"What do teachers need to know about teaching math? Strategy over speed, and math thinking over rote memorization." - Stanford Professor Dr Jo Boaler Check out Jo's tips from her new article, Speed and Time Pressure Block Working Memory (below). "I was always deeply...
Academic Vocabulary are words that usually appear in higher educational settings or advanced texts rather than everyday conversational speech. Before the Common Core, most language arts programs had little emphasis on explicit teaching of academic words, but direct instruction is often very important for students with dyslexia because it contributes significantly to test performance and reading comprehension of complex texts. In addition, lack of mastery of complex vocabulary can hold students back from pursuing advanced degrees and success in academic vocabulary text-heavy STEM careers like science and engineering. Why Academic Vocabulary May Be Hard for Dyslexic Students to Learn There are several reasons why dyslexic students may have greater difficulty with academic vocabulary: – many academic words are long and hard to read – many academic words […]
![Helping Severe Dyslexia – Part 2 Word Learning and Vocabulary [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/severe-dyslexia-part-2.jpg)
In our previous post on Severe Dyslexia, we talked about 6 steps required to read: 1. Seeing 2. Visual Recognition of Words 3. Matching Letters and Words to Sounds – Phonemic Awareness 4. Matching Words to Word Meaning 5. Saying Words 6. Comprehending Text In that post, we talked about how different readers may have difficulty with the visual aspects of reading, whereas others have trouble with sound. Other areas where children or adults can have trouble are in the areas of learning and remembering word meaning, speech output, and finally reading comprehension in text form. It’s important to be able to target these areas because it helps prioritize needs and also could explain while more progress isn’t being made. One student may need intensive remediation in […]
![Executive Function: What Smart People Do Differently While Learning [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/woman-thinking-our-shutterstock.jpg)
When researchers compared high IQ and average test subjects in a learning paradigm, the results were surprising. In some areas high IQ individuals work less, as might be expected by the idea that higher IQ people have more efficient brains for learning tasks, but in other areas, high IQ brains were working harder. When were high IQ brains working harder? Not prior or during the task, it seems, but when feedback was given and individuals were learning from their mistakes. From Graham et al. : “the Average IQ group failed to produce as much activation during feedback evaluation as did the High IQ group. These group differences are inconsistent with the neural efficiency hypothesis and instead suggest that the High IQ individuals were engaged in […]
![[PREMIUM] The Auditory Friendly Classroom](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/auditory.jpg)
ENVIRONMENT – Reduce background noise as much as possible (carpeted, tennis balls on chair legs, closed doors) – Preferential seating for students – away from doors, windows, noisy heaters, overhead projectors, pencil sharpeners, noisy classmates – Allow students to wear musicians earplugs while doing quiet work. – FM Speaker or Headset FOR STUDENTS – Sit at the front of the room with a good view of the teacher. – Request a classroom note-taker and or ask whether you can record classes. – Many students don’t realize how much they may miss by ear alone. – Choose seats away from noise sources like open doors, noisy classmates, heaters, or overhead projectors. – Use an FM speaker or headset which is known to improve classroom learning […]
In our one of our Premium magazine issue, we wrote about the scientific basis of late blooming and why dyslexics students - and gifted dyslexic students in particular are likely to be this way. Shelley Wear, a long-time Dyslexic Advantage volunteer and teacher of...
![[PREMIUM] The Dyslexic Professor](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/shutterstock_601253699.jpg)
Nigel Lockett is a seasoned academic, Associate Dean, Head of the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship, co-author of a popular entrepreneurship college textbook, award-winning teacher, and serial entrepreneur who recently embraced his dyslexia and began blogging as “The Dyslexic Professor.” Listen to Nigel’s story below. In the video below, see how he introduced PhD Environmental Science students at his university to thinking more entrepreneurially. Often there can be a resistance among traditional scientists and academicians from thinking or acting entrepreneurially, but doing so could actually help the end goal of a healthy environment. Listen to some of the young scientists speak after attending this workshop – there’s no doubt in my mind that they are better equipped to communicate their ideas to non-scientists, to […]
From the Connecticut Longitudinal Study, up to 1 in 6 students are dyslexic, but only a minority of these students will be found in special education classrooms. What does this mean for regular classroom teachers? 1. Get Basic Facts about Dyslexia - Dyslexic students...
RTI or Response To Intervention is currently the dominant approach to reading instruction in public schools across the United States (over 70% of school districts), but in a just-released progress report funded by the Department of Education from the Institute of...
![Doing Math : Inchworms vs. Grasshoppers [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/maths-our-shutterstock-scaled.jpg)
‘If a child does not learn the way you teach then teach him the way he learns.’ Two American school teachers noticed that their students tended to prefer one of the two ways their teachers explained math. The inchworm style was part-to-whole, dutifully performing incremental step-by-step pencil work, following the solving of math problems more like a recipe than an intuitive leap. The grasshopper, on the other hand, was the big picture leaper, more likely to subtitute numbers (rounding up or down), use mental math strategies, working backwards from an example solved question. What strategy to most dyslexic students prefer? The answer seems to vary. In UK research (Chinn et al., 2001), dyslexic inchworms seemed to outnumber grasshoppers, but Miles and Miles (also in the […]
![What is Dyscalculia? – Fast Facts [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/shutterstock_172115972-math.jpg)
“There is nothing in the IDEA that would prohibit the use of the terms dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia in IDEA evaluation, eligibility determinations, or IEP documents.” – Michael Yudin, Department of Education “Dyscalculia is not assessed in our schools.” – school professional Fast Facts about Dyscalculia What Is Dyscalculia? Dyscalculia is usually defined as a difficulty with calculations or arithmetic skills that is not explained by low intelligence or inadequate schooling. How Common? 3-10% of people, 40% of dyslexics What Ages? Dyscalculia is lifelong, although many helpful strategies can improve math achievement. When adults with dyscalculia have calculator accommodations, they can perform at high levels in even mathematics-intense disciplines. From We Are Teachers How Do You Assess Dyscalculia? Typically dyscalculia is assessed by calculating the […]
![[PREMIUM] Tips for Listening in Foreign Language Classrooms](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/foregin2.jpg)
Although for some dyslexic students the listening component of foreign language classes is an area of strength, many have significant challenges that teachers should be aware of in order to have a successful year. MULTISENSORY AND EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION TO HELP WITH AUDITORY DISCRIMINATION Dyslexic students can have significant challenges in the auditory discrimination of quick sounds, making the accurate learning of new words especially difficult. Teach sounds in a multisensory way, using pictures and actions and also exaggerating tricky or quick sounds and clapping out syllables so no parts of words will be skipped. Some students may need to have explicit instruction in how certain sounds are generated. Working with a mirror and receiving feedback about correct mouth and tongue positions while saying certain words […]
