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You will find most teachers of children with dyslexia are not fans of the weekly spelling test. Words arranged by theme or covering multiple spelling patterns is a recipe for failure for many of our students. Other students may manage to learn the words for the Friday spelling test, but not be able to spell…
October is Dyslexia Awareness Month. Dyslexia Awareness Month has two big goals: Dyslexia Awareness Month is a great time for people with dyslexia to learn more about their learning difference(s). It is also an opportune time for their family members, friends, and classmates to learn more about dyslexia. (This post contains affiliate links.) What better…
New sneakers, new lunchboxes, freshly sharpened pencils, and a fresh start are symbols of the beginning of a new school year. A new year also means new teachers and often some new challenges for your students with dyslexia. When a child has dyslexia, we have a particularly important role in their education. We become an…
At some point in their learning, you may hear one or more of your students shake their heads and ask, “Why is English so difficult?” or “Who made up this crazy language anyway?” Or perhaps you have found yourself having the same thoughts as you try to help struggling readers and writers understand the complex…
For many years, those of us who work with striving readers and writers have known that certain strategies or techniques, like repeated practice, are effective, but we haven’t really been able to tell WHY. We’ve known that students with dyslexia often have a pattern of areas of weakness in their psychological testing. We have theories…
As dyslexia teachers or parents, you understand the struggle many children have surrounding reading. The struggles surrounding writing problems may or may not build on reading difficulties. However, if your students do have trouble reading, they will also have trouble writing. After reading the book, Handwriting Brain Body Disconnect by Cheri Dotterer, I realized how limited my past understanding…
Decodable text is written in such a way that it contains very few if any unknown concepts. It uses known syllable patterns, phonemes, and learned words. The complexity of decodable text changes as your students learn new concepts. A decodable sentence for a student working on CVC words with short a is going to look…
What are nonsense words? Nonsense words are words that follow the patterns and rules of English, but are not actual words. Just like real words, nonsense words must contain a vowel, use real vowel patterns or consonant blends. For example, crob could be a nonsense word, but xzyml could not. By using the sounds of…
I still get a bit of the thrill of anticipation that I did as a child looking forward to summer vacation. However, this break from the routine of school doesn’t have to mean a break from learning. And, summer learning doesn’t have to mean a break from the fun. There are lots of ways to…