Supporting Students with Dyslexia: Effective Teaching Strategies

Dyslexia is usually mistaken for a lack of intelligence or effort when in fact it refers to a specific learning challenge. Students who have dyslexia handle language in unique ways especially while reading and connecting letters to sounds. The central problem with dyslexia lies in the functioning of the brain's phonological processes, which is the ability to break down and manipulate sounds. For students with dyslexia linking letters and sounds takes greater effort than for their peers in reading and spelling.

To put it in relatable terms, Let’s take the sentence: "The cat sat on the mat."

For someone with dyslexia, it might appear scrambled or jumbled like this: "Teh cta sta on eht mta."

From a dyslexic perspective as you try to read, you might recognize "The" after a bit of effort, but then stumble over "cta" because the letters aren’t in the right order. By the time you’ve figured out that "cta" is supposed to be "cat," you move on to the next word, "sta," and your brain is working so hard to unscramble these letters that you’ve lost the flow of the sentence. The meaning of the sentence starts to slip away, and "on" and "the" become harder to process because you’re already tired from decoding the first part.

Individuals with dyslexia show signs differently. A few struggle more with decoding than with spelling or writing tasks. These students may need more time to process written language, which can lead to frustration, especially in a classroom setting where reading is a major part of learning.

Supporting Dyslexic Students

Orton-Gillingham Basics (OG)

The Orton-Gillingham basics is a structured, multisensory, and individualized teaching method designed to help students with dyslexia. It involves direct and explicit instruction in phonology, syntax, and semantics. The multisensory aspect uses visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-tactile channels simultaneously to reinforce learning. Students are taught systematically, focusing on the rules of phonics and language structure, with personalized lessons based on the student’s progress. Research shows that the OG method significantly improves phonological awareness, decoding, reading, and spelling skills, particularly in younger children and when early interventions are provided (Stevens et al., 2021).

OG teaching strategies:

• Phoneme Mapping: The teacher uses sandpaper letters for the students to trace with their fingers while saying the corresponding sound aloud. For example, when teaching the sound /b/, the student traces the letter "b" while repeating the sound. This engages the tactile (touch), auditory (sound), and visual (seeing the letter) senses simultaneously.
• Blending: The teacher shows a series of letter cards ("c," "a," "t"), asking the student to touch each card and say the sound. Then, they blend the sounds together to form the word "cat," reinforcing both sound recognition and decoding.

Glass Analysis Method

The Glass Analysis Method focuses on phonological awareness training, which is particularly helpful for dyslexic students who struggle with recognizing and manipulating phonemes. The Glass Analysis emphasizes teaching students to understand the alphabetic principle, improving automaticity in decoding and fluency, which are key for reading comprehension. It incorporates analysis of words and sentence structure to enhance language understanding. The Glass Method has been recognized as an alternative to structured literacy methods like Orton-Gillingham. It is particularly beneficial for students who need a clear understanding of phonological rules and the alphabetic principle, helping to address reading difficulties (Goulandris, 1990).

Glass Analysis method teaching strategies:

• Phoneme Substitution: The teacher presents a word like "cat" and asks the student to replace the initial sound /k/ with /m/, leading the student to say "mat." This exercise trains the student to identify phonemes and manipulate sounds within words, which strengthens decoding skills.
• Sentence Structure Analysis: The teacher provides a simple sentence like “The dog ran fast.” The student breaks it down by identifying each word’s role (subject, verb, etc.) and phonemic structure.

RAVE-O (Retrieval, Automaticity, Vocabulary, Elaboration, Orthography)

RAVE-O is an evidence-based intervention designed to build reading fluency by addressing multiple components of language processing simultaneously. It focuses on:

1. Retrieval: Teaching students to quickly retrieve words from memory.
2. Automaticity: Developing automatic recognition of words to reduce cognitive load.
3. Vocabulary: Expanding students’ knowledge of word meanings.
4. Elaboration: Teaching how to use context and meaning to understand words better.
5. Orthography: Reinforcing the connection between the letters (spelling) and their sounds (phonics).

RAVE-O teaching strategies:

• Word Web: For a word like "run," students create a web that shows its different meanings (to jog, to manage a business, etc.), parts of speech (noun or verb), and related words (runner, running). This expands vocabulary and helps with word retrieval.
• Rapid Word Recognition Drills: The teacher flashes cards with high-frequency words (e.g., "and," "but," "said") for quick recognition, asking students to read them as fast as they can. This exercise builds automaticity in word retrieval.
• Elaboration through Story: The teacher reads a short story where vocabulary words are used in context, and then asks students to elaborate on the meaning by using these words in sentences or discussing synonyms and related concepts.

Incorporate Technology

We live in a digital world, and there’s no reason we shouldn’t leverage that for learning. Assistive technology, like text-to-speech apps and audiobooks, are game-changers for students with dyslexia. These tools help reduce the frustration of reading, allowing students to focus on understanding the content rather than decoding each word. Using technology increases engagement and motivation, and many students with dyslexia report feeling more independent when they use these tools (Elbro & Petersen, 2004).

A few great tools include:

• Audiobooks: Help students keep up with literature while improving their listening comprehension.
• Speech-to-Text Software: Allows students to express their ideas without the pressure of writing everything down.
• Phonics Apps: Interactive apps that turn learning sounds and letters into a fun game.

References

• Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction.
• Bell, N. (1991). Seeing stars: Symbol imagery for phonemic awareness, sight words, and spelling. Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes.
• D'Agostino, J. V., & Harmey, S. J. (2016). An international meta-analysis of Reading Recovery. Journal of Educational Psychology, 108(2), 253-274.
• Ehri, L. C., Nunes, S. R., Willows, D. M., Schuster, B. V., Yaghoub-Zadeh, Z., & Shanahan, T. (2001). Phonemic awareness instruction helps children learn to read: Evidence from the National Reading Panel's meta-analysis. Reading Research Quarterly, 36(3), 250-287.
• International Dyslexia Association (IDA). (2019). Dyslexia and assistive technology.
• Rose, J. (2006). Independent review of the teaching of early reading. Department for Education and Skills, UK.
• Wanzek, J., Roberts, G., Al Otaiba, S., & Kent, S. C. (2018). The effects of Tier I reading instruction for students with and without dyslexia. The Journal of Special Education, 52(3), 147-159
• Wolf, M., Miller, L., & Donnelly, K. (2009). RAVE-O intervention: Remediating reading fluency and comprehension for at-risk children. Scientific Studies of Reading, 3(1), 74-95.