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Accommodating Students with Dyslexia in All Classroom Settings | Reading Rockets

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Accommodating Students with Dyslexia in All Classroom Settings | Reading Rockets

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Teaching students with dyslexia across settings is challenging. Both general education and special education teachers seek accommodations that foster the learning and management of a class of heterogeneous learners. It is important to identify accommodations that are reasonable to ask of teachers in all classroom settings. The following accommodations appear reasonable and provide a framework for helping students with learning problems achieve in general education and special education classrooms. They are organized according to accommodations involving materials, interactive instruction, and student performance.

Accommodations involving materials

Students spend a large portion of the school day interacting with materials. Most instructional materials give teachers few activities or directions for teaching a large class of students who learn at different rates and in various ways. This section provides material accommodations that enhance the learning of diverse students. Frequently, paraprofessionals, volunteers, and students can help develop and implement various accommodations. Material accommodations include the following:

Use a tape recorder. Many problems with materials are related to reading disabilities. The tape recorder often is an excellent aid in overcoming this problem. Directions, stories, and specific lessons can be recorded on tape. The student can replay the tape to clarify understanding of directions or concepts. Also, to improve reading skills, the student can read the printed words silently as they are presented on tape.

Clarify or simplify written directions. Some directions are written in paragraph form and contain many units of information. These can be overwhelming to some students. The teacher can help by underlining or highlighting the significant parts of the directions. Rewriting the directions is often helpful.

For example, one set of directions might say: This exercise will show how well you can locate conjunctions. Read each sentence. Look for the conjunctions. When you locate a conjunction, find it in the list of conjunctions under each sentence. Then circle the number of your answer in the answer column. Simplified directions might say: Read each sentence and circle all conjunctions.

Present a small amount of work. The teacher can tear pages from workbooks and materials to present small assignments to students who are anxious about the amount of work to be done. This technique prevents students from examining an entire workbook, text, or material and becoming discouraged by the amount of work. Also, the teacher can reduce the amount of work when it appears redundant.

For example, the teacher can request the student to complete only odd-numbered problems or items with stars by them, or can provide responses to several items and ask the student to complete the rest. Finally, the teacher can divide a worksheet into sections and instruct the student to do a specific section. A worksheet is divided easily by drawing lines across it and writing go and stop within each section.

Block out extraneous stimuli. If a student is easily distracted by visual stimuli on a full worksheet or page, a blank sheet of paper can be used to cover sections of the page not being worked on at the time. Also, line markers can be used to aid reading, and windows can be used to display individual math problems.

Highlight essential information. If an adolescent can read a regular textbook but has difficulty finding the essential information, the teacher can mark this information with a highlight pen.

Locate place in consumable material. In consumable materials in which students progress sequentially (such as workbooks), the student can make a diagonal cut across the lower right-hand corner of the pages as they are completed. With all the completed pages cut, the student and teacher can readily locate the next page that needs to be corrected or completed.

Provide additional practice activities. Some materials do not provide enough practice activities for students with learning problems to acquire mastery on selected skills. Teachers then must supplement the material with practice activities. Recommended practice exercises include instructional games, peer teaching activities, self-correcting materials, computer software programs, and additional worksheets.

Provide a glossary in content areas. At the secondary level, the specific language of the content areas requires careful reading. Students often benefit from a glossary of content-related terms.

Develop reading guides. A reading guide provides the student with a road map of what is written and features periodic questions to help him or her focus on relevant content. It helps the reader understand the main ideas and sort out the numerous details related to the main ideas. A reading guide can be developed paragraph-by-paragraph, page-by-page, or section-by-section.

Accommodations involving interactive instruction

The task of gaining students' attention and engaging them for a period of time requires many teaching and managing skills. Teaching and interactions should provide successful learning experiences for each student. Some accommodations to enhance successful interactive instructional activities are:

Use explicit teaching procedures. Many commercial materials do not cue teachers to use explicit teaching procedures; thus, the teacher often must adapt a material to include these procedures. Teachers can include explicit teaching steps within their lessons (i.e., present an advanced organizer, demonstrate the skill, provide guided practice, offer corrective feedback, set up independent practice, monitor practice, and review).

Repeat directions. Students who have difficulty following directions are often helped by asking them to repeat the directions in their own words. The student can repeat the directions to a peer when the teacher is unavailable. The following suggestions can help students understand directions: (a) if directions contain several steps, break down the directions into subsets; (b) simplify directions by presenting only one portion at a time and by writing each portion on the chalkboard as well as stating it orally; and (c) when using written directions, be sure that students are able to read and understand the words as well as comprehend the meaning of sentences.

Maintain daily routines. Many students with learning problems need the structure of daily routines to know and do what is expected.

Provide a copy of lecture notes. The teacher can give a copy of lecture notes to students who have difficulty taking notes during presentations.

Provide students with a graphic organizer. An outline, chart, or blank web can be given to students to fill in during presentations. This helps students listen for key information and see the relationships among concepts and related information.

Use step-by-step instruction. New or difficult information can be presented in small sequential steps. This helps learners with limited prior knowledge who need explicit or part-to-whole instruction.

Simultaneously combine verbal and visual information. Verbal information can be provided with visual displays (e.g., on an overhead or handout).

Write key points or words on the chalkboard. Prior to a presentation, the teacher can write new vocabulary words and key points on the chalkboard or overhead.

Use balanced presentations and activities. An effort should be made to balance oral presentations with visual information and participatory activities. Also, there should be a balance between large group, small group, and individual activities.

Use mnemonic instruction. Mnemonic devices can be used to help students remember key information or steps in a learning strategy. (An example of mnemonic instruction is using the word HOMES to remember the names of the Great Lakes. H is for Lake Huron, O is for Lake Ontario, M is for Lake Michigan, E is for Lake Erie, and S is for Lake Superior.)

Emphasize daily review. Daily review of previous learning or lessons can help students connect new information with prior knowledge.

Accommodations involving student performance

Students vary significantly in their ability to respond in different modes. For example, students vary in their ability to give oral presentations; participate in discussions; write letters and numbers; write paragraphs; draw objects; spell; work in noisy or cluttered settings; and read, write, or speak at a fast pace. Moreover, students vary in their ability to process information presented in visual or auditory formats. The following accommodation involving mode of reception and expression can be used to enhance students' performance:

Change response mode. For students who have difficulty with fine motor responses (such as handwriting), the response mode can be changed to underlining, selecting from multiple choices, sorting, or marking. Students with fine motor problems can be given extra space for writing answers on worksheets or can be allowed to respond on individual chalkboards.

Provide an outline of the lecture. An outline enables some students to follow the lesson successfully and make appropriate notes. Moreover, an outline helps students to see the organization of the material and ask timely questions.

Encourage use of graphic organizers. A graphic organizer involves organizing material into a visual format. To develop a graphic organizer, the student can use the following steps: (a) list the topic on the first line, (b) collect and divide information into major headings, (c) list all information relating to major headings on index cards, (d) organize information into major areas, (e) place information under appropriate subheadings, and (f) place information into the organizer format.

Place students close to the teacher. Students with attention problems can be seated close to the teacher, chalkboard, or work area and away from distracting sounds, materials, or objects.

Encourage use of assignment books or calendars. Students can use calendars to record assignment due dates, list school related activities, record test dates, and schedule timelines for schoolwork. Students should set aside a special section in an assignment book or calendar for recording homework assignments.
Reduce copying by including information or activities on handouts or worksheets.
Have students turn lined paper vertically for math. Lined paper can be turned vertically to help students keep numbers in appropriate columns while computing math problems.

Use cues to denote important items. Asterisks or bullets can denote questions or activities that count heavily in evaluation. This helps students spend time appropriately during tests or assignments.

Design hierarchical worksheets. The teacher can design worksheets with problems arranged from easiest to hardest. Early success helps students begin to work.

Allow use of instructional aids. Students can be provided with letter and number strips to help them write correctly. Number lines, counters, and calculators help students compute once they understand the mathematical operations.

Display work samples. Samples of completed assignments can be displayed to help students realize expectations and plan accordingly.

Use peer-mediated learning. The teacher can pair peers of different ability levels to review their notes, study for a test, read aloud to each other, write stories, or conduct laboratory experiments. Also, a partner can read math problems for students with reading problems to solve.

Encourage note sharing. A student can use carbon paper or a notebook computer to take notes and then share them with absentees and students with learning problems. This helps students who have difficulty taking notes to concentrate on the presentation.

Use flexible work times. Students who work slowly can be given additional time to complete written assignments.

Provide additional practice. Students require different amounts of practice to master skills or content. Many students with learning problems need additional practice to learn at a fluency level.

Use assignment substitutions or adjustments. Students can be allowed to complete projects instead of oral reports or vice versa. Also, tests can be given in oral or written format. For example, if a student has a writing problem, the teacher can allow her or him to outline information and give an oral presentation instead of writing a paper.

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Accommodating Students with Dyslexia in All Classroom Settings

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Teaching students with dyslexia across settings is challenging. Both general education and special education teachers seek accommodations that foster the learning and management of a class of heterogeneous learners. It is important to identify accommodations that are reasonable to ask of teachers in all classroom settings.

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Teaching Strategies to help Children, Dyslexia Scotwest

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Teaching Strategies to help Children, Dyslexia Scotwest

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Teaching Strategies to help Children, Dyslexia Scotwest

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There are numerous techniques for teaching dyslexic children.

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Letters and Sounds is a phonics resource published by the Department for Education and Skills in 2007. It aims to build children's speaking and listening skills in their own right as well as to prepare children for learning to read by developing their phonic knowledge and skills. It sets out a detailed and systematic programme for teaching phonic skills for children starting by the age of five, with the aim of them becoming fluent readers by age seven.

There are six overlapping phases. The table below is a summary based on the Letters and Sounds guidance for Practitioners and Teachers. For more detailed information, visit the Letters and Sounds website.

Phase

Phonic Knowledge and Skills

Phase One (Nursery/Reception)

Activities are divided into seven aspects, including environmental sounds, instrumental sounds, body sounds, rhythm and rhyme, alliteration, voice sounds and finally oral blending and segmenting.

Phase Two (Reception) up to 6 weeks

Learning 19 letters of the alphabet and one sound for each. Blending sounds together to make words. Segmenting words into their separate sounds. Beginning to read simple captions.

Phase Three (Reception) up to 12 weeks

The remaining 7 letters of the alphabet, one sound for each. Graphemes such as ch, oo, th representing the remaining phonemes not covered by single letters. Reading captions, sentences and questions. On completion of this phase, children will have learnt the "simple code", i.e. one grapheme for each phoneme in the English language.

Phase Four (Reception) 4 to 6 weeks

No new grapheme-phoneme correspondences are taught in this phase. Children learn to blend and segment longer words with adjacent consonants, e.g. swim, clap, jump.

Phase Five (Throughout Year 1)

Now we move on to the "complex code". Children learn more graphemes for the phonemes which they already know, plus different ways of pronouncing the graphemes they already know.

Phase Six (Throughout Year 2 and beyond)

Working on spelling, including prefixes and suffixes, doubling and dropping letters etc.

Recommended: the Synthetic Phonics Toolkit

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Letters and Sounds is a phonics resource published by the Department for Education and Skills in 2007. It aims to build children's speaking and listening skills in their own right as well as to prepare children for learning to read by developing their phonic knowledge and skills.

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Extended reading passages to give students the focused practice that increases fluency and comprehension. Corresponds to the Wilson Reading System and also a supplement for Fundations and Just Words.

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Wilson is a provider of research-based reading and spelling programs for all ages. Its multisensory, structured curricula _ Fundations®, Wilson Just Words®, the Wilson Reading System®, and Wilson Fluency®/Basic have been proven highly effective. With Wilson, the path to meeting literacy objectives is all mapped out.

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A look at how Public Schools, School Districts, States and Washington violate the civil rights of Dyslexic students.

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Technology Helps for the Dyslexic College Student - Homeschooling with Dyslexia

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Technology Helps for the Dyslexic College Student - Homeschooling with Dyslexia

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Thank you for joining me on for this 10-day series on Preparing Your Student With Dyslexia for College Success. To read the whole series, click here.

With the explosive growth in technology available today, dyslexic students have more opportunities than ever before to find work arounds for their areas of academic weakness.

As with study skills and self-advocacy skills, the use of compensatory technology helps should be mastered as much as possible before the first college assignment for a smoother transition.

There are many forms of assistive technology from apps, to software, to strategies.

Technology Tools for Organization and Time Management

We talked yesterday about the skills needed for college success. From word processing programs (with spell checkers) to electronic calendars and organizers, there are many ways to help your dyslexic student become more organized. Click the links provided and have your student get familiar with a few that he or she finds useful.

powerful email provider through Google

Variety of Homework Apps: weekly schedules, keep track of assignments

Technology Tools for Brainstorming and Mapping

The right-brain strengths of the dyslexic learner make them natural inventors and 'idea people'. Help them to find a way to document and organize these creative thoughts in ways that make sense to them by trying one of these visual organizers.

Technology Tools for Writing (Speech to Text)

When we first started our dyslexia journey speech to text technology (apps and programs that turn your spoken words into text) was like something out of a Sci-Fi story. People were talking about this technology but the programs that were offered were expensive and didn't work well. Over the years, the speech to text technology has vastly improved.

Dragon Dictate: Speech to Text - converts speech into text, or try Dragon Naturally Speaking for the desktop.

Technology Tools for Studying

Studying is a part of college that is inescapable. Finding tools to help your student study smarter will go a long way in preparing them for college success.

Flashcard app that also has an audio function that reads the flash cards to your auditory learner.

Text to Speech: There are many of these apps that can read text from a web page, email or even social networking sites and read it to your student.

Voice Recorder and Voice Memo apps: There are many of these apps that can be used to record notes to yourself or dictate messages and assignments.

Reading and Input (Text to Speech)

Since dyslexic students often learn better by hearing, finding ways to use 'ear reading' will help them learn faster. Text-to-speech technology reads text out loud.

Web Reader HD: Text-to-speech app that can read web page content. Super easy to use and mostly effective.

Excellent resource for audio books, including textbooks

iBooks features - has text to speech function built in.

Most e-readers have built-in text-to-speech capabilities today

Visit our Resources Page for more excellent links to useful technologies for the dyslexic student.

Is Using Technology Cheating?

Some people are still under the misunderstanding that using technology to learn is somehow cheating. Everybody learns differently with different strengths and weaknesses. Finding the way that you learn best is common sense. If your student would benefit from using technology in his or her studies, by all means, let them!

Join us here for tomorrow's post, Understanding the Differences Between High School And College.

Do you use technology in your home or homeschool? Which technology tools are your favorites?

Please Share!

Thank you for joining me here today for the 10-day series - Preparing Your Dyslexic Student for College Success. If you haven't subscribed and would like further posts from HomeschoolingWithDyslexia.com to come to your inbox, sign up for free email updates from Homeschooling With Dyslexia.

Join me today over on the Homeschooling With Dyslexia Facebook page to further the discussion of preparing your dyslexic student for college success.

Please help me spread the word about this series by sharing this post via the links below to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or a by leaving a comment below.

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Technology Helps for the Dyslexic College Student | Homeschooling with Dyslexia

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Thank you for joining me on for this 10-day series on Preparing Your Student With Dyslexia for College Success. To read the whole series, click here. With the explosive growth in technology available today, dyslexic students have more opportunities than ever before to find work arounds for their areas of academic weakness.

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Understanding Dyslexia - A Guide for Schools | Special Education Support Service

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Understanding Dyslexia - A Guide for Schools | Special Education Support Service

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Understanding Dyslexia - A Guide for Schools | Special Education Support Service

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The information and resources in this section provide information, practical support and guidance for parents and teachers in relation to supporting and teaching children with dyslexia. These are the outcome of a project implemented by a working group that was established by the Special Education Co-ordination Committee of the North-South Ministerial Council.

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Dyslexia and Specific Difficulties: Overview | British Dyslexia Association

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Dyslexia and Specific Difficulties: Overview | British Dyslexia Association

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The word 'dyslexia' comes from the Greek and means 'difficulty with words'.

It is a life long, usually genetic, inherited condition and affects around 10% of the population.

Dyslexia occurs in people of all races, backgrounds and abilities, and varies from person to person: no two people will have the same set of strengths and weaknesses.

Dyslexia occurs independently of intelligence.

Dyslexia is really about information processing: dyslexic people may have difficulty processing and remembering information they see and hear. This can affect learning and the acquisition of literacy skills.

Dyslexia is one of a family of Specific Learning Difficulties. It often co-occurs with related conditions, such as dyspraxia, dyscalculia and attention deficit disorder.

On the plus side, dyslexic people often have strong visual, creative and problem solving skills and are prominent among entrepreneurs, inventors, architects, engineers and in the arts and entertainment world. Many famous and successful people are dyslexic.

(Return to top 2. How it feels to be Dyslexic.
'I see things from a different perspective.'

'I can come up with solutions no one else has thought of and I think fast on my feet.'

'When I am reading, occasionally a passage will get all jumbled up, but when it happens I have to read and re-read the passage over again.

'I know what I want to say, but I can never find the right words.'

'In formal situations, although I know what I want to say, I struggle, lose focus and then my mind goes blank and I panic.'

'I have the right ideas, but I can't get them down on paper.'

'It's like my computer crashing with too much information!'

'Sometimes when I am being told what to do, the words I hear get all jumbled up in my mind and I just can't take in what is being said to me.'

'In general conversation with family, friends and colleagues they usually accept that I tend to ramble, forget and repeat,.... because that's part of me'.
3. Advice and Information
Contact the B.D.A's Helpline. The Helpline is completely free and confidential for all those who are in touch with dyslexia for every age group.

All information, advice and signposting is completely confidential and impartial enabling the caller to make important choices and decisions for themselves.
5. Other sources of help.

The Disability Employment Advisor at your local Job Centre.

Adult Basic Education Centre.

C.A.B: Citizens' Advice Bureau.

Your council's Neighbourhood Office.

Your trade union, if applicable.

Your local Disability Information Service (http://www.dialuk.info)

Some Local Dyslexia Associations have helpliners specialising in information for dyslexic adults. Others have general helpliners who may be able to help with adult enquiries.
Assessment, Advice, Tuition.
There is a list of B.D.A. Organisational Members available. Some of these offer services to dyslexic adults. They usually charge for these services.
British Telecom services.

Free Directory Enquiries is a service for anyone who is unable to use a Telephone Directory easily. It is available to people with dyslexia.

For registration details call free on Tel: 195.

Email discussion group.
This is a dyslexia forum and includes discussions by and for dyslexic people.

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dyslexia; dyscalculia; dyspraxia; dysgraphia; add; adhd; attention; disorder; aspergers; definition

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Dyslexia and Specific Difficulties: Overview

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The word 'dyslexia' comes from the Greek and means 'difficulty with words'. It is a life long, usually genetic, inherited condition and affects around 10% of the population. Dyslexia occurs in people of all races, backgrounds and abilities, and varies from person to person: no two people will have the same set of strengths and weaknesses.

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Teaching Spelling - The Dyslexia-SPELD Foundation

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Teaching Spelling - The Dyslexia-SPELD Foundation

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Teaching Spelling to Primary Students

Students who experience difficulties with spelling may struggle to accurately represent all the precise sounds within words, confuse the sequence of letters, have difficulty retaining learnt spelling patterns over the long term, and have problems transferring this knowledge to their writing. They often use inefficient visual strategies, such as relying on visual memory to recall spellings, and this often results in incorrectly sequenced or missing letters. Just like reading, improving spelling is not something that "just happens". A structured, systematic, and intensive program is needed focussing on the acquisition of skills in six core areas (as detailed below).
It is important that any literacy intervention undertaken focuses on the development of both reading and spelling skills.

Phonological Awareness

Spelling words should be introduced by listening to the word (e.g., parent or teacher reads spelling words aloud) before the student even sees the word. This will encourage the student to focus on the sounds in words which can then be mapped to their letters and letter patterns rather than emphasising only the visual features of the word.

When introducing new spelling words, students should be encouraged to identify key aspects of the word's phonological structure before they are shown the word (e.g., How many syllables? What is the first sound? What is the last sound? etc.)

Phonics Knowledge

Children need to understand that speech sounds (phonemes) are represented by one or more letters(graphemes), and that when we spell we choose the most likely representation (e.g., the /k/ sound is commonly spelt with a 'c' as in cat, or a 'k' as in kick). A good way to do this is through Phoneme-Grapheme Mapping, in which a grid is used to map sounds to their corresponding letter/s (see Phoneme-Grapheme Mapping tip sheet for more details on this approach).

In order to develop children's phonics knowledge, a structured and systematic program focusing on synthetic phonics is highly recommended. Some examples of highly structured, evidence-based programs include Sounds~Write, Letters and Sounds, and Jolly Phonics .

Any program will be most effective when it is undertaken on a regular basis (4-5 days per week) for a limited time (15 -30 minutes).

A trained specialist teacher or tutor is the best person to deliver remediation. DSF has a register of trained and recommended tutors. On-line tutoring over the internet is also available for children who are outside the metropolitan area. See tutoring for more information.

Useful resources to support phonics development

The DSF Tune into the Sounds of English Pack features colourful information cards detailing the sounds of English and the way we write them down (spelling patterns), in addition to a Phoneme-Grapheme Mapping pad for practicing spelling and a comprehensive and user-friendly Guide to Spelling Rules.

The DSF Phonics Activity Pack is an ideal resource for phonics-based intervention at any level. It includes a small magnetic whiteboard with a full set of 78 magnetic alphabet letters, digraphs, trigraphs, and vowel teams. Use the letter tiles to assist with a phonemic approach to spelling and to encourage the blending of sounds and segmenting of words. It also encourages reluctant writers to have a go at spelling.

Computer-based programs are useful and motivating resources for children to reinforce and consolidate their learning. Both Wordshark and the Nessy Learning Program are effective highly-structured, games based computer programs aimed at improving reading and spelling skills.

Spelling Conventions and Patterns

Children need to develop their knowledge of orthographic rules including acceptable letter combinations, letter sequences and the use of certain letters. Spelling conventions provide us with guidelines about the use of letter combinations and sequences and when to use them. For example, the letter 'c' usually represents the /k/ sound when followed by an 'a', 'o' and 'u' as in cat, cot, cut, and it usually represents the /s/ sound when followed by 'e', 'i', and 'y' as in centre, city, cycle.

Encourage children to become "word detectives" and look for consistencies in English spelling rules.

Some useful resources for spelling rules are: Signposts for Correct Spelling (J. Bullus & P.Coles) and The Spelling Rulebook (SEN Marketing).

Metacognitive and Memory Skills

Children may benefit from using memory 'tricks' and strategies to remember irregular words and complex patterns. These include:

Over-articulation of words to inform spelling choices (e.g., Wed-nes-day, iSland)

Knowledge of word families, including letter patterns in common (e.g., 'wh' question words: when/ who/what/which; words with links in meaning: two/twin/twice; common orthographic patterns: light/night/sight)

Occasional use of mnemonics (e.g., "Bears Eat Apples Under Trees" for beautiful)

Does it look right? (e.g., friend/frend, teech/teach)

Oz Mnemonics by Alison Rowe is a useful book containing rhymes and ways to remember the spelling of difficult or irregular words.

Morphology and Syntax (Grammar)

Explicit instruction in morphology and syntax teaches children to identify and analyse units of meaning within words (i.e., roots, prefixes and suffixes), and consider their spelling within the context of a sentence.

Knowledge of a word's grammatical function informs spelling choices when typical sounding-out strategies are unsuccessful (meaning trumps pronunciation e.g., musician, not musishan). This includes:

Expanding knowledge of grammatical function within a sentence (e.g., although we say a /t/ at the end of regular past tense verbs as in 'kicked', we always write 'ed' to show the tense).

Expanding knowledge about typical changes at the end of words to indicate grammatical changes (e.g., we always use 's' to signal plural, although it can sound like /z/ as in 'dogs').

Developing knowledge of suffixes to recognise parts of speech (e/g/. -ly = adverbs, -ive = adjectives, -ment & -ion = nouns).

A useful resource to assist in the development of children's knowledge of morphemes are the DSF Magnetic Morpheme Cards. Each magnetic card contains a morpheme - an element of speech which carries meaning. For younger students, these cards can be used in word building activities focusing on basic word endings e.g., -ed, -s.

Semantic Knowledge and Etymology

For older children, developing their knowledge of word origins and meaning is a key component to developing their spelling skills and inform their spelling choices. For example:

Consideration of word meaning will aid in the spelling of homophones (e.g., where/wear).

Consideration given to the origin of the word will assist in determining the most likely spelling (e.g., /s/ = 'ps' in Greek-derived words like 'psychologist').

Understanding that many long words have a base component which carries meaning, influences the spelling, and remains constant despite the sounds we hear (e.g., definite, finish, infinity).

The above information and more can be found in the publication Understanding Learning Difficulties: A practical guide (DSF 2014)

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Students who experience difficulties with spelling may struggle to accurately represent all the precise sounds within words, confuse the sequence of letters, have difficulty retaining learnt spelling patterns over the long term, and have problems transferring this knowledge to their writing.

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Teaching Reading - The Dyslexia-SPELD Foundation

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Teaching Reading - The Dyslexia-SPELD Foundation

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Students who experience difficulties with reading may struggle to accurately decode words, read at a slow and labored pace, skip or add words when reading, and/or have difficulty adequately comprehending what they have read. They often use inefficient visual strategies, such as guessing using the first letter, overall appearance of the word, or use picture cues. For children with learning difficulties (such as dyslexia), their reading skills do not improve automatically through maturation or repeated exposure to print. They need to be explicitly taught decoding and encoding skills using a phonics-based program that is intensive, structured, systematic, and multisensory, in order to achieve an adequate level of reading fluency.

Developing Phonics Knowledge and Reading Accuracy/Decoding Skills

In order to develop children's phonic knowledge, a structured and systematic program focusing on synthetic phonics is highly recommended. Some examples of highly structured, synthetic phonics programs include Sounds~Write, Letters and Sounds, Jolly Phonics, and MultiLit.

Any program will be most effective when it is undertaken on a regular basis (4-5 days per week) for a limited time (15 -30 minutes).

A trained specialist teacher or tutor is the best person to deliver remediation. DSF has a register of trained and recommended tutors. On-line tutoring over the internet is also available for children who are outside the metropolitan area. See tutoring for more information.

Instruction in underlying phonological awareness skills should be included in any reading intervention (see info page on Phonological Awareness).

Useful Resources to Support Reading Development

Decodable readers are essential components of an effective structured phonics program as they allow children to apply their skills to passages of text.

The Dandelion Readers are a series of highly engaging readers that follows a well-defined phonic sequence and links in with the Sounds~Write sequence. The series starts with Dandelion Launchers (suitable for Pre-Primary), moves into the Initial Phonic Code (suitable for Pre-Primary and Year 1), and then into the Extended Phonic Code (suitable for Year 1, 2 and 3). Workbooks and games are also available to accompany each set of the Dandelion readers.

The Totem Series (an extension of the Dandelion readers) is designed to build reading skills for struggling children in Year 4 and above, starting right back at the CVC level. This series also includes a workbook of segmenting, blending, writing and comprehension activities.

The Magic Belt Series is another series of decodable readers designed for older "catch-up" children who would benefit from starting a phonic program from the beginning (CVC/CVCC level).

Computer-based programs are useful and motivating resources for children to reinforce and consolidate their learning. Both Wordshark and the Nessy Learning Program are effective highly-structured, games-based computer programs aimed at improving reading and spelling skills.

There are a number of fun and engaging games available that allow children to practice, revise, apply and consolidate their phonic knowledge.

Trugs (Teaching Reading Using Games) is a fun and engaging set of decodable card games that allow children to practice, reinforce, and consolidate their knowledge of phonics and high frequency words in a multi-sensory and entertaining manner.

Football Phonics card games are a fun way of learning about letter-to-sound associations (for reading and spelling) and can be borrowed from the DSF Library.

The Letters and Sounds program includes a range of games, such as Buried Treasure, Picture Caption Matching, and Picture Sentence Matching that allow children to build their decoding skills and phonics knowledge in a fun and motivating way. A number of the games are available through the DSF Bookshop and Library.

The DSF Phonics Activity Pack is an ideal resource for phonics-based intervention at any level. It includes a small magnetic whiteboard with a full set of 78 magnetic alphabet letters, digraphs, trigraphs, and vowel teams.

Programs and Activities to Support the Development of Reading Fluency

Heather Harvey's Intensive Reading Program is a useful resource focusing on fluency training and has a range of activity and work books for children of different ages and levels of reading development.

Repeated reading is a useful approach to help improve reading fluency. It is important to start with text passages that are easy, then the difficulty level can be slowly increased. The focus should be on accuracy rather than speed.

Tracking activities are also useful to assist in building alphabet knowledge and improving fluency. They are timed to create motivation for children to beat their own record with regular use. A number of tracking activity books are available through DSF Library.

The above and more can be found in the publication Understanding Learning Difficulties: A practical guide (DSF 2014)

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Students who experience difficulties with reading may struggle to accurately decode words, read at a slow and labored pace, skip or add words when reading, and/or have difficulty adequately comprehending what they have read. They often use inefficient visual strategies, such as guessing using the first letter, overall appearance of the word, or use picture cues.

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What is Dyslexia? - The Dyslexia-SPELD Foundation

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What is Dyslexia? - The Dyslexia-SPELD Foundation

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What is dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede the growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.

As indicated by Fletcher and colleagues (2007), this definition is considered to be inclusionary (as opposed to exclusionary) as it focusses on a key set of characteristics that aid in the identification of dyslexia, "...it specifies that people can be identified with dyslexia when they show problems with decoding single words accurately and fluently, and spell poorly" (pg. 104, Fletcher et. al. , 2007). The IDA definition best reflects current research evidence on the defining features of dyslexia, and according to Fletcher and colleagues (2007), it is a model for definitions in other domains of learning difficulties.
(Reference: Fletcher, J. M., Lyon, G. R., Fuchs, L. S., & Barnes, M. A. (2007). Learning disabilities: From identification to intervention. New York: Guilford.)
This definition has been adopted by both the IDA and the NICHD. The Dyslexia-SPELD Foundation believe it best reflects current research evidence on the defining features of dyslexia.

It is now well recognised that dyslexia is commonly associated with difficulties with phonological awareness and processing. In simple terms, this refers to the ability to hear and manipulate the separate sounds within words (phonemes). Although such difficulties can be detected orally at an early age, they are frequently overlooked and the problem becomes most apparent when the child struggles to learn to read in the early years of schooling. In the reading process, lack of phonological awareness skills leads to difficulty recognising that sounds can be represented by letters or groups of letters within written words (often called Phonics at school).

It is also now accepted that there is a strong hereditary component in dyslexia - that is, it runs in families. It used to be thought that it affected far more boys than girls, but recent research tends to show that it is more evenly distributed. It appears to be that it is more noticeable in boys in the classroom situation.

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What is dyslexia? Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction.

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Accommodations for Students with Dyslexia | Help in the Classroom - Understood

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Accommodations for Students with Dyslexia | Help in the Classroom - Understood

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For kids with dyslexia, reading can be challenging. Spelling and writing can be challenging too. What classroom accommodations help level the playing field for students with dyslexia? Here's a look at some of the supports teachers can use to help students who struggle with reading, spelling, and writing.

Classroom materials and routines

Post visual schedules and also read them out loud.

Provide colored strips or bookmarks to help focus on a line of text when reading.

Hand out letter and number strips so the student can see how to write correctly.

Use large-print text for worksheets.

Use audiobooks like those available through services like Bookshare, a free online library for students with disabilities.

Allow the student to use a text reader like a Reading Pen or text-to-speech software.

Use speech-to-text software to help with writing.

Have on hand "hi-lo" books (books with high-interest topics for students reading below grade level).

Provide extra time for reading and writing.

Give the student multiple opportunities to read the same text.

Use reading buddies during worktime (as appropriate).

Partner up for studying - one student writes while the other speaks, or they share the writing.

Pre-teach new concepts and vocabulary.

Provide the student with typed notes or an outline of the lesson to help with taking notes.

Provide advance organizers to help the student follow along during a lesson.

Provide a glossary of content-related terms.

Use visual or audio support to help the student understand written materials in the lecture.

Give step-by-step directions and read written instructions out loud.

Simplify directions using key words for the most important ideas.

Highlight key words and ideas on worksheets for the student to read first.

Check in frequently to make sure the student understands and can repeat the directions.

Show examples of correct and completed work to serve as a model.

Provide a rubric that describes the elements of a successful assignment.

Help the student break assignments into smaller steps.

Give self-monitoring checklists and guiding questions for reading comprehension.

Arrange worksheet problems from easiest to hardest.

Completing tests and assignments

Grade the student on the content that needs to be mastered, not on things like spelling or reading fluency.

Allow understanding to be demonstrated in different ways, like oral reports, posters, and video presentations.

Provide different ways to respond to test questions, like saying the answers or circling an answer instead of filling in the blank.

Provide sentence starters that show how to begin a written response.

Provide extended time for taking tests.

Provide a quiet room for taking tests, if needed.

Do you have a student with dyslexia? Read a one-page fact sheet to learn more about this common learning difference.

About the author

About the author

Amanda Morin is the author of "The Everything Parent's Guide to Special Education" and the former director of thought leadership at Understood. As an expert and writer, she helped build Understood from its earliest days.

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Accommodations for Students With Dyslexia | Help in the Classroom

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For kids with dyslexia, reading can be challenging. Spelling and writing can be challenging too. What classroom accommodations help level the playing field for students with dyslexia? Here's a look at some of the supports teachers can use to help students who struggle with reading, spelling, and writing.

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HOW TEACHERS CAN ACCOMMODATE THE DYSLEXIC STUDENT

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HOW TEACHERS CAN ACCOMMODATE THE DYSLEXIC STUDENT

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Strategies for Teachers | DyslexiaHelp at the University of Michigan

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Strategies for Teachers | DyslexiaHelp at the University of Michigan

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Sparking new ideas for your classroom
Malcolm Alexander, the acclaimed dyslexic sculptor, tells a story about one of his teachers who made a difference. According to Malcolm, that teacher said, "When I teach, when I look at a student's work, I always try to find something nice in it. And then go into the rest of it."
This is a gift you can give all students, but particularly those who are dyslexic: find something positive, something they have done well, and acknowledge it. They will remember that comment - and you.

As a teacher, you most likely already have a print-rich environment in your classroom. We know that all teachers, whether they are new to the profession or seasoned veterans, continue to look for suggestions and tweak their skills so they are better able to help their students.

The following suggestions may spark a new idea for your classroom. The good news about honing one's teaching for individuals with dyslexia is that many of the strategies will be helpful to the typical learner as well. And, of importance, the strategies will be particularly helpful to any struggling readers and writers in your classroom.

In addition to general recommendations, there are suggestions to promote phonological awareness skills, reading comprehension and fluency, vocabulary development, oral reading, comprehension of written directions, spelling, and writing. As always, choose the strategies and activities that best fit your students, your classroom, and you.

Some general recommendations for teachers of beginning readers and writers

1. Make personalized books and stories with the student's name and photos. Alternatively, have him or her dictate a story and draw pictures, which an adult can then transcribe and bind with a cover.

2. Increase print awareness by asking your student to look for everything he/she can find with writing (i.e. McDonald's sign, labels, and packages).

3. Provide multisensory experiences for students related to each book that they read, such as using stories and coloring pages (available with a story teller guide).

4. Choose rhyming books with high repetition of words and phrases.

5. Dramatically pause to allow students to fill in the refrain as you are reading.

6. Play sound matching games. For example, say, "Let's think of as many things as we can that start with Mmmm." Your student might say "Mouse, moo, milk." If your student has difficulty, give him or her clues. Say: "We drink mmmmm." Wait two seconds and then provide the answer ("milk").

7. Increase the repertoire of shapes your student draws to include circles, triangles, squares, and various facial features, such as eyes and a mouth.

8. Increase the repertoire of letters your student writes to include all the letters in the alphabet and numbers up to 10.

9. Guide your student's drawing and writing by placing your hand on top of his or her hand. Gradually fade the level of assistance.

General recommendations

1. During times when other students are independently working on class work, the student should have the option to work in a study carrel with headphones to eliminate distractions.

2. Allow extra time to complete tests.

3. Provide a regular study buddy whom the student sits next to in class.

4. Give "THINK TIME" before answering a question. This can be done by presenting a question and then pausing or by coming back to the student after a little while and repeating the question. Alternatively, have multiple students answer the same question. In this way, several models are provided.

5. Provide opportunities for writing and spelling every day, in a variety of formats, such as writing in a journal, sending an email, writing or copying a list of homework activities, writing on a large wall calendar, writing thank you letters, or archiving items in a collection.

6. Explicitly teach organization and planning skills for completing and tracking homework. Instruct students how to break down large projects into smaller tasks.

7. Improve word retrieval for naming through participation in one or more of these games: Scattegories, Taboo, Guesstures, Password, Scrabble, logic puzzles, rebus puzzles, Catch-Phrase, UpWords, Tribond, Plexers, crosswords and other word puzzles.

8. Give manipulatives (things to touch and move around) whenever possible to work on math related to time, money, or fractions.

9. Explicitly and systematically teach math to students with dyslexia (including models of proficient problem solving, verbalization of thought processes, guided practice, corrective feedback, and frequent cumulative review). Dyslexia and Mathematics Second Edition edited by T. R. Miles and Elaine Miles, 1992, and The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Guide for Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Response to Intervention (RtI) for Elementary and Middle Schools provide more information.

Recommendations to support reading comprehension and fluency for classroom materials

Before reading

1. Preview the title, pictures, chapter names, and bold-faced words in order to make a prediction.

2. Connect new information to previously learned information by talking about a personal experience related to the theme.

3. Verbalize or write questions prior to reading the text.

4. Discuss reading schemas for different types of textbooks (i.e. compare math and history). Highlight salient information that each genre addresses. Visual webs are useful for the student to preview and complete as they encounter key information.

5. Pre-teach key vocabulary for a particular unit or chapter before introducing the text.

6. Pre-teach themes or background information (i.e. historical context) for reading fiction.

7. Explicitly teach "how to use" the table of contents, glossary, index, headings, sidebars, charts, captions, and review questions in a text book.

During reading

1. Provide a set of textbooks for the student to take home and to highlight.

2. Assign class readings a week ahead of time for students to preview. This will improve attention and comprehension.

3. Provide audio recordings for the student to use while reading the text.

Books on tape and audio equipment may be obtained, free of charge, through the National Library Service.

A large range of books are already scanned and available for free through Bookshare.

4. Give the student a choice of what to read within selected genres, topics, and themes. High interest reading facilitates comprehension and reading for pleasure. In addition to classroom learning, the "curriculum" should cultivate the students' interests and strengths (both in and outside of the classroom). The Time on My Hands and Affinities checklists at All Kinds of Minds may be helpful in guiding the student to high-interest reading materials.

5. Make texts at a variety of reading levels available so that students can read fluently but also be slightly challenged (the appropriate instructional level).

6. Allow the student to use text-to-speech software for information on the computer.

This may be established by setting preferences on a Macintosh computer.

Text-to-speech software is available through a free trial over at CNET.

A scanner with OCR (optical character recognition) may be used to scan textbooks onto the computer.

7. Model self-monitoring skills with the following questions: "Does what I'm reading make sense?" "What do I think will happen next?" "Are there any words that I don't know?" "Can I figure out what the words mean from the sentences around them?"

8. Encourage sub-vocalization of the text and self-monitoring questions.

9. Model active engagement with the text through visualization of the scene (i.e. trying to make a "photograph" of the word in his/her mind's eye while enhancing visual features), highlighting, note taking, or jotting down a question.

10. Train students to silently read at various rates depending on the purpose; for example, skimming to find a particular term or to get the main idea or gist vs. reading more carefully for directions or comprehension of key concept.

11. Encourage multiple readings of a text.

12. Provide templates for students to jot down notes and key concepts as they read (i.e. a story line, visual web, or list of WH-questions).
If a student is reading a chapter book or novel, one template should be completed for each scene or chapter.

13. Bolster comprehension of idioms and more abstract language through reading the scripts of everyday conversations on Randall's Listening Lab. Students can listen to the conversation as they read. Key vocabulary is highlighted and defined.

Supporting vocabulary while reading

1. Log unfamiliar words in a personal dictionary that includes the sentence that contains the word, page number, a guess about the meaning, the pronunciation, a dictionary definition, and a new sentence using the word.

2. Improve vocabulary for written and verbal expression by forming associations between words, paraphrasing, and elaborating on an idea.

3. Teach prefixes, suffixes, and root words to students to improve spelling, decoding, and comprehension.

4. Give ample opportunities to practice writing target words. The student might be asked to say them, or use them in sentences or a story.

5. Look up unfamiliar words with an electronic speller that has speech output (such as the Franklin Speller) or a web-based dictionary. For example, Dictionary.com provides the pronunciation and definition of a word.

After reading

1. Verbalize or write the answers to the pre-reading questions and share the answers with a friend or family member.

2. Compose an alternative ending for the story or write a sequel.

3. Act out key scenes from a text or give "How To" demonstrations for kinesthetic learners.

4. Challenge students to draw inferences from the text (i.e. "How do you think the main character feels?" "Do you think it will be harder to stop a heavier or lighter object traveling at the same velocity?").

Oral reading

1. Increase reading fluency through a "reading apprenticeship" incorporating the following elements:

1. Models of fluent reading.

2. Repetition of the same passage, until reading is fluent.

3. Dramatic readings (i.e. skits, poetry, and speeches).

4. Regular tracking and graphing of reading rate and fluency.

2. See Read Naturally for a systematic program that incorporates choral reading (reading at the same time as a fluent reader), repetitions, and tracking of reading fluency.

3. For more information on reading apprenticeships, see The Fluent Reader: Oral Reading Strategies for Building Word Recognition, Fluency, and Comprehension, by Timothy Rasinski.

Supporting comprehension of written directions

1. Present less written material per page with no more than two directions in a sentence. Double spacing and bullets or numbers are also helpful.

2. Provide additional time to take tests.

3. Assist the student in breaking apart the written directions into smaller steps.

4. Check for comprehension of the directions.

5. Both auditory and written instructions should be provided.

6. Sub-rehearse (quietly or silently repeating) the directions to keep them in working memory long enough to complete them.

Recommendations to support writing in school

1. Increase phonetic spelling of unfamiliar words by counting the number of sounds in a word, and then correlating the sounds with letters.

2. Explicitly teach phonics rules and review them multiple times.

3. Provide a disproportionate amount of positive feedback for writing (relative to correction). Students should be praised for words that are spelled phonetically and accurately.

4. Institute delays that require the student to wait 5 minutes before starting a writing task. The student should be instructed to spend those 5 minutes planning.

5. Explicitly teach the elements of writing narratives or essays.

6. Brainstorm key vocabulary prior to writing.

7. Provide a focused spelling program such as Spellography to work on learning specific morphological, semantic and mental orthographic spelling rules.

8. Group words into word families with multiple exemplars of each phonetic pattern.

9. Provide models of "good essays" for struggling writers to use as a template.

10. Dictate stories with an audio recording or dictation software.

11. Emphasize the need to write in "stages" rather than completing a long narrative in one sitting. The stages should include: planning, writing, and revision.

12. Teach mnemonic devices for editing such as: SCOPE (spelling, organization, order of words, punctuation, and expresses a complete thought)

13. Instruct students to create an alternate ending for a familiar story, make a modern day story historic, or create a comic strip of two of the characters having a conversation.

14. Use word prediction software such as Co:Writer for improving spelling and complex sentence structure.

15. Text-to-speech software and word processing should be available for editing written work.

16. Encourage students to keep a journal. To increase motivation, visual images should be added to each page (i.e. "things found" throughout the day: maps, photos, or clippings from a magazine or the internet).

17. Improve penmanship with a larger pen or pencil grip and raised-line paper.

18. Practice handwriting using the following low-tech strategies: pencil grips, paper with raised lines and a slant board.

Recommendations for students with visual deficits

1. Encourage students to use a line guide as he/she is reading, to avoid skipping lines.

2. Use cut-out window for completing math worksheets.

3. Give visual pictures for commonly reversed or flipped letters: (i.e. "Which way does the "b"/ "d" go in "bed?").

4. Utilize a highlighter for key words, concepts, and/or directions when presented with written material.

5. Give visual images to associate with problematic sounds such as "short a" and "e" (i.e. Does the "e" in "bed" sound like a "short e" in "elephant" or a "long e" in "eagle?" "Does the "a" in "angel" sound like the "short a" in "alligator" or the "long a" in "ape?").

6. Encourage students to keep a copy of a "letter shaping card" in his/her school supplies and homework supplies for an easy reference.

For additional information, download our document below, which summarizes teaching tips from Tutor House. Also download MindShift's PDF, Teachers' Guide to Using Videos.

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Upon completion of this section, you will Acquire general recommendations for the classroom that enrich learning for beginning readers and writers Identify tips for the different parts of the reading process that enrich comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary Have idea

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Helping dyslexic children within the classroom.

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Helping dyslexic children within the classroom.

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Proficient reading is an essential tool for learning a large part of the subject matter taught at school. With an ever increasing emphasis on education and literacy, more and more children and adults are needing help in learning to read, spell, express their thoughts on paper and acquire adequate use of grammar.

A dyslexic child who finds the acquisition of these literacy skills difficult can also suffer a lot of anguish and trauma when they may feel mentally abused by their peers within the school environment, because they have a learning difficulty. Much can be done to alleviate this by integrating the child into the class environment (which is predominantly a learning environment) where he/she can feel comfortable and develop confidence and self esteem.

Class teachers may be particularly confused by the student whose consistent underachievement seems due to what may look like carelessness or lack of effort.

These children can be made to feel very different from their peers simply because they may be unable to follow simple instructions, which for others seem easy. It is a class teacher's responsibility to provide an atmosphere conducive to learning for all pupils within their class.

Class teachers need to have an understanding of the problems that the dyslexic child may have within the classroom situation. Hopefully, with this knowledge, a great deal of misunderstanding of a child's behaviour can be prevented. In a positive and encouraging environment, a dyslexic child will experience the feeling of success and self-value.

Of particular importance is an understanding of the problems that poor auditory short term memory can cause, in terms of retaining input from the teacher.

Examples of poor auditory short term memory can be a difficulty in remembering the sounds in spoken words long enough to match these, in sequence, with letters for spelling. Often children with poor auditory short term memory cannot remember even a short list of instructions.

The following items should provide useful guidelines for teachers and parents to follow and support :

Conclusion:
In order to be able to teach, as far as possible, according to each child's educational needs, it is essential to see him or her as a whole person, complete with individual strengths and weaknesses.
An understanding of the pupil's specific difficulties, and how they may affect the student's classroom performance, can enable the teacher to adopt teaching methods and strategies to help the dyslexic child to be successfully integrated into the classroom environment.

Dyslexics have many strengths: oral skills, comprehension, good visual spatial awareness/artistic abilities. More and more dyslexic children could become talented and gifted members of our schools if we worked not only with their specific areas of difficulty, but also their specific areas of strengths from an early age. To do this we have to let go of outmoded viewpoints that a dyslexic child must first fail, in order to be identified.

These are the children of our future and they have a right to help and support before they develop the dreadful sense of failure which is so insidious.

Class teachers dealing with dyslexic children need to be flexible in their approach, so that they can, as far as possible, find a method that suits the pupil, rather than expecting that all pupils will learn in the same way.

Above all, there must be an understanding from all who teach them, that they may have many talents and skills. Their abilities must not be measured purely on the basis of their difficulties in acquiring literacy skills. Dyslexic children, like all children, thrive on challenges and success.

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Proficient reading is an essential tool for learning a large part of the subject matter taught at school. With an ever increasing emphasis on education and literacy, more and more children and adults are needing help in learning to read, spell, express their thoughts on paper and acquire adequate use of grammar.