Three
red blobs indicate a book recommendation (•
• •)  •
• • Assisting
Learning and Supporting Teaching: A Practical Guide for the Teaching Assistant
in the Classroom by Anne Watkinson - The central aim of this book is
to give Teaching Assistants (TAs) an insight into the theories of teaching and
learning which they now need to fulfil their role, including looking at the TA
as both learner and teacher. The book also takes a look at school policies, structures
and systems in order to give basic context and to help promote partnership with
teachers and managers in schools. It explains the current learning initiatives
in schools such as inclusion, the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies, as
well as concerns such as accountability and inspection within the context of the
whole curriculum of a school. The author offers advice on personal development,
explaining what training is available to TAs and how to ask for this. The book
can be used by TAs, TA mentors and others in schools who work with TAs. USA
| UK
 •
• • Teaching
Assistants: Practical Strategies for Effective Classroom Support -
by Maggie Balshaw and Peter Farrell - This practical book is intended to support
schools and LEAs in developing effective strategies in working with teaching assistants.
It is related to the DfEE's Good Practice Guide (2000). Suggested approaches are
supported with real examples from practice, showing the reality of how schools
can review and develop practice and so become more effective in their management
and support of teaching assistants. The aim is to enable managers in schools and
LEAs to work effectively with teaching assistants; teachers to plan classroom
approaches for working with teaching assistants; teaching assistants to improve
their practice; and children to learn more effectively in inclusive settings.
This book will be of use to headteachers, senior staff in schools, SENCOs, LEA
support staff, class teachers and teaching assistants. USA
| UK
 •
• • Supporting
Language and Literacy 3 - 8: A Practical Guide for Assistants in Classrooms and
Nurseries by Suzi Clipson-Boyles - written to help assistants in nursery
and Key Stage One classrooms to focus on how children learn language and literacy
skills in different contexts. It covers the language and literacy curriculum from
the Early Learning Goals to the Key Stage One statutory assessments, and includes
reference to the Foundation Stage guidelines, the National Curriculum, the National
Literacy Strategy (NLS) and the Additional Literacy Support (ALS). Photocopiable
sheets provide opportunities for the reader to engage in reflective and interactive
activities throughout the book and optional extension tasks are provided for group
training. This is an ideal handbook for trainers and trainees on Teaching Assistant,
BTEC and NNEB courses. USA
| UK
 •
• • Supporting
Literacy: A Guide for Primary Classroom Assistants by Kate Grant -
Classroom assistants are increasingly relied upon to support the most needy pupils,
and they have had significantly less training than their colleagues with qualified
teacher status. It is clear that these assistants need some very practical materials.
The book provides a large section of photocopiable resources so that classroom
assistants can get to work. The book will cover all they need to know about literacy;
it will explain, in very simple terms, what is expected from them and: * How
the National Literacy Strategy works * How to support reading, writing
and spelling * How to select fiction and non-fiction * How to
help children use computers It also covers issues such as: * How to help
children for whom English is not their first language * How to help children
with special needs * How to set targets and monitor progress. USA
| UK
 •
• • How
to Reach and Teach Children and Teens with Dyslexia by Cynthia Stowe
- comprehensive, practical resource giving educators at all levels essential information,
techniques, and tools for understanding dyslexia and adapting teaching methods
in all subject areas. Over 50 full-page activity sheets that can be photocopied
for immediate use and interviews with students and adults who have had personal
experience with dyslexia. Organized into twenty sections, information covers everything
from ten principles of instruction to teaching reading, handwriting, spelling,
writing, math, everyday skills, and even covers the adult with dyslexia. USA
|
UK
• Spelling Smart! - a ready-to-use
activities program for students with spelling difficulties, by Cynthia Stowe.
USA
| UK
•
• Teaching
Kids with Learning Difficulties in the Regular Classroom - Strategies and
techniques to use to challenge and motivate struggling students. Susan Winebrenner,
Free Spirit Publishing, 1996. Ph. 1-800-735-7323. ISBN 157542004X
USA
| UK
 •
Phonics from A to
Z: A Practical Guide
- Everything you wanted to know about phonics but were afraid to ask! This practical
handbook, written by an early reading specialist, will show you how to build engaging,
effective phonics practice into your reading-writing program. Lots of ready-to-use
lessons, word lists, games and learning center ideas (K-3). USA
•
Strategy
Instruction for Problem-solving Unknown Words - Edwin S. Ellis Offers several
strategies for building word attack skills. •
Strategy
Instruction for Increasing Reading Comprehension - Edwin S. Ellis describes
the paraphrasing strategy that has been demonstrated to increase reading comprehension
skills for adolescents with learning disabilities.
•
Multi-sensory Teaching of Basic Language Skills - Judith R.
Birsh, Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. - 1999 ISBN 1557663491. - Dr. Judith Birsh
has succeeded in bringing together the expertise of a constellation of respected
and well-known contributors to produce what will undoubtedly become a highly prized
and much-used text/reference book in the field of dyslexia and learning differences.
USA
| UK
• Making the Writing Process Work
- Strategies for Composition and Self-Regulation - Describes an integrative
approach to writing instruction for students with diverse abilities and backgrounds
in the elementary and middle grades. USA
 •
SensAble
Strategies - Provides practical, creative strategies that will help you reach
all the students in your classroom. SenseAble Strategies provides sensible ideas
that address learning styles in a way that will enhance students' abilities to
learn.
 •
• To
Teach A Dyslexic - by Don McCabe - a compelling autobiography illustrating
what it is like to grow up dyslexic. He was born in 1932 and this was well before
"dyslexia" was a term, let alone a diagnosis. He was just treated as a boy who
couldn't sit still. He credits his older sister and others who worked intensively
with him to help him learn to read and eventually to become a respected scholar.
USA
 •
The Dyslexic Scholar: Helping your Child Succeed in the School
System - by Kathleen Nosek. If you are looking for a book that explains dyslexia
and how to cut through the red tape at school, this is the book. I finally found
some answers to my questions about dyslexia and what I need to do to get my child
help. Ms. Nosek's book is very parent friendly. She gives you wonderful advice
in a step by step fashion. I found the most useful part of the book to be the
section on the federal laws (she gives you the public law number) that the schools
must obey. I finally know what my rights are! You should read this book if you
are having any problems getting your child services. I think it would be useful
to any parent of a child with a learning disability.(A reader from Newport Beach,
California) USA
| UK
 •
Phonemic Awareness in Young Children - A Classroom Curriculum
- Phonemic awareness - distinguishing the individual sounds that make up words
and affect their meanings - is an essential preliteracy skill, and a hot topic
in education today. This supplemental curriculum is brimming with engaging, adaptable
language activities proven to increase phonemic awareness. Use them in any preschool,
kindergarten, or first-grade classroom. Its developmental sequence builds on simple
listening games and gradually moves on to more advanced sound manipulation exercises
like rhyming, alliteration, and segmentation. USA
 •
Lindamood
Phoneme Sequencing Program (LIPS) - and Seeing
Stars - stimulates phonemic awareness. Individuals become aware of the mouth
actions which produce speech sounds. This awareness becomes the means of verifying
sounds within words and enables individuals to become self-correcting in reading,
spelling, and speech.
 •
How to Teach your Dyslexic Child to Read - by Bernice H. Baumer.
Readers can learn how to structure lessons in order to connect with a dyslexic
child. This book uses accessible terms along with charts, graphics, and lesson
plans. It is broken down into three functional sections: a discussion of learning
disabilities; an explanation of how to teach the dyslexic to read, step by step
from kindergarten through the first, second and third grades (giving detailed
instructions for teaching phonics, spelling, and syllabication); and a section
devoted to pictures, charts, and word lists that are an integral part of tutoring
the child. ') USA
| UK
•
Tregear
Books - valuable series of multi-sensory
phonics books which can be photocopied. One book - 'Mnemonics' - is especially
helpful in dealing with spelling errors commonly made by dyslexic children and
teens, e.g. because, said and enough.
• Alpha to Omega - by Hornsby and
Shear, pub. Heinemann. (Dependable manual used very widely in UK schools, listing
words in their phonic groupings. •
Let's write: a Ready-to-use Activities Program for Learners with Special
Needs - by Cynthia Stowe - Starting with simple words and progressing to sentences,
paragraphs, reports, stories, and essays, Let's Write! Takes into account all
ability levels and learning styles to help each student achieve success. Basic
to more advanced skills are presented sequentially in lessons that devote small
amounts of time to four diverse tasks. The program provides over 200 activities
and over 100 worksheets, and is organized into two parts: Part I - focuses on
teaching the basic structures of written language in seven sections: Words, Sentences,
Paragraphs, Research Reports, Book Reports, Stories, and Essays. Part II - offers
a combination of specific skills development and opportunities for practice in
nine sections: Grammar, Editing, Poetry, Literature Connection, Holidays, Letters,
Using the Newspaper, Real Life Writing, and Gimmicks & Gags. USA
| UK
• Learning
Staircase - Ros Lugg is a specialist teacher and assessor, specializing in
learning disabilities (including dyslexia). She and several colleagues set up
a resource company to provide resources and support for both children and adults.
The resources are designed to be used by specialist teachers, speech/language
therapists, tutors, classroom assistants or parents who wish to work with their
own children. Most of the materials are game-based and detailed instructions are
provided. The resources concentrate on developing the pre-literacy and early literacy
skills and there is a teaching manual which can teach parents how to teach alphabet
knowledge and spelling and reading skills. Individual advice is available by e-mail.
The Learning Staircase also retails leading international software for literacy
and numeracy. Ros’s company are particularly proud that many New Zealand schools,
speech language therapists, SPELD tutors and parents are now using these materials
with great success.
• •
• TextHelp
(highly recommended by John Bradford - an excellent word-processing support program
which links in to your word-processor, suggesting spellings for each word as you
start to type it, and reading out your writing so that you can see if it makes
sense or if you've missed out any words.')
 • Clicker
4 - Clicker Writer is Clicker's talking word processor. You can type into
it just like any word processor. When you complete a sentence, the sentence is
spoken using one of the clear voices included. If you like, you can have each
word spoken as it is entered, or even each letter. -- "With Clicker 4 the
computer is set to read automatically as soon as a period/full stop is used. This
has been great in reinforcing the use of capital letters and full stops. My son
is able to check his work as he goes and edits immediately instead of waiting
until the end when he has forgotten what he has written. He prefers the voice
in this program as the other was more or less on one tone. He is more able to
independently find correct spellings and he is able to listen to each word then
select the one he needs. This is helping him to work with greater independence
and is building his confidence to try and complete a task." (S. B-W, Somerset,
UK)
 •
• •
Kurzweil 3000 The Kurzeil
3000 is the greatest tool to benefit the dyslexic student. My high school students
can bring in a library book or an article, etc. and scan the material one class
period and listen/follow along the next period. The students can use bookmarks
and change the voice and speed that it reads to their individual tastes. The Kurzweil
also comes with a CD with numerous works available to be read without scanning.
With the CD you just find the author and click; locate the story you need and
click; and start listening. The classroom teachers are really great about sending
the reading assignments to me a few days ahead of time so I can have them scanned
and ready to read. This helps the students because they stay on schedule. Sometimes
students come in after and before school to scan articles so they will be able
to keep pace with other students. Therefore extended time isn’t necessary. The
bottom line is that it is a wonderful tool that gives the students a sense of
independence. (Lisa Landers, Texas)
• WordQ
- a writing tool used along with standard Windows word processing software. It
uses advanced word prediction to suggest words for you to use and provides spoken
(text-to-speech) feedback.
•
•
•
www.dyslexic.com
This company specializes in a very wide range of computer software support programs
for dyslexic learners. We would appreciate hearing from anyone who uses any of
their products.  •
• • Dragon Naturally Speaking
- program which turns your speech into writing on the screen! Highly recommended
for dyslexic teenagers and students: 'An invaluable program, which I use every
day. The more time you spend at the 'training stage' - reading chapters of a book
out loud - the better it works. Also, let it take a look at your 'My Documents'
folder, so that it can learn the kind of expressions you use a lot. You are offered
the option to do this during the training stage.' (John Bradford) USA
|
UK
 •
• • IBM
ViaVoice is similar to Dragon Naturally Speaking: designed for people who
view speech recognition as a powerful productivity tool, and offers an improved
speech engine, and background noise adjustment which can provide exceptional accuracy
and fewer corrections.
Complete
the short, optional 'enrolment' to teach ViaVoice how you speak. Then talk to
'type' e-mail and reports on your PC. Use enhanced command and control, navigation
and 'voice shortcut' functions to navigate the Web and PC applications, and to
manage e-mail with your voice. ViaVoice Pro USB Edition, Release 10, includes
a quality headset microphone with USB adapter
USA | UK
•
 'Web
Talkster' - talking browser - One of my students is more computer literate
than I am. He just loves his computers. I told him about the download for Web
Talkster. He went home and downloaded the program and started trying it out. He
thinks it is the best aid ever. He now can get a lot more out of the internet
than he did before. He uses it for everything from reading his email to even reading
his assignments. He worked out a way of importing his assignments into netscape
so he can have it read to him. He said that it took a little time to get used
to the voice sound but once he did he had no problems. This aid has made him more
open to try other aids such as using a tape recorder to get his ideas out as it
takes a long time to write them down he tends to forget what he wanted to write.
(Jacqueline Heaton, NSW, Australia). •
 'AlphaSmart
- When JM found out what was required of him in Freshman English, he just about
shut down. That was when I introduced JM to as AlphaSmart. I explained how it
would work. Just turn is on and start typing, turn it off when you are finished—everything
is automatically saved as you type. With its built-in word processor, you can
write stories, make outlines, input data for spreadsheets, take notes and more,
then easily transfer to my computer or print directly to most printers in the
lab with a single keystroke. The AlphaSmart has eight files that make it easy
to organize your work. It is lightweight, portable and runs about 500 hours on
3 AA batteries. When you need to edit, or can transfer your work from the AlphaSmart
to the computer and change the font, spacing, etc. JM uses his AlphaSmart every
day and has a great attitude. He is looking forward to going to college now that
he found a tool that takes the pen/pencil away and has given him success. (Lisa
Landers, Texas).
•
SURVEY
of teacher satisfaction with computer products - BECTA survey, January 2003
•
Study Skills
reference (students and college) •
InstantText
- integrates with your word-processor to produce suggestions of phrases that could
be used next as you write. (Compare to TextHelp above, which produces suggestions
for single-word spellings as you type.)
 •
• Quicktionary
Reading Pen - reads single words of text through an earphone, as well as providing
a definition on its small screen. Recommended for difficult single words.
•
Language Tune-up Kit - Phonics-based
software based on the multi-sensory Orton-Gillingham method for children and adults.
• Bailey's
Book House - Bailey and his friends encourage young children to build important
literacy skills while developing a love for reading. In seven activities, kids
explore the sounds and meanings of letters, words, sentences, rhymes and stories.
No reading skills are required: all directions and written words are spoken.
• School
Zone - wide range of materials for pre-school to 4th grade.  •
Lexia
Learning Systems - software to help children and adults learn to read, especially
those who have had trouble learning in the past. 'Phonics Based Reading , designed
for students in Grade K - 3, provides hundreds of exercises to create a comprehensive
early reading program at a level accessible to younger children. Clear natural
voices, engaging activities and a quiet, focused environment provide a good environment
for learning crucial reading skills.' •
Rocky
Mountain Learning Systems - Originally designed for use by reading specialists
as a therapeutic system for children and adults with severe reading deficits.
Is claimed to be extremely successful with students with dyslexia, learning disabilities,
Title I, and other learning challenges. It uses a phonemic (sound/symbol) approach
addressing all learning styles: visual, auditory and kinesthetic, and is based
on the Orton-Gillingham method. Words and sounds are seen, heard, written, and
even spoken and recorded by the student, thereby using the sensory modalities
to their maximum benefit for brain processing and memory retention. •
Crick
Software - 'Clicker 4' allows beginner writers to create sentences by clicking
on the colorful pictures on the screen. 'Wordbar' provides a selection of words
connected to a topic for older children, and 'All My Words' provides jumbled sentences
in boxes which a child can click on to get them in the right order. Colorful and
attractive pages. (UK) •
• •
 Spell-checkers
- A 4th grade student of mine is dyslexic and struggles very much with spelling.
He has the most wonderful ideas for stories, but when it comes time to put those
ideas on paper, it looks atrocious. He spells everything phonetically, and at
times he doesn’t even do that. We do a
lot of proof-reading when he writes, and he knows that they are wrong, he just
doesn’t have a clue of what he needs to do to change it. I
decided that I would try using a spell-checker with him to see if anything improved.
His mother was very apprehensive at first, and did not want him relying on a device
to help him with his disability. She felt that he needed to learn how to spell
on his own, and that by using a spell-checker it was not going to remedy that
problem. I assured her that it was just
an experiment and that I wanted to see if it helped him with recognition of what
he might need to change. During the next
tutoring session, I started to use the spell-checker with him, and the results
were amazing. I had him write down three dictated sentences, and then circle the
words that he felt were not spelled correctly. He
was able to circle every word that was wrong, and with the use of the spell checker,
he was able to recognize the correct spelling of each word, and do all the self-correcting
on his own. He is now using his spell-checker
at school during his writing lessons, and his teacher is very happy with the results.
His mother is also pleased that we have found something that he can use, and has
realized that some children with disabilities need to have ways that will help
them to learn easier, and that it doesn’t mean “failure”. (Nanci Ross)
Franklin
Spell checkers •
• •
 Calculators
- Louise has been struggling with math facts for many years. She never did master
them back in the 4th grade, and hated when her class would play speed games with
multiplication facts. She would always profess that she needed to go to the bathroom
or find some way to get out of playing the game. She also shied away from any
type of board game where you had to go up individually and do problems. These
experiences were so overwhelming for her, that she hated school, especially math.
During the 6th grade Louise had an experience
that changed her outlook on herself and on math in general. During that year the
teacher had the class do timing tests once a week with their multiplication facts.
As they mastered one fact, they would go on to the next, until they mastered them
all in 5 minutes or less. Louise just could not get past her 4’s and the rest
of the class was almost completed with all of them and on to division facts. This
was done every Wednesday, and Louise would always decide she had a stomach ache
that day, and refuse to go to school. It was so humiliating to her, and the class
would ridicule her all the time. Her mother
sensed that something needed to be done, so she confronted the teacher and told
her that they needed to have some other approach to helping Louise memorize her
facts. The teacher didn’t realize that she felt this way, and decided that some
kind of intervention needed to happen. After doing some testing on Louise, the
school learned that Louise was dyslexic, and that numbers on a page were just
a mess. With the help of a resource classroom, and I as her tutor, Louise has
made amazing strides in her math facts. We
started to use a calculator to check her math, and this has been a big boost to
her self-esteem. She is able to do the problems she has, check them for accuracy,
and then realize that if she made a mistake she can go back and see where it happened.
Louise has learned that the calculator is a help to her, not a crutch, and she
knows that it is there when she needs that extra little boost. She no longer has
the anxieties the she once had about math, and the use of the calculator has been
the key. (Nanci Ross)
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