[PREMIUM] DYSLEXIA AND MATH: Error Analysis

Some 60% of dyslexic students have problems with math (10% excel at math). Reasons for math difficulties include math facts retrieval, difficulty remembering formula and multi-stepped procedures, sequencing issues, symbol confusion, and difficulty with the language of math. These problems, in addition to timed tests and impossible-to-complete homework assignments, contribute to math anxiety and frustration. In a collaborative study from the University of Houstin, University of Texas, and Vanderbilt University (Raghubar et al., 2009), researchers looked at the different categories of math mistakes in 3rd and 4th grade children with or without math and reading disabilities. On the following page, look at the 4 types of math errors that they examined. Studies of this type are valuable because they also identify which types of errors are […]

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DYSLEXIA AND ALGEBRA: Algebra Tiles – MULTISENSORY [Premium]

With continually evolving Algebra 1 & 2 mandates, it is becoming increasingly important that dyslexic students master Algebra in order to pursue their dreams of certain careers and college degrees. Many dyslexic students are well-suited to the logic of Algebra, but they can easily get lost in following the multi-step procedures of algebraic problem solving if they don’t have a deeper knowledge of what they are actually doing with their steps. Simple algebraic problems can be introduced in the younger grades.   Most students prefer working with physical algebra tiles first, but there are resources like these Michigan Virtual School Virtual Algebra Tiles that can be accessed online for free.             If algebra is not being taught with manipulatives in […]

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Positive Math: Developing a Growth Mindset

Stanford professor Jo Boaler talks about the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ ways that math is taught. Flexible mathematical thinking and problem solving are good skills that many dyslexic students can do well at, but all too often, mathematics is taught with an over-emphasis on rote memorization, speed drills, and performance of repetitive procedures, which can be a weakness for students. Boaler and her students made the following motivational video to encourage students to think about math learning with a positive ‘growth’ mindset. Here is one example of how flexible algebraic thinking can be introduced using visual puzzles: MORE VISUAL MATH ACTIVITIES Jo’s How to Learn Math online course is free HERE. A Spanish version is also available. A new course from Jo / Stanford is $99 […]

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MATH: When Words Get In the Way [Premium]

  For dyslexic students, the language of math can confuse and obscure. Teachers, tutors, and parents should be aware that language could be interfering with math performance and not mathematics itself. From Dyslexia and Mathematics: Here is an example of a dyslexic student’s sharing of how she becomes confused by what a teacher is saying. The capital letters indicate words that required her to stop and think. Teacher: “We are going to TAKE 25 FROM 61. WRITE DOWN 61 first (I sometimes wrote the first figure I heard before the second one). WRITE DOWN 25 UNDERNEATH it. Put the 2 UNDER the 6 and the 5 UNDER the 1. Draw a line UNDERNEATH. Start at the bottom on the RIGHT. Take 5 AWAY FROM 1. […]

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Memory: Why Drill Can Kill – and What to Do Instead [Premium]

It would almost seem without question that repetition should be helpful for learning, but researchers have found that if  repetitions are too much and too long (longer than 10 seconds in one paradigm), further repetition caused poorer memory and word retrieval rather than better! From one of the papers below: “Both Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated a striking and clear violation of the memory benefits typically associated with repetition. Specifically, increasing the rehearsal time of a word did not yield a straightforward monotonic increase in performance on a later free association test; rather, it led to a nonmonotonic effect, with performance initially increasing, but then declining with longer repetition durations.” The reason for this effect is currently being studied, but the researchers speculated that the increased forgetting […]

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Math Strategies for Arithmetic – Number Flexibility [Premium]

“Everybody could rock through their multiplication tables and I could do my ones and my twos and my zeros and my tens, and that was about it.” – Jack Laws, naturalist I’ve been enjoying a book, Mathematical Mindsets written by Stanford Professor Jo Boaler. It’s great stuff. She’ll help a lot of dyslexic students if they adopt her approaches to teaching math. The first concept is deceptively simple, but resonates with me after seeing over a decade of dyslexic students work math problems in our clinic. There is a high degree of overlap between dyscalculia and dyslexia although there is also a significant number of dyslexics who are solid or even outstanding mathematicians. The weak ones almost invariably struggle with basic math facts and require […]

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[Premium] Math Journal Club: Strategic Instruction for Fractions

This past week, researchers published an interesting study that suggested that students should receive explicit instructions about why certain approaches are chosen for certain types of math programs. As it turns out, studies of  strategic math instruction seems to especially benefit students with “learning disabilities.” This approach should be valuable to students with dyslexia because rather than having to memorize multiple steps of math problem solving, they learn to recognize the different categories of problems that are presented giving them the opportunity to choose the approach that is best for them. Rather than presenting with a large quantity of math problems that they are left to solve on their own, students are first divided into groups depending on how they initially choose to solve a problem. Rather […]

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Understanding Processing Speed and Dyslexia [Premium]

When families come together to discuss test scores, no group of scores surprises them as much as “Processing Speed.” Processing Speed scores on psychometric exams might mean Coding and Symbol Search scores on the WISC intelligence exams or Visual Matching and Paired Cancellation on the Woodcock Johnson. Processing Speed scores on these subtests are typically lower for dyslexic students, but on other tasks like Decision Making and in real life, these students may be quite quick and even quicker than their peers at various tasks such as insight-based problem solving or situational awareness (helpful for athletics, for instance). Understanding the true significance of Processing Speed Difference in Dyslexia, then is important not only for recognizing when accommodations may be appropriate school, but also for identifying […]

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