Strategies for teaching children with SpLD/Dyslexic tendencies. Tuesday 7 th June Teacher Meeting

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Clara Tyler
7 years ago
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1 Strategies for teaching children with SpLD/Dyslexic tendencies Tuesday 7 th June Teacher Meeting

2 What do you know already? On your own, decide if the statements are true or false. When you have finished, discuss with your learning buddy!

3 Like a malfunctioning TV aerial! Rather than a learning difficulty, think of it as learning differently. There are many variations and each child has a different area of need. There is no simple solution, but there are strategies we can employ. It tends to be related to processing, memory, visual and auditory skill, phonological awareness, synthetic phonics. It can affect confidence, behaviour, self esteem and can manifest itself in frustration! It tends to run in families; there are the same indicators in boys and girls. Dyslexics are not always bright; they may have learning difficulties as well.

4 Dyslexia/Dyscalculia Learning difficulty or learning difference? Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. Characteristic features of dyslexia are difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed Identifying and teaching children and young people with Dyslexia and Literacy difficulties (Rose, J., 2009) a definition adopted by the BDA.

5 Activity 1 Explain your hobby to a partner. You are not allowed to use any words including either e or s. What might this exercise reveal to us about the difficulties faced by a dyslexic learner? Children will cope by avoiding certain words, e.g. because they cannot spell them, they feel pressurised, embarrassed, panicked, they use random suggestions because they are comfortable with those words, they need time to process the questions, their auditory listening skill is often an issue, they cannot find the accurate words, they are not fluent, they have blocking issues, their productivity is therefore affected.

6 Activity 2 Copy this from the board Δυσλεξία είναι μια διαφορά της μάθησης και όχι μια μαθησιακή δυσκολία. Καθιστά τη ζωή πολύ σκληρά για το μαθητή στην τάξη. Βρίσκουν πολύ δύσκολο λεκτική επεξεργασία και ακουστική επεξεργασία και τους βραχυπρόθεσμη μνήμη είναι συχνά επηρεάζονται. Copying from the board is impossible for the dyslexic child. They have tracking difficulties, they can copy but not actually read, on a busy board, they cannot find the words they are looking for.

7 What to do? We do have SOME interventions for SOME of the difficulties children with dyslexic tendencies face, but they are not a cure! Rather than focusing on the child s difficulties and how they can be made better a dyslexic friendly classroom focuses on getting the environment right so that everyone can access learning Talk to your partner about a child in your class with these difficulties what do you do already? What else could you do?

8 Interactive white board: Use cream or soft pastel as background colour. Avoid black on white or green with red. Use plain and evenly spaced fonts such as Comic Sans or Arial Partition/organise information in different colours Ensure all learners can see the screen comfortably Print out information for learners who find it difficult to locate and copy words from a board. For further information: see BDA Dyslexia Style

9 A multi sensory method for writing a sentence: Child speaks a sentence out loud. Repeat using different voices. Adult scribes the sentence on a strip of paper, saying each word aloud. Adult reads the sentence aloud, pointing to each word. Child reads the sentence, pointing to each word. Child cuts up the sentence into individual words and mixes the words up. Child sequences the sentence, saying each word out loud. Child sticks the sentence in their book, saying each word out loud. Child traces over the sentence, saying each word out loud. Child copies the sentence underneath, saying each word out loud.

10 Use a memory aide:

11 Mind maps:

12 1 2 3 Check Create a personalised checklist depending on success criteria. I will check my writing at the end of each paragraph 1. Read the paragraph Are there any words missing? 2. Read out loud Have I remembered full stops? Capital letters? 3. Read from the end backwards! Do I need to correct any spelling mistakes?

Word banks: Why? Hands responsibility to the learner Important for developing independence A useful reference tool that can be supported by visuals A bridge to using a dictionary How?

13 Word banks: Why? Hands responsibility to the learner Important for developing independence A useful reference tool that can be supported by visuals A bridge to using a dictionary How? Differentiate the number of words Ensure the pupil can read the words Child can tick off the words in the bank as they are used (active learning) Use of the word bank can be rewarded (sticker charts, up the ladder, etc) Try storing in a credit card holder for older children

15 Use a range of teaching strategies: Develop a multi sensory approach that includes visual, auditory and kinesthetic elements Alternatives to look, cover, write, check: Make and break give the learner the letters to make the word, make the word, cut it up into syllables, break the word up by jumbling up the letters, remake the word with the letters by saying them out loud. SOS method make a learning resource friend example.

16 Use a range of teaching strategies: Multi memory techniques auditory (spell could using the tune to God save the Queen), Kinaesthetic (spell could by jumping on the letters on the floor), Visual (create a memory by making a picture). Activity 3 if time. Using mnemonics because Big elephants cannot always use small exits. Necessary? Syllabification fan-tas-tic in the can, syllable flip cards, word shapes.

17 How do we identify children with SpLD? Hand outs for writing, memory and maths Do they fit the bill? COPS Identify needs (with parents) Action plan / IEP Measure progress Review action plan / IEP

18 Evaluation: Post it notes please!

7. HOW TO TEACH A DYSLEXIC PUPIL TO READ

7. HOW TO TEACH A DYSLEXIC PUPIL TO READ OVERVIEW Extract In this module, we will cover the following topics: Introduction Reading ages How to choose appropriate reading materials Teaching a dyslexic child