Dyslexia Friendly Classroom – Action Plan · 2019-03-20 · using abstract methods too soon. • Don’t overload themwith resources or visual cues – choose a small, select number

Dyslexia Friendly Classroom – Action PlanBefore you start, it is important to recognise that, although the dyslexic student may

have difficulties in many areas, there will be areas of strength.

Recognising and utilising these strengths is important to the student’s academic and

intellectual development.

These strengths are important to the self-esteem of the dyslexic student.

Adapted from documents in the Resources section of the Inclusion Development Programme (IDP) for Dyslexia, Speech, Language & Communication Needs 2008 (DfCFS)

Strengths to take into account and characteristics of

some dyslexic students which can positively affect

learning

Recognising these talents within the classroom

• Look for strengths

• Notice areas of interest

• Provide a wide variety of activities

• Talk with the students about what they like to do and how they like to

do it

• Ask parents about a student’s interests and talents

• Ask other teachers about the strengths they have noticed

Creativity

• A high degree of curiosity

• Ability to concentrate intensely and for a long period of

time on something they are interested in

• May have excellent spatial skills – the ability to

perceive and interact with three-dimensional space

• Can think abstractly.

Problem solving

• Ability to think ‘outside the box’

• To see other ways of approaching the problem

• To visualise a solution

• Ability to see patterns in seemingly unrelated data

Leadership

• Good social abilities

• Enthusiasm

• Willingness to take risks

• Willingness to work hard

• A strong sense of humour

• Empathy with others

• Good observational skills

Nurturing these talents within the classroom.

• Recognise them

• Provide opportunities for students to demonstrate their talents within

the classroom

• Utilise the talents within literacy and numeracy tasks – work to the

interests, e.g. football – write game reports, produce league tables,

train or bus timetable to get to away matches, etc.

• Provide opportunities to discover and create new interests and talentsVerbal skills

• May be good at communicating verbally

Dyslexia Friendly Classroom – Action Plan

Factors to take into account and characteristics may affect learning

Effect on learning in the classroom Students may have difficulty with the following.

Strategies to incorporate into classroom teaching

• Working memory (the

ability to hold and juggle

information in short-

term memory) – if

overloaded, information

may be lost

• May be inaccurate

representations in long-

term memory.

• Remembering and carrying out

instructions

• Remembering recently-learned

vocabulary and specialised

vocabulary

• Repeating multisyllabic words

• May know the answer but

cannot verbalise it

• Remembering facts, figures,

place-names, number bonds,

multiplication tables, important

dates, etc.

• Present new information in small chunks.

• Allow plenty of time for recall.

• Multi-sensory learning: show it, listen to it, look at it, hear it,

say it, write it.

• Support learning with visual cues.

• Provide Working Memory Strategies Training - train

children to be able to rehearse, visualise, chunk – See

Black Sheep Press resources.

• Use concrete resources as much as possible, even when

the child seems to have acquired a new process or

concept. This is particularly true of maths.

• Keep concrete resources in view and encourage use of

them (with more modelling if necessary) even when

children seem to have grasped a process – they can forget

too, without regular revision and should not be pushed into

using abstract methods too soon.

• Don’t overload them with resources or visual cues –

choose a small, select number that are effective

Memory

Share strategies with all staff in the classroom.

Tick what you use and highlight what you will try out.

Revisit this action plan whenever you need to – children’s needs may change over

time.




• Putting things in order:

alphabet, letter order in

words, word order in

sentences, etc

• Finding words in a dictionary.

• Ordering days of the week,

months, numerical data, etc.

• Seeing how separate facts and

information come together to form

the big picture.

• Holding information in their heads

and re-ordering it.

• Working out what to do first, next,

etc.

• Teach strategies to aid memory and sequencing, eg list the

information and cross it off as it is used.

• Have charts, lists of vocabulary, diagrams etc. on display in

the classroom.

• Allow for frequent practice using rhyme, rhythm, games,

songs etc.

• Use a multi-sensory approach that involves seeing,

listening and physically handling / moving items.(

movement and touching incorporates sensory information

into processing and encourages deeper processing)

• Use no more than 2-3 pictures if their working memory is

very poor. You can always sequence some for them on the

sheet, to cut down the memory load., eg: every other

picture, so that they have less to process.

Sequencing






• Slower to respond to

incoming information

(across the senses)

• Responding to information or

instructions.

• Understanding and responding

to a continuous flow of

information.

• Pulling back information from

long-term memory.

• Responding to questions.

• Working out what has to be

done and in which order.

• They may lose track of where

they are up to.

• Completing tasks, having first

had to think things through

rather than perform tasks in a

fluent, easy and unconscious

manner.

Allow extra time for processing: slow down presentation.

Use concrete resources for physical handling as much

as possible

Encourage children to tell you or show you what they

have to do – this aids deeper processing and memory.

Use short sentences containing one instruction at a time.

Support instructions with visual cues, such as symbols

from Communicate in Print, with actions where

appropriate or with real objects. Movement helps

processing and reasoning. It also aids retention of key

concepts and processes.

Use ‘Now and Next’ task board to record immediate

tasks. The child can mark off on the board when a task

has been completed.

Use ‘another child as a ‘study buddy’ to help the child

keep on track.

Allow extra time for the child to process instructions – 15

seconds processing time before they give an answer.

Allow extra time for the completion of tasks set.

Pre-teach topic vocabulary and provide a ‘table mat’ or

key ring with key information, topic words etc for easy

reference.

Give child a copy of instructions that are on the board.

Use highlighter pens, different colours for each row.

‘Talking tin lids’ / ‘talking postcards, iPads or tablets can

also be used to record information for the child to use

and refer back to.

Speed of information processing





• Poor ability to

discriminate /

differentiate between

words / similar shaped

letters

• Differentiating between similar-

looking words.

• Problems with correct

punctuation.

• Visual cue cards – on place mats on table or as key rings

for individuals.

• Make differences explicit: use Play Dough / plasticine etc

for modelling as well as concrete resources in maths –

visualisation and handling will help.

• Use a feely bag and model an activity where the child has

to discriminate between two letters or symbols, with both

hands in the bag. Make sure you have a set of the same

items on view for reference.

• Be positive, even when child makes mistakes here: they

may be able to do it one day but not the next.

Auditory discrimination / perception

• Difficulty in perceiving

the difference between

similar sounds

• Difficulty identifying

sounds

• Pronunciation, even of words

encountered quite frequently.

• Recognising familiar words and

phrases.

• Confusion of similar-sounding

words.

• Reading, especially reading

aloud.

• Use a multi-sensory approach.

• Check if child is secure with Phase 1 Phonics. Use Ready

for Sounds assessment (BWD resource) and teach:

• if a child is in the Reception class: any where score

is 50% or below.

• From Year 1 onwards: any below 100%.

• Use the Ready for Sounds Follow Up pack to

teach each area needed.

• Don’t make child read out loud unless they volunteer.

Visual discrimination / perception





• Weak sound/symbol

correspondence

• Pronunciation, even of words

encountered quite frequently.

• Recognising familiar words and

phrases.

• Confusion of similar-sounding

words

• Use a multi-sensory approach.

• Check if child is secure with Phase 1 Phonics. Use Ready

for Sounds assessment (BWD resource) and teach:

• if a child is in the Reception class: any where score

is 50% or below.

• From Year 1 onwards: any below 100%.

• Use the Ready for Sounds Follow Up pack to

teach each area needed

• Don’t make child read out loud unless they volunteer.

Phonological processing





• Affected by weak

working memory and

thus lose meaning

• May be slow

• Reading without

expression

• Difficulty reading

aloud.

• Tracking difficulties

• Visual stress/text

seeming to move

about

• Coping with the amount of

reading required.

• Unable to decode words quickly.

• Remembering what has been

read.

• Selecting important areas to

read.

• Skimming and scanning for

information.

• Reading, especially reading

aloud.

• Difficulties with tracking text,

especially on Interactive

whiteboard

Limit how much child has to read – ensure child is working within

capabilities.

Provide support for reading – paired reading/ audio texts.

Provide good reading model – teacher to read aloud, so child hears good

model, including expression.

Provide visual cues to support reading.

Provide time where child hears text read aloud, then responds to the

content only, so that comprehension skills are not forgotten.

Use a multisensory reading intervention programme on a daily basis –such

as Dyslexikit ( lower to middle KS2 or Access Literacy(upper KS2 – KS3)

http://www.dyslexikit.co.uk/

Ensure that all staff working with the child know which strategies have

been taught in a phonics intervention group. They should be reinforcing

them in the classroom: children are very good at compartmentalising

learning!

Teach skimming and scanning using appropriate level of text and

highlighter pens, with children working in pairs. A good introduction is

through using word lists for spelling (familiar words only) that the children

can use to highlight all the words beginning with the same letter.

Try coloured overlays to see if they make a difference. Encourage child to

choose the colour which works best for them. Ask your SENCO who will be

able to help here. http://www.crossboweducation.com/ - the visual

stress assessment pack is extremely valuable for accurate

assessment here.

On interactive whiteboard: change the background to a pastel shade, to

reduce glare. Use double-line spacing and text in two shades of the same

colour to aid tracking.

Provide worksheets in a pastel shade or buff colour to reduce the glare.

Use dyslexia-friendly fonts, eg: Comic Sans – no serifs!

Think carefully about content of worksheets – too much information or too

cluttered can be inaccessible.

Reading

Use IT

Google Keyboard – free to download – easy to use for dictation

Claro Read https://www.claro-apps.com/

Clicker 7 & apps: https://www.cricksoft.com/uk/clicker/ipad

Read and Write: https://apps.texthelp.com/

Dragon Dictate –useful in the classroom

‘Anybook Recordable Pens’ are brill!…and cheap!!

Lexia reading programme: https://www.lexiauk.co.uk/

Reading Eggs - well thought by schools that use it

http://readingeggs.co.uk/

http://www.dyslexikit.co.uk/

http://www.crossboweducation.com/

https://www.claro-apps.com/

https://www.cricksoft.com/uk/clicker/ipad

https://apps.texthelp.com/

https://www.lexiauk.co.uk/






• Handwriting may

be slow

• May be difficult to

read

• Letter formation

may be

inaccurate.

• Copying from the board –

and layout of a room,

especially a lab, may

increase difficulties.

• Writing down what can be

produced orally.

• Difficulty in appreciating the

relative importance and

relevance of information and

ideas.

• Notes may be incomplete,

illegible or may be lost.

• Provide copy of instructions on the table next to child.

• Provide opportunities for alternative forms of recording: mind maps

& story frames with pictures, talking tin lids, talking postcards, ‘Easy

Mikes’ that plug into USB port, Talk trackers / Dictaphones or the

video on an iPad. Recording enables the child to listen to it a

number of times AND improve their sentences.

• Physical sorting activities with ideas they produce on talking post

cards /tin lids etc, where they place in one pile the ideas they think

are useful – working with a partner to help here.

• Good labelling of classroom, with visual cues including photos, to

aid organisation.

• Use intervention programmes such as ‘Write Dance’ and ‘Clever

Fingers’ – contact SEND SS for advice here.

• Provide templates for writing.

• When doing graphs, consider using partially completed graph

templates.

Writing

Use IT



















• Difficulty

remembering

what a word looks

like

• Lack of

knowledge of

spelling

conventions

• Linked to

phonological

processing

difficulties.

• Words spelled in different

ways in the same piece of

text.

• Words spelled phonetically.

• All the right letters there but

in the wrong order.

• May be ‘mother-tongue

interference’ in spelling.

• Confusion of similar words,

eg: chlorine/chloride or

sulphate/sulphide.

• Give credit for each letter written correctly in a word when child has

problems, rather than whole word.

• Highlight the part of the word which is causing difficulty and use

visual cues to help reduce the load on memory.

• Take pressure off child here, by only targeting one or two spellings.

Ensure this fits in with the phonics intervention if being carried out.

• Use a range of strategies to aid learning of spellings, using a multi-

sensory approach .

• Have word/picture banks on tables.

• List topic words on coloured card, different colour for each subject

area – linked in with visual cues ( eg: Communicate in Print -

Widgit) http://www.widgit.com/products/inprint/index.htm

• Put up lists of recent letter strings that groups of children have

studies recently – near to where they sit for easy reference.

• Use names of letters to teach spellings as children get older – use

Alphabet Arc activities to develop good, secure knowledge of the

alphabet.

Spelling

Use IT










http://www.widgit.com/products/inprint/index.htm










• Poor

understanding of

syntax and

grammar.

• Difficulty forming accurate

sentences.

• Difficulty understanding what

a paragraph is/looks like.

• Problems with the rules of

grammar.

• Difficulty understanding and

using the vocabulary

associated with the subject.

Teach rules and build in lots of reinforcement.

Use multi-sensory approach: finger-tell sentences – Star Writing /

Rainbow Writing (SEMA)

Talking tin lids / talking postcards/ iPads and tablets

Visual cues / place mats for topic words.

Pre-teach topic vocabulary using a multi-sensory approach.

Request training from SEND SS Speech and Language in

Education team.

Pre-teaching vocabulary will also help to develop and secure

word knowledge for children which can have a significant impact

on comprehension.

Grammar





• Tasks – weak

grasp of time

required to

undertake and /or

complete a task

• Planning and allocating time

to complete tasks.

• Working out the order in

which to do things.

• Planning a revision

schedule.

• Planning writing tasks to

include all information and

not wander from the

subject/title.

• Following the plot/story line.

• Keeping notes in order.

Visual timetable – start with just a morning timetable, then an

afternoon timetable – whole day may be too much. Encourage

children to help put icons on for each lesson and physically

remove them or mark them off once lesson finished.

Use photos too as visual prompts.

‘Now & Next’ or ‘First & Then’ laminated boards to show what

task/activity has to be completed.

Encourage child to tell you what they have to do or to tell another

child – this helps deeper processing and will help to ‘anchor’ the

instructions and key information.

Use ‘traffic lights’ or interactive timer on whiteboard as a way of

helping them to organise their time.

Use visual shorthand to record ideas for writing, where children

do simple pictures in no more than 5 seconds for each idea.

Use post-it notes instead of mind maps so that children can

rearrange their ideas and discard ones which are not relevant.

Use writing story frames to organise each paragraph.

Planning





• Tendency to

confuse left/right,

up/down, etc.

• Clumsiness

• Poor balance

• Co-ordination

difficulties

• Following and giving

instructions.

• Following instructions which

rely on prepositions.

• Carrying out a sequence of

moves with good balance or

participating in a game.

• Visual spatial difficulties,

including use of number

lines and 100 squares

• Provide symbols / pictures/ arrows as well as text.

• Include directional movement as part of your instructions,

encouraging children to copy you.

• Provide writing frames which give clear indication about where to

start.

• Use a highlighter pen to show where to start writing.

• Provide daily motor skills intervention for a targeted period of time.

• Contact SEND SS for details of : Body Awareness, gross motor

skills such as ‘Farmyard Hullabaloo’ or fine motor skills such as

‘Early Write Dance’.

• Provide ‘skeletal’ number lines for practice in estimating where a

number sits on a number line. Use adapted 100 square – numbers 1

– 30 and give plenty of modelling/practice. If using 100 square, use

2 alternate colours for the rows, to aid tracking.

Directionality / Motor Skills

Documents

Dyslexia Friendly Classroom – Action Plan · 2019-03-20 · using abstract methods too soon. • Don’t overload themwith resources or visual cues – choose a small, select number