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identified as important, but since dyslexic children often have strong visual memories, it is worth starting with some visual techniques. Let’s take colour coding as an example. A different colour should be allotted to each specific theme or subject. For example, pupils could highlight key vocabulary in red, information on location in blue, historical time periods in yellow, environment in green, etc. Kay says, “this will help to reduce the cognitive load, because pupils are not writing long sentences, but are using key words, colours and images, which are quicker and less mentally taxing”. Matching labels can be placed on resources, or pages within project materials, enabling children to quickly identify those sections. As they create more work within those areas, they can file the material under the corresponding colours. Colour-coded cards or shapes containing very short notes can also help children organise their written work. By manipulating and moving the cards around, they can create a list of notes organising their thoughts, which then just have to be copied out for later use. Method and manner Kay believes that the biggest problem dyslexic children face relates to the way in which they process information. The written word is much harder for pupils with dyslexia to manage, and can affect overall comprehension. They also find it hard to listen and write at the same time, often making it hard to concentrate and remember information. “Children receiving specialist one-to-one tutoring at The Dyslexia Association, particularly those with working memory and processing difficulties, benefit greatly from targeted strategies such as mind mapping and flow charts,” Kay adds. Teachers need to find ways to make connections on a step-by-step basis between what the child already knows and the new information. To do this, it is essential to identify what the child already understands, say, about fire engines, and then identify what information they need to add in order to create a project exploring the work of fire crews. Break it down There are many teaching strategies that we can utilise when teaching note-taking and information processing. Attempting to introduce dyslexic children to every technique in one lesson is likely to confuse rather than help, so it is better to deal with the subject over a period of weeks. This enables a different technique to be tried in turn, and for you to encourage children to focus in on the strategy that they find most effective. “There are lots of assistive technology programs available for younger children, and the market is forever changing,” says Kay. “At The Dyslexia Association we try to maintain a catalogue of available interventions that are technology-based. They all depend on the type of intervention the class are concentrating on – for example, it might be spelling or phonological awareness.” To get more information about the resources available from the Dyslexia Association, visit dyslexia. uk.net/services TP Angela Youngman is a freelance journalist. basic questions highlighting the when, where, who, why , what and how immediately zeros in on key points. Taking each in turn and identifying the answer allows pupils to create a basic informational structure. For example, when children are asked to create a story about animals, basic questions could cover: Where is the story based – in a zoo, the countryside, overseas? Who are the animal characters? Why are they important? What is the problem they have to solve? How do they solve the problem? It’s also beneficial to use wide-lined paper to assist with writing, along with providing clear headings for information you’d like pupils to cover. Once the child has become used to working with headings, they should learn to choose them for themselves. The next task is to find a way to outline this key information within a written document. There are a variety of ways to organise the information the child has 3 TOP RESOURCES FOR DYSLEXIA Downloadable top tips leaflet from Bradford Council on assisting dyslexic pupils in the classroom: tinyurl.com/ tp-BradfordDyslexia A five-minute film in which dyslexic children in KS2 and KS3 describe their troubles with writing. Plus, practical tips on how to support them, from BBC Teach: tinyurl.com/ tp-DyslexiaWriting An investigation into whether dyslexia overlays actually work, and how to use them for the best outcomes: tinyurl. com/tp-Overlays F EATURE S S END www.teachwire.net | 41