Georgia Senate to study dyslexia

Posted on August 12, 2018 | Leave a comment

With one in five Georgia students affected by dyslexia—a higher percentage than any other learning disability—the state of Georgia has created a Senate Study Committee on Dyslexia.  The purpose of the Study Committee is to study and publicize the  impact of dyslexia on Georgia residents, and to recommend  appropriate action or legislation.

Two students taking reading tests on portable NEO computers.

That committee will have its first meeting on Friday, August 17 and will end its meetings by December 1.  The purpose of the first meeting is to gain information about what the Georgia Department of Education is already doing to help students with dyslexia and their teachers.  Later meetings will gather information about how state agencies are affected by people with this learning disability.  Experts from across the country are expected to testify at later meetings.  Members of the public are also welcome to speak to the committee.

Addressing the committee at its first meeting will be Dr. Leslie Stuart, a psychologist, who will speak on “identifying and clarifying the definition of dyslexia”; Dr. Caitlyn Dooley, a deputy superintendent from the Georgia DOE, who will speak on “dyslexia identification and services in Georgia”; and Dr. Jennifer Lindstrom of UGA, who will speak on the causes and treatment of dyslexia,” including teacher training.

Chairing the committee is Sen. Fran Millar.  Also appointed to the committee  are Sen. Matt Brass, Sen .Gloria Butler,  Dr. Leslie Stuart (a clinical psychologist), and Dr. Garry McGiboney (from the Georgia Department of Education).

According to Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, “Evidence shows if we can identify and address dyslexia at an early age – before students reach the 3rd grade – we can significantly improve reading comprehension and overall academic outcomes. Unfortunately, on average, only 1 in 10 dyslexic students are identified by standard screenings.”

According to Donna Nealy, Sen. Millar’s assistant, Kentucky has put into effect a new law relating to dyslexia this summer.  Georgia is studying Kentucky’s law, perhaps the most comprehensive in the nation, in hopes of learning from Kentucky’s effort.  (More about Kentucky’s new law in the next blog.)

If you are not able to attend, but would like to listen to the committee meeting as it happens, go to the following livestream at the time of the meeting:  https://livestream.com/accounts/25225500/events/8321724.

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Posted in dyslexia, early childhood education

The challenges of teaching an autistic child to read

Posted on August 5, 2018 | Leave a comment

One of my students is a primary grades student with autism.  She speaks in single words, much like a toddler.  Sitting still for her is hard , so she eats an apple or some Cheerios while we work.  But that diverts her attention.

Through previous years of schooling, she has learned her letter sounds and many CVC words.  After working with her on how to pronounce blends with CVC words and observing her for many lessons, I have concluded that my phonics work may be in vain.  She seems to have memorized all the words she recognizes.

So now I am bringing flash cards with pictures of items and their names on one side, and just the names on the other side.  I am attempting to increase her reading vocabulary using a few sight words during each lesson, a method which I know is less effective than phonics.

Working with her is discouraging because she cannot tell me what works and what doesn’t.  I must observe her behavior, and based on my findings, figure out how to proceed.

Although I have taught several children with autism who are less impaired than this student, I have not taken courses in this field of special education.  On my own I have researched how to teach reading to a child with autism.  I have found that

  • Some children with autism cannot learn to read using phonics, but some can.
  • Teaching nouns is easier than teaching any other part of speech.
  • If you are teaching action verbs, it helps if you “perform” the verb—jumping, waving, singing.
  • Reading factual information—nonfiction—works much better than reading fiction.
  • Reading about a child’s interests helps motivate a child for a reading lesson.
  • Forget inferences. A child with autism cannot pick up subtle clues.
  • Expect no questions.

With my young student, I have made some inroads.  She accepts me as a teacher, as someone who interacts with her weekly.  She enjoys reading words she knows and receiving compliments and high-fives from me.  She willingly starts each lesson though she says “all done” many times throughout.  She scatters my materials with a brush of her arm less frequently now.  She no longer screams during our lessons.

But have I taught her any reading?  I honestly don’t know.

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Posted in asking questions, autism, CVC words, fiction reading, inferences, methods of teaching reading, nonfiction reading, reading strategies, sight words

Is learning to read a right in the US?

Posted on July 28, 2018 | Leave a comment

Nothing in the US Constitution talks about a right to read.  A right to speak, a right to worship, a right not to be locked up and forgotten, but no right to read.  So, by default, a right to read—if it exists—must be the responsibility of the states to protect.

If so, then why these?

–Parents, teachers and students filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court in December claiming students in three California schools are not learning how to read.  The lawsuit said literacy experts hired by the state had reported a “critical need” for better teaching in certain schools and among certain student groups.  But the state, said the lawsuit, had ignored the experts and failed those students.

This lawsuit claims to be the first to say students have a constitutional right to literacy.

In one of those schools, La Salle Elementary, 171 out of 179 students were not proficient in reading, meaning 96% of the students failed to meet minimum reading requirements set by the state.  At another school, Van Buren, 94% of students were not proficient in reading.  At another school, Children of Promise, 89% of students were not proficient in reading.

–Then, less than a month ago, a federal judge in Michigan dismissed a class action lawsuit brought by students in Detroit.  The students’ lawsuit claimed they have been denied “access to literacy” because of underfunding by the state, mismanagement of their schools by the state and school district, and discrimination.  The students said their schools were overcrowded, lacked teachers, books, pencils and paper, and were not heated properly in winter nor cooled in hot months.  All this has led to terrible test scores, including in reading.

The judge, in dismissing this lawsuit, said that “access to literacy,” or as he defined it, “a minimally adequate education,” is not a fundamental right of Americans.  The judge said giving students the right to read was “of incalculable importance,” and state officials are partly responsible for that.

“But those points do not necessarily make access to literacy a fundamental right,” the judge said.

So is learning to read a right in the US?  Guess not.  Our Constitution guarantees a right to an attorney to the lowest scum arrested by the police. Think Al Capone.  Think Ted Bundy.  Think Charles Manson.  But our Constitution does not guarantee a reading teacher to a first grader.

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Posted in a right to learn to read

Books on Bikes blocks summer slide

Posted on July 22, 2018 | Leave a comment

The Summer Slide—the slide back in achievement when kids take the summer off from reading—has plenty of research to back it up.  What can adults do to overcome the slide?

In Charlottesville, VA, several librarians and teachers bring books to children.  Using specially outfitted bicycles, the librarians and teachers peddle around neighborhoods, ringing bells on their bikes and calling out to children for free books and popsicles.  When the children run out, the adults offer children time to browse through the offerings and sometimes read to the children before moving on to another street.

Begun in 2011, Books on Bikes is reaching hundreds of students every summer.  The program started out small, with librarians pulling a little red wagon full of books.  But through fundraising and volunteer help, Books on Bikes now includes six cargo bikes (worth about $1300 each), specially constructed book cases that fit over the back wheels, and a dedicated team of peddling librarians and teachers.

The program has a two-fold mission:  to get books into the hands of children and to create friendly relationships between the libraries, schools and the Charlottesville community.  Books on Bikes raises funds through grants, business contributions and jars on the countertops of local businesses.

Books on Bikes posts its itinerary online so parents know when to expect the team of book-carrying bikers to arrive in their neighborhood.  Biking hours are from 5:30 to 7 so that children in summer camps during the day are home when the librarians and teachers bike nearby.

The team includes four librarians (Mary Craig and Rebecca Flowers—the founders of the program—and Sarah Fitzhenry and Katie Plunkett) and two teachers (Kellie Keyser and Stacy Diaz).  Now it also includes three therapy dogs.

For more information on the Charlottesville program, or to find out how to start your own Books on Bikes program, go to http://www.booksonbikescville.org/.

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Posted in books on bikes, summer slide

Take a book. Leave a book.

Posted on July 15, 2018 | 1 comment

Are you trying to encourage a child to read more this summer in order to avoid the “summer slide”?  Here’s a suggestion I learned about while driving around Orlando a few weeks ago.

This Little Free Library is located in Arlington, VA.

I saw what looked like a bird house on someone’s front lawn near the sidewalk.  “That’s too low to be a safe house for a bird,” I thought, so I investigated.  The structure, made of wood with a glass front which opened and closed, contained about a dozen books.

It was a lending library on a private citizen’s lawn.

Perhaps you have a Little Free Library in your neighborhood too?  They were started in 2009 by Todd Bol who constructed a single box, but the idea has spread across the US, Canada, and Mexico to 70 other countries.  There are close to 100,000 registered Little Free Libraries, part of a nonprofit organization started by Bol.

This Little Free Library is located in Peachtree Corners, GA.

The idea is that anyone is free to take a book or leave a book from the Little Free Library.  Usually the family who establishes the Little Free Library takes care of it.

If you want to start a Little Free Library of your own, you can order your own library box fully made.  Or you can order construction plans to create your own.  Or if you have a flair for building, you can create your own.  Pictures I’ve seen include light house inspired boxes, phone booth inspired boxes, and simple wooden crates.

Some people add personal touches to their Little Free Libraries such as benches, a guest book (as simple as a spiral notebook), a handle to which you can attach your dog’s leach while you browse, bookmarks, pencils, crayons and solar lights.  But all that is really necessary is a weather-protected box and some books.

What kinds of books?  Whatever you think your neighbors will enjoy.  Picture books, graphic novels, biographies, decorating magazines, sci fi, thrillers—any kind which you think your neighbors will appreciate.

The Little Free Library has its own website with an interactive map that makes it possible for you to find a Little Free Library near your home.  When I checked, I found two within two miles of where I live in Georgia.

For more information, go to https://littlefreelibrary.org.

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Posted in Little Free Library, summer slide

Which comes first—reading or writing?

Posted on July 8, 2018 | Leave a comment

For many little kids, writing comes first.  Not writing words but writing pictures to tell stories.

I was with a four-year-old recently, and listened as he explained his drawing on a white board in his house.  On the left were three smiling stick figures—a tall one who was waving, a medium-sized one with long hair, and a short one.  “That’s my dad, that’s my mom, and that’s me,” he said.

Next was what looked like a rocket ship in motion.  “We are flying,” he explained.

Farther along in the drawing was a circular object.  “That’s the moon,” he said.

“Are you going to the moon?” I asked.

“No!” he said, rather disgusted with my reasoning.  “We are going to Brazil.”

At the far right of the white board were the long-haired stick figure and the short stick figure, almost falling off the edge of the white board.  “Now me and Mom are in Brazil.”

This story’s ideas came from the child’s head—he will be traveling to Brazil soon with his mother—but also from the many books his parents have read to him (and the many cartoons he has watched).  From those sources he has unconsciously learned that stories are written in English from left to right; that they have a beginning, middle and end; that they are told in chronological order; and that they contain characters who do something.

This child can write his name.  He knows the alphabet in English and in Portuguese.  He can read some sight words in English.  But he cannot write a story in words.

Yet he can write a story in pictures, incorporating many of the fundamental aspects of story-telling.

So which comes first—reading or writing?

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Posted in fiction reading, literacy, reading-writing connection

Is copying words the best way to learn spelling?

Posted on July 1, 2018 | 2 comments

A typical elementary grade spelling homework assignment goes like this:

  • Monday night: Copy each word correctly five times.
  • Tuesday night: Arrange the words in alphabetical order.
  • Wednesday night: Write each word in a sentence.
  • Thursday night: Take a practice spelling test.
  • Friday day: Take a spelling test in school.

Child Browsing the Web

The theory behind these homework assignments is that the more children write words, the more likely they remember the word’s spelling.  But will they?

According to Marie Ripple*, author of a book on how to teach spelling, here are some things to consider if you hope this type of writing and rewriting of spelling words will help a child to learn to spell.

  • Copying is a visual process. See the word, write the word the same way.  But with so many young children being primarily kinesthetic learners, copying is a method of learning which does not tap into many children’s natural way of learning.
  • Copying is a memory process. Research has shown that in learning to read, memorizing words is a far less effective method than using phonics.  Reading and spelling are closely related.  So using phonics to show how letter sounds are combined to make certain sounds is a better way for most kids to learn spelling.
  • Copying can be an “automatic pilot” situation for children. They write words over and over while thinking about something else.  When they are done, they have retained little.

Instead of copying, Ripple recommends a variety of approaches to teaching kids spelling.

  • Combine visual, auditory and kinesthetic processes when you teach spelling. Don’t rely on one sensory process.
  • Use the Orton-Gillingham approach, used to treat dyslexia.  It explains why words are spelled the way they are and how certain letter pairings lead to certain sounds.
  • Teach a child based on what he or she already knows, ignoring what grade the child is in.
  • Teach the logic of English spelling. According to Ripple, 97% of English words follow predictable spelling patterns which can be learned.
  • Customize teaching spelling to a particular child based on that child’s preferred learning style and speed. Some kids need little review; some need constant review.

*For more information of Ripple’s book, go to http://info.allaboutlearningpress.com/6-ways-spelling-easy-thank-you?submissionGuid=18c9c079-27d3-4d1e-8965-917681da5d93

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Posted in dyslexia, methods of teaching spelling, phonics, reading research, Spelling, teaching tips

Discussing a story from different perspectives

Posted on June 25, 2018 | Leave a comment

Little children need to learn that there is usually more than one way to view a situation.  This includes viewing a reading passage from different perspectives.  How can you teach children to look at situations from various perspectives?

One way is by creating “hats,” one for each important character in a story.

Suppose, for example, you have read kindergarteners the story of Cinderella.  You could separate students into groups of four, and give each student a crown-like band to wear on top of the head.  The bands could be made from construction paper in four different colors.  The pink band could go on “Cinderella’s” head; the gold band on the “fairy godmother’s” head; the black band on the “stepmother’s” head; and the blue band on the “prince’s” head.

Ahead of time you have prepared a set of questions to ask, such as

  • At the beginning of the story, is this person happy or not happy? Why?
  • Why is the ball important to this person?
  • How does this person help or stop Cinderella from going to the ball?
  • At the end of the story is this person happy or not happy? Why?

By calling on some students wearing different hats for each question, students will learn that not all the characters think the same way about the events in the Cinderella story.

This same “hat” strategy can be used to discuss unrelated topics such as precipitation (rain, hail, snow); phases of the moon (full moon, half moon, quarter moon, new moon); and community jobs (police officer, fire fighter, teacher, grocery store owner).  By reading first about precipitation or the moon or community workers, children have a basic understanding.  Creating questions which force students to think about the ideas from various perspectives encourages young students to learn there are many different ways to understand the same circumstances.

I have spoken to many adults who say that as children, learning that not everyone did things the same way as their family did things came as a surprise.  And that not everyone thought the same way as their parents came as an even bigger surprise.

The “hats” strategy can be used not only to better understand literature, but also to understand the world around young children.

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Posted in alternate perspectives, asking questions

Behavioral signs that your student might be having trouble reading, writing

Posted on June 17, 2018 | Leave a comment

Students are really good at hiding or masking reading and writing problems.  If your student shows any of these signs, take another look at his or her cognitive skills.

Slurring over long words.  Some kids stop phonics instruction before they get to dividing words into syllables or deconstructing prefixes and suffixes.  When they see a long word, they say a word which begins the same way and slur the rest, hoping you won’t hear.  If you ask them to repeat the slurred word, they can’t read it.

Speaking softly.  Kids think, “If my teacher can’t hear it, then she can’t tell me it’s wrong.”  So they read or speak to you in a whisper.  Confident readers or speakers speak as loudly as you do.

Rarely asking questions.  If a student reads but doesn’t understand what he’s reading, it’s hard for him to ask a question.  But students who do understand often want more information.  Beware of silent students.

Talking off-topic.  Some students who are socially adept will precede a lesson with small talk, or interrupt to ask about your family or haircut.  They are stalling because they find the work hard.

Going last.  If a student routinely wants to go last, it can be because she is hoping against hope that there won’t be time for her complete lesson.  These students are reluctant because they are unprepared or don’t understand what is being taught.

Needing to use the rest room during the lesson.  Good students rarely need to be excused for part of the lesson, but poor students routinely do.  They say they need to use the rest room or to get a drink of water, taking more time than seems reasonable.

Checking the time.  Some students check their watches or phones every few minutes.  That’s not because they want the lesson to last.  They know to the second when the lesson should end and remind you when that time comes.

Coming to a lesson without workbooks, texts or homework.  “Oh, let me get it,” they will say, cheerfully, heading to their bedroom or locker and wasting three or four minutes.

What can you, the parent or teacher do?  We’ll discuss that in our next blog.

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Posted in asking questions, phonics, reading comprehension, slurring words read aloud

How to solve some behavioral problems masking trouble reading, writing

Posted on June 10, 2018 | Leave a comment

Hiding unpreparedness or lack of knowledge can become an art form for some students.  In the last blog we spoke of some of the ways students do this.  Now we will talk about how you can overcome these strategies.

You diagnose the reading problems.

Slurring over long words.  Assume the student needs advanced phonics instruction.  Work on dividing words into syllables and how to pronounce those words.  Work on prefixes and suffixes by separating root words.  Then discuss what each prefix and suffix means.  Put them back together again.  After four or five such lessons, ask the student to read a new passage and see if he still stumbles.  Ask about particular words which might be hard to pronounce or understand.

Speaking softly.  Ask other teachers if the student speaks softly in their classes.  If it is just in your class, there is probably no speech impediment.  Make sure there are no distracting noises.  If there are, move to a quieter spot to work.  Insist that the student face you when she speaks, and that she reads or speaks slowly.  Have her repeat if you still can’t hear her.  If this leads to tears, offer a moment for the student to collect herself, but keep going.    You could always bring a microphone.  Or bring a tape recorder and replay the student’s voice on “loud.”  The student needs to know the stalling tactic won’t work.

Rarely asking questions.  Turn the tables.  You ask the questions which you think your student should be asking.  Wait patiently for the answers.

Talking off-topic.  Interrupt Mr. Congeniality and say you would love to chat about your weekend after class.  Check your watch each time your student goes off-topic and make sure the student know you are adding that time to the original start time.  Continue to add minutes if the student interrupts.

Going last.  Mix the order of students if there is more than one, so the student who prefers to go last goes first or second.  If this is not possible, arrange your teaching time so you will have more than enough time for the one who desires a short lesson.

Needing to use the rest room.  If possible, five minutes before the lesson begins, call the student who usually needs to use the rest room and instruct him to use it now because there will be no time during the lesson.  If that is not possible, tell the student at the beginning of the lessons that there will be no bathroom break, and stick to it.  If the student still insists, time the student and make the student aware that you are extending the lesson by that amount of time.

Checking the time.  Tell the student he may not check his phone or watch during the class period.  Instead, you tell him every ten minutes or so how much longer the class will last.  Make sure he knows the time exactly when you begin—you could show him your cell phone—and show him the time again when class ends.

Coming to a lesson without workbooks, texts or homework.  If possible, before the lesson begins, remind the student what materials will be needed and tell her to get them now.  If that is impossible, tell the student as she approaches for her lesson that she has exactly 30 seconds to get what she needs.  Start counting aloud from 30 backwards.  Then add 30 seconds to the end of the lesson.

Your hope is that the student will improve his or her behavior.  If they do, say  thank you.  If there is another parent or a homeroom teacher whom the student respects, make sure you also let that person know the student’s behavior has improved.  Always spread good news.

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Posted in asking questions, comprehension, phonics, pronunciation of words, slurring words read aloud, vocabulary