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Books and Software

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! - ready–to–use activities program combining whole language concepts and phonics strategies to teach students with spelling difficulties how to spell by recognizing patterns and consistencies rather than memorizing hundreds of isolated words. Included are step–by–step instructions for utilizing the program followed by 40 sequential lessons covering Sounds, Syllables, Word Building, Rules and Generalizations accompanied by diagnostic tools, word lists, and 200 reproducible activity sheets.
For easy use, all program materials are printed in a big 8 ¼ x 11" lay–flat binding that folds flat for photocopying and all lessons follow the same familiar format.
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

• • 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) - stimulates phonemic awareness. Children become aware of the mouth actions which produce speech sounds. This awareness becomes the means of verifying sounds within words and enables children to become self-correcting in reading, spelling, and speech.
The program develops phonemic awareness by teaching students to utilize oral-motor movements to attach to sounds that phonemes make within words. Children are also required to manipulate sounds within words. This program is considered a multisensory reading program.

• 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

• Better 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.
USA | UK

• 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 New Zealand 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.

• Glue Ear by Lindsay Peer.
Glue Ear is a common condition among young children but until recently its long-term effects on learning and achievement weren't fully understood. Lindsay Peer's research has found significant links between the condition and dyslexia. As well as helping teachers to understand the potential consequences of temporary hearing loss, this book will be useful for health professionals who may be aware of the medical implications of Glue Ear but not the educational reverberations. Similarly, parents of children who have the condition will appreciate the accessible, jargon-free text and practical, credible ideas.
USA | UK

The ADHD Toolkit by Linda Wheeler - 'The ADHD Toolkit offers an extremely well researched guide to understanding and supporting students with ADHD in schools. This book will help the reader to understand the difference between the child who is disaffected, defiant and oppositional, and the child whose core difficulties reside in chronic problems of self-regulation and concentration (i.e. ADHD)' - Dr. Paul Cooper, Professor of Education, University of Leicester, UK. (Comment: This helpful book would have been improved by including some information about children's diet, which has been found to have a noticeable effect on their behavior - John Bradford).
USA | UK

Technology and Software

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