Supporting Students with Dyslexia and Language Difficulties:
A Comprehensive Course for Mainstream and Special Needs Teachers, Educational Therapists and Parents
Focusing on READING, WRITING and SPELLING
COURSE DATE
19 April 2023 (9 am to 5 pm)
Course Fee
Normal Fees: S$580
SkillsFuture Credit: Can use fully or partially
NTUC UTAP: Reimbursement of 50% of course fees (up to $250/year)
NCSS VCF Pre- Approval Funding: $174
Schools & Ministries: e-invoicing via vendor.gov
Delivery Mode
In-Person. Classroom
about the trainer
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The workshop will be facilitated by Ms Ruth Chew. Ruth has a Master’s degree in Psychology from the University of Glasgow and a Postgraduate Certificate in Psychology and Neuroscience from King’s College London. Ruth currently works as an educational therapist and specialist tutor, providing learning support for students with Dyslexia, ADHD, ADD and Language Processing Disorder. She has worked in the education industry for many years, and has extensive experience teaching and working with students with learning disabilities.
Ruth has painstakingly compiled the strategies that she has found most useful and effective into a framework that can be used with students of varying ages and abilities. |
What Participants Say
What I like most about this course is the practical tips that can be applied easily. The trainer gave clear instructions and showed demonstration videos - A Parent
Reading strategies were particularly useful - Subject Head of English Language in a local school
The 2 most important things that I took away is (1) attempt to identify with what children with dyslexia feels when they struggle to read and write, (2) strategies to teach and engage students who exhibit symptoms of dyslexia. What can I apply back in my workplace is to equip volunteers with the knowledge and skills to teach the children to read, spell and comprehend - Programme Executive responsible for learning programmes in a social service agency
After this course, I will incorporate more multi-sensory activities to help students better internalise and differentiate sounds and words. Learning from the trainer, when students make spelling errors, I will isolate these errors to visually aid them to correct them by themselves - Programme Executive in a social service agency
Reading strategies were particularly useful - Subject Head of English Language in a local school
The 2 most important things that I took away is (1) attempt to identify with what children with dyslexia feels when they struggle to read and write, (2) strategies to teach and engage students who exhibit symptoms of dyslexia. What can I apply back in my workplace is to equip volunteers with the knowledge and skills to teach the children to read, spell and comprehend - Programme Executive responsible for learning programmes in a social service agency
After this course, I will incorporate more multi-sensory activities to help students better internalise and differentiate sounds and words. Learning from the trainer, when students make spelling errors, I will isolate these errors to visually aid them to correct them by themselves - Programme Executive in a social service agency
Course Overview
This course provides an overview of the structured literacy approach and the recommended teaching strategies to support dyslexic students and students with language-related learning disabilities in both the classroom and small group (or one-to-one) settings. Participants will learn how to adapt instructional strategies and materials to help students learn more effectively in the areas of reading, writing and spelling.
Part A provides a broad understanding of dyslexia and language-related learning difficulties. Part B discusses differentiated instruction and classroom strategies. Part C teaches phonemic awareness and reading strategies for early/struggling readers. Part D discusses strategies to improve reading comprehension and fluency. Part E teaches spelling and writing.
This course is distinctively comprehensive in two aspects:
Firstly, the range of intervention strategies covered in this course is comprehensive. Participants will learn a spectrum of interventions from effective teaching strategies to well-known evidence-based interventions like the Orton-Gillingham Approach and the Lindamood-Bell method. As the targeted areas of intervention can vary based on the presenting profile and age of the student, the course covers a diverse range of strategies for different groups of students.
Secondly, the course will also cover teaching strategies and differentiated instruction so that teachers will learn how to best support these students in the classroom.
After this workshop, participants will be able to use an individualised and eclectic approach that instructs their choice and use of intervention strategies, depending on the needs of the students and the teaching environment.
Target Audience
The audience will find these following topics directly useful and applicable to their work:
This also means that those parts that are not directly relevant to the specific audience group will serve to spur such participants to extend their service beyond their current comfort zone. For instance, mainstream school teachers will be challenged to learn about more specialised intervention skills that are usually conducted in learning support or educational therapy sessions.
Duration
1 day
Workshop Topics:
Part A: Understanding Dyslexia and Language Difficulties
Part B: Differentiated Instruction and Classroom Strategies
Part C: Early/Struggling Readers: Teaching Phonemic Awareness and Reading
Part D: Strategies to Improve Reading Comprehension and Fluency
Part E: How to Teach Spelling and Writing
References
Christodoulou, J. A., Cyr, A., Murtagh, J., Chang, P., Lin, J., Guarino, A. J., Hook, P., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2017). Impact of intensive summer reading intervention for children with reading disabilities and difficulties in early elementary school. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 50(2), 115–127. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219415617163
Farrell, M. (2021). Supporting disorders of learning and co-ordination: Effective provision for dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and dyspraxia (3rd ed.). Taylor & Francis.
Johns, B. H., & Lerner, J. W. (2013). Learning disabilities and related disabilities: Strategies for success (13th ed.). Wadsworth Publishing.
Murdaugh, D. L., Maximo, J. O., Cordes, C. E., O’Kelley, S. E., & Kana, R. K. (2017). From word reading to multisentence comprehension:
Improvements in brain activity in children with autism after reading intervention. NeuroImage. Clinical, 16, 303–312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2017.08.012
Ortiz Lienemann, T., & Reid, R. (2014). Strategy instruction for students with learning disabilities. Guilford Publications.
Pierangelo, R., & Giuliani, G. A. (2013). Teaching students with learning disabilities: A step-by-step guide for educators. Corwin Press.
Sayeski, K. L., Earle, G. A., Davis, R., & Calamari, J. (2019). Orton Gillingham: Who, what, and how. Teaching Exceptional Children, 51(3), 240–249. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040059918816996
Smith, K. (2022). Teach reading with Orton-gillingham: Early reading skills: A companion guide with dictation activities, decodable passages, and other supplemental materials for struggling readers and students with dyslexia. Ulysses Press.
Stevens, E. A., Austin, C., Moore, C., Scammacca, N., Boucher, A. N., & Vaughn, S. (2021). Current state of the evidence: Examining the effects of Orton-Gillingham reading interventions for students with or at risk for word-level reading disabilities. Exceptional Children, 87(4), 397–417. https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402921993406
Toole, J. (2018). Visualization skills for reading comprehension. Happy Frog Press.
This course provides an overview of the structured literacy approach and the recommended teaching strategies to support dyslexic students and students with language-related learning disabilities in both the classroom and small group (or one-to-one) settings. Participants will learn how to adapt instructional strategies and materials to help students learn more effectively in the areas of reading, writing and spelling.
Part A provides a broad understanding of dyslexia and language-related learning difficulties. Part B discusses differentiated instruction and classroom strategies. Part C teaches phonemic awareness and reading strategies for early/struggling readers. Part D discusses strategies to improve reading comprehension and fluency. Part E teaches spelling and writing.
This course is distinctively comprehensive in two aspects:
Firstly, the range of intervention strategies covered in this course is comprehensive. Participants will learn a spectrum of interventions from effective teaching strategies to well-known evidence-based interventions like the Orton-Gillingham Approach and the Lindamood-Bell method. As the targeted areas of intervention can vary based on the presenting profile and age of the student, the course covers a diverse range of strategies for different groups of students.
Secondly, the course will also cover teaching strategies and differentiated instruction so that teachers will learn how to best support these students in the classroom.
After this workshop, participants will be able to use an individualised and eclectic approach that instructs their choice and use of intervention strategies, depending on the needs of the students and the teaching environment.
Target Audience
The audience will find these following topics directly useful and applicable to their work:
- Mainstream school teachers: Parts A, B, D, E
- Allied Educators in schools: Part A, C (if dealing with younger students), D, E
- Educational Therapists: A, B, C, D, E
- Persons leading reading programmes in social service agencies: A, C, D, E
- Parents: A, C, D, E
This also means that those parts that are not directly relevant to the specific audience group will serve to spur such participants to extend their service beyond their current comfort zone. For instance, mainstream school teachers will be challenged to learn about more specialised intervention skills that are usually conducted in learning support or educational therapy sessions.
Duration
1 day
Workshop Topics:
Part A: Understanding Dyslexia and Language Difficulties
- What is Dyslexia?
- Differences between Typical and Dyslexic Reader
- Causes and Prevalence of Learning Disabilities
- Characteristics of Students with Dyslexia and Language Difficulties
- Importance of Structured Literacy
Part B: Differentiated Instruction and Classroom Strategies
- Direct instruction and Explicit Teaching
- Adapting Instructional Strategies and Materials
- Teaching Language Skills: Grammar and Vocabulary
- Planning and Organisational Strategies for Writing
Part C: Early/Struggling Readers: Teaching Phonemic Awareness and Reading
- Visual, Auditory and Blending Drills
- Introducing New Phonogram
- Using Decodable Readers
- Non-Phonetic Red Words
Part D: Strategies to Improve Reading Comprehension and Fluency
- Reciprocal Teaching
- Concept Imagery and Visualization Skills to improve Reading Comprehension
- Teaching Higher-Level Language Skills: Knowledge of Text Structure, Inference-Making, Comprehension Monitoring
Part E: How to Teach Spelling and Writing
- Teaching Spelling & Dictation
- Spelling Patterns and Rules
- Teaching Prefixes, Suffixes and Root Words
- Error Correction for Spelling and Writing
References
Christodoulou, J. A., Cyr, A., Murtagh, J., Chang, P., Lin, J., Guarino, A. J., Hook, P., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2017). Impact of intensive summer reading intervention for children with reading disabilities and difficulties in early elementary school. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 50(2), 115–127. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219415617163
Farrell, M. (2021). Supporting disorders of learning and co-ordination: Effective provision for dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and dyspraxia (3rd ed.). Taylor & Francis.
Johns, B. H., & Lerner, J. W. (2013). Learning disabilities and related disabilities: Strategies for success (13th ed.). Wadsworth Publishing.
Murdaugh, D. L., Maximo, J. O., Cordes, C. E., O’Kelley, S. E., & Kana, R. K. (2017). From word reading to multisentence comprehension:
Improvements in brain activity in children with autism after reading intervention. NeuroImage. Clinical, 16, 303–312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2017.08.012
Ortiz Lienemann, T., & Reid, R. (2014). Strategy instruction for students with learning disabilities. Guilford Publications.
Pierangelo, R., & Giuliani, G. A. (2013). Teaching students with learning disabilities: A step-by-step guide for educators. Corwin Press.
Sayeski, K. L., Earle, G. A., Davis, R., & Calamari, J. (2019). Orton Gillingham: Who, what, and how. Teaching Exceptional Children, 51(3), 240–249. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040059918816996
Smith, K. (2022). Teach reading with Orton-gillingham: Early reading skills: A companion guide with dictation activities, decodable passages, and other supplemental materials for struggling readers and students with dyslexia. Ulysses Press.
Stevens, E. A., Austin, C., Moore, C., Scammacca, N., Boucher, A. N., & Vaughn, S. (2021). Current state of the evidence: Examining the effects of Orton-Gillingham reading interventions for students with or at risk for word-level reading disabilities. Exceptional Children, 87(4), 397–417. https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402921993406
Toole, J. (2018). Visualization skills for reading comprehension. Happy Frog Press.
