Learning and teaching for dyslexic pupils

Session 8 / Learning and teaching for dyslexic pupils

Session 8

Learning and teaching for dyslexic pupils

Priority standards Q10, Q14, Q19, Q23, Q26.

QTS standards addressed:

Q10, Q14, Q19,

Q23, Q26.

This session is about pupils with specific learning difficulties. It aims to develop trainees’ understanding of the needs of dyslexic learners so that they can plan appropriately for them in their learning objectives, teaching approaches and access strategies.

Learning outcomes

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Trainees will: understand current definitions of dyslexia know some barriers to learning for dyslexic pupils be able to recognise when to modify learning objectives for dyslexic pupils know some access strategies, teaching styles and approaches for dyslexic pupils, and be familiar with some of the ICT that supports dyslexic pupils.

3 hours and 30 minutes

3hrs 30mins

Approximate timing:

Slide

Required resources

Slide presentation Session 8

Handout 1 Key facts about dyslexia

Handout 2 What is dyslexia?

Handout 3 Identification

Handout 4 Dyslexia – telltale signs

Handout 5 The dyslexia-friendly classroom

Handout 6 Dyslexia-friendly presentation styles

Handout 7 Using ICT to support dyslexic learners

Handout 8 Lesson examples

Handout 9 Points for action

Handout 10 Follow-up activities

Areas of need set out in the SEN code of practice 1


Film clip ‘Billesley Primary School: Aaron’ (PDR.16)

‘Implementing the Disability Discrimination Act in schools and early years settings’ DfES 2006, disc two

Film clip ‘Goostrey Community Primary School: Paddy’ (PDR.17)

‘Implementing the Disability Discrimination Act in schools and early years settings’ DfES 2006, disc two

To find both clips go to the main menu and select ‘Primary Education’ chapter, followed by the ‘Primary Deployment of Staff Resources’ section. The clips are related and located within a sequence of clips. It is necessary to skip to the required ones.

Whiteboard or flipchart

Marker pens

Optional resource

Film clip ‘Dyslexia in the primary classroom’, Croxteth Primary School (SpLD1) TDA, 2008

TDA training toolkit disc two. Follow the prompts

Activities

Activity 1 Understanding dyslexia

Activity 2 Recognising pupils likely to be on the dyslexic continuum

Activity 3 Learning objectives and access strategies

Activity 4 Teaching styles and approaches – multisensory learning

Activity 5 Teaching styles and approaches – using ICT

Activity 6 Review and reflection

Timings

40 minutes

15 minutes

35 minutes

45 minutes

45 minutes

30 minutes

Prior learning

As preparation for the session, trainees should identify one or more dyslexic pupils for discussion.

Note

In activity 1, you could arrange for a dyslexic adult or young person to describe at the session how dyslexia impacts their experiences in school and daily life. If one of the trainees has disclosed that they are dyslexic, they might be willing to provide this input. Alternatively you could show film clip ‘Dyslexia in the primary classroom, Croxteth Primary School’, (SpLD1).

In activity 3, make sure that you are familiar with the content of slides 11–23 so that you can provide constructive commentary on the items displayed.

In activity 4, it is recommended that individual tables are set up to illustrate three ways of learning spellings. Each table should also have a set of large coloured cards in interesting shapes and each with an idea written on it (see Table 8.1, which follows).

2 Areas of need set out in the SEN code of practice


Table 8.1 Display of learning approaches for spelling

Learning approach

Table 1:

Auditory

Table 2:

Visual

Table 3:

Tactile/ kinaesthetic

Resources Activity cards

Blank paper and coloured felt pens

Choose one of your spelling words, say it one phoneme at a time ‘robot-style’ for a partner to identify

Count the phonemes in one of your spelling words.

Write one of your words on a phoneme frame with one phoneme in each box

Count the syllables in the spelling word. Split the word into syllables. Write each syllable in a different colour

Think of a rhyming word you already know, that has the same spelling

Make up a mnemonic, eg. ‘A bus is always busy’.

Find out if there is a spelling rule that works for your word.

Set of plastic letters (must contain more than one full alphabet), blank paper and coloured highlighter pens

A small baking tray filled with sand, sheets of fine sandpaper, a baking tray and a can of shaving foam, blank paper and fine felt pens in different colours

Make your word from the letters in the rainbow alphabet

Look at the word. Take a picture of it in your mind.

Visualise your word written in large coloured letters on a blank wall

Identify any hidden short words within longer words

Identify the tricky part in some of your words, and write it in a different colour.

Write one of your words on sandpaper or in sand.

Say the letter names as you write them

Write your words in large ‘sky writing’ while saying the letter names

Write one of your words, one letter at a time, on your partner’s back for them to identify

Trace your word in shaving foam. Say the letter names as you write them

Write your word in large letters on blank paper.

Trace over it repeatedly in different coloured felt pens, saying the letter names as you trace them.

In activity 5, you will need to display examples of software that supports dyslexic learners in reading and recording, eg. talking wordprocessors, predictive wordprocessors, software with on-screen word grids, pen readers, handheld spellcheckers and voice-recognition software.

Up-to-date product summaries can be found at:

 www.bdadyslexia.org.uk

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 www.dyslexic.com

www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk

For this activity, an organisation such as AbilityNet (www.abilitynet.org.uk) or TechDis

(www.techdis.ac.uk); commercial suppliers such as iansyst (www.iansyst.co.uk) or Inclusive

Technology (www.inclusive.co.uk), or a local dyslexia group may be willing to give a presentation of available ICT products. This facility may also be available within your own institution, if it provides an internal assessment and support service for dyslexic students.


1

Slide


Introduction

Show slide 1 to introduce the session.

Areas of need set out in the SEN code of practice

Learning and teaching for dyslexic pupils

2

Slide

Show slide 2 to outline the learning outcomes for the session as a whole.

Learning outcomes

You will: understand current definitions of dyslexia know some of the barriers to learning for dyslexic pupils be able to recognise when to modify learning objectives for dyslexic pupils know some access strategies, teaching styles and approaches for dyslexic pupils, and become familiar with some of the ICT that can support dyslexic pupils.

2

1



Activity 1

Understanding dyslexia


Trainees will:

 understand some current definitions of dyslexia, and

 be aware of some of the barriers to learning experienced by dyslexic learners.

45 mins

Approximate timing: 45 minutes


Handout 1 Key facts about dyslexia

Handout 2 What is dyslexia?

Whiteboard or flipchart and marker pens

Task

Show slide 3 to outline the learning outcomes for this activity.

3

Slide

Activity 1

Learning outcomes

You will: understand current definitions of dyslexia, and be aware of some of the barriers to learning experienced by dyslexic learners.

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Invite trainees to discuss what they already know about dyslexia. These terms may be mentioned:

 poor reading and spelling letter reversals, and memory difficulties.

Distribute Handout 1 and ask trainees to form pairs. Tell them to read the statements together and then decide whether they are true or false.

Allow enough time for trainees to complete the task and then take feedback from the whole group.

Point out that all of the statements are, in fact, true.



4

Slide

Ask trainees to note down the names of any pupils at their school who are identified as dyslexic.

Explain that later in the session they are likely to return to the list to add other pupils’ names.

Introduce the dyslexic speaker that you have arranged to come to the session. Ask them to tell trainees what it is like to be dyslexic, to describe the barriers to their learning including those caused by a dyslexia-unfriendly curriculum, and how they have affected their participation in school life.

Where possible, draw out what helped the speaker, what teachers and other practitioners did that made a positive difference and to share any negative experiences. Invite trainees to put questions to the speaker.

Show slide 4 to highlight some of the talents that dyslexic learners can have.

Talents and abilities that often accompany dyslexia

Lateral thinking and imaginative problem-solving

Good spatial awareness and visualising skills.

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Use some of these examples of successful and creative people with dyslexia:

 scientist Einstein (who did not speak until he was four nor read until he was 12) writers Hans Christian Andersen, Agatha Christie, F Scott Fitzgerald, Lynda LaPlante musicians John Lennon, Nigel Kennedy artists and architects sportsmen

Leonardo da Vinci, Richard Rogers

Steve Redgrave, Jackie Stewart, Duncan Goodhew, Magic Johnson actors and celebrities entrepreneurs

Walt Disney, Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves, Susannah York, Eddie Izzard

Henry Ford, FW Woolworth, Richard Branson, Theo Paphitis.

Point out that pupils’ talents may not be apparent at school. If their self-esteem is low or their learning needs are not being met, they become frustrated and disillusioned.

Distribute Handout 2, which contains recent guidance from the British Dyslexia Association (BDA).

It explains that current thinking defines dyslexia as a learning difference that only becomes a learning difficulty when it is not recognised and teachers fail to make appropriate adaptations to their teaching.



5

Slide

Show slide 5 which describes how a pupil with dyslexia reacts when things go wrong for them in school.

When things go wrong

“I hide my work. Sometimes I wish I could hide myself away forever”

Pupil with dyslexia

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Slide

5

Invite trainees to give suggestions on how teachers could help this pupil feel better about him or herself. Use the flipchart or whiteboard to record their ideas, then show slide 6 and draw comparisons between the two lists.

Building self-confidence

Use specific praise

Praise ideas, content and effort

Value pupil’s work and make sure that the pupil and their peers do too

Notice and use pupil’s strengths

Avoid exposing pupil’s weaknesses in front of their peers

Make sure the whole class understands what is dyslexia and is aware of famous dyslexic role models.

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Highlight to trainees that understanding the difficulties faced by dyslexic pupils face is essential if we are to enable them to learn effectively and to prevent them experiencing the frustrations that have been discussed.



Activity 2

Recognising pupils likely to be on the dyslexic continuum

Learning outcome

Trainees will consider ways in which they can recognise pupils likely to be on the dyslexic continuum.

20 mins



Handout 3 Identification

Handout 4 Dyslexia – telltale signs

Task

Show slide 7 to outline the learning outcome for this activity.

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Slide

Activity 2

Learning outcome

You will consider ways in which you can recognise pupils likely to be on the dyslexic continuum.

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Open the session by describing how, in the past, schools referred pupils to outside agencies for specialist assessment and then waited, often a long time, for the outcome. Point out that practice is now changing so that all teachers feel able to identify indicators of dyslexia and take appropriate action. Remember that trainees will experience a range of different policies from the local authority and their placement school on how to identify and assess dyslexia. Recommend to them that current best practice often starts from an assumption that pupils who experience persistent literacy difficulties, not explained by other factors, probably fall somewhere on the dyslexic continuum.

This enables everyone to focus on action (“What are we going to do about it?”) rather than lengthy debate about definitions or diagnosis.



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Slide

Show slide 8 and talk trainees through Handout 3 to describe some of the tools that teachers can use to identify dyslexia and assess learning needs.

Identifying dyslexia and assessing learning needs

National curriculum assessment profiles

Achievement of curricular targets, particular difficulties with class or group curricular targets involving spelling, sequencing skills or rote recall

Day-to-day assessment in class

Written work

Screening for difficulties in phonological awareness

Checklists.

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Circulate Handout 4, and suggest that as trainees read through the checklist, they reflect whether any pupils they have taught on school placements come to mind. Ask whether they would now like to add any pupils to the list they made earlier of dyslexic pupils they have worked with.

Emphasise that lots of pupils will show some of the signs on the checklists, but only when they display many of the signs, or when a key indicator such as a family history of dyslexia combines with several other indicators, is there cause for concern.



Activity 3

Learning objectives and access strategies


Trainees will:

 consider when to modify learning objectives for dyslexic learners, and

 become familiar with some of the teaching approaches and access strategies that are appropriate for dyslexic learners.

35 mins



Handout 5 The dyslexia-friendly classroom

Whiteboard or flipchart and marker pen

Optional resource

Film clip ‘Dyslexia in the primary classroom’, Croxteth Primary School (SpLD1), TDA 2008

TDA training toolkit disc two. Follow the prompts

Task

Show slide 9 to outline the learning outcomes for the session.

9

Slide

Activity 3

Learning outcomes

You will: consider when to modify learning objectives for dyslexic learners, and become familiar with some of the teaching approaches and access strategies that are appropriate for dyslexic learners.

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Explain to trainees that having begun to understand the strengths and difficulties of dyslexic learners, you are now moving on to consider their teaching needs.



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Slide

Show slide 10 to remind trainees about waves of intervention.

Waves of intervention

Wave 3

Additional highly personalised interventions

Wave 2

Additional interventions to enable pupils to work at age-related expectations or above

Wave 1

Inclusive, quality first teaching for all

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Explain that dyslexic learners are likely to need additional wave 2 and 3 help with reading, spelling and sometimes with numbers. Point out that this activity will focus on wave 1 approaches – adaptations that need to be made to everyday classroom teaching and learning so as to include dyslexic pupils.

However, trainees will be asked to investigate some of these additional interventions as a follow-up to the session.

Highlight to trainees that they should not assume that back-tracking to earlier learning objectives will be needed. Dyslexia occurs across the ability range. Some pupils with dyslexia may also have generalised learning difficulties. For them, back-tracking may be needed in some subjects. Other dyslexic pupils however, may only need back-tracking for word-level work in literacy, and perhaps for some work on numbers and the number system. In other curriculum areas, they will be able to work in the same learning objectives as the rest of the class, provided that access strategies are used to overcome potential barriers to their learning.

Now ask trainees to talk in pairs for a few minutes. One member of the pair should briefly describe a lesson they have taught on a school placement. Then, together, they should identify barriers that the lesson might have created for dyslexic pupils.

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Record feedback on a flipchart or whiteboard. Trainees are likely to mention:

 reading difficulties that may make it difficult for the pupil to use information books difficulties with spelling and handwriting that may affect written recording difficulties in remembering instructions that may affect the pupil’s ability to start or complete tasks

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 difficulties in rote memory for mathematical tables and number facts that affect problemsolving, and low self-confidence and feelings of embarrassment or anxiety, for example if the pupil is asked to read aloud in front of their peers.



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Ask trainees to contribute ideas on how to remove each of the barriers , inviting a volunteer to record them. Trainees should have plenty of ideas about how to overcome barriers from their work in session

7, and on how to overcome low self-confidence from their work earlier on in this session. They may need help in thinking about how to overcome difficulties in rote memory for mathematical tables and number facts. You could suggest providing: number grids small tables squares a pocket number line or ruler use of a calculator, or getting the pupil to work with a study buddy – a friend who finds it easy to recall number facts.

End your discussion of access strategies with a slide show showing how one teacher overcomes barriers to learning through her dyslexia-friendly classroom organisation (slides 11 to 23). Run through the slides, clicking on the sound button to hear the class teacher or SENCO talking about how the classroom is organised and how one particular pupil is supported.


11

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A dyslexia-friendly classroom

12

Slide

Visual timetable

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13

Slide


Display of pupils’ work

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Science words

Slide 1.19

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Slide 1.20

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ICT prompts

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Slide

English work

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Slide


Using mind maps

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Slide

Assessing learning: traffic lights

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Slide


Desktop prompts

20

Slide

Pupil’s workplace, with table wedge

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21

Slide


Rainbow alphabet

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Slide

Using the alphabet

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Slide


Work display and bookshelves

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You might want to expand on slide 21. This shows a rainbow alphabet, which is used to help pupils manipulate letters, see patterns and work in a multisensory way on spelling and phonics. The slide shows a metal whiteboard and magnetic letters, with the vowels in a contrasting colour. Pupils are given repeated experience of setting out the letters of the alphabet in an arc, and using it to make words and play word games.

Distribute Handout 5 and explain that it contains statements describing some of the access strategies that contribute to the term ‘the dyslexia-friendly classroom’. Remind trainees that not all the strategies will apply to every pupil and it is important to plan for pupils as individuals. Explain that when combined, the strategies provide a helpful framework for enabling dyslexic pupils to learn.

Using these strategies will also benefit pupils with other kinds of SEN: for example, pupils with speech and language problems, who may have similar difficulties with short-term memory and with sequencing. Point out that each page has been designed so that the statements can be photocopied and cut up into separate cards. The cards have been written in child-friendly language, so that the teacher can read them to a dyslexic pupil and ask the pupil to choose or rank strategies that would be helpful to them.

If you have time, you might want to show film clip ‘Dyslexia in the primary classroom’ (SpLD1). The sequence shows how teachers can use the buddy systems and alternatives to paper and pencil tasks to overcome the barriers to learning presented by reading and writing difficulties.



Activity 4

Teaching styles and approaches – multisensory learning


Trainees will consider teaching styles and approaches that are particularly appropriate for dyslexic pupils.

45 mins



Three worktables set up to explore different ways of learning spellings (refer to ‘Note on page 2 for additional advice on this activity).

Task


24

Slide

Activity 4

Learning outcome

You will consider some teaching styles and approaches appropriate for dyslexic learners.

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Before you start this task, discuss the terms ‘phoneme’ and ‘mnemonic’ with the trainees to ensure they fully understand them.

Tell trainees that dyslexic pupils, like many others, benefit from using all their senses when learning, so in this activity they will explore multi-sensory approaches for pupils who need learning support in spelling.

Explain that trainees are going to experiment with these multisensory approaches. Ask them to suggest words that they find difficult to spell, and choose five of them for trainees to practise.



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Divide trainees into three groups so that each group can use a different approach to learning the spellings, using the activity cards displayed on the three tables:

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Group 1 will use multi-sensory approaches with a visual emphasis

Group 2 will use approaches with an auditory emphasis, and

Group 3 will use approaches with a kinaesthetic emphasis.

Allow enough time (eg. 10 minutes) for the groups to try as many of the activities as possible, then invite each group to spend about 10 minutes sharing their feedback with others on the activities they tried and whether they were useful.

You could extend this task by exploring multisensory approaches for particular subject areas.



Activity 5

Teaching styles and approaches – using ICT


Trainees will become familiar with some of the ICT that supports dyslexic pupils.

45 mins



Handout 6 Dyslexia-friendly presentation styles

Handout 7 Using ICT to support dyslexic learners

Film clip ‘Billesley Primary School: Aaron’ (PDR.16)

‘Implementing the Disability Discrimination Act in schools and early years settings’

DfES 2006, disc two

Film clip ‘Goostrey Community Primary School: Paddy’ (PDR.17)

‘Implementing the Disability Discrimination Act in schools and early years settings’

DfES 2006, disc two

To find clips PDR.16 and PDR.17 go to the main menu and select ‘Primary Education’ chapter, followed by the ‘Primary Deployment of Staff Resources’ section. The clips are related and located within a sequence of clips. It is necessary to skip to the required ones.

Examples of ICT products that support dyslexic learners in reading and recording, eg. talking wordprocessors, predictive wordprocessors, software with onscreen word grids, pen readers, handheld spellcheckers, and voice recognition software (refer to Note on page 2 for additional advice on this activity).

Task


25

Slide

Activity 5

Learning outcome

You will become familiar with some of the ICT that supports dyslexic pupils.

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26

Slide

Tell trainees that this activity allows them to explore the use of ICT as an access strategy for dyslexic pupils. This will be done either through a presentation you have arranged, or through a hands-on approach with the selection of software and hardware on display.

Allow trainees enough time to explore the range of tools and gain an understanding of how they can support a pupil’s learning.

Point out to trainees that ICT provides a way for teachers and other staff to modify the way they present written information.

Show slide 26 to illustrate how complex written information can present barriers for dyslexic pupils.

Presenting written information

Printed information might look like this to dyslexic learners

Click on the text box on the left to activate the animation see the animation.

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Ask volunteers to describe how they felt when reading the text on the screen. Circulate Handout 6, explaining that it describes how print can be presented so that it is easier to read.

Explain that ICT also allows pupils with reading difficulties to access ‘talking‘ text – either through talking wordprocessors or pen readers which read text aloud when scanned over a word or sentence.

Some schools are having success with voice-recognition software that allows pupils to write by dictating text.

Show the film clips ‘Billesley Primary School: Aaron’ (PDR.16) and ‘Goostrey Community Primary

School: Paddy’ (PDR.17) in succession, advising trainees that the two clips illustrate the use of predictive wordprocessing and voice-recognition software.

Circulate Handout 7, which summarises the use of ICT to support dyslexic learners. Ask trainees to work in small groups. They should read the handout and then identify the elements they might be able to incorporate easily into their own teaching.



Activity 6

Review and reflection


Trainees will:

 consolidate their learning about dyslexia by looking at examples of appropriately differentiated lessons, and

 identify key points of action for themselves.

30 mins



Handout 8 Lesson examples

Handout 9 Points for action

Handout 10 Follow-up activities

Task

Show slide 27 to outline the learning outcomes for this activity.

27

Slide

Activity 6

Learning outcomes

You will: consolidate your learning about dyslexia by looking at examples of appropriately differentiated lessons, and identify key points of action for yourself.

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Circulate Handout 8, and ask trainees to consider the lesson examples listed on the handout.

Suggest that they highlight the features they think would be most helpful to dyslexic pupils, and to add brief notes as they read through the sheet. Allow 20 minutes for this task.

To conclude the session, circulate Handout 9 and encourage trainees to spend a few minutes reflecting on key points of action that will help them to consolidate and apply their learning.

Suggest that trainees may also wish to refer back to Handout 5, ‘The dyslexia-friendly classroom’.

Give out Handout 10 and suggest that trainees choose a task to follow up over the next few weeks.

Talk through the options and how trainees might approach their task.



Handout 1

Key facts about dyslexia

Statement

Dyslexia occurs across the ability range.

There are dyslexic pupils in every classroom and dyslexic adults in most staff rooms.

Of the UK population, 4 per cent are severely dyslexic and an estimated

10 per cent are mildly so.

Dyslexia is a learning difference – a combination of strengths and weaknesses that affect the learning process in reading, spelling, writing and sometimes number and calculation.

Dyslexic learners may also have weaknesses in short-term memory, sequencing and the speed with which they process information.

Dyslexia has a physiological basis – research indicates neurological differences, which generally affect the left hemisphere, dealing with language and sequential processing.

Dyslexia runs in families.

Dyslexia occurs on a continuum from mild to severe.

Dyslexia occurs in all ethnic groups and in all languages.

Dyslexic learners often have low self-esteem, which can lead to reduced motivation and sometimes to behaviour problems.

Dyslexic learners can do as well as anyone else when identified and given appropriate support.

True or false?


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Handout 2

What is dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a learning difference , a combination of strengths and weaknesses, which affect the learning process in reading, spelling, writing and sometimes number and calculation. Dyslexic learners may also have accompanying weaknesses in short-term memory, sequencing and the speed at which they process information. These are skills that everyone needs if they are to learn effectively in a busy classroom. They are also key skills for life.

Learning problems arise if dyslexia is not recognised and the teaching is inappropriate. To best understand how to meet the needs of dyslexic learners in mainstream settings, an appreciation of the subtle changes required in policy and practice is needed. If it is the policy to view dyslexia as a learning deficit, essentially because there is something ‘wrong’ with the pupil, then practice will tend to focus on special educational needs, remediation and teaching. In contrast, if it is the policy to view dyslexia as a learning difference, one which conveys a range of strengths and weaknesses in common with all learning styles and preferences, then practice is able to focus on inclusion, differentiation and learning.

To view dyslexia as a learning difficulty implies that something is ‘wrong’ with the learner. This leads to a focus on identifying weaknesses rather than celebrating strengths. This, in turn, can result in an emphasis on remediation by specialists rather than resolution by knowledgeable class and subject teachers, supported by specialist help and intervention appropriate to the pupil’s needs.

Specific learning difference

Acknowledging a specific learning difficulty as a ‘specific learning difference’ places the focus firmly on how all lessons are planned, resourced and taught and also on the way teachers are supported through school policy, practice and ethos. This offers real opportunities for an emphasis on inclusive mainstream strategies, which are designed to empower all learners to be the best they can be. In dyslexia-friendly schools the focus has changed from establishing what is wrong with pupils in order to make them ‘better’, to identifying what is right in the classroom in order to enhance the effectiveness of learning.

Placing the focus on learning in the mainstream classroom also offers the potential to improve the quality and quantity of discrete intervention. This can take the form of in-class support, withdrawal or a needs-based combination. It can lead to opportunities for more, higher quality intervention as additional needs are met in dyslexia-friendly mainstream settings.

A basic principle of becoming a dyslexia-friendly school is the expectation that teachers take immediate action when faced with learning needs, rather than to refer a pupil for assessment and wait for an outcome. In a dyslexia-friendly school all teachers are empowered, through training, policy and ethos, to identify learning issues and to take front-line action. This is the policy of early intervention being translated into classroom practice.

Defining dyslexia as a specific learning difference also conveys a realistic balance of opportunities and costs, strengths and weaknesses for the pupil. The ‘straight-line thinking’ typical of some learners is effective for the step-by-step processing of certain types of material, yet is less effective when creativity is required. The eclectic style of other learners may enhance creativity yet fail to yield results when a task calls for step-by-step processing.

While some dyslexic learners will still require discrete specialist support at times, the notion of dyslexia as a specific learning difficulty is arguably unhelpful, certainly within the inclusive ethos of a dyslexia-friendly classroom. The skill of the teacher lies in achieving a balance between empowerment and challenge within clearly understood patterns of strength and weakness. To view dyslexia as a difficulty is a fundamental misunderstanding. In the mainstream classroom setting, the teacher, guided by school ethos, policy and practice, has the power to make dyslexia a learning difficulty or a learning difference – it really is as simple as that.



Constitutional in origin

A learner who is dyslexic is just that – and teaching ‘harder’ cannot change that reality. Research into the architecture of the brain suggests that very real differences occur as the foetus develops.

These differences are responsible for the familiar pattern of strengths and weaknesses that typify dyslexic learners. While research continues to focus on a range of neurological issues, it is enough for teachers to appreciate that dyslexia defines dyslexic learners, making them what they are.

Paying attention to empowerment, emotional intelligence and self-esteem is likely to be more valuable than a detailed knowledge of a learner’s neurological makeup.

Unexpected and persistent difficulties

It would be foolish to suggest that dyslexic learners do not experience difficulties in learning certain skills. However, there is growing awareness that these difficulties tend to be ‘institutional’, ie. created by policy and practice. The key to recognising dyslexia in mainstream settings is to focus on ‘unexpected’ aspects of performance in relation to ability. Teachers often readily recognise learners who find it very difficult to produce ability-appropriate evidence of learning. Yet these teachers also acknowledge that dyslexic pupils are often as effective as their peers during the oral groupwork phase of a lesson. A helpful starting point is to focus on learners who ‘think’ a subject.

These are pupils who perhaps demonstrate a clear verbal understanding of concepts but who experience unexpected difficulties when recording on paper.

Persistent difficulties is also an important concept. Once again it helps to focus on learners who experience persistent difficulties in certain areas despite quality learning opportunities, which have helped others with apparently similar needs. Teaching ‘harder’ does not address persistent learning difficulties, though teaching differently does. The most effective response to persistent difficulties is to acknowledge that “If they don’t learn the way we teach them, we must teach them the way they learn”.

Acquiring certain skills

The ‘unexpected’ problems tend to arise in the acquisition and application of aspects of basic skills.

They often occur despite adequate opportunity to learn and are highlighted against a background of ability-appropriate skill acquisition in other areas. Dyslexic trainees are usually as good as their peers at many things until, for example, they need to write it down. In the mainstream classroom, problems seem to occur in areas such as speed of processing, short-term memory, sequencing and possible weaknesses in auditory and/or perceptual skills.

We are grateful to the British Dyslexia Association for permission to reproduce this guidance from its pack, ‘Dyslexia-friendly schools’.



Handout 3

Identification

Dyslexic learners are likely to have national curriculum assessment profiles that show strengths in some subjects, alongside weaknesses in reading, writing and often in number and the number system, and calculation.

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They may show particular difficulties with class or group curriculum targets involving spelling, sequencing skills or rote recall. Examples might be curricular targets in class such as:

 understand how to use alphabetically ordered texts to retrieve information order three-digit numbers in ascending/descending order, or use known facts and place value to consolidate mental division.

Things to look out for in day-to-day assessment in class include, for example:

 response to questions and oral discussion that shows greater understanding than is evident in written work

 evidence that the pupil is struggling to hold facts in their mind when they work on a multi- step problem

 response to questions in word-level work that show difficulty in analysing and synthesising the sounds in spoken words, or

 evidence of difficulty in remembering instructions and organising themselves for learning.

Pupils’ written work may show letter reversals, spelling a word in several different ways in one piece of writing, unusual spellings that bear little relationship to the sounds in the word or are heavily phonetic.

Poor phonological awareness (difficulty in identifying the separate sounds that make up spoken words) is a key feature of dyslexia and close observation of pupils’ responses to the teaching of phonics is useful in identifying dyslexia.

Checklists can be useful in drawing together teachers’ observations and other information about the pupil, eg. information from parents/carers.



Handout 4

Dyslexia – telltale signs

Do any of your pupils struggle with spelling, writing, reading or mathematics? Do they not progress as quickly as their classmates – or worse, do they not seem to progress at all?

1 There are obvious inconsistencies in these individuals, many of them exhibiting abilities alongside weaknesses.

You have been teaching well and hope that this pupil will improve their basic skills; however, you see little or no change compared with the rest of the class.

How can you tell if this pupil might be dyslexic? Look out for these signs, but remember that not all dyslexic pupils have the same cluster of difficulties and abilities. Watch out for strengths in areas of creativity and/or highly developed verbal skills.

General signs

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Speed of processing: spoken and/or written language slow

Poor concentration

Difficulty in following instructions

Forgetful of words

Difficulty in remembering anything in a sequential order, eg. tables, days of the week, the alphabet.

Written work

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Poor standard of written work compared with oral ability

Messy work with many crossings out

Persistently confused by letters that look similar, particularly b/d, p/g, p/q, n/u, m/w

Poor handwriting, possibly with reversals and badly formed letters

Spells a word several different ways in one piece of writing, eg. wippe, wype, wiep, wipe

Makes anagrams of words, eg. tired for tried, breaded for bearded

Badly set-out written work, doesn’t stay close to the margin

Poor pencil grip

Phonetic and bizarre spelling: not age/ability appropriate

Unusual sequencing of letters or words.

Reading

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Poor reading progress

Difficulty in blending letters together

Difficulty in establishing syllable division or knowing the beginnings and endings of words

No expression in reading

Comprehension poor

Hesitant and laboured in reading, especially when reading aloud

1 You might, for instance, be aware of a puzzling profile of strengths and weaknesses in a pupil’s responses.



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Misses out words when reading, or adds extra words

Fails to recognise familiar words

Loses the point of a story being read or written

Difficulty in picking out the most important points from a passage.

Mathematics

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Shows confusion with number order, eg. units, tens, hundreds

Confused by symbols such as ‘+’ and ‘x’

Difficulty remembering anything in a sequential order, eg. tables, days of the week, the alphabet

Difficulty learning and remembering times tables

May write ‘2’ when they mean to write ‘5’, or write ‘5’ instead of ‘2’.

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Time

Difficulty in learning to tell the time

Poor timekeeping and general awareness

Poor personal organisation

Difficulty remembering what day of the week it is: birth date, seasons of the year, months of the year

 Difficulty with concepts – yesterday, today, tomorrow.

Skills

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Poor motor skills, leading to weaknesses in speed, control and accuracy of the pencil

Limited understanding of non-verbal communication

Confused by the difference between left and right, up and down, east and west

Indeterminate hand preference

Performs unevenly from day to day.

Behaviour

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Employs work-avoidance tactics, such as sharpening pencils and looking for books

Seems to dream, does not seem to listen

Easily distracted

Plays the class clown or is disruptive or withdrawn (these are often cries for help)

Excessively tired due to amount of concentration and effort required.

We are grateful to the British Dyslexia Association for permission to reproduce this guidance from its pack, ‘Dyslexia-friendly schools’.



Handout 5

The dyslexia-friendly classroom

Pupils with literacy and mathematics difficulties associated with dyslexia are frequently encountered in schools. Failure by teaching staff to recognise and support pupils who are experiencing such difficulties at an early stage is likely to have an adverse impact on their ability to develop their full potential at school. There is a clear need, therefore, for those who manage SEN and inclusion in schools to help colleagues focus on access strategies that will overcome some of the barriers to learning which these pupils experience.

Much less is known about dyscalculia than dyslexia, but the strategies identified here will also be of help to dyscalculic pupils.

Below you will find statements describing some of the access strategies that, together, make up what we can call the ‘dyslexia-friendly classroom’.

Not all the strategies will apply to every pupil: it is important to plan for pupils as individuals. Taken together, however, the strategies provide a helpful framework for enabling dyslexic pupils to learn.

Use of these strategies will also benefit pupils with other kinds of SEN: for example, pupils with speech and language problems, who may have similar difficulties with short-term memory and with sequencing.

Each page has been designed so that you can photocopy the statements and cut them up into separate cards.

The cards have been written in child-friendly language, so that the teacher can read them to a dyslexic pupil and ask the pupil to choose or rank strategies that would be helpful to them.


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The dyslexia-friendly classroom

Teachers know what you are good at and make sure that you get a chance to show it – for example, if you are finding written work or spelling difficult, you can show your ability in spoken work and by giving your ideas when we are doing some writing all together as a class or in a group. Or if you are not good at numbers, you might be good at working with problems.

You have a study buddy who can help you.

This would be someone who can help you with parts of the work you find very hard – but you will be able to help them in other ways.

 If you have good ideas for writing but find writing and spelling hard, then you could be paired with someone who is good at writing and spelling, but not good at thinking of ideas.

 If you find numbers hard, you could be with someone who is good at this, but you could help them with work on shape and space.

The teachers in school make sure everyone understands and feels positive about the difficulties that can come from dyslexia or dyscalculia. They talk about talented adults and celebrities who struggle with the same difficulties.

If there is any writing that will be hard for you to read, such as written instructions, word problems or any other sort of text, someone will read it to you.

Teachers don’t ask you to copy from the board, as it can be very hard for you to find your place when you look up from your paper to the board and back again. Instead, they ask a study buddy to work with you or write things down for you.

Teachers realise that you will know things one day but forget them the next. They also know that you might sometimes forget things that you need to bring to the lesson and that you might forget what you are supposed to be doing halfway through a lesson. They do not get cross with you when this happens. Instead, they talk to you about ways that you can use to help you to remember things.

If the teacher marks work when you are not with them to listen to their comments, they look carefully at any spelling or number mistakes that you make. They will help you by showing you how the words you spell wrong are similar to words you do know – or the number facts that you get wrong are near to number facts that you are sure of.

Teachers find out the best ways for you to learn – for some people this might be learning from pictures, diagrams, mind maps, for others it might be using practical equipment, handling objects or moving about. Which ways do you think help you to learn best?

If the teacher gives you a worksheet, it is easy for you to read and is printed on cream or buff paper so that the bright paper does not hurt your eyes.

The teachers realise that learning sequences like counting on or back, or the alphabet, might be very hard for you, so they give you helpful equipment such as a pocket alphabet and calendar, number grids and squares.

If you find it difficult to remember things off by heart, the teachers help you by showing you patterns – like spelling rules, word patterns, patterns in multiplication tables.

Teachers make sure that if you reach your targets, they praise you and help you to feel confident, even if you sometimes make mistakes.

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You might find it hard to keep questions or sets of instructions in your head. If you do, the teachers will: say them again break them into smaller chunks for you write them down for you give you time to think, or to talk to a study buddy before answering.

Teachers make sure that you are able to work with different pupils – so that no-one feels that you are just part of the bottom group.



The teacher will never ask you to read aloud in front of anyone, unless you volunteer to.

The teacher gives you a handy pack to help you, which could include sticky notes, highlighter pens, tables square, alphabet cards and other useful items. What else can you think of?

The teachers ask other pupils in the class to make tapes of stories and of mathematical tasks, to make sure that there is plenty of material to listen to.

There are displays of ways to form letters and numbers to help you get them the right way round – ‘b’ and ‘d’, for example.

Your teachers make it clear to you that they are looking at what you write as well as how you write it. Ideas and good choices of words are important as well as handwriting, spelling and punctuation.

If you do have difficulty with handwriting, spelling and punctuation, the teacher will sometimes give you a different way of getting your thoughts on paper. For example, another pupil in the class could write them down for you, or you could use a computer and helpful programs.

There may be things that really interest you but are a bit hard for you to read on your own at the moment, such as books, comics, newspapers, magazines, information on the internet… can you think of anything in particular? Teachers try to make sure that someone reads these with you – someone at home, maybe, or someone else at school who is older than you.

The teachers know what you might find hard, and give you helpful things like words on bookmarks, word mats, alphabet or number strips, or special dictionaries.

The teachers make sure that you have time to look at books or texts before you work with them in class – or perhaps arrange for someone to work with you on the book before the lesson happens so you can join in.

The books that the teacher gives you are those that are interesting for children your age – not ones written for younger children.

Your teachers make it clear to you that they are looking at what you understand about mathematics as well as how many tables and number facts you can remember. Everyone’s strong points are important.

The teacher understands that you might find it hard to remember steps in a mathematical problem. You can use a notepad to keep track of your work.

If you find it hard to remember basic number facts, the teacher helps you by giving you useful things like a small tables square, or pocket number line.

If you are learning a new way of doing a calculation or solving a problem, the teacher makes sure that you work with numbers that you can use well already, so that you can concentrate on the method.

The teacher makes sure that you can use a calculator to help you with problem-solving.

The teacher helps you find your own way of working out calculations, using what you know to work out the bits you don’t know. For instance, you might work out 40 + 29 by remembering 40

+ 30, then taking away one.

The teachers know that learning tables may be hard for you. They show you different ways of remembering multiplication facts.

Can you finish these sentences?

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One thing that really helps me is…

One thing I really hate is…



Handout 6

Dyslexia-friendly presentation styles

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Many, but not all dyslexic adults report:

 seeing ‘rivers’ of white on the page rather than lines of text words moving around on the page words going out of focus after a few minutes of reading letters, numbers and shapes blurring not seeing words clearly when print is black on white paper, or reaching the end of a line and re-reading the same line or going up or down one by mistake.

This causes a major difficulty in comprehension and calculation.

Pupils often do not report such aberrations, as they are not aware they see any differently to others.

For example, would a six-year old say to another, “Do the words move for you?”

Currently, research has not produced an absolute explanation that meets the needs of each and every individual. However, these guidelines may well help many. The ideas have been taken from both discussion with adults who are dyslexic and behavioural optometrists working in the field.

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Suggested dyslexic-friendly alternatives

 Use off-white paper, screen background on computers, interactive whiteboard etc. Some people prefer a range of pastel colours, others prefer cream. Allow pupils to choose between white or colour as a matter of course

Use a minimum of 12pt or, ideally, 14pt in written text

Use san-serif fonts like Arial, Helvetica or Tahoma, that are rounded and reflect a cursive script

Keep lines left justified with a ragged right edge

Use a line space between paragraphs to break up text

Use wide margins and headings to break up text

Use bold to highlight, as italics or underlining can make words appear to run together

Where possible, use bullets or numbers rather than continuous prose

Write clear, concise sentences and instructions

Keep sentence length to a minimum

Use the active rather than the passive tense as far as possible to increase readability

Represent information visually wherever possible, using flowcharts, etc.



Handout 7

Using ICT to support dyslexic learners

Strategy, tool and/or program Dyslexia-friendly outcomes

Alter format options onscreen or on interactive whiteboard, eg. background colour, font size, style and colour; use zoom, line and paragraph spacing.

Add speech support to existing programs, applications and web pages, eg. a text-to-speech program with MS Word.

Using on-screen wordbanks or predictive tools with speech support, eg. ‘Clicker’, ‘Wordbar’, wordbanks available with talking wordprocessors, ‘Penfriend’,

‘TextHelp’.

Use portable writing aids, eg. portable wordprocessors, tablets, palmtop devices.

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Use literacy programs with speech options, eg. talking books, spelling and phonic games and activities, talking wordprocessors and onscreen wordbanks.

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Using wordprocessors to record written responses (preferably with speech support), eg. ‘Textease’,

‘Talking First Word’, ‘Clicker 5’,

‘Word’ with text to speech program, portable writing aids.

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Support for pupils with visual difficulties, relieves visual discomfort, reduces glare, offers greater clarity of dense text, for reading and recording.

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Enables pupils to both see and hear all text onscreen or typed text as it is entered

Aids memory, clarifies unknown words or phrases and enables self-correction

Allows pupils to work more independently, provides reassurance and creates a non-threatening environment

Offers pupils access to all selected text in most situations.

Speech support is essential especially for literacy activities such as reading, spelling, phonics and writing. Pupils can hear words in games, spellings to practise, spellcheckers, instructions and help menus

Auditory repetition of any text can support weak memory skills and increase independent learning

Encouraging comments made in interactive games and tasks can increase confidence, success and self-esteem.

Enables pupils to edit easily using copy, cut, paste, delete and undo options etc. avoiding unnecessary copying out and reducing frustration

By using a talking wordprocessor pupils can hear text as they type enabling better self-correction

Typed text is clear and easy to read for both writer and reader

Typed text supports pupils who find handwriting or letter formation difficult, especially in extended writing tasks.

Pupils can select a from a wide range of vocabulary in different subjects, styles and genres to express their true ability, as opposed to what they are able to spell or type at speed

Words or phrases can be heard before selection, enabling a more informed choice

More sophisticated program tools will explain context or homonyms

Words entered into a text from a wordbank or predictive tool will speed up the writing process, reduce the number of keystrokes and support spelling

Pupils are likely to finish tasks more quickly and concentrate on content rather than typing or spelling skills.

Offers pupils wordprocessing facilities anywhere at school, especially if a laptop or desktop computer is not available

This can have all the benefits of wordprocessors, as described earlier. Many such tools have additional facilities such as diaries to help planning, personal organisation and aid memory.


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Strategy, tool and/or program Dyslexia-friendly outcomes

Use programs with user options, eg. font and colour formatting, timers, speech support, content difficulty, etc.

Use mindmapping and planning tools, eg. ‘Inspiration’,

‘Kidspiration’, which create mind maps, writing frames and planners to use onscreen.

Use programs that track pupil progress, eg. time taken, attempts made, correct answers, details of errors made.

Use interactive whiteboards.

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Dedicated programs with pupil options enable teachers to meet individual needs and preferences both in format and content thus providing the optimum environment for learning.

Typing ideas directly into writing frames and storyplan templates created in wordprocessors reduces time and effort, enabling pupils to expand their ideas and notes and use cut, copy and paste to organise their ideas

Pupils can plan visually using text, symbols and graphic images to draft and organise their work

Dedicated mindmapping programs allow all of the above and the facility to add additional notes before using the program to convert the map into linear text to import into a wordprocessor, web page or multimedia presentation. This reduces time and effort in copying/typing out plans and notes and links planning seamlessly to the writing task.

Dedicated programs that track pupil progress can inform and encourage pupils as to how well they are doing, increase selfesteem and help teachers with target-setting and measuring achievement.

Enables better visual clarity for text and diagrams, improves tracking with tools such as reveal magnifier or spotlight.

Activities can be multisensory and hands-on. Pupils and teachers can model and demonstrate tasks.

Enables pupils to spell check using phonic alternatives rather than rely on usual first two-letter match on common computer spellcheckers

Increases spelling accuracy and confidence and is usually faster than using a standard dictionary.

Use handheld spellcheckers, eg. ‘Franklin Literacy Wordbank’.

Many handheld products have additional features to support individual spelling such as homonym checker, personal lists and a thesaurus.

Use typing and keyboard awareness programs.

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Offer alternatives to written recording.

Use low-tech solutions.

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As ICT is such a key tool in the support of dyslexic pupils it is essential that they have a good knowledge of the keyboard and learn to either touch type if possible or type efficiently (using two hands) so that entering text is as least as fast or faster than their normal writing speed. This needs to be done as early as possible and practised regularly at school and at home

Where appropriate typing can then be pupil’s normal mode of recording and used for extended writing and recording, homework and exams (subject to exam board conditions).

Dyslexic learners enjoy using alternative forms of recording and often use pictorial imagery in their learning. ICT can support this with the use of digital images and clip art, digital cameras, multimedia presentations and video cameras

Speech recognition may be appropriate in some cases, especially at key stages 3/4 where the demand for writing in all curriculum areas increases.

Simple low-tech solutions can help support many pupils in access, learning and recording. Cassette or digital recorders are helpful for recording ideas and information, listening to instructions or texts

A small memo microphone may also be useful for reminders and instructions

Any qwerty keyboard can help with practising typing skills.

© BDA October 2006 www.bdadyslexia.org



Handout 8

Lesson examples

Example 1: Year 1, term 1

Class context

There are 27 pupils in the class. 80 per cent of them are learning English as an additional language

(EAL), two at very early stages. One pupil has a statement that identifies attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Two pupils are at School Action Plus with literacy difficulties.

Learning context

The lesson with this very challenging class was followed by work in PSHE on feelings and managing feelings.

Prelude

When taking the register all pupils had to reply by giving some of their favourite words from the story, ‘The fisherman and his wife’, which the class had been enjoying together. The teacher always uses the register to cue pupils in to the learning that follows. The pupils had read the book twice already.

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Whole-class shared work

The teacher shared with pupils the learning objective: retell the story, and pretend you are in it.

The teacher led pupils in a dramatic retelling of the story; the class acted out the events and joined in with lines from the story.

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These were some of the prompts used:

 “All be magical fish” – feel your fins sparkling, swim through the waves, they’re getting rougher

“You foolish man” – say it again to show you’re getting fed up

Why is the fish fed up? What word is in the story for fed up? Yes, ‘grumpy’. All be grumpy. When might you feel grumpy?

 Imagine this classroom has turned into a mansion. Gaze round in amazement – what do you see?

Tell the person next to you what you see

What is the wife going to be feeling? Why do you say that?

What would you feel if X did that?

Think of the words “Ruler of the whole universe”. Say it as if you wanted to be king of the whole world – show how important you feel.

Word-level work

The class has 15 minutes of phonics work daily. The class applied recently taught phonic strategies to blending words from three sentences taken from ‘The fisherman and his wife’. The teacher chose sentences from the story that the pupils with reading difficulties would later be using in their independent work.

Independent work

In their independent work, mixed-ability pairs of pupils retold the story in writing (with one pupil acting as scribe), some (including several EAL learners) worked in groups to retell the story orally using puppets and props, and some pupils with reading difficulties used software with onscreen word grids containing the words from three key sentences to recreate the sentences and print them out.


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Plenary

In the plenary, pupils who had used the computer read out their printed sentences and the teacher asked the group that had used puppets and props to act them out. The pupils then talked to the person next to them about what they found hard in the lesson, what they found easy and what helped them to learn. The teacher took feedback from three pairs and made links to the learning they would be doing together the next day.


Class context

80 per cent of the class are EAL pupils, two are at very early stages. 32 per cent of pupils receive free school meals. Twelve pupils are identified as having SEN, including five at School Action Plus.

Two pupils have specific learning difficulties (dyslexia).


Literacy letter-writing; a unit of work linked with citizenship as the class wrote letters relating to conservation at the end of the unit.

Five-minute starter

The pupils were asked to talk for two minutes to a partner using the talking frame written on a flipchart. The teacher modelled the activity: “I would love to look out of my window and see… because… (the structure of the sentence is linked to the text, ‘Dear Greenpeace’). The teacher took feedback from two pairs of pupils.

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Whole-class shared work

The teacher held up the text from ‘Dear Greenpeace’ and gave pupils 30 seconds, thinking time to consider what sort of book it might be and to give their reasons. Responses from the pupils included:

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“It’s about a letter because of the stamp”

“It’s got ’Dear’ in the title”, and

“It’s about a girl who doesn’t like vegetables” (which led to discussion of ‘peas’ and ‘peace’).

The teacher warned the pupils with dyslexia about the question she would ask them shortly. They both answered well when asked.

Next came a discussion of what Greenpeace does. One pupil asked, “Is it like the council?”

The teacher explained words like ‘environment’ and ‘protection’, using school-based examples.

The teacher read the first letter in the text, stopping when Lucy asked for information about whales.

She asked for comments about this page and took feedback from pupils about what interested them.

The teacher explained that the task was to find some information about whales for Lucy. She asked what kinds of things it would be useful for Lucy to find out.

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The teacher sorted and noted the pupils’ answers on to a mind map on the flipchart, using the categories: food sleep what happens when whales get injured, and where whales live normally.

The teacher modelled how to select text, find information and record on a sticky note.


One pupil with dyslexia was paired with a partner to use the ‘living library’ software on a PC, the other was put in charge of the sticky notes in a group with an identified reader. All pupils had a choice of books or photocopies of texts with differing reading levels.



The teacher worked initially on labelling a picture with pupils in the early stages of learning EAL.

She moved to the group with one pupil with dyslexia and did paired reading with him. She discussed what they had read in the group and identified a fact that he wanted to write on a note. He then wrote it independently, using words identified in the text by a blob of sticky tack and his list of common words.

Plenary

Pupils read out a note and placed it on the flipchart mind map in the right category. The teacher quickly explained vocabulary as it came up, for example ‘warm-blooded’, ‘mammal’, and so on.

The teacher explained that she would type up some of these notes so that all pupils had access to the research of the whole class when they were writing their own letters later in the week.


Class context

A class of 31 pupils, with five in the early stages of learning EAL, and 22 at later stages, three pupils on School Action Plus, including one pupil with dyslexia.


The learning objectives were to write poems based on the structure and style of poems read together and to understand the use of figurative language. This lesson was linked to work on colour in art and design. The poems written by the pupils were published as a collage. The shared text was a classic poem, ‘What is pink?’, by Christina Rossetti.

Starter

The teacher wrote three unfamiliar words from the poem on the board. He asked the pupils what to do about words they couldn’t read or words whose meaning they didn’t know. The class discussed how breaking the word into syllables helps with decoding and how to blend phonemes or syllables

‘robot-style’. They explored how to use ‘chin bumps’ to count syllables. The teacher provided a range of words at different levels of difficulty for pairs of pupils to split into syllables and blend.

Pupils explained how they would read another unfamiliar word from the poem to a partner.

They discussed the meanings of the unfamiliar words, for example ‘mellow’, acting this out and identifying times from that day when their teacher may have felt mellow.

Main activity

The teacher read the poem to the pupils, pointing to the pictures in the shared text to support their understanding and asking them to make a picture in their heads as they listened.

Afterwards he asked whether there were any new and interesting words in the poem that needed explaining. Pupils identified two words. The teacher asked for a volunteer to guess at their meaning and engaged that pupil in some extended dialogue about how they had come to their guess.

The class then read the poem together. He gave them the choice of reading from the big book or having their own photocopy to read from.

The pupils discussed questions that focused on figurative language using ‘think pair share’. The teacher chose pupils to answer rather than asking for “Hands up”, but pupils did not have to answer if they didn’t want to. His questions included:

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 how would you help me with this word or idea?

why does that comparison help me see the picture in the poet’s head?

 why am I pleased with that answer?

Shared writing

The teacher and the class wrote a simple poem on a movable whiteboard, using a structure that forced the pupils to make a comparison. Some key vocabulary was written on a mind map with little sketches beside the words.




The pupils wrote their own poems. The model provided through shared writing enabled all pupils, including those learning EAL and the pupil with dyslexia, to compose a repetitive but effective poem. The movable whiteboard with the poem composed by the whole class was put on one table to help the group with the most difficulty. The dyslexic pupil made a tape recording of her poem, rather than writing it down on paper.

Plenary

The pupils read out the comparisons they had used and explored what made them effective.

Example 4: Year 5

Class context

A class of 29 pupils, 70 per cent EAL learners, including three recently arrived pupils at very early stages of learning EAL. Two pupils at School Action Plus identified as having literacy difficulties.


This was a history lesson focusing on life in the 1960s. There was a class exhibition of primary/ secondary sources from this period. Later in the week, pupils were to write a report about an event in the 1960s to add to this display. Other year groups would visit the exhibition and read the reports.

Starter

The pupils were allotted 30 seconds to recall learning from the previous lesson, which was about sources of evidence on life in the 1960s. Pupils worked in pairs to write possible sources of evidence on cards, in large writing. These cards were then grouped into primary/secondary sources. Pupils were asked to explain their reasoning as the cards were sorted.

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Main part of lesson

Pupils were given three photographs of life in the 1960s. They were asked what the photos told them and what other sources would be needed. They discussed what they knew about the photographs and what they had found out for homework by asking parents/carers or grandparents.

The teacher modelled note-making as the pupils gave their thoughts. The pupils then had 10 minutes to make notes in pairs in answer to these questions: who was involved and what was the event?

what happened (brief summary of the event)?

what did people at the time think?

why do we remember this event today?

The pupils read out their notes and the teacher contrasted the notes with full text to emphasise the difference.

Independent task

Pupils chose whether to work in pairs or as individuals. They used a selection of texts and pictures available from books at different levels of readability. Pupils could select from these to make notes to add to their existing ones. These notes would be used to write the report for the class exhibition at the end of the week. Some pupils highlighted a photocopy, some made notes in books, some on sticky notes. Others used the computer, searching for Pathé news clips from the period. The teacher held a series of mini-plenaries during the lesson, in which pupils read out what they had written to make sure it sounded like notes rather than sentences.

Plenary

Some pupils read out their notes so that pupils could hear the difference between notes and full sentences. Listeners were encouraged to add any new information to their own notes.



Example 6: Year 6

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This literacy lesson formed part of cross-curricular work on World War II. The learning objectives were to: develop strategies to work out how to spell words containing unstressed syllables, and make comparisons and links between different texts.

Whole class word-level work

The teacher asked the pupils to spell the word ‘business’, using individual whiteboards. Some pupils worked in pairs. She asked what was difficult and explained the idea of an unstressed syllable. She went on to explore what the root word (busy) was, how that might help and reminded pupils about the rule about ‘y’ and suffixes. Pupils described strategies they used to remember words, such as thinking of a link word, finding a hidden word or deliberately mispronouncing the word. They discussed which of these would help with ‘business’, then applied these to spelling the word

‘mathematics’. Pupils selected a word from a list of varying difficulty, all of which contained unstressed syllables, discussed with a partner how they were going to remember it, and had a ‘mini test’ with their partner. The teacher then gave them 30 seconds to move in some way – stand up, stretch, wave, go round their table shaking hands, and so on.

Whole-class shared text

Shared text work began with paired talk to share memories of Friday’s lesson when the class had read an account from ‘The diary of Anne Frank’ and one from ‘Carrie’s war’ (the class novel). After brief feedback, the teacher moved on to explore the difference between Anne Frank and Carrie.

Pupils highlighted the evidence in the text when giving their answer. The teacher made brief notes using a grid based on their answers. She asked the pupils to close their eyes, imagine the scene and listen carefully for differences. She then read the next part of Anne Frank and arranged paired talk to discuss more similarities and differences between Anne Frank and Carrie. When feedback was taken, the pupils referred to the texts in support of answers. A pupil who had given an answer made notes, or asked their partner to make notes, on the class grid, while the class was discussing the next point so that notes were built up efficiently and the teacher was able to praise pupils for writing understandable notes, not sentences. The teacher explained and briefly modelled the task.

Task

Write a formal comparison of Carrie and Anne Frank. A group of eight pupils worked with the teacher on the computer for this task. Flipchart grid notes from both lessons were placed near the group with most difficulty. This group had a short writing frame and vocabulary folder on the table.

Writing frames were available for all pupils who wanted them.

Plenary

The pupils read out different comparisons between the two girls. The class had to give comments on the work that was read out without knowing beforehand what they would be asked to comment on. Good focused listening was praised.



Handout 9

Points for action

What do I want to do next to develop my practice?

How will I do this?

What is my timescale for this to happen?

How will I know I have been successful?

Do I need to involve anyone else to make this happen?



Handout 10

Follow-up activities

The following activities are suggested ways in which you can build on your learning after the session.

 Track the experiences of a pupil with specific learning difficulties during a school day, identifying any issues about curriculum access or breadth that emerge

 Use the card sort activity (see Handout 5) to interview a dyslexic pupil. Find out which strategies they find helpful

 Read the leaflet ‘Choosing and implementing interventions for pupils with significant literacy difficulties’, DfES 0201/2003, and try some of the suggested interventions

 Investigate the implications of dyslexia and dyscalculia for teaching mathematics, using the session on mathematics in the CD-ROM ‘Learning and teaching for dyslexic pupils’, DfES

1184-2005.



Notes
