Kate Worrall
Specialist Teacher and Assessor of Dyslexia
UsefulWebsites
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Alphabet Arc Work
Alphabet arc work 'grounds' the letters, and provides a visual reference. It can then provide the basis for many games targeting phonics, capital letters, and spelling.
Barrington Stoke Books
They sell higher-interest books for older pupils. It is so important that learners read books at their level at 90% to 95% accuracy.
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Morph Mastery Intervention
This is a morphology intervention that helps children see suffixes and prefixes in words and supports reading and writing. It's all about seeing chunks in words and can be a great next step after phonics.​
Touch-typing
Learning to touch type is such an important long term skill.
Louise Selby Dyslexia Specialist
Louise Selby's website is incredible!
There are lots of resources to explore.
Click on the picture to head to the resource page.
Clicker
This word-processing software is incredible. Click on the picture and explore their resources. Check out learning grids, there are thousands of pre-made clicker sets.
Speech and Language - The Pod
Lots of amazing videos all about supporting language skills including videos all about colourful semantics. Colourful semantics can be used to support simple sentence construction.
Nexus - Specialist Teaching Service
This ​is the A to Z of Special Educational Needs. A SEND information page packed full of information and resources
Movement/ Co-ordination - The Pod
If you are concerned that your child may have developmental coordination disorder (dyspraxia), then this is a great site to visit. Their video is very informative.
Visual Communication
I love a visual! This is communication in print. You can create word banks, writing frames, visual timetables and MORE!
Sensory and strategies - The Pod
Many children have sensory issues. If you have any concerns, this website has three informative videos that will give you practical information and strategies for home and school.
British Dyslexia Association (BDA)
I am an Associate Member of the British Dyslexia Association. This site has lots of current information about dyslexia.
Bubble Handwriting
Bubble writing is handwriting paper (in the shape of a bubbles). This helps pupils with letter sizing and formation. Click on the picture to access the FREE handwriting sheet
Common Exception Word Bank
This is one example of a word bank (an easy one). Long term it is so important to train some learners on how to effectively use a word bank. Spelling is likely to be a persistent difficulty so we need to train our learners in the long term
Graphic Organisers
There are three different types of graphic organisers in this PDF. Please click on the picture to access them. It's a really good idea to 'dump' ideas and then use the organiser to organise your main piece of writing
Metacognition Cards
Becoming a thoughtful learner and making connections is so important. Developing self-talk strategies can really help. Click on the picture to access the metacognition cards.
It's all about THINKING ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE THINKING.
Writing Frames
This is one example of a writing frame. Simply ask the child to write the target spellings in the column before they write. Hopefully, they will use these words in their writing! Writing frames can take all different shapes and sizes.
Colourful Semantics
Click on this picture for a colourful semantics PowerPoint with many different sentence types. This is a very good resource basic sentences but can be used to create some complex sentences.
Resources
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Reading is a complex process, as you can see from this model! There are lots of factors at play!
Key tip!
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Your learner should always read books that are matched to their ability! Whether they are books matched to their phonological ability (early readers) or books that are matched to their fluency ability (colour banded books). When learning to read children should read at an instructional level between 90% to 95% accuracy. If the book is too hard they are at risk of struggling and this can lead to all sorts of self-esteem issues.
There can be lots of reasons that children struggle with spelling. For a dyslexia learner, spelling is likely to be a persistent difficulty, and this is despite intervention.
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Key tip!
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Train learners to use word banks and use technology. Learning word processing, touch-typing skills, and the playback function (nothing like hearing your mistakes!) is a long term life skill. Embrace the spellcheck function, they'll likely need this tool for life!
