Making Friends
• Tell the person next to you
what you did last night.
• You are not allowed to use
the letter s in any of your
words
Ορίστε γνωρίζει θα τον, μα ιδιαίτερα
δημιουργική των, χαμηλός δοκιμάσεις κι ναί.
Γραφικά κώδικάς ανταγωνιστικούς μη όχι, αν
μάλλον εντυπωσιακό εγώ. Και αφού άμεση το,
εκθέσεις ζητήσεις με έχω, έξι παίρνει
παραγωγικής πω. Σε ένα ανώδυνη φακέλους.
Τα πρώτες σφαλμάτων συνεντεύξης που, κι
τύπου ξέχασε κρατάει την.
Στις εργαζόμενοι χρησιμοποιούνταν πες να,
ως συγγραφής
What is dyslexia?
• A learning difference that
results in difficulties with
reading, spelling and writing
and sometimes maths
• A combination of strengths
and weaknesses – just like
any other learning style
• Problems occur because of
inappropriate teaching, lack of
recognition and because of
our assessment emphasis
How does the ethos need to
change?
• Shift from remedial type
support to making the
classroom an effective
learning environment
• We don’t need a diagnosis.
All teachers are empowered to
take front line action
• Early recognition leads to
early intervention in the
classroom.
• This is a learning difference
that leads to a difficulty if we
allow it.
How do we know which children we
are talking about?
• Most dyslexics show good oral
ability and appear bright and able
but can’t translate that onto paper.
They also often have:
• areas that they excel in like
drama or art
• directional confusion
• short term difficulties
• difficulties saying multi syllable
words
• difficulties with reading
comprehension.
Identifying 2
• difficulties with handwriting
• difficulties with spelling
• problems with omitting lines
or words in reading
• poor organisational skills
• They will nearly always have
poor self esteem
So what can we do?
• Visual cues and clues around
the classroom
• Make our whiteboards
coloured
• Help with copying – notes on
paper
• Step by step instructions
• Allow extra time – don’t punish
for struggling
• Be patient – you may need to
explain things several times
Dyslexia Friendly Classroom
• Use a multi sensory approach in
teaching
• Give these children chance to
shine – use of drama, debating
• Be creative about recording –
scribes, tapes, computers
• Help children with text - a
pointer, a chance to read
beforehand
• Teach handwriting in small
groups
• Allow memory aids E.g frames,
multiplication tables
Working times tables out using fingers
Always make sure your palms are facing you.
Your thumbs are six, your index fingers seven etc.
If you want to work out for example 7X8, join one index
finger to the opposite middle finger.
Underneath the joined fingers you will have three
loose fingers on one side and two on the other.
Multiply these two numbers (6).
Each finger that is joined plus each finger above it is
worth 10. Therefore in this case you will have 50.
Add this to the 6 you have already made and you
have 56.
Dyslexia Friendly Classroom
• Help to do systematic jobs
– tidying a drawer, packing
a bag
• Use of a reading ruler
• Mind mapping
• Teach to scan, skim and
read from pictures
• Paired reading
• Allow dyslexic child to sit
near front
Paired Reading
• Child chooses a book they want to read
• Read at same time as the child, pointing at
the words
• Read over the errors
• Don’t make child sound out
• Allow time to look at pictures
• Back off slowly (e.g. allow child to read
initial sound alone, support when
necessary)
Dyslexia Friendly Classroom
• When reading and recording
keep movement and noise
down – distractibility factor
• Use of study buddy
• Bite size chunks of learning
• Use of colour
• Clear timetable
• Don’t ask to read aloud unless
child is comfortable
Marking Work
• Be sensitive to the child’s
difficulties and encourage for
effort – it can be exhausting for
some dyslexic children to produce
a piece of writing
• Don’t correct spellings unless it’s
a spelling test – mark to the
objective
• When marking spellings, don’t
mark spellings wrong for letter
reversals - soul destroying for
them. This can be addressed in
handwriting
Extra Intervention
• Most intervention is
discrete but some extra
intervention can be useful
at given time e.g.
• Toe by Toe
• Memory skills
In Conclusion
• Respect the dyslexic child as a
learner with intelligence and much
to offer
• If we work hard at this we should
reduce the need for many of these
learners to fall further behind
• “If they don’t learn the way we
teach, then teach the way they
learn.”
• If we are a dyslexia friendly school,
many more pupils will benefit