9 Teaching Tips and a Teaching Strategy for Dyslexia
Are you struggling to accommodate the needs of your students diagnosed with dyslexia?
For those with dyslexia, it’s easy to feel alone and isolated in the struggles that come with this type of disability. This is especially true in a classroom environment whereby the majority of students do not struggle with dyslexia.
In reality, dyslexia is far more common than many people initially assume. Over 43 million Americans alone report having dyslexia. This includes both children as well as adults.
Of this population, only a small handful will receive the proper education that is necessary for accommodating dyslexia. This is why it’s so important for teachers to strengthen their teaching strategy for dyslexia.
If you’re a teacher, you’re certainly going to want to read this. We’re uncovering the nine best teaching strategies for children struggling with dyslexia. From practicing patience to creating memory aids, these tips are bound to provide a noticeable difference.
Not only are these strategies going to help make your learning environment more positive, but they’re also going to be incredibly helpful for your students.
1. Practice Patience
First things first, it’s critical to showcase the utmost patience to your students at all times.
Even if you experience frustration with a certain challenge, it’s important to remind yourself that your student is likely experiencing even greater frustration. Being a teacher, it’s your role to remain calm and express your continued patience with your students.
When a student senses your frustration or impatience, they’re going to begin to feel self-conscious. As a result, their mind and their emotions will take a toll on them. From here, their natural ability to learn will be minimized.
2. Give Praise
One of the most important things when teaching your students with dyslexia is to remember to give praise. When they overcome a challenge or showcase any improvements, don’t hesitate to express your utmost applause.
This praise not only provides them with a sense of confidence, but it may also help to condition their mind to success. When a student is aware that they will receive praise for overcoming an obstacle, they’re more likely to strive to do so in the future.
When the going gets tough, I also find it incredibly helpful to remind my students that they’re not alone. It may be comforting to let your students know that dyslexia is the most common learning disability. This will allow them to feel less alone in their struggles and minimize their self-consciousness.
3. Create a Word Wall
Creating a word wall helps to provide your students with another means of visualizing different words.
First, create a word wall that is comprised of words that your students are struggling with. Being able to see these words and visualize them daily is going to better their memory with that word.
Second, create a word wall that is comprised of words that your students have mastered. These are words that were once difficult for them but are no longer words of struggle. Seeing these words will remind them that it’s possible to overcome the challenging words.
You can even make this a fun activity by allowing your students to decorate the word wall to make it appear less intimidating. This is also a great reference board for students to connect with when struggling to write down their troublesome words.
4. Always Show Respect
Above anything, it’s important to always be respectful to your students.
More often than not, students with dyslexia experience far greater self-consciousness than those without. With this, it’s vital to always show equal respect and applause to your students with and without dyslexia.
In showing your respect, it’s crucial to be especially careful with your choice of words. Even in moments of stress and frustration, avoid directing negative words to your students that will cause them anxiety. These negative sentences are anything from encouraging them to hurry as well as speaking about their disability.
5. Make Time for Fun Learning
In struggling with dyslexia, many students are quick to frustration and feelings of hopelessness.
Learning new words and completing homework can be incredibly difficult for these students. Oftentimes, students with dyslexia will require more time to complete projects and assignments.
This is why it’s always beneficial to add an element of fun into your teaching strategy. While these games and routines are educational, they’re also fun for students and are a much-needed break from traditional lessons.
For students with dyslexia, these word-focused games are fun and easygoing. At the same time, they also help to strengthen their reading and writing skills.
These are games that can be played with both your students with and without dyslexia. Playing games together can allow students with dyslexia to feel less alienated from their peers.
You can also get creative and make world-related games and learning materials. If you require some creative inspiration, be sure to check this resources page.
6. Create a Memory Aid for Tricky Words
For many students, the trick to remembering challenging words is in creating a memory aid.
These aids help to encourage the students to remember how to spell and pronounce troublesome words. This may include anything from a rhyme for remembering a certain word to associating a word with a simple picture.
It’s also helpful to come up with phrases that encourage students to remember the correct spelling of a word. For the sake of an example, let’s say the troublesome word is “have”. A rhyme such as “Henry Always Vacations East” can help to stimulate the memory for how to spell the word.
These are simple, yet effective tips that help students remember words that they have trouble remembering.
7. Encourage Multisensory Learning
When it comes to dyslexia, it’s important to remember to utilize all senses to better understand words. This includes sight, hearing, and even touch.
For visual stimulation, I find it helpful to have children do a word search. Here, they can see the words with their eyes and better understand the spelling of the word.
To make it even more effective, you can even create word searches where the words are comprised of those they are having difficulty with. This helps to add an element of fun to what typically feels challenging and even upsetting to many children.
For audio stimulation, practicing sounding these words aloud is always helpful. When a student can visualize a word while also hearing that word aloud, it helps to better their understanding.
Many teachers have also had great success in having students associate words with touch. This may include writing as well as tracing the letter of different words.
To add an element of fun, have your students write words in different materials. These materials can include anything from sand and paint to colorful construction paper.
8. Learn the History of Written Word
It may sound boring at first, but learning the history of the written word can be incredibly helpful for students.
In doing so, you’re also learning about certain rules and patterns that follow the written word. For example, it’s commonly understood that no words in the English language end in the letter “V”.
In learning this fact, students can better understand and remember why certain words are spelled a certain way. For example, the word “have” contains a silent “E” simply because the word cannot end in “V”. Remembering this fact, students will have an easier time remembering how to spell various difficult words.
9. Allow for Some Oral Responses
For students with dyslexia, the thought of reading aloud is a significant fear.
Not only does this generate an intense build-up of anxiety, but it also results in that student struggling even further with words. In knowing that they have to read aloud, they’re going to experience far greater complications than usual in their reading skills.
This is why it’s important to allow students with dyslexia to respond or complete tasks orally. When a student can respond orally, this takes the anxiety out of having to write their answers on paper. In turn, the student is better able to express themselves and better their learning.
Of course, this doesn’t mean the student should not be encouraged to write at all. Instead, it simply means that allowing some room for oral responses is helpful to students with dyslexia.
Teaching Strategy for Dyslexia
If you have experience in teaching students with dyslexia, you know firsthand just how challenging this learning disability can be.
When in a classroom environment, dyslexia can be incredibly humiliating and upsetting for those struggling. This makes it challenging to determine the best teaching strategies for students that are dyslexic.
Unfortunately, 1 in 5 American students has a language-based learning disability. When we consider this number, it’s simple to understand why learning these strategies is so essential for teachers.
If you’re looking for a better teaching strategy for dyslexia, allow this guide to help you. From creating a word wall to learning the history of the written word, these strategies have proven effective for many students with dyslexia.
Are you looking for more resources that are specific to special education? If so, don’t hesitate to visit my blog!
