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Dyslexia awareness goes on all year long. It HAS to. Last month I published a post with 12 books with dyslexic characters you can’t miss for Dyslexia Awareness Month. There was a huge response! So I started digging even deeper. I thought, “Emily, you have to do a second list.” So I did! Here, you will find:…
Raise a hand if you know someone with dyslexia. You should have your hand up by now. It’s Dyslexia Awareness Month and I am all about spreading awareness! If you love children’s books as much as I do, you know how important it is for kids to have books where they can identify with the…
A learning profile is a holistic summary of a student’s strengths and needs. To be truly valuable, a learning profile is going to be more than test scores and percentiles. A learning profile will include information directly from the student such as interests and passions. A learning profile may include information about a student’s disability,…
At some point in our work with students, we find a need to begin to teach our students to advocate for their own needs. This becomes increasingly important as students move into middle school and beyond. Teaching self-advocacy skills to someone with dyslexia involves empowering them with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to understand their…
Doodling, sketching, and visual note-taking are powerful learning tools that belong in the classroom! Putting pen or pencil to paper – whether doodling, sketching, or note-taking – while taking in audio information can be used as a mnemonic device. This process connects images with information and significantly increases our ability to remember what we’ve heard….
As students move on to more advanced concepts, certain spelling conventions don’t fit neatly into a clear-cut rule with a catchy turn of phrase. They are often particularly difficult for students to master. These concepts can also be challenging for teachers to explain clearly and concisely because of their complexity. In addition, unless someone has…
In part 1 of this series, we discussed modeling organization, as an organized Orton-Gillingham teacher, for our students both through our own organized space and in more explicit ways such as how to set up a dictation paper. Organization and executive functioning skills are frequent areas of difficulty for students with dyslexia. By implementing some…
Parenting is full of challenges. Some of these challenges, such as homework, or supporting challenged readers, frequently turn into battles. For kids with reading difficulties, battles over homework and reading logs can be a particular problem. Parents often seek out my tutoring services because of the very unpleasant dynamic that has emerged when they try…
When we talk about language or English Language Arts and dyslexia, we are most often referring to reading and writing. But truly, language encompasses more. When students learn a foreign language, reading, writing, speaking, and listening are the necessary skills. For young children developing their language skills, these are the same categories. In general, speaking…