It’s NOT a 5x5! Why Grid Paper Trips Kids Up

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Tier 1 Interventions

Jonily Zupancic and Cheri Dotterer

65 episodes

5 days ago

Math intervention, writing intervention, neurobiology, and cognitive-based learning - Jonily Zupancic and Cheri Dotterer are sharing how to incorporate them into your classroom. Jonily is a secondary math teacher and instructional coach for math K-12. Cheri is an occupational therapist specializing in neurology-based treatment across the lifespan and a Strategy-based Interventionist. Jonily secretly calls Cheri her Lesson Plan Whisperer because Cheri is always in her head, reminding her of the foundations of development before academics begin. They met in 2018 and have been talking ever since. Together, they have discovered the Miracle Math Classroom. This classroom embeds all math standards from Kindergarten to twelfth grade, plus neuro-based interventions that improve proficiency and boost student engagement. Both gifted and learning support students thrive using the interventions they share, plus all students in between. Using cognitive enhancing techniques strategically placed in the lesson plan, students learn more and enjoy school more, and fewer students get removed from critical instruction for Tier Three Interventions. Jonily has discovered how to teach all Kindergarten through algebra math standards using twelve, that’s right, twelve Reference Tasks. They include the Pizza Problem, 120-Chart, Paper Folding, Making Rectangles, Quick Dots, Locker Problem, Jesse and Kay, Geoboard, Candy Problem, Paint Problem, Staircase, and the Function Machine. Cheri uses Body-Brain Anchors to ignite the flame inside everyone’s brain for learning. Whether a person is five or 90, her strategy-based interventions will ignite that flame. These Brain-Body Anchors include the Handstand Flip, Interlaced Bilateral Integration, and the Body Sentence Alphabet. Together, they connect the puzzle behind math instruction and instructional delivery alongside these cognitive-enhancing activities to maximize math education for all students. Join us live on the third Saturday of the month, sans July, for the math behind the Reference Task. Every live event is approximately 2.5 contact hours. The first 30-ish minutes become this podcast. To hear the entire training, join our membership program. Please note: we will not record on holiday weekends. Join our mailing list for updates on dates. To join us live, register at Tier1interventions.com. The 2.5-hour sessions include the PowerPoint slides, additional audio files of Jonily teaching the Reference Task, resources from Cheri, and much more. A subscription to these 2.5-hour Workshops is $97/month or $947/year. Membership includes: *Approximately 27.5 hours of direct training per year *Audio files of Jonily's Hear Me Teach segments - complete *PowerPoint Slides to grab and use in your Magic Math Classroom *Resources from Jonily and Cheri for you and your students *A copy of Math DYSconnected when released. Or, you can listen to the first segment on your favorite podcast app for free; no membership is required. No matter how you listen, you will come away with golden nuggets that will transform your classroom. Reach out to Jonily: jonily@mindsonmath.com Reach out to Cheri: info@cheridotterer.com Tier1Interventions.com

All content for Tier 1 Interventions is the property of Jonily Zupancic and Cheri Dotterer and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

It’s NOT a 5x5! Why Grid Paper Trips Kids Up

Tier 1 Interventions

21 minutes

5 months ago

It’s NOT a 5x5! Why Grid Paper Trips Kids Up

Is your student really drawing a 5x5 square—or just counting boxes?

In this episode of the Tier 1 Interventions Workshop, we take a deep dive into grid paper misconceptions and why so many students—even in middle school—struggle with precision, tracing, and accurate visual-motor control.

You’ll learn:

Why grid paper is often too abstract too soon
How to scaffold from geoboards to dot paper before expecting grid paper mastery
Occupational therapy strategies for tracing, alignment, and ruler use
Classroom interventions that work across all grade levels
The construction paper trick that might blow your mind!

Perfect for math teachers, occupational therapists, and interventionists seeking low-cost, high-impact classroom accommodations.

👉 Subscribe and share this with a fellow educator who needs a boost of inspiration!

🔗 Find the full Geo Board training module: https://disabilitylabs.com

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BOOKS

Making Mathineers on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Making-Mathineers-Transformational-Experiences-Conceptual-ebook/dp/B08NFCZ64K

Handwriting Brain Body DISconnect Digital Version: https://disabilitylabs.com/courses/hwbbd

On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Handwriting-Brain-Body-DisConnect-techniques-ebook/dp/B07N1XB1G7

Both books are also available in paperback and hardcover versions. All versions are available wherever books are sold.

Math DYSconnected - To be released in 2024.

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TIME CODES

01:00 – Chunk 4: What grid paper doesn’t teach (and why it matters)

02:30 – The 5x5 illusion: Why most students count boxes, not lines

05:30 – Precision vs. accuracy: How visual-motor issues affect math

06:30 – Why dot paper often works better than grid paper

07:30 – OT tip: Use triangular rulers (Alpha Triangles) for better control

09:00 – The progression: From geoboards to independence on graph paper

12:00 – Why all students—not just those with IEPs—benefit from scaffolding

13:00 – Segment wrap-up: Grid paper as the most abstract tool

14:00 – Cheri: Rethinking design copying through the OT + math lens

15:00 – Why unstructured play with dot paper boosts spatial reasoning

16:00 – Natalie’s takeaway: The next big layer is brain science

17:00 – Binder tricks: Slant boards and seating supports on a budget

19:00 – The construction paper hack: Boosting tactile feedback for writing

20:00 – Teacher reactions: Best facilitation yet

21:00 – Krista on cross-audience clarity: OT + teacher integration that clicks

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SUBSCRIBE and LISTEN to the Audio version of the podcast here on YouTube or your favorite podcast app.

APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tier-1-interventions/id1729403599?uo=4

SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/72Wmq8ddduGz4eUMK7LVIy

AMAZON MUSIC/AUDIBLE: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/89f67d1a-98b5-4592-a53c-8f4acb3d8029

This podcast is created from excerpts from the Tier 1 Interventions Workshop. To hear the full math intervention, subscribe to watch the event live monthly on the 3rd Saturday during the school year.

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MISSION

Minds on Math, LLC: To provide engaging, high-quality professional development and instructional coaching for teachers to improve student achievement and understanding of mathematics.

Dotterer Educational Consulting, a Therapy Services, LLC company: To provide professional development to improve writing skills through efficient lesson planning for regular education classrooms.

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FREE RESOURCES

https://www.eventbrite.com/o/jonily-zupancic-8523599443

https://www.eventbrite.com/o/cheri-dotterer-classroom-coach-18603393525

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Other ways to connect with Jonily and Cheri

FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/tier1interventions

IG: https://www.instagram.com/cheridotterer/

https://www.instagram.com/jonilyzupancic/

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cheridotterer/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonily-zupancic-29aa7a54/

X: https://twitter.com/CheriDotterer