1 DE
Combining Horse Powered Reading With EAL
Michele Pickel, PhD, is a professor of teacher education at Concordia University - St. Paul, MN, specializing in K-12 reading instruction. She holds a Pk-8 teaching license and advanced certification with EAGALA. Michele created Horse Powered Reading (HPR) in 2012 to help struggling readers. Summer reading programs, class field trips, teacher training workshops, special education summer school in WY, and work with First Nation elementary students in northern Alberta, Canada, are some of the ways HPR has been used. Michele also teaches four-week online courses to help equine practitioners and educators around the globe reach struggling readers in their communities. Rohana Swihart holds a master�s degree in teaching with dual endorsements in special education and elementary education and is a PATH Intl. Certified Registered Instructor and mentor since 2010. She currently teaches high school special education and has had experience teaching math, English language arts, health and transition/vocational. While enjoying a successful career in business and accounting, an injury left her with a permanent disability, which colored her world in ways unimaginable. Determined to ride again, PATH Intl. training got her back in the saddle. Rohana graduated in spring 2018 from a competitive M.A. in teaching program. Her capstone project focused on improving literacy, math and working memory skills through movement, using experiential learning.
Horse Powered Reading (HPR) combines experiential learning, brain-based education, and evidence-based reading strategies with equine-assisted learning to create a unique method of reading support appropriate for K-12 students. This lecture will introduce ways to use HPR with equine activities to help students struggling with reading. Horse Powered Reading was created in 2012 by Dr. Pickel, a reading specialist, to help struggling readers. It blends social emotional learning with academics. Through experiential learning activities, students see and experience reading physically, mentally, and emotionally. During sessions, reading problems are made visible through metaphors assigned to the horse�s behavior or the environment. The activities engage horses and students with the environment to represent reading skills or challenges. Facilitators hold the space with reading elements and horses so, through productive struggle, the child can address possible hindrances to learning while at the same time increasing motivation, self-efficacy, and persistence.
Disclaimer: The information in this video represents the views and opinions of the presenter and does not necessarily represent or reflect the opinions of PATH Intl.