Using ipods to help reading fluency

I came upon this great blog by a computer whiz who's explaining to less wired-up reading teachers how we can use ipods in class. I'm sure all manner of adaptations are feasible and intend to try some.

Update:

A site you can join to download audiobooks onto your ipod, or onto your computer for direct listening or downloading in segments onto your ipod, is www.audible.com. It costs around $14 a month with a cheaper rate for the first 3 months. Advantage=you can get all the latest titles.

For loaning CDs and DVDs don't forget your library. They have catalogues and you can order titles that aren't currently on their shelves. Advantage= it's free.

Hey, I think I have dyslexia

So here's a conversation I had yesterday, and I should add that I have this kind of conversation a lot. -I'm telling a colleague about this new blog when a student, sitting within ear range, strikes up this chat:

"Dyslexia? I think I have that. I'm always reversing letters and I put words in the wrong place in my sentences. My thinking's like that too. I sort of mix my thoughts up. Why's that? Do you think I have dyslexia? Should I do something?"

"Hmmm. Have you ever been tested?"

"No. I'm not sure about that, the whole thing about people knowing. What would people think if they knew? I don't know."

"Well, there's a few things to weigh up. You can get a lot of extra help in the disability unit, like specialised tutoring and extra time to take tests, but to get that help you have to show proof that you have dyslexia, or some disability, and to show that, you have to get assessed. And assessment can be expensive. The good news is that the people in the disability unit can connect you with someone who can diagnose you for free or for a relatively small fee (you may get quicker attention if you pay). The other thing to know is that college staff must keep your details strictly confidential. The disability unit can't disclose anything about you without your permission. Let's say, hypothetically, that you get diagnosed with dyslexia. You can choose to get extra help in the disability unit at college or decide to keep the information to yourself and forgo the help. Maybe you decide to get help in the disability unit but not disclose your info to your professors. After college, you may disclose at your workplace or not. The point is that you have the right to confidentiality. There are benefits to letting people know you have dyslexia but, conversely, you may feel that there's a stigma involved.

What's YOUR experience of getting an assessment or not?

Discovering the strength of syllables

Syllables, chunks or parts; whatever you call them, are really, really helpful both for reading and spelling. Here's why. The single, most agreed upon characteristic of dyslexia is difficulty with phonemes. What's a phoneme? - A sound/ spelling chunk. Chunks like ank, ill and ick are phonemes and most dyslexics have trouble with the little phonemes that sound alike.

Many of my students can read complex text and give great oral presentations, but start to palpitate if I ask them to spell a couple of itsy bitsy chunks like est and ast. So we spend a lot of time hearing those sounds and after that, spelling them. What exactly is so hard about those phonemes? -Answer:  Mostly, the vowels.

In order to read and spell well you must get to grips with the short and long vowel sounds, hearing them and then spelling them. Start off by getting a handle on the short vowel sounds (apple, egg, income, olive, up). If you feel embarrassed with words like pat and pet, hang in there because you'll find that a whole bunch, in fact whole bunches and bunches, of long words are made up wholly or in part by short-vowel chunks. Spell these words out a few times so you feel the short vowel chunks, or syllables, for yourself. Be sure to sound out, not spell out, those chunks -this is key to being able to transfer the learning to other words.

1. invested in/ves/ted
2. collected col/lec/ted
3. badminton bad/min/ton
4. picnic pic/nic
5. inspected in/spec/ted
6. contest con/test
7. disrupt dis/rupt
8. magnet mag/net

Welcome to the Dyslexia Cafe

Welcome to the quiet, yet noble, opening of the Dyslexia Cafe. I'm Tracey Wood and I'm hoping to stir up a cafe-like tone here and impart some down to earth, practical information about dyslexia. Why? Because I teach in a city college in Boston and every few days have sensational sessions with my students, or feel an awesome tip rattling around in my head, and would like to free that premium brain space by jotting down and sharing the news. Oh, and just so that you feel comfortable about my credibility, I should tell you that I'm a literacy specialist, and the author of four, at the risk of sounding immodest, fairly big-name books, including, ta da, Overcoming Dyslexia for Dummies. Enough said. Welcome, and here goes.