JOURNEY TO EXCELLENCE – LEARNING TOGETHER RESOURCE
Learning Together: Meeting the
needs of learners
with dyslexia
Achieving success for all learners
Journey to Excellence
Professional development pack topics have been chosen to help you plan a
journey through popular staff development themes. They provide “guided tours”
through some of the resources on The Journey to Excellence website as a
window onto excellent practice. Engaging with the associated activities will help
you to reflect on and develop your practice purposefully.
1
Meeting the needs of learners with dyslexia
Update April 2010
JOURNEY TO EXCELLENCE – LEARNING TOGETHER RESOURCE
This resource will be updated to reflect new and
innovative approaches as Curriculum for Excellence is
developed. Please email or comment in the box below
any feedback on the resource or suggestions for
improvement to help keep the resource up to date.
Meeting the needs of learners with dyslexia
2
Update April 2010
JOURNEY TO EXCELLENCE – LEARNING TOGETHER RESOURCE
“Children are wired for sound, but print is an optional accessory that must
be painstakingly bolted on”
Why children can’t read and what can we do about it? S. Pinker
Purpose of this activity
This pack provides opportunities for reflecting on your own practice. It
explores how children learn to read and the problems encountered by children
with dyslexia. It will look at how to identify children with dyslexia, and best
practice in supporting their barriers to learning. The pack will draw on
illustrative practice from all sectors and on the perspectives of a range of
leading educationalists.
The activities will enable you to:
 reflect on your practice against high quality practice in the area of dyslexia;
 extend your knowledge and expertise through studying innovative and
creative practice;
 plan how to develop your practice to incorporate some new concepts and
ideas; and
 share views with colleagues on identifying and supporting dyslexia.
Learning outcomes
Think about what you would like to achieve.
What will you need to do?
How will you know if you have been successful?
Who is this for?
This programme is for all who work with learners in all sectors. It has particular
relevance for those who design and deliver learning experiences in the
classroom but is also relevant to staff other than teachers. Indeed the
programme has relevance for a wide range of partners and professionals
working in other sectors and who contribute to developing successful learners.
What will I/we need to work through this programme?
You will need access to the online resource which supports The Journey to
Excellence. It may also be helpful to have your copy of Education for
learners with dyslexia
3
Meeting the needs of learners with dyslexia
Update April 2010
JOURNEY TO EXCELLENCE – LEARNING TOGETHER RESOURCE
The online resource contains three types of movies.
 Informative – these describe the features of each of the ten dimensions of
excellence.
 Illustrative – these show work currently taking place in schools all over
Scotland and illustrate one of the broad areas.
 Perspective – these are the observations made by a number of national
and international education experts.
Is this an individual activity or do I need to work with
others?
The core activities enable you to work individually at a time and place of your
choice. However, there are opportunities to work with colleagues and to
discuss and reflect on how learners may be motivated. You will also be asked
to consider how engagement with this programme has changed and improved
your classroom practice and it may be helpful to work reciprocally with a
colleague to observe practice and offer mutually helpful feedback and advice.
The programme of study may easily be adapted at stage, department or whole
school levels to allow larger groups of staff to work through it collaboratively.
How long will it take?
* This pack provides materials for several study sessions, which can be
followed in sequence or independently.
Section
Time
1
Introduction
1 hour
2
Detection and Assessment of dyslexia
45 minutes
3.
Intervention - Supporting children, young people
and adults with dyslexia
45 minutes
4.
Working with others and transitions
45 minutes
5.
Action Planning
45 minutes
Meeting the needs of learners with dyslexia
4
Update April 2010
JOURNEY TO EXCELLENCE – LEARNING TOGETHER RESOURCE
Introduction and Activity 1.
Print the image below, or copy it onto a
PowerPoint slide. You will see that the words are
coloured in different colours.
Working with a partner, name the colours of the
words as quickly as you can. Do not read the
words. For example: R
RE
ED
D,, B
BLLU
UE
E you
would say ‘yellow’ and ‘red’ because the words
are coloured in these colours.
Now, take the sheet and time how long it takes to name all of the colours. If
you are working with a partner get him or her to observe you and make notes
about the difficulties you have. Swap over and get your partner to do the
same.
With your partner, think and discuss





Was it easy to do the activity?
Did you want to read the words rather than identify
the colour of the words?
How did you feel?
What do you think was happening to your brain as
you tried to identify the colours and not read the
words?
With which ones did you have most difficulty?
Most people find this activity very frustrating. There is an overwhelming desire
to read the words and this interferes with the naming of the colours. The brain
gets confused leading to frustration and tiredness. Confusion is greatest when
the colour and word are the same. It is also difficult when the colour is the
same as the next word e.g.
.
5
Meeting the needs of learners with dyslexia
Update April 2010
JOURNEY TO EXCELLENCE – LEARNING TOGETHER RESOURCE
Perhaps this is how children with dyslexia feel when they can not read simple
words. In fluent readers the brain will always try to retrieve the word because
it has learned to do this automatically and with great ease and fluency. In the
activity you have just done, this learned behaviour impairs our ability to just
name the colours. For those who are not fluent readers the confusion is not
as great. So, young readers such as those in their pre-school years, will not
have the same frustration and confusion. Their brain has not been trained to
read words automatically. Another example of how good our brain is at
retrieving sounds patterns to make words is shown below.
Look at these words quickly:
Dfdl
Cth
Nnsns
What do they say?
With only very limited information the brain of a fluent reader is able to fill in
the gaps, predict which letter combinations go together and select the whole
word with great ease. The last one is more difficult because it does not have a
regular phonic pattern. There is insufficient information for the brain to retrieve
the word from its sound store. For those with difficulties in processing sounds,
these tasks are not quick and easy. They have to be learned over and over
again.
Look at these two words
Train
Hippopotamus
If you show these words to children aged three years or under, which one do
you think they identify as the word ‘Train’?
The majority will pick the word ‘Hippopotamus’ because it is a long word and a
train is a long object. Young children rely on the object and shape to identify
the word. This is why it is important when beginning reading to match an
object, or a picture of an object to the written word. As Pinker indicated in the
introduction to this pack, the human brain is not pre-wired to learn how to
read, but it is pre-wired to learn language. This is a good example of this
innate skill.
Meeting the needs of learners with dyslexia
6
Update April 2010
JOURNEY TO EXCELLENCE – LEARNING TOGETHER RESOURCE
We are also pre-wired to recognise sounds in language. Children who are
good at this are more likely to develop the ability to match what we say to
printed letters and words on a page. Ability to repeat rhymes, sounds and
patterns of sounds are very good predictors of how well we will learn to read.
Look at the book in Appendix 1. On your own, with a
partner or in a small group, try to answer the following
questions.
What is the story about?
How do you know?
Can you find the word which says ‘kitten’?
How did you find the word? What did you look for?
Now see if you can work out what any other words say.
Most people look at the pictures to see what the story is about. The book is about a
new kitten and the same shape is repeated on every page, except the last one. We
learn to identify words by their shape and attach a sound to the shape. In this case
we attach the sound ‘kitten’ to the shape )(v//0\. The next stage is to break the
whole word into smaller sounds called phonics. In the story, when we have
identified the word ‘kitten’, we can use our knowledge of sounds and language to
work out what some of the other words say. For example, if this says )(v//o\ (kitten)
then we can work out the sentence ‘/ho )(v//o\ v[ <o[[l’ by using sounds and our
knowledge of grammar. We also know that nursery stories usually end with the
words ‘The end’ and so we can predict what is said at the end of the story. Our
knowledge of story structure helps us to work out what more words say. In this
activity, it also gives us more letter sounds to work out other words.
Now tackle the picture of the boy stroking the cat.
Did you find this difficult to work out?
Most people have problems with this page because the picture does not help. The
reader has to rely on phonics and language structure to read the words.
7
Meeting the needs of learners with dyslexia
Update April 2010
JOURNEY TO EXCELLENCE – LEARNING TOGETHER RESOURCE
From the workshops and your own knowledge and
experience, write down what you have learned about
how children learn to read?
Now imagine the child with dyslexia who has difficulties working out what
sounds say. What difficulties will they encounter? What would they find easy
and therefore, what would be their strengths in learning to read?
How might this affect the way you teach reading?
Meeting the needs of learners with dyslexia
8
Update April 2010
JOURNEY TO EXCELLENCE – LEARNING TOGETHER RESOURCE
Activity 2:
Detection and Assessment of Dyslexia
Education for Learners with Dyslexia
Chapter 2, pages 3 and 4
Chapter 3
As you read, highlight any ideas where you are not
confident that your practice is as good as it can be.
“A few authorities treated early intervention as a front-line
educational strategy in addressing dyslexia.”
Look at the following video clip below:
Better futures for dyslexia
Highlights schools, colleges and education centres with
innovative methods to assist pupils with dyslexia. Staff,
parents, students and pupils describe what dyslexia means to
them, how it affects learning and the strategies in place to
support children with dyslexia in education.
As you watch the video clip make notes on:
 The barriers to learning to read, and therefore the difficulties encountered
by learners with dyslexia
 What you do currently to detect learners who are at risk through failing to
learn to read fluently. For example, what assessment tools and strategies
do you use?
Most educational authorities use a staged approach to assessment. For
school-aged children and young people this usually involves:



9
the class teacher at Stage 1;
more specialist input from, for example a learning support or dyslexia
teacher at Stage 2; and
other more expert services such as a speech and language therapist,
educational psychologist or occupational therapist at Stage 3.
Meeting the needs of learners with dyslexia
Update April 2010
JOURNEY TO EXCELLENCE – LEARNING TOGETHER RESOURCE
Detecting Dyslexia
Fill out the table below or draw a mind-map in relation to
children, young people and adults with dyslexia.
The table asks you to note what you do well in detecting
literacy difficulties in your class, in your educational
establishment and as an authority/college community. It
also asks you to write down what you would like to do
better, and what you would need to do to make this
happen.
IN CLASS
IN OUR
ESTABLISHMENT
IN LOCAL
AUTHORITY/
LEARNING
COMMUNITY
What we do well
What we need to do
better
How we are going to
improve
“I was, on the whole, considerably discouraged by my school days. It was
not pleasant to feel oneself so completely outclassed and left behind at the
beginning of the race."
Winston Churchill on his dyslexia
Meeting the needs of learners with dyslexia
10
Update April 2010
JOURNEY TO EXCELLENCE – LEARNING TOGETHER RESOURCE
Activity 3:
Supporting children, young people and
adults with dyslexia
View the movie:
Rosepark Learning centre
Discover how this school maximises the strengths and talents
of young people to overcome difficulties with spelling and
reading. Staff and pupils discuss the use of interactive teaching
methods, physical activities, early identification of issues and
raising awareness throughout the school.
Now CHOOSE one of these:
Andrew B Cameron nursery
Lochyside R C Primary School
Eastwood High School
Reid Kerr College
Refer back to Education for Learners with
Dyslexia chapters 2 and 3.
Below are some phrases from the document “Education for learners
with dyslexia” about how some schools support learners with dyslexia.
Highlight those which you feel you might benefit from finding out more
about or implementing more effectively.
Appoint one person to become an ‘expert’ on each of those
highlighted.
Each expert should search the internet, read publications, use the
Movie Finder facility on the Journey to Excellence website to look
for related expert perspective movies, and gather information from
colleagues, with the aim of giving a three minute presentation to the
group on key points to the next session.
11
Meeting the needs of learners with dyslexia
Update April 2010
JOURNEY TO EXCELLENCE – LEARNING TOGETHER RESOURCE
Multi-sensory
approaches
visual prompts
Dyslexia self-help
strategies
fine motor skills and
co-ordination
programmes
Dyslexia friendly
approaches
Mind mapping
preferred
learning styles
Scaffolding writing
reading recovery
Support for
Learning as an
option in secondary
synthetic phonics
metacognition
small group and 1:1
tuition
Reciprocal teaching
structured phonics
programmes
Differentiating
resources for
dyslexic learners
Shared reading
ICT support for
dyslexia
Literacy profiles/
tracking progress
of learners with
dyslexia
paired reading
Early intervention
Intensive early
literacy support
IEPs
Alternative
assessment
arrangements
Share presentations on the above strategies.
Then, in a small group, identify all of the strategies you use to support
learners with dyslexia. You may want to think about this in relation to
the Staged Intervention model referred to in Activity 2. What do you
do, what does the whole establishment do and what does the
authority/college community do?
Meeting the needs of learners with dyslexia
12
Update April 2010
JOURNEY TO EXCELLENCE – LEARNING TOGETHER RESOURCE
IN MY CLASS
IN OUR SCHOOL
IN OUR LOCAL
AUTHORITY
Strategies
currently in use
I’d like to know
more about
Now: Interview your support for learning teacher or someone who
helps to support learners with dyslexia.
or
Interview an adult with dyslexia.
Plan your interview questions to ensure that you cover strategies
which you might use to help learners.
Are there strategies which you have seen on the videos, or read
about in the documentation which you would like to learn more
about? Are there things which you are currently doing which might
help you? Are their other professionals who can help to support
you in supporting learners with dyslexia? Are you familiar with all
of the ICT support which is now available?
13
Meeting the needs of learners with dyslexia
Update April 2010
JOURNEY TO EXCELLENCE – LEARNING TOGETHER RESOURCE
Activity 4:
Working with others:
Partnerships and Transitions
The video clips in Activity 3 show that best practice involves working with
others and ensuring that children, young people and adults with dyslexia make
a smooth transition between and within establishments.
Look at the video clips again and try to identify what works well in relation to
transition and how parents, learners, teachers and other agencies work
together to share information and expertise.
Education for Learners with Dyslexia
Chapter 4 - Partnerships
Carousel Activity:
Choose questions from the table below depending on the
number of groups you want to form.
Write each at the top of a flip chart page divided in two
vertically.
Put each flip chart page on a separate desk/table.
Provide each group with a different coloured pen which they should keep with
them on their journey.
Groups should spend 5 minutes (no longer) at each flip chart in turn, writing
down their ideas and leaving space for subsequent groups’ ideas to build on
these. Every five minutes move all groups round until everyone has visited
each station.
The questions can be edited to reduce or increase the number of groups.
If you are working through this pack as an individual, use the carousel
questions as a questionnaire for your colleagues.
As a whole group, choose three key ideas for your improvement plan in the
last section.
Meeting the needs of learners with dyslexia
14
Update April 2010
JOURNEY TO EXCELLENCE – LEARNING TOGETHER RESOURCE
Thinking about your own establishment:
What are our working relationships with a
range of partners which meet the learning
needs of children with dyslexia?
How do health professionals provide support
in assessment for example, of children’s
hearing, vision, motor skills, speech and
language development?
How do we arrange for the educational
psychologist to consult and advise teachers
on strategies and further assessment to be
undertaken?
What do parents know about their children’s
difficulties? How do they help at home?
How could these be further developed?
How could this be enhanced?
How could this be made more effective?
How could they contribute more fully to
plans, reviews and meetings?
Who advises us on appropriate ICT from the
wide range available to support learners?
Where can we get up-to-date information
on ICT resources?
What information do we pass on at transitions
between establishments and stages?
How might the information we provide and
receive be improved?
How do we know what children and young
people feel about their experiences as they
move through their education?
How do we know?
15
Meeting the needs of learners with dyslexia
Update April 2010
JOURNEY TO EXCELLENCE – LEARNING TOGETHER RESOURCE
Activity 5:
Action Planning
The learning outcomes you aspire to will have been specific to your own
current practice.
Using your tables, mind maps and flip-charts, choose three
actions from each of activities 2, 3 and 4. Write them
succinctly on cards and put them in a logical sequence.
Now, plan how you are going to take these actions forward
within the context of your own school.
Enter your chosen actions on your school’s usual planning pro forma and
provide detailed information such as “who”, “by when”, “resources”, “partners”
etc as appropriate.
You could use turn this plan into a storyboard to film an account of the
improvements you are making so that you can share your practice with
others.
Meeting the needs of learners with dyslexia
16
Update April 2010
JOURNEY TO EXCELLENCE – LEARNING TOGETHER RESOURCE
Appendix 1
17
Meeting the needs of learners with dyslexia
Update April 2010