Teaching Strategies for Students with Dyslexia - Kimberly Hager

Post by Kimberly Hager  

Phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, spelling, phonics/decoding skills, and fluency are essential skills learned during the earliest years of instruction. These skills develop readers that are able to accurately comprehend text. For students with dyslexia, these building blocks are difficult to acquire because of the inability to correlate letter symbols to sound. Intense instruction and repeated practice are necessary for students with dyslexia (Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2020). Educators across the world must apply evidence-based strategies to the instruction of all students. Strategies vary across student populations to help reach specific needs so that academic goals can be achieved. Teaching students with dyslexia is no different. Specialized strategies and practices can help these students become successful readers and equip them with literacy skills used throughout life. I have included strategies for the areas of literacy instruction that are vital to helping students become readers. Within this post, you will find strategies to use for decoding, fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, phonological awareness, and phonemic awareness.

Strategy:Read-Aloud Technology(Košak-Babuder et al., 2019) 

Literacy Target:

decoding, fluency & comprehension

 

Purpose: The use of read aloud technology can help decrease the burden of decoding word by word, therefore resulting in better comprehension as thoughts can be directed to comprehension of a text. As students follow along with the read aloud they are able to practice decoding and high frequency words as the text is read aloud (Košak-Babuder et al., 2019). This strategy can be used individually or a small group.

 

Implementation Directions:

1. Introduce digital text within whole group, small group, and individually.

2. Guide student in the practice of using digital text during small group instruction and one-on-one instruction discussing the affordances it provides.

3. Demonstrate how to follow along to assist with decoding, high frequency word practice.

4. Discuss text comprehension with each lesson.

5. Plan and provide experiences with read aloud text to assist with fluency, decoding, and comprehension.

    

 Assessment: This strategy can be assessed informally and monitored during small group as the progression of decoding, recognition of high frequency words, and comprehension is observed. Progress can be used to set goals for further instruction.

 

Materials:Decoding skills and high frequency word recognition will grow due to correct modeling during independent reading experiences. Comprehension goals will be easier reached with less attention being focused on decoding and word call.

 

Expected Outcomes: increased decoding skills, recognition of high frequency words, and comprehension of text  

 

 

Strategy: Repeated Reading

(Young et al., 2018) 

 

Literacy Target:

fluency

 

Purpose: Students that demonstrate fluency while reading aloud are better overall readers that can accurately comprehend a text (Young et al., 2018). This strategy will provide repeated practice to improve fluency. Repeated reading works best one-on-one.

Implementation Directions:

1. At the beginning of a time period (Monday), have the student read the passage aloud while the teacher completes a running record. 

2. Follow that reading of the passage by rereading the passage with the student assisting with any difficult spots.

3. Provided repeated practice throughout the week. I do this one-on-one or with a partner. My lowest level readers read with me and those that are slightly higher read with a partner while I listen from a distance.

4. At the end of the time period (Friday), allow the students to once again read the passage while you complete a running record to observe changes in fluency from the first read.

    

   
   
   
   This is a book that I have used to implement this practice into my own classroom. It is available on Amazon for $9.29. 
    

   Assessment: Fluency can be assessed one-on-one using a running record to record success, mistakes, and to listen for appropriate speed and prosody.

   
   Running Record Video Example (2014) 
    
   Materials: short passages, songs, poems, leveled books 

Expected Outcomes: increased fluency speed and accuracy, increased motivation and comprehension  

 

Strategy: Essential Word Routine

(Texas Center for Learning Disabilities 2021)

 

Literacy Target: vocabulary

 

Purpose: When students struggle with word identification a large vocabulary can assist as students know more words it is easier to identify unknown words using context clues. Those with a wider vocabulary are proven to be stronger readers (Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2020). This strategy will help introduce new vocabulary words for students to use in conversation and reading. This is strategy is best done in small groups.

Implementation Directions for Essential Word Routine:

1. The teacher introduces new vocabulary with a definition, visual cue, example sentence and displays the word in a pocket chart.

2. Student engage in collaboration through a quick turn-and-talk activity.

3. Repeat as needed until words are mastered (Texas Center for Learning Disabilities 2021).

 

Assessment: Listening to students as they turn and talk to a partner will provide an informal assessment that can be used to guide instruction with each new word.

 

Materials: pocket chart, visual cues for each vocabulary

 

Expected Outcomes: growth of usable vocabulary knowledge and comprehension 

 

Strategy: Break Apart Word

(Johnson, 2021)

 

Literacy Target: Phonological Awareness

 

Purpose: The core of dyslexia is the deficit presented in phonological awareness therefore, instruction is necessary for this area of literacy development to help students with dyslexia learn to read (Cavalli et al., 2017). This strategy will provide practice with manipulation of word syllables for individual students or small groups.

 

Implementation Directions For Break Apart Word:

1. The teacher will model taking connected legos or unifix cubes apart when removing part of the word.

2. Say a word and ask the student to repeat the word.

3. The student will repeat the word and remove a block when removing part of the word (Johnson, 2021).

Example: Connect two legos. Say the word “bookshelf”. After the student repeats the word. Ask the student to say the word without “shelf” and remove a block to represent the missing part of the word.

 

Assessment: This strategy can be practiced during small group multiple times and then be used to assess deletion of a syllable one-on-one or through observation during small group.  

 

Materials: legos, list of multi-syllable words

 

Expected Outcomes: mastery of syllable deletion

 

 

Strategy: Change a Letter (Greene, 2021)

 

Literacy Target: Phonemic Awareness

 

Purpose: Phonemic awareness is one of the building blocks to help students become readers and is a necessary part of literacy instruction (Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2020). This strategy will provide practice with sound manipulation within words to create new words and can be implemented one-on-one or with a small group.

 

Implementation Directions for Change a Letter:

1. The teacher should model this process first.

2. Write a word on a dry-erase board or use letter tiles: fan

3. Read the word: “fan”

4. Change one letter as directed: pan

5. Say the new word: “pan”

6. Use gradual release of responsibility so that the teacher models, guides practice so that the student can do the activity independently (Greene, 2021).

Example Video (Greene, 2021)

   

Assessment: Change a sound can be assessed in small group through observation or one-on-one with the teacher.

 

Materials: letter tiles or a dry erase board and marker for each child in the small group

 

Expected Outcomes: mastery with changing a sound/ progressing from beginning to ending sound and then to middle sound substitution after guided practice with each sound   

 

 

 Bibliography