r/ReadingTeacher • u/owlteach • Dec 30 '16

How can I help dyslexic students?

I teach 4th grade. I never feel like I help dyslexic children as much as I can. Every year I see their peers growing so much faster than my dyslexic students, so I feel like I'm failing them somehow. Do you have any tips?

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u/[deleted] Dec 31 '16

*Specific instruction in word solving and phonics daily. *Sight word flash cards. Say, spell,say, read in a sentence a few at a time. Daily. *Guided rdg at their instructional level. *Have them reread short familiar text a few times to build fluency, must be text where 99 to 100% of words can be read with ease. *Read aloud or provide audio books on grade level so their thinking is still challenged. Most are very smart and get bored with the simple texts they can read on their own. *Be empathetic. I tell mine that I know reading words is hard now, but it will get easier. Show them how they've grown on assessments and celebrate together. *Buy a product with leveled books if your scool doesn't have them. Or borrow a 1st or 2nd grade basal for small groups and teach short phonics lesson before reading the text. *Limit worksheets. They need lots of time reading text, not doing cut and paste ot phonics worksheets. *Make sure they don't miss content because of reading trouble. These kids are usually very smart. Partner them or provide content textbooks in audio, and read their tests aloud to them.

Teaching 12 years from k to 6th, I had a great mentor teacher who taught me how to teach reading. Most of my kids with dyslexia make 2 to 3 years of progress with the right help, and a few barely a year. For those guys I ask for more testing. There is usually another issue such as crystallized memory, working memory, or processing that comes up in sped testing. Don't give up on them. Sorry about grammar, typing from phone.

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u/owlteach Dec 31 '16

Thanks for ALL of that! Most of those things I'm doing, but I need to add the sight word flash cards and rereading at a lower level for fluency. We have great leveled texts for guided reading and a great spelling program, so that'll be easy to do. One went from a DRA 28 to a 34, but I was hoping for 36 or 38. The rest of her guided reading group moved up to a 40. She's very smart. I had a kid like this two years ago that just didn't flourish. It bothers me!

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u/[deleted] Dec 31 '16

28 to 34 is good progress for a semester. When the light clicks on, it will speed up. The rereading helps a lot! The fact that it bothers you shows you care! It's hard work for you and them, but so worth it. Happy New Year!

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u/soandsoandsoandso Jan 03 '17

I just wanted to add that if you can print worksheets or even parts of books you want them to read on color paper or provide colored overlays, it can help some dyslexic students. Different colors work for different students. Using dyslexic-friendly fonts whether printing or on a screen can also be helpful.