[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
student with dyslexia needs to obtain practice in scanning and reading
to obtain a general overview or impression of the text. One way to
practice scanning is to give the learner a passage to read, but not give
them sufficient time to read the passage. This means they will be forced
to read only the key words.
These factors emphasise the importance of forward planning and
breaking challenging areas down into smaller components. This means
that the teacher will be able to identify which of these aspects present
72
Curriculum Perspectives and Planning for Learning
the most challenges and then work through the range of strategies that
can be used for these areas. Some of the strategies include those that
can be used for good teaching in general teaching in a multi-sensory
manner, helping to boost the students memory through the use of
mnemonics, personal spelling notebooks, the use of ICT to help with
reading and the use of the Internet to investigate topics. It can
sometimes be useful if the student with dyslexia can work in groups as
he/she can share skills with others in the group. The reading part can be
done by someone else in the group while the dyslexic person can deal
with some of the other aspects of the task.
Geography
Geography is a subject that can be accessed by dyslexic students. It has
the potential to be highly visual and the subject content relates to the
study of people and activities in the community and world around us.
In other words it is a subject that has direct relevance to living in today s
world. This means that information in geography can be accessed in a
variety of ways field trips, visually, visits, interviews and observation,
quite apart from using reading materials.
Additionally, the geography curriculum lays emphasis on the
enquiry approach in developing geographical knowledge and under-
standing. This can be noted in the statement below.
Geography develops knowledge of places and environments
throughout the world, an understanding of maps, and a range of inves-
tigative and problem-solving skills, both inside and outside the
classroom. As such it prepares pupils for adult life and employment.
(DfEE and QCA, 1999)
In geography, as in many of the other subject areas, alternatives to
the written answer can be used to a great extent. Students with dyslexia
usually have skills in the visual/kinaesthetic areas as opposed to the
auditory area. This means that they will learn more effectively by active
learning through projects, field trips and interviews. They may also work
well in groups. It is important to ensure that students with dyslexia can
present their work in a variety of ways using multi-media, including
tapes, videos and ICT.
It is important that geography is underpinned by understanding and
this is why active participatory learning is essential for dyslexic learners.
It is crucial that the skills and abilities of dyslexic students in the areas
of visual processing and understanding are not restricted because of lack
of access to print materials. It was interesting to note that in the
interviews conducted by Williams and Lewis (2001) with dyslexic
students studying geography, one of the recurrent themes reported by
the students was the lack of opportunities to show their knowledge.
73
Dyslexia and Inclusion
History
History is a subject that can be stimulating and engaging for the
dyslexic student. It essentially demands investigation and skills in
problem-solving, but too often the actual demands placed on the
student relate to memory demands and the learning of massive amounts
of facts. This of course need not be the case and it is necessary to
consider ways how the student might acquire the necessary information
without resorting to rote memorisation.
Dargie (2001) suggests that discussion holds the key to this. Talking
through an issue, he suggests, can help pupils rehearse the separate
components of a topic and develop an argument that they can then use
in written work.
At the same time the student with dyslexia can develop his/her own
timeline (such as that displayed in Timeline figure, see earlier in this
chapter). This can help the student memorise information within a
sequence an aspect that is challenging for students with dyslexia.
Contributing to a discussion exercise, or a group presentation, can
have positive consequences for the dyslexic learner s self-esteem.
Working in groups can also provide the learner with practice at experi-
menting and becoming more familiar with his/her own learning style. It
is important, according to Dargie, that students with dyslexia gain
experience in the range of specific skills needed for history such as the
ability to question, infer, deduce, propose, estimate, guess, judge and to
think.
Learning to talk about history can provide a launch pad for reading
and writing about history. Similarly, paired homework, with an emphasis
upon pupils having to check that their partner can readily explain topic
vocabulary, can also provide the confidence to write. It is important to
plan and anticipate the types of difficulties the student with dyslexia
may experience in history. One example of this can be listening skills.
Listening skills can be enhanced by providing dyslexic pupils with topic
content in audio cassette form for individual use in Walkman-type
players. Many excellent audio resources exist for most history courses,
particularly those broadcast by the BBC. Although there are difficulties
in listening to audio programmes the practice can be beneficial, and
they can be valuable in helping individual learners rehearse topic
vocabulary before a lesson, or for reinforcement purposes.
According to Dargie (2001), it is also important that history
departments plan a reading strategy that seeks to create more self-
aware readers who understand the purpose of their reading and who
appreciate how and why the text in front of them is shaped in the way
that it is. An effective reading strategy in history might include features
such as:
74
Curriculum Perspectives and Planning for Learning
" consistent teacher pre-checking of text material and calculation of
reading age to ensure pupils encounter historical text in a planned,
progressive way;
" a focus upon concept vocabulary and upon discursive connectives
which develop historical argument;
" the selective use of wordprocessing functions such as emboldening
and/or increasing point size to highlight the way historical text
works;
" the planned reading of material as homework to increase pupil
familiarity with the demands of the text using scissors and
highlighter pens to analyse how different kinds of historical text are
constructed;
" highlighting photocopied text to given criteria e.g. in search of key
phrases;
" persistent teacher questioning to accompany pupil reading to check
comprehension. This is particularly important when working with
dyslexic readers who may only have partially automatised the
decoding of print, and who may not yet be self-generating questions
as they read;
" teacher awareness of the different preferred reading styles of pupils,
and of the interactive nature of effective reading;
" teacher awareness of the difficulties posed by weasel words in
history such as class, state, party, church which have an abstract
historical usage in addition to their more familiar common concrete
meaning;
" teacher alertness to the difficulties posed by subject specific [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl chiara76.opx.pl
student with dyslexia needs to obtain practice in scanning and reading
to obtain a general overview or impression of the text. One way to
practice scanning is to give the learner a passage to read, but not give
them sufficient time to read the passage. This means they will be forced
to read only the key words.
These factors emphasise the importance of forward planning and
breaking challenging areas down into smaller components. This means
that the teacher will be able to identify which of these aspects present
72
Curriculum Perspectives and Planning for Learning
the most challenges and then work through the range of strategies that
can be used for these areas. Some of the strategies include those that
can be used for good teaching in general teaching in a multi-sensory
manner, helping to boost the students memory through the use of
mnemonics, personal spelling notebooks, the use of ICT to help with
reading and the use of the Internet to investigate topics. It can
sometimes be useful if the student with dyslexia can work in groups as
he/she can share skills with others in the group. The reading part can be
done by someone else in the group while the dyslexic person can deal
with some of the other aspects of the task.
Geography
Geography is a subject that can be accessed by dyslexic students. It has
the potential to be highly visual and the subject content relates to the
study of people and activities in the community and world around us.
In other words it is a subject that has direct relevance to living in today s
world. This means that information in geography can be accessed in a
variety of ways field trips, visually, visits, interviews and observation,
quite apart from using reading materials.
Additionally, the geography curriculum lays emphasis on the
enquiry approach in developing geographical knowledge and under-
standing. This can be noted in the statement below.
Geography develops knowledge of places and environments
throughout the world, an understanding of maps, and a range of inves-
tigative and problem-solving skills, both inside and outside the
classroom. As such it prepares pupils for adult life and employment.
(DfEE and QCA, 1999)
In geography, as in many of the other subject areas, alternatives to
the written answer can be used to a great extent. Students with dyslexia
usually have skills in the visual/kinaesthetic areas as opposed to the
auditory area. This means that they will learn more effectively by active
learning through projects, field trips and interviews. They may also work
well in groups. It is important to ensure that students with dyslexia can
present their work in a variety of ways using multi-media, including
tapes, videos and ICT.
It is important that geography is underpinned by understanding and
this is why active participatory learning is essential for dyslexic learners.
It is crucial that the skills and abilities of dyslexic students in the areas
of visual processing and understanding are not restricted because of lack
of access to print materials. It was interesting to note that in the
interviews conducted by Williams and Lewis (2001) with dyslexic
students studying geography, one of the recurrent themes reported by
the students was the lack of opportunities to show their knowledge.
73
Dyslexia and Inclusion
History
History is a subject that can be stimulating and engaging for the
dyslexic student. It essentially demands investigation and skills in
problem-solving, but too often the actual demands placed on the
student relate to memory demands and the learning of massive amounts
of facts. This of course need not be the case and it is necessary to
consider ways how the student might acquire the necessary information
without resorting to rote memorisation.
Dargie (2001) suggests that discussion holds the key to this. Talking
through an issue, he suggests, can help pupils rehearse the separate
components of a topic and develop an argument that they can then use
in written work.
At the same time the student with dyslexia can develop his/her own
timeline (such as that displayed in Timeline figure, see earlier in this
chapter). This can help the student memorise information within a
sequence an aspect that is challenging for students with dyslexia.
Contributing to a discussion exercise, or a group presentation, can
have positive consequences for the dyslexic learner s self-esteem.
Working in groups can also provide the learner with practice at experi-
menting and becoming more familiar with his/her own learning style. It
is important, according to Dargie, that students with dyslexia gain
experience in the range of specific skills needed for history such as the
ability to question, infer, deduce, propose, estimate, guess, judge and to
think.
Learning to talk about history can provide a launch pad for reading
and writing about history. Similarly, paired homework, with an emphasis
upon pupils having to check that their partner can readily explain topic
vocabulary, can also provide the confidence to write. It is important to
plan and anticipate the types of difficulties the student with dyslexia
may experience in history. One example of this can be listening skills.
Listening skills can be enhanced by providing dyslexic pupils with topic
content in audio cassette form for individual use in Walkman-type
players. Many excellent audio resources exist for most history courses,
particularly those broadcast by the BBC. Although there are difficulties
in listening to audio programmes the practice can be beneficial, and
they can be valuable in helping individual learners rehearse topic
vocabulary before a lesson, or for reinforcement purposes.
According to Dargie (2001), it is also important that history
departments plan a reading strategy that seeks to create more self-
aware readers who understand the purpose of their reading and who
appreciate how and why the text in front of them is shaped in the way
that it is. An effective reading strategy in history might include features
such as:
74
Curriculum Perspectives and Planning for Learning
" consistent teacher pre-checking of text material and calculation of
reading age to ensure pupils encounter historical text in a planned,
progressive way;
" a focus upon concept vocabulary and upon discursive connectives
which develop historical argument;
" the selective use of wordprocessing functions such as emboldening
and/or increasing point size to highlight the way historical text
works;
" the planned reading of material as homework to increase pupil
familiarity with the demands of the text using scissors and
highlighter pens to analyse how different kinds of historical text are
constructed;
" highlighting photocopied text to given criteria e.g. in search of key
phrases;
" persistent teacher questioning to accompany pupil reading to check
comprehension. This is particularly important when working with
dyslexic readers who may only have partially automatised the
decoding of print, and who may not yet be self-generating questions
as they read;
" teacher awareness of the different preferred reading styles of pupils,
and of the interactive nature of effective reading;
" teacher awareness of the difficulties posed by weasel words in
history such as class, state, party, church which have an abstract
historical usage in addition to their more familiar common concrete
meaning;
" teacher alertness to the difficulties posed by subject specific [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]