Building Executive Function Skills into Literacy Sessions - Beth Coppoc Gunshor

Do your students struggle to stay focused, avoid distractions, begin and complete assignments, or remember directions? Would you like to help them resist impulses, switch between tasks, and manage their thoughts and behaviors?

Speech-Language Pathologist Beth Coppic Gunshor discusses how these executive function (EF) skills play out when working with students, turning abstract concepts into practical activities that build academic and life-defining skills. Learn how Beth uses self-talk, whiteboard clocks, and flashlights to help her students remember past events so they can visualize the future to decide what action to take right now.

Resources mentioned during For the Love of Literacy’s podcast on literacy and executive function with Beth Coppoc Gunshor

Cognitive Connections: Sarah Ward and Kristin Jacobson

Video about working clock, starting at 30 minutes

Tera Sumpter: Seeds of Learning

Gretchen Wegner: Anti-Boring Learning Lab

Michael Mcleod: GrowNow ADHD

Video of Dimensional Change Card Sort Test

Center on the Developing Child: Building the Brain’s “Air Traffic Control” System: How Early Experiences Shape the Development of Executive Function