In my last blog I shared about an analogy of reading that I heard taught at a dyslexia conference I attended this summer.  I would like to share another story the presenter, Dr. Criselda Guajardo Alvarado, shared with us.

            Dr. Alvarado was speaking to a parent of a student she had tested and she had determined that this student struggled with math and reasoning.  Her diagnosis was dyscalculia.  She was explaining to the student’s father about how her daughter had an inefficient area in her brain that made it difficult for her to solve math story problems.

            The father,  who was a neurosurgeon, was quite concerned.   He asked, "Is all hope lost?"  Dr. Alvarado said, "No." Dr. Alvarado told him that they would work his daughter in a systematic sequential approach and over time they would be able to rewire her brain.  What she meant was that we will help the information to travel down the efficient pathways in her brain for her to have a greater understanding.

            The neurosurgeon was amazed.  He expressed to Dr. Alvarado that he is  able to only remove parts of the brain, but teachers are able to rewire someone’s brain.  He  went on to say that doctors make the big bucks and teachers do not.  Hmmm- something to think about!  We do make quite a difference in our student’s lives!

         Last week I went to a reading conference. The teacher Criselda Guajardo Alvarado shared a few analogies about reading that really resonated with me. I like to share one with you.

        One analogy she shared described teaching reading to most students is like traveling down a busy highway from Dallas to Frisco (a northern suburb). The teacher teaches, the students learn and they move on down the road of reading. However, when your student has a reading learning disability like dyslexia, reading is more like taking all the back roads to that same destination. It might take a little longer, you might get a little lost, but ultimately this student arrives at the same destination – the destination of reading.

            I thought of my students and I like this picture. When I am teaching my dyslexia students, it does take longer to reach the destination and sometimes we do have to backtrack and practice a reading skill over again, but ultimately my students learn to read. I teach in a different way, different from the normal approach.

            Another reason I like this analogy is that the way I teach is so interesting to my students because it is an approach that they need and it works for them. I personally like to drive down back roads to places. It is more peaceful and so much more interesting to me.

            I will definitely be sharing this with my students and their parents this coming school year. I hope it encourages them like it did for me. 
~Susie Word Nerd

If you follow any LD organization such as Understood.org, Headstrong Nation, LD.org or Decoding Dyslexia, just to name a few, you know our nation has not tackled the lack of specialized intervention for Learning Different students in many schools across our great nation.  
Well, there is help out there for the 1 in 5 students who struggle with a learning difference.  Students with learning differences can struggle in any subject and most of the time, several subjects simultaneously.  It can be frustrating not only for the student, but the parents as well.  
One organization making a difference for students & adults who struggle with LD is the  The Multisensory Reading Center .  

Last week I spent some time with Jen, a Licensed Dyslexia Therapist and Certified Academic Language Therapist,  Founder and owner of the Multisensory Reading Center.   The first moment I walked in the center the atmosphere was welcoming and inviting.  Jen was already in session with a student.  The exciting thing about it was the student lives in another state! Using online teleconferencing through the Lexercise Online Dyslexia Therapy program, Jen was teaching a student who otherwise would not have an opportunity for this specialized therapy.  

Jen was working with her student on the syllable division pattern VCCV on the day I came to observe.  As shown in the pictures below, the weekly sessions involve visual, auditory and kinesthetic approaches - also referred to as a  Multisensory approach.  During each lesson, Jen & her student work on discovering a new skill, coding words, vocabulary, spelling and reading (fluency/comprehension)  

Un-blending individual sounds in a word is an important strategy for students struggling with spelling and reading. The video below is an example of Jen doing this strategy with her student.

Here is an example of Jen and her student spelling words with Digraph ck, using the un-blending strategy.

The Multisensory Reading Center provides much needed therapy for struggling spellers and readers, especially students with Dyslexia.   
The classroom area is set up with manipulatives & posters to reinforce the skills Jen teaches to her in-house students as well as her teleconferencing students.

I was most curious about the lesson planning process for this type of therapy.  Jen is a seasoned therapist, with experience in Special Education & Dyslexia Therapy.  Her lesson planning is unique to each of her students.  She has expertly designed activities for her students to work on between lessons.  Also, there are word work, coding and reading exercises through the Lexercise program.  Jen has Reading A-Z passages for students to practice their reading fluency.  

Want to know more about Jen and her tutoring business?  Click on her picture below to head over to her blog to read more about how and why she is helping struggling students all over the United States.  Also, find out how to contact her about your child receiving the unique services The Multisensory Reading Center & Jen have to offer!! 

Are you fighting to get the intervention your child needs from their public school in your state?  Comment below and let us know what state you are from.  Share your story with Jen over on her blog today - she can help guide you toward what your next step might be in getting your child the help they need.

We invite you to share this post with friends & family who would benefit from the information above.
Thank you, 
3Word Nerds

Oh the Weekly Spelling Test - so many kids dread it!  Every week I would give my 2nd graders a list of words to study through the week on Monday and then on Friday, we'd take the BIG test!  

Some students were super successful and even looked forward to the test.  Others seemed to immediately need to go to the bathroom - anything to try and get out of taking it.  There just never seemed to be a fun or engaging way to give the test and since it was a grade level expectation - I couldn't get out of it either.  I wanted ALL of my students to be successful and learn to be good spellers.  I could see the link between the good spellers in my classroom and success in reading and writing, but it wasn't until I became a dyslexia therapist that I learned a better way.  I cringe just thinking about all those weekly spelling tests - yikes!

Now - when I give spelling words to students to spell, I use a very different process.  The results are significantly better than ever and I would NEVER revert back to the "old - tried and true" method.  Here are the steps that seem to really help students connect the sounds in the word with how to spell them.

Spelling WORD Dictation Procedure:

• Look and Listen - first I ask students to look and listen to me.  When I have their attention, I give them the first word - speaking very distinctly and enunciating the word.
• Echo - next, I ask the students to echo (repeat back) the word.  This ensures that they have heard it as well as gives them the opportunity to "feel" the word as their mouth makes it and to hear the word made by their own voice.
• Unblend the word - together, we "unblend" the word.  This means that we break the word apart into the individual sounds of words.  So - "cat" would be /k/ - /a/ - /t/  and "that" would be /th/ - /a/ - /t/.  Have the students put up a finger for each sound or touch a finger on the desk for each sound to engage a tactile sense to the process.
• Name and Write - encourage students to softly, spell the word as they write it.  Again - this engages multiple senses into the spelling process.
• Check and read - have the students review the word, check it over (code it - if this is a process you have taught and use in your teaching) and then read the word aloud.

Continue using this procedure for the rest of the spelling words.  You will be amazed at the improvement and bump in spelling scores your students achieve.

After I finished the word portion of the test, I would then move to dictation of sentences.  This was intended for students to show how they could move spelling from the word level to the sentence level.  I hate to admit that I would try to be as creative as possible and cram as many of the spelling words into a sentence as possible.  It became a contest with my teaching team to see who could come up with a sentence with the most spelling words in it.  What a HUGE mistake!  Little did we realize the TORTURE we were subjecting our students to every week!  My poor kids!  It would take six or more times of repeating the painfully LONG and complicated sentence before they could get it written down.

Here's a much BETTER process!

• Short sentences - make the sentences SHORT.   Your goal should be for your students to be able to write the sentence with no more than two repetitions.  If they can't - its TOO long!
• Remind them of the components in a sentence!     "A sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with punctuation.  It includes a subject and a predicate and is a complete thought."

Try this instead:

• Look and Listen - same as above - you need their attention and they should be watching you say the words in the sentence.
• Recite the sentence for the students - enunciate and speak very distinctly.  Your voice should clearly indicate the punctuation - a statement, command, question, or exclamation.  
• Echo - students echo the sentence.  This gives you a chance to ensure that they heard you correctly.
• Recite the sentence again.
• Students write the sentence.
• When they are finished.  Recite the sentence again so they can check their work and make any corrections before you move on to another sentence.

When you know better - you do better!  Right?  That's what Maya Angelou would say!  Now I know better and my students are benefiting from what I've learned!  I can PROMISE far GREATER success than with a more traditional method of delivery for a spelling test AND far LESS anxiety on the part of your students!

Try it and SHARE!
I'd LOVE to hear what you do for spelling assessments and if you try the procedure I've described (it works SO well for my dyslexic students), I'd love to hear how it worked for you!  Submit a comment - or send an email!

Here's the chart pictured above if you'd like to print it out and use it as a procedural reminder!

Learning the alphabet and singing the ABC song is something almost every kindergartner learns to do - often before they start their first day of school.  It's so cute - especially when they get to LMNOP, right?  As parents and teachers, we feel so proud and are assured that our child/student is quickly on the road to reading and writing success!  Boy, are they SMART!

Singing the ABC's is really just singing a song much like Jesus Loves Me or Happy Birthday.  It helps - but is it enough?  Children need to achieve automatic recognition of letters and then must connect the sound it makes (and distinguish the situation in spelling to know which sound the letter will make) in order to read and spell with confidence and accuracy.  

So - how does that happen?  When you incorporate multiple senses into each practice, it's like multiplying the reinforcement and learning.  You magnify the pathway and connection created in the brain so learning is more efficient.  Some children learn quickly and with secure mastery.  For others, it can take 500 - 1500 times!  If you practiced the alphabet with students EVERY day during the school year - that would only be 180 times.  

Here are some activities you can implement to REALLY help children achieve mastery of the alphabet sequence and letter name:

1. RECITE the alphabet while touching and naming each letter.  You can print the alphabet on cardstock or paper and laminate it to their desk or hand out laminated alphabet strips (teachers love laminating!) when you practice.  It's important to look at the letter, touch it, AND say it all at the SAME time.  It really fuses it altogether.
2. SET THE LETTERS IN ORDER using simple alphabet letters, like the magnets you can find for the refrigerator - from beginning to end in sequence.  This means to find the letter, A, and then add B, etc. until you get to Z.  Name the letters as they are placed.  Once a child has mastered the uppercase letters, work on a lowercase set.
3. Use KEYWORD Cards to connect the letter name with the sound it makes.  Introduce the cards a few at a time and then they can be reviewed in random order as you continue to add new cards.  As a teacher, you can choose the cards that match the letter introduction sequence you use with your Kindergarten curriculum.  In first grade, you can present them much faster because you are reinforcing what was learned in Kindergarten.  In presenting the card, you can cue the child with the letter name, then the keyword, and finally the sound.  It would sound like this - a - apple /a/

Because every teacher needs access to quick resources - here's a link for durable alphabet strips and chunky letters.  They are inexpensive and will really LAST!

Here's a FREE resource for KEYWORD Cards - you'll note that the SHORT vowel sounds, HARD consonant sounds (c and g) and X in the final position (box) are used to help you create a SOLID FOUNDATION of literacy for children.  NOTE:  Print the file on cardstock and cut in 1/2.  Be careful about laminating this resource because of the glare created when using with a group of students.

Watch for additional installments!  Teaching children to read, write, and spell is a HARD job and the 3Word Nerds are excited to share the secrets we've learned through dyslexia therapy training with YOU!