What is Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a language-based learning difference. It affects the organization in the brain that controls the ability to process the way language is heard, spoken, read, or spelled. Dyslexia can also manifest in difficulties with working memory, attention, and organization.
Dyslexia can be genetic, and ranges on a continuum of mild to severe. It is important to keep in mind that people with dyslexia are not lacking in motivation or intelligence. In fact, they are typically average students. The International Dyslexia Association’s definition can be found on the IDA website. A shorter definition can be found on the Schenck School website and below.
In her desire to help find improved solutions to close the achievement gap, Kim Feller-Janus visited the Schenck School in Atlanta, Georgia.
How has Schenck School taught the neediest struggling readers – those with Dyslexia – to read and spell with great success for more than 60 years?
The visit to Schenck School along with visits to other schools that specialize in teaching students with Dyslexia served as an impetus for our team’s desire to similarly help Wisconsin children who are not reading at grade level.
Kim and her team will screen children as young as five years old to “catch them before they fall.”
Do You Have Dyslexia?
Take a quick Adult Assessment to find out if you may have Dyslexia! Use the Self-Assessment Tool by Fran Levin Bowman, M.Ed. & Vincent Culotta, Ph.D. at the IDA website.
The Science of Reading
The Science of Reading can refer to both Structured Literacy, a way to instruct young students to read, as well as to Brain Research, the scientific studies that show what happens in the brains of good readers versus less efficient readers. The brain research also discusses how teachers can help less efficient readers build new pathways to become better readers.
At Feller School, we know that all children can benefit from Structured Literacy, which refers to reading instruction based on a systematic and explicit understanding of language structure, including phonics. We also know that students who struggle with learning to read and/or have been identified as having Dyslexia will benefit significantly from a Structured Literacy approach that will help them become proficient readers and spellers. This approach includes learning the 75 basic phonograms and the 31 spelling rules.
In addition, it’s important to provide opportunities for our students to practice these skills in fun and meaningful ways. At Feller School, our students play card games, board games, active games, reading games, spelling games, and more, helping make learning fun!
Language is at the heart of everything we read and write. This is why our students work on phonemic and phonological awareness skills and practice the 44 sounds of our English language on a daily basis. Through practice and hard work, our students can build more efficient brain pathways. Brains are malleable and scientists around the world have known this approach is effective for decades. Unfortunately, this information has been slow in reaching the vast majority of our educators given that an alternate approach referred to as ‘whole language’ has long been the dominant approach taught at colleges and universities.
The Science of Reading is evident in our pedagogy, but we also know that it takes hours of teacher reflection, observation, and attention to help meet each student’s individual needs. Reading instruction is very complex. We assess our students regularly and adjust our instruction accordingly to ensure that every student is making progress. We are committed to equipping our students with the skills they need to read and spell with confidence! The Science of Reading can refer to both Structured Literacy, a way to instruct young students to read, as well as to Brain Research, the scientific studies that show what happens in the brains of good readers versus less efficient readers. The brain research also discusses how teachers can help less efficient readers build new pathways to become better readers.
The body of work referred to as the ‘science of reading’ is not an ideology, philosophy, political agenda, one-size-fits-all approach, program of instruction, nor a specific component of instruction. It is the emerging consensus from many related disciplines, based on literally thousands of studies, supported by hundreds of millions of research dollars, conducted across the world in many languages. These studies have revealed a great deal about how we learn to read, what goes wrong when students don’t learn, and what kind of instruction is most likely to work best for the most students. – Dr. Louisa Moats
Dr. Louisa Moats is the Director of Professional Development and Research Initiatives with Sopris West Educational Services. She directed the NICHD Early Reading Interventions Project in Washington, DC and worked on the California Reading Initiative as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar.
Research on the Brain
What does the BRAIN research tell us about reading?
Teachers can do something that brain surgeons cannot!
ACT: Our brains are not wired to read. We must be taught. Struggling readers and those identified as having dyslexia can learn to read with the proper reading instruction!
There is a plethora of information readily available for those interested in learning more about how our brains learn to read. The most important thing that we learned from the brain research is that everyone benefits from explicit, systematic, and structured literacy, but that it is CRITICAL for struggling readers and those identified as having dyslexia or other language-based challenges.
At Feller School, we know how to teach our students based on the brain research. We have the experience and patience to support our students with all of the instruction and practice that they need. Building new brain pathways will lead to more efficient reading and improved spelling for ALL of our students!
Want to learn more? Take a look at these publications.
The Reading Brain: How Your Brain Helps You Read, And Why It Matters by Martha Burns, PhD
Reading and the Brain Neurobiology, Harvard Education
Language at the Speed of Sight: How We Read, Why SO Many Can’t, and What Can be Done About It by Mark Seidenberg
Reading and the Brain by Stanislas Dehaene
Reading and Wronging Language at the Speed of Sight: How We Read, Why SO Many Can’t and and What Can be Done About It by Mark SeidenBerg
See Brain. See Brain Read. Reading Instruction Changes the Brain