The January newsletter contained the news that Cindy was returning to the classroom
for a semester. Knowing the class she would be teaching had three children identified
as dyslexic, Cindy was interested in using hands-on methods she frequently suggests
to teachers during professional development sessions. Teachers are perplexed about
how to best create classrooms that are friendly to dyslexic learners, yet challenging to
all learners. The opportunity to both help out a small school by filling a co-teaching
vacancy and test out her methods for the good of all students in the room was too
good to pass up. Field Report One tells you how Cindy's first weeks in the classroom
have gone.
Making Science Vocabulary Words Meaningful
The Science chapter on light included the words opaque, translucent, and transparent.
These are tough words for third graders to read, let alone grasp and apply the meaning
of. A worksheet activity invited students to list items from the classroom in each of the
light categories. Turning the worksheet into a countertop activity was simple, and
students found it more engaging than paper and pencil work.
Items were gathered from my home and put into the fancy “Mystery Bag.” A whole
group practice sort with an item or two per category clarified the oral directions and left
a “go by” item next to each of the three terms. Throughout the day students took turns
going to the bag and sorting out the items inside into categories, saying quietly,
“Opaque, translucent and transparent,” as they placed items by the tent card bearing
that word. A one-minute teacher check gave students an opportunity to verbalize why
they placed items where they did and allowed for corrective feedback where
necessary. A daily work grade for correct sorting replaced the original worksheet
grade.
Making some terms for lunar landforms more memorable for students was
accomplished by assigning a project. Students and their families were assigned four of
the landforms to build models of with salt clay and label with toothpick flags. A
grading rubric, sent home at the beginning of the project helped parents guide the
students’ efforts. The Science textbook provided definitions and descriptions, which
students brought to life with their models. Students reinforced the vocabulary as they
described to classmates the process by which they produced their landforms. The
project was equal to one test grade.
Studying the eye was fascinating to elementary students. Many new vocabulary words
populated the chapter, so another day-long station was set up for independent, hands-
on practice of both placing the correct term flag on the part of the eye chart to which it
corresponded and correctly ordering the structures through which light passes as it
enters the eye and travels to the optic nerve. Making this activity self-checking
allowed it to be easily reset by each student, requiring no teacher time once it was set
up and explained to the group.
Making Daily Classwork Manageable
In addition to these specific Science class tweaks, small changes have been
incorporated into the daily rhythm of the classroom.
When a dyslexic child has a lot of activity book writing to do, Cindy can quietly pull a
chair alongside the child and act as a scribe by writing what the child dictates for a bit.
This allows the child a break from writing while continuing to move classwork forward.
When reading still needs to be completed near the end of a big learning day, Cindy will
pull her rolling desk near the struggling students, and as they follow, she reads the text
aloud. This gives the students a break from decoding and allows their strong oral
comprehension to shine as they complete the last assignments of the day without
needing to take unfinished work home as homework.
Reminding students of the glossary and index in the back of their textbooks can make
finding vocabulary word definitions easier by narrowing the search down to one page.
Using tools already built into their textbooks is great for all students, but essential for
students with dyslexia.
Building multiplication fact helps with all the students and gives each of them their
personal set of practice tools, and can be tailored to whichever fact families are most
challenging for each student. Strings with wings were made last week, and fact
families are already stronger for all students, not just those with dyslexia.
Each student now has a drill ring for English, History and Science vocabulary cards.
Writing out the cards helps each student by thinking through the definition as it is
written. Ways to further utilize the drill ring need to be implemented in the classroom
during the next month.
So far, so good!
When embarking on this semester-long adventure, Cindy was taking an honest look at
the methods she had been suggesting to teachers. It was a goal to see if
implementing methods known to help dyslexic students would be beneficial and
engaging to all learners. The answer so far is a resounding yes! Check back next
month for specifics of small but indispensable classroom changes to help students
with dyslexia.
Comments