Standardised testing of reading and spelling skills Analysis of written and narrative skills Individualised programs of intervention - reading/spelling/writing Systematic phonics and vocabulary programs (Cracking the ABC code) Secondary English support - Comprehension and Vocabulary VCE English text comprehension and essay writing support
Literacy
As a dual-qualified speech pathologist and teacher I have a range of skills and strategies which allow me to assist students with literacy learning. My techniques generally build on what the child may have learned at school but involve very specific and direct instruction about the sounds and letter patterns in words. Systematic synthetic phonics approaches have been demonstrated to have the most impact with children who have continued to struggle with literacy learning. Multi-Sensory Learning (MSL) strategies involve saying, hearing and doing a task in order to input information in a variety of ways to enhance processing and memory. This may be as simple as writing and saying, highlighting letters or manipulating counters or magnetic letters. MSL strategies have been shown to assist students with attention and memory difficulties. Mnemonic strategies can also assist with spelling and letter pattern retention. YouTube clips from the UK website Nessy and other educational websites are used to supplement these teaching strategies and can make learning enjoyable and more memorable.
Building students' understanding of syllable types and how to divide syllables according to long and short vowel patterns is pivotal part of The Spalding Program (The Writing Road to Reading) and Orton Gillingham methods both of which inform my literacy interventions. Syllable division assists students to develop a range of ways to attack an unknown multi-syllabic words. 'ChimpFu' is a favourite app on my iPad which reinforces these skills and is often used with the upper primary-aged students. Later primary and early secondary aged students also benefit greatly from exposure and discussion of common prefixes and suffixes. Too often school tasks relating to these important concepts are 'lost' within a spelling or grammar book, or are set as a homework tasks, where students are focused on the answer and getting the page done rather than understanding. Improved understanding of prefixes and suffixes, along with Latin and Greek root words can open up a world of further vocabulary for a struggling student by making links between words of similar meaning. Building knowledge of the 'meaning' parts of language or morphemes provides significantly more 'bang for the buck' than traditional spelling word list learning.
Further Language Assessment
While literacy difficulties are often the area that cause parents to seek assistance, sometimes there may be an underlying receptive (understanding of spoken language) or expressive (use of language) language component which means that the literacy learning cannot have its intended impact. In these cases, it is important to take advantage of the 'other side' of my professional expertise and seek a full language assessment. A language assessment will 'unpack' the specific areas of difficulty. An assessment may uncover a lower than expected understanding of vocabulary or instructional language which needs to be addressed in order to improve overall functioning in the classroom. Poor understanding and use of grammar often has a direct impact on the ability to produce written language as the child is unable to determine if their writing 'sounds right' even after re-reading it. A comprehensive language assessment will determine if the priority for your child is actually language or literacy based, or whether a combination approach of language and literacy therapy is indicated. Therapy to improve language comprehension can focus on recognising the main idea or the interpretation of inference in texts. It can provide opportunities for supported retelling of familiar texts or events and the development of summarising strategies.
VCE English Support
For VCE English students, the challenge is to 'unpack the question' and answer it, while structuring an essay with appropriate evidence. Working with the acronym TEEL, which students have often come across but do not fully understand, we analyse texts to find the topic sentence, the evidence, explanation and finally the link back to the question or into the next paragraph. Colour coding their own or sample essays often brings an 'aha moment' of "Oh, I've been doing too much explaining" or "That's why the teacher says I'm retelling the story." Secondary students and those undertaking further education in English can benefit from targeted sessions linked to the particular texts they are studying.
Systematic synthetic phonics and vocabulary programs
Cracking the ABC Code Australian psychologist and educator Dr Lillian Fawcett has produced an amazing set of programmed workbooks that use Multi-Sensory Strategies (MSL) across reading/spelling, editing, writing creatively and reading comprehension. For some students these provide the structure needed to focus on developing knowledge systematically. However a commitment to targeted follow-up homework tasks is essential to produce timely improvements. You may be interested to investigate Lillian's website at:
http://crackingtheabccode.com
Literacy sessions attract the same fees as speech pathology as this is part of a Speech-Language Pathologist's scope of practice, although specific therapists may have different levels of expertise in this area. The cross over between language and dyslexia is an area of special interest for me and one in which I frequently undertake further professional development and reading.