Dr Valerie Muter shows how it is possible to incorporate components of dyslexia teaching programmes in the context of classroom learning.
We know more about teaching children with dyslexia than any other learning disorder. This is because of the enormous amount of research over the last thirty to forty years into the teaching methods that work best for dyslexic children. Key findings from that research include that children with dyslexia need a systematic intervention programme which in the early stages teaches them three important skills that together enable them to crack the ‘reading code’, namely: a) phonological awareness—the awareness of, and ability to process and analyse, speech sound segments in spoken words, b) secure and automatised alphabet letter knowledge, and c) ability to decode—through a structured phonics programme embedded in the context of whole book reading. A second key finding is that reading rapidly and fluently is a challenge for most dyslexic children, who require lots of reading practice over long periods of time. And a third key finding is that older dyslexic children can improve their spelling by moving beyond spelling phonically to learning about larger word units (such as analogous rimes like f-ight, s-ight, m-ight and morpheme-based prefixes and suffixes) that are more reliably and consistently spelled.
These research findings can guide the classroom teacher and SENCo in deciding what interventions should be put in place to improve the dyslexic child’s learning. As part of an Individual Educational Plan (IEP), the child may well have access to pull-out one-to-one or group-based intervention programmes delivered by the SENCo or a specialist literacy teacher. Classroom teachers do of course have their hands full delivering the National Literacy Strategy to all their pupils, so they have limited capacity to devote extra time to the individual dyslexic child. However, with advice and support from the SENCo or from specialist assessors, it is possible to incorporate some of the components of intervention programmes into the classroom context. There have been scientific studies that have clearly demonstrated that trained and supported teaching assistants can successfully deliver specific interventions, as well as provide much needed opportunities for practice and reinforcement of key literacy skills. And there is no reason why teachers cannot also draw on the willingness and enthusiasm of classroom volunteers and many parents to work with individual children to support their progress in reading, writing and spelling.
Supporting Reading Skills
Training Phonological Skills
While some phonological awareness exercises may be incorporated into shared ‘on the carpet’ activities in reception and Year 1 classes, children who have dyslexia will almost certainly need a more individualised and structured phonological programme that is delivered one-to-one, and usually beyond the first two years at school. A phonological programme designed with classroom teachers, teaching assistants and even parents in mind is My Special Alphabet Book which I wrote with my colleague Dr Helen Likierman. It begins with teaching the child the alphabet letters and sounds in the context of a story. It then goes on to describe phonological awareness training exercises in some detail. An important point to bear in mind is that if phonological awareness training is to be conducted by teaching assistants, classroom volunteers or parents, it is important that they pronounce the speech sounds correctly; a good guide to correct pronunciation can be found on www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ksblMiliA8.
Teaching Phonic Decoding Skills
Systematic phonics is the recommended core teaching method for all children in the early stages of learning to read, though children with dyslexia are likely to require more intensive one-to-one or group-based decoding instruction than the typical learner. There are many phonic-based teaching programmes that work well for dyslexic children; Toe-by-Toe is thought to be especially teaching assistant- and even parent-friendly. Which phonic programme is chosen for the class in general and for dyslexic children in particular is to some degree a matter of teacher choice and preference, though an aid to selecting the programmes most suitable for children with literacy difficulties is Brook’s ‘What works best for children and young people with literacy difficulties? The effectiveness of intervention schemes’.
Increasing Reading Speed
Repeated reading intervention is an effective teaching technique to increase children’s reading speed which can be fairly easily employed by teaching assistants, classroom volunteers or parents at home. It is really an extension of reading practice but is conducted slightly differently. These are the steps to follow:
- Choose a reading passage of say half—to three-quarters of a page in length that is at the child’s reading level.
- Ask the child to read the passage out loud over and over until they achieve a faster speed.
- Time the child’s reading speed using a stop-watch or timer and record it on a chart or graph.
- When the graph or chart shows that the child is reading at a faster speed and with more fluency, move onto a different parallel passage to read over and over.
Some important points to bear in mind about repeated reading intervention:
- The sessions need to be kept short (no longer than 10 minutes), and conducted at least five times per week.
- The repeated reading sessions should continue over a period of at least 3-4 months before significant improvements in the child’s reading speed can be expected.
- Because this is a repetitive activity and for many children rather boring, it is very likely that a reward scheme (eg a star chart or variant of that) and occasional ‘breaks away’ from repeated reading will be needed.
Supporting Spelling Skills
Spelling is a long-term problem for most dyslexic children, even those who eventually learn to read reasonably well. The child’s learning of phonics will help them develop knowledge of spelling patterns—but only up to a point. There is now increasing emphasis on children learning larger units within words like analogies and morphemes which are more consistently spelled. While teaching larger units is incorporated to some degree within the National Literacy Strategy, most children with dyslexia will need their awareness and use of these to be integrated alongside phonics into a specific (individually tailored) spelling programme (though it is possible to practise and reinforce specific rimes and morphemes within the classroom context and through sent-home spelling lists). Below are some additional strategies that can be adopted in the classroom (and even at home).
Working on Key Word Spellings
The Oxford English Corpus lists the 100 most common words in the English language. These 100 words together make up 50% of all the words we read and write—all children need to know how to spell these correctly. Unfortunately, many of them are irregularly spelled so phonics isn’t of much help here. Dyslexic children find learning key words challenging and they make errors on the same words over and over again—even after they have encountered them multiple times during their reading and writing experiences. Yet again, teaching assistants, classroom volunteers and parents can be a valuable resource in practising key word spellings.
The 100 most common words are listed below. The first 12 make up one quarter of the words we read and write so these need to be learned first. The next 20 words make up one third of all the words we read and write so these should be learned next. And the remainder should be learned last of all.
The general consensus is that the best way to learn key word spellings is through Simultaneous Oral Spelling, SOS. Here are the steps:
- Show the child the written key word and ask them to remember it.
- Then cover it with your hand or a piece of paper and ask the child to write the word from memory—while saying the name (not the sound) of each letter as they write it, so ‘zed’ not ‘zzz’, ‘kay’ not ‘k’.
- Remove the covering and check if the word is written correctly.
- Repeat this process until the child has spelled the word correctly at least three times.
- Keep going back to these spellings from time to time to make sure that the child has remembered them.
Looking for Spelling Patterns
The Simultaneous Oral Spelling method can be used for any new word a child is learning to spell, including words from spelling lists that are employed in the classroom and which may be sent home from school. Spelling lists usually emphasise a particular pattern—for instance, words with ‘ight’ endings or words containing the grapheme ‘ee’. It is helpful to point out these spelling patterns to the child so that they can become aware of them and indeed look out for them when they see them in words they read or are asked to spell.
Learning Curricula Specific Spellings
When older children encounter subjects like geography, history or the sciences, they will be introduced to a special, often technical, vocabulary that is specific to that subject. So they see the same spellings over and over again in the curriculum books they are set—words like ‘temperature, electricity’ and so on. It is a good idea to make a list of these curricula-specific spellings for each subject so that the child has them to hand and becomes increasingly familiar with them. The Simultaneous Oral Spelling approach can be used to teach the words until they are overlearned.
Proof-reading for Spelling Errors
Many children with dyslexia will rush through a piece of written work, with the result that it is peppered with spelling errors. Often, however, with re-reading and checking, at least some of these spelling errors can be detected and corrected—so reducing the child’s spelling error rate (and helping them earn a better mark for their written effort). For older children in particular, it is important to encourage them to proofread their written work. One way to do this is to mark in the margin of each line of writing whether or not there are spelling (and perhaps also punctuation) errors, and how many of each there are. So for instance, writing 2 SPs and 1 P in the margin next to the line would indicate to the child that there are 2 spelling errors and 1 punctuation error in that line. This margin prompting draws the child’s attention to existing errors and the adult can then help them find and correct these. As the child becomes more proficient in this, adult assistance and the margin prompts can be gradually withdrawn.
Building a Personalised Spelling Dictionary
Poor spellers often find it helpful to build their own personalised spelling dictionary. To do this, they need either an exercise book divided into the 26 letters of the alphabet or a set of separate flash cards arranged alphabetically in a box. Each word the child is finding hard to learn to spell is written on a separate page or flashcard, along with a short and simple definition of its meaning (and maybe for younger children a cut-out picture or drawing which exemplifies the word and its meaning). The Simultaneous Oral Spelling method of teaching can be used to teach the spelling of the word. The words in the dictionary need to be revisited from time to time to ensure the child has not forgotten them.
Using Technology
Of course, realistically these days, most poor spellers draw on technology to help them spell words correctly. As children proceed through the latter stages of primary school and on into their secondary school years, they will use computers more and hand in their projects, essays and homework in word processed form. This means of course that they can make use of the spellcheck. Early on, many dyslexic children need guidance and support from teachers and parents to use the spellcheck correctly, but with practice it can prove an enormous technological aid, especially at secondary school.