Effective teaching and learning according to (Reid 2016) involves many interactive, cognitive processes. In order for a learner to grow they become ambitious capable learners (Donaldson 2015). He also observes that to enable this to happen teachers must train to be innovative facilitators rather than the font of all knowledge. During the course of this essay one traditional strategy, the use of social stories and two strategies that are not in use everywhere will be discussed. Next the Oelwein method to support reading and De Bono’s six thinking hats which are used to encourage and extend thinking skills this is the strategy that will be examined first. It is important to note that this strategy of the six hats is employed not only in education but also in business. De Bono developed a theory of thinking which attempts to breakdown the process of thinking in order to focus on particular area of a problem at one time. He employs the strategy of parallel thinking, also known as lateral thinking; this requires a person to look at the situation or problem from another’s point of view. Within a group situation it enables all participants to be focussed on the same view at the same time and provide a structure for thinking and problem solving. The strategy is the participants wear metaphorical thinking hats denoted and referred to by their colour. Examples of some of the questions used in year 3 classroom can be seen in (Appendix 1) The blue hat is, the reflective hat, wearing this hat directs the thinking towards organisation asking questions such as, What have we done so far? Or what do we do next? Next is the white hat which focusses on facts and information. The third hat is the red one which is the hat of emotions asking questions such as, How do I feel? It can also incorporate hunches or intuition. The green hat is all about creativity and possibilities. Can we do this a different way? Focussing on the positive is the function of the yellow hat; this hat is the judgement hat with logic not fuelled by emotions. Finally we have the black hat which addresses how suggestions will not work or do not fit a solution. Within the classroom the hats are displayed prominently on the walls and the strategy is used extensively around the school. When a child finishes a piece of work he chooses which two hats he wants to apply as an evaluation. Peer evaluation is also used. When a new topic is introduced such as the Romans the class split into small groups and use the hats to explore the subject. This strategy appears to be quite successful as the children are motivated and keep on tasks often exceeding the goals expected of them. This strategy that appears to stem from the theories of the social constructivist theorists such as Vygotsky who feel intellectual development occurs when the learner is involved with the environment. Disadvantages of this strategy may be that it is quite time consuming; also strong personalities within the group might overshadow quieter ones. This is where the teacher as a facilitator, can allocate groups and put on the blue hat. For young children the hats are a difficult concept therefore they are introduced one at a time. Another disadvantage is that the highly structured assessment procedure and required curriculum guidelines that are in place in schools at this time may not allow for this approach to be easily implemented. The second strategy that will be discussed is the Oelwein (Broun and Oelwein 2007) word recognition programme to support reading. There are two basic concepts to consider when teaching reading as with this strategy the concept of word recognition and the other being a phonic approach. Is reading the process of decoding letter by letter? Or is it using word recognition to make a direct route to the brain) and establish a word lexicon (Hall 2009? The Oelwein strategy allows the learner to develop understanding of both structures and patterns in text both printed and verbal. The main thrust of the strategy is visual but also contains auditory and kinaesthetic input to suit all learning styles. This approach was introduced by me after training and recommendation by the specialist teacher for ASD (Autistic spectrum disorder) to a 7 year old boy who was on the Autistic spectrum. At assessment he was unable to read or decode simple CVC words. In the past phonic based interventions including, Letters and sounds had been tried .He was unable to apply the knowledge to fluent decoding so phonics was not forgotten but the aim was for him to build a sight vocabulary of about 50 words. During the introduction C chose his own words but a few sentence builders were put in as well. Oelwein (Braun and Oelwein 2007) states that there are 4 stages of learning to read Acquisition, recognising words, fluency and some degree of consistency. After making a box to put his words in C chose, his name, Mum, Dad and Ninjago as his first important words, these were put into the grid of a specific size and font also flashcards were identically made. In the beginning pictures were included but C was soon able to do without them. By a process of matching word to word, discriminating between the words, progression occurred so that next, I, see, like and the were included. C quickly began to recognise words and asked for others to be included. He enjoyed making up silly sentences and reading them to his partner at the table. In about week 3 he came to me and said “This is not reading I just remember the words.” Over the weeks his box of words grew and he began to gain confidence and recognise the words in other contexts. We made his own books and a dictionary and worked together to write a sheet so that anyone could help him to learn a new word. The National Literacy Strategy at the moment favours a phonic method of reading development this structured method of phonics or decoding provides the skills to attempt an unknown word. (Jordon and Stark nd) state that the word recognition method is very teacher or facilitator led as the word must be known to remember it rather than. Another fault that we did come across is that the present method of assessing reading and comprehension does not always include words that are in C’s internal lexicon. This debate is not a new one as in the Early to mid-twentieth century whole word recognition schemes were in use. The final strategy to be discussed is the use of social stories, these are especially effective with children on the autistic spectrum, although they can be used in a class situation as well as with individuals. Originally developed by Carol Gray 20 years ago after working with Downs syndrome students and their families, it was extended to be used with Autism by Leslie Broun (Broun 2004).A social story contains 10 defining criteria which help to make the story relevant, physically and emotionally safe and meaningful • The goal • Two step discovery which develops understanding and identifies the topic. • Three parts and a title • FOURmat, presented to suit the audience • Voice and vocabulary accurate with a positive, supportive and patient tone. • Answers the W questions who? What? etc. • Descriptive sentences • Perspective, Affirmative and coaching sentences • Tailored to a particular person or audience. • Implementation You can use pre written stories (Appendix 2).Adapt pre written stories (Appendix 3) This is one that the writer used with a noise sensitive 7 year old with autism as recommended by the specialist teacher for ASD. The whole story was read to the class and everyone had a copy. The young man himself then read the story several times, asked some questions and put it in his stories book. This strategy has been used several times previously and he would often read his stories again in a spare moment. At the next Fire practice he was still a little anxious but much improved. Finally you can write a social story of your own see (Appendix 4) when there is a need. (Leaf et al.2016) did some research on the success rate of social stories in comparison with other strategies and there was a 22% success rate, a behavioural strategy achieved a 100% success rate. In this particular case the young man did not respond well to reward based strategies so that was why this strategy was employed. The three strategies discussed are quite complex interventions but a strategy can be as simple as giving positive praise or a smiley face in their workbooks. After research the conclusion that can be reached is that there is a strong link between certain learning theories and learning strategies which are their practical applications. In conclusion which strategy it is appropriate to use requires some previous research and assessment. What the learner wishes to achieve, what the teacher wishes to achieve and knowledge of what strategies are available. Can the strategy be adapted to the individual’s needs? To achieve effective learning all parties need to work together and be motivated. References Broun, L. and Oelwein, P. (2007). Literacy skill development for students with special learning needs. Port Chester, N.Y.: Dude Pub. De Bono, E. (n.d.). Six thinking hats. Donaldson,G.(2015).Successful futures[ebook] Cardiff.Available at www.cymru.gov.uk Hall, W. (2010). Dyslexia in the Primary Classroom. Exeter: Learning Matters Ltd. Jordan, A., Stack, A. and Carlile, O. (n.d.). Approaches to learning. 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