to books you've recently read, or movies you've recently seen;
• make sure the lessons move at a comfortable pace - provide additional resources for the weak and (different more challenging ones ) for the advanced learners to keep their attention;
• regardless of what the lesson is, make sure the kids understand 'what's in it for them';
• here is a link on attention you may want to check out;
• as a parent, if you think your child is bored in a class, find ways of enriching what he/she is learning in class - go to the library and find related books, go online and search for related links to help make the material more challenging and more meaningful.

SOCIAL FACTORS often come into play with underachievers. For some, 'smart' is not cool so they dumb-down to fit in with the group of friends and avoid bullying. Possible paths of action:

• here is a link on nerds and bullying which play into these social factors;
• here is link on reading faces and developing effective social skill;
• there may be other social and emotional factors that feed into underachieving which are beyond the scope of this post. TALK with your child and know that while they'll often  say 'the homework is stupid' or 'the class is boring' there is always more to it.  Ask about their friends, ask what your child does at recess and who he/she plays with, talk to the teacher and try to get additional insights into social aspects that impinge on school performance.

Regardless of the possible sources of underachieving there are a few generic interventions you can take:

• reinforce good work and good grades;
• set up structured goals and celebrate their achievement;
• help your child organize his/her schedule and required assignments;
• make your child accountable for homework assignments and projects;
• help make homework more relevant;
• ADD STRUCTURE  to your child's homework routine
• set up an effective work space  or 
• establish routines making sure your child gets enough sleep, has ample time to do homework and 'play'.

In closing here is a video clip of an unlikely pair of underachievers -where one word links associations taking them on mind trips, missing material and resulting in ...well enjoy!

 I hope you found this discussion relevant and helpful.  Please share your experiences, suggestions, and opinions in the comments.  Have a great week and thank you for your visit!

The No Nonsense of Nonsense

This post is a follow-up to an earlier post "Jabberwocky & Dr. Seuss:  A Lesson in Nonsense" (although one can be read at the exclusion of the other).

Playing with nonsense is important to language learning, critical thinking and creativity...aside from just being so much fun!

Whether playing with nonsense words (as in Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky) or nonsense ideas, places, and things (Edward Lear's The Owl and the Pussycat or Dr. Seuss' The Lorax), the author invites the reader to:

• play with language - in terms of phonics and vocabulary;
• play with language - in terms of allegory, and metaphor;
• play with concepts - considering greater depth, inference, detail, fun and surprises as they pop up in the reading journey; and
• play with reading making it more active and interactive as author and reader play with words, sounds, and sentence structure.

Shakespeare, Carroll, Lear, Dr. Seuss are just a few authors well-known for their integrating nonsense words, verse, and ideas in their writing.

Shakespeare created his 'words' combining alliteration, onomatopoeia, and word play as he took two unrelated words and combined them to express some often-foul-filled image such as "boil-brained" to create a new, scathing curse or slam [Here is a link to create your own slams from Shakespeare's word lexicon].

Lewis Carroll used nonsense words to play with the sound and structure of language. He also integrated sound, onomatopoeia, illusion and alliteration and, in the case of Jabberwocky, was more inventive in terms of words /word choices (go to: for complete text):

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Yet, even with Carroll's truly nonsensical words, given their use and placement in the sentence, the reader can create an image and story. And upon closer examination, many of the nonsensical words are quite similar to ones we might substitute.  "Gyre" alludes to gyrate, and "mimsy" is close to whimsy, and whether intentional or not, the reader has fun actively constructing his or her own sense of meaning and intent.

Edward Lear, a third English author also integrated nonsense words with nonsense ideas (an owl marrying a pussycat, and the important thing is a ring?)  in his works, often in limericks and songs that he asserted were "nonsense, pure and absolute." His best known songs are probably The Owl and the Pussy-Cat and "The Daddy-Long-Legs and the Fly." [For more, visit Edward Lear Home Page. ]

Owl and the Pussy-Cat Verse II

Pussy said to the Owl, 'You elegant fowl!

How charmingly sweet you sing!

O let us be married!too long we have tarried:

But what shall we do for a ring?

They sailed away, for a year and a day,

To the land where the Bong-tree grows

And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood

With a ring at the end of his nose,

His nose, 

His nose,

With a ring at the end of his nose.

The Daddy Long-legs and the Fly - Verse 1

Once Mr. Daddy Long-legs,

Dressed in brown and gray,

Walked about upon the sands

Upon a summer's day;

And there among the pebbles,

When the wind was rather cold,

He met with Mr. Floppy Fly,

Add dressed in blue and gold.

And as it was too soon to dine,

They drank some Periwinkle-wine,

And played an hour or two, or more,

At battlecock and shuttledore.

Dr. Seuss' nonsense words were both like Shakespeare's in combining two unrelated words to create a third, and like Lear's and Carroll's in their play on sound, language, and sentence structure (as seen in Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please go Now):

 Marvin K. Mooney will you please go now!...

You can go On a Zike-Bike 

If you like....

You can go in Crunk-Car 

If you wish...

You might like going in a Zumble Zay...

You can go by bumble-boat...or jet

I don't care how you go.  Just get!

[For those of you who love political satire, here's a link to Dr. Seuss' play with political satire - as he sent a copy of Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! text to columnist Art Buchwald in July, 1974, with Marvin K. Mooney crossed out and Richard K. Nixon plugged in "Richard M. Nixon Will You Please Go Now!"]

"NONSENSE" in these instances in not nonsense at all - it is, in fact WORD-PLAY and we should be encouraging this with our kids as they learn to read, write, create, and express themselves. 


Lanaguage: Playing with nonsense words in rhyme, as Dr. Seuss does, allows young readers and language learners to:

• play with long and short vowel sounds;
• play with consonants, and consonant blends;
• play and experiment with sentence structure (using this along with mapping is integral for verbal and written expression)
• play with vocabualry, alliteration, onomatopoeia (Do you like the "piano tuna" ...create your own with your child!)

Critical thinking: Dr. Seuss, Edward Lear, nursery rhymes and fables all encourage children and readers in general to:

• compare and contrast to distinguish the 'real-life' from the fantastical fantasy. 
• infer - gaining greater understanding and expertise with metaphor, allegory, double/multiple meanings;
• brainstorm and  imagine our natural world not just for what it is, but for what it could be or might be.
• create - seeing and reading famous works about nonsensical characters, animals, and places encourages young writers to create their own worlds, to learn to exaggerate, to create and to express humor and metaphor. [Like this greeting "WHISK"ing you a Happy Valentine's Day!...make your own!]

 

But the most important thing, is that this kind of word play is fun, it is engaging, it creates multiple memory paths and it is incredibly interactive.  So have fun with nonsense.  Read some of the masters' works and create your own.  

In closing - here is a ditty my daughter wrote when she was young - her take on "Oowey Goowey":

The original

Oowey Goowey was a worm,

A gooey worm was he.

He sat upon the railroad tracks

The train he did not see....

OOOOweyyy Gooweey!!!

My daughter's version:

OOwey goowey was a slug
He was slimy and fat
He crawled upon the railroad tracks...
Chugga, chugga SPLATT!

Please leave some of your fun, nonsensical ideas in the comments so we can all laugh and enjoy!