Language Arts Archives

Dyslexia Journal Club – Spelling Strategies – What Does Research Say? [Premium]

by Fernette Eide | Jul 18, 2016 | Language Arts, Premium, Premium Content, Spelling, Strategies, Teachers, Writing

In a recent paper from Montreal, research tested dyslexic students ages 9-11 to see which spelling strategies were more effective. The most common strategy children use to spell is phonological, whether they are or aren’t dyslexic. The other common strategies children use for spelling are visuol-orthographic, analogy, and backup. The phonological strategy used phoneme-grapheme correspondence. Analogy was based on the use of known words to spell that share orthographic similarities . Visuo-orthographic strategy involved visual and specific properties of words. A backup strategy was defined as using a personal mnemonic device for one specific word. In this research study, students were tested in tests that included spelling to dictation, and written narrative (summary) after being read a story. Spelling words were classified on the basis […]

Bookmark

Please login to bookmark

Please login to access.

To access this post, you must be a Premium subscriber. log in

Bookmark

Please login to bookmark

Please login to access.

Are Standardized Tests Making Kids Anxious? [Premium]

by Fernette Eide | May 23, 2016 | Accommodations, Advocacy, Assessment, Language Arts, Premium, Premium Content, Testing

Florida Department of Education just released results of their Florida Standards Assessment or FSA Test. 46% of all of the public school children who took the test were below standard and 20% are at risk for being held back in the 3rd grade. What are these tests that can force 3rd graders to repeat a year? A sample 3rd grade reading passage (with questions and answers) is provided by the Department. The passage was clearly developmentally appropriate for 3rd graders – and ridiculous for dyslexic 3rd graders who are likely to make up 15% of every classroom. But don’t take just our word for it. When we put the 3rd grade FSA practice reading passage through a readability tool, What was the passage appropriate for? […]

Bookmark

Please login to bookmark

Please login to access.

To access this post, you must be a Premium subscriber. log in

Bookmark

Please login to bookmark

Please login to access.

Why Students Hate to Write – A High School Teacher’s Reflections [Premium]

by Fernette Eide | May 11, 2016 | Dysgraphia, Language Arts, Premium, Premium Content, Teachers, Writing

“When students say that they do not like to write I ask them why. They typically respond with, “Because I hate it” … after incidents like this I cannot help but sit back and ask myself why I think they do not like to write…” One young teacher of high school students put her own assumptions to the test and her teaching has changed forever. Students with dyslexia often hate to write because there is such a huge gulf between the ideas in their heads and what they can get down on paper. At a recent talk to some student teachers, I asked the room what they thought they could do for a high school student who was very slow and having trouble getting their […]

Bookmark

Please login to bookmark

Please login to access.

To access this post, you must be a Premium subscriber. log in

Bookmark

Please login to bookmark

Please login to access.

Dyslexia in the General Classroom – YOU DECIDE : 2nd Grader and Reading [Premium]

by Fernette Eide | May 6, 2016 | Accommodations, Education, Language Arts, Premium, Premium Content, Reading, Teachers

YOU are a 2nd-grade teacher in a busy public school classroom. You just learned that Teddy, a student in your class has been tested and found to be dyslexic. Teddy already gets pull-out instruction with multisensory learning to help him read. What can you do to help Teddy make more progress in reading? ************ 1. Alliteration, Rhyming, and Singing – All students can benefit by alliteration and rhyming. New readers will find the books easier to read and reinforcing in terms of the patterns of sounds and printed word families, but good readers can also use alliteration and rhyming as a prompt for poetry and humorous writing. Here is a nice graphic organizer for alliteration: (click here for more). This teacher created alliteration spinners to […]

Bookmark

Please login to bookmark

Please login to access.

To access this post, you must be a Premium subscriber. log in

Bookmark

Please login to bookmark

Please login to access.

This is Your Brain on Words [Premium]

by Fernette Eide | Apr 28, 2016 | Being Dyslexic, Brain, Language Arts, Premium, Premium Content, Research

In breaking research from UC Berkeley, researchers have found a complicated filing system when it comes to how we process words that we hear. While listening to stories, individual words triggered tiny activation explosions all over the brain associated with word associations – “Words were grouped under various headings: visual, tactile, numeric, locational, abstract, temporal, professional, violent, communal, mental, emotional and social.” So a well-working human brain responding to stories functions more like a wall filled with stickie notes rather than a linear filing cabinet? Which sounds more like the dyslexic way of wiring? Check out the video explanation below. The finding certainly points out the fallacy of viewing language in simple right-brain-left brain terms, but it does support the complexity of language and the right-left […]

Bookmark

Please login to bookmark

Please login to access.

To access this post, you must be a Premium subscriber. log in

Bookmark

Please login to bookmark

Please login to access.

Shakespeare and Dyslexia – Making Words Physical [Premium]

by Fernette Eide | Apr 23, 2016 | Being Dyslexic, creativity, D Strengths, I Strengths, Language Arts, Literature, M Strengths, MIND strengths, N Strengths, Premium, Premium Content, Teachers

Today is National Shakespeare Day, and dyslexia and Shakespeare have been on our minds. We recently mentioned that Lloyd Everitt (yes, he’s dyslexic) is the youngest actor to play Othello at Shakespeare’s own Globe Theater. But we’ve also been thinking about Shakespeare recently because, on our trip down to California, we had the pleasure of stopping by the Oregon Shakespeare Company’s Rebecca Carey, the head of Voice and Text. Rebecca has an accomplished career that includes acting herself as well as teaching and consultant roles with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Oxford School of Drama, Broadway, and American Repertory Theatre. Rebecca is also co-author (with her husband, David Carey) of The Shakespeare Workbook and Video, a brilliant practical course for actors that includes such topics […]