Dean Kindig and Moira Prister

Students leave clues to their learning styles –and deficits– in their word reading, spelling, writing, behavior–everything. Here are some things to look for!

SPELLING CLUES TO:

Auditory Deficits (Teach More Visually)

1. Substitutes t for d, f for v, sh for ch
2. Leaves vowels out of 2 syllable words (ktchp)
3. Gets beginnings and ends correct, misses middles
4. Confuses vowels, substitutes vowels
5. Omits 2^nd letter of blends (bed for bled)
6. Uses synonyms instead of dictated word
7. Omits word endings (ed, s, ing)
8. Takes wild guesses

Visual Deficits (Teach More Auditorially)

1. Omits middles of words (hapy for happy)
2. Correct letters, wrong sequence (hte for the)
3. Reversals (2 for s, b for d, hrut for hurt)
4. Inverts n, m, r, b, p etc.
5. Mixes uppercase with lowercase (once learned)

 WORD READING CLUES TO:

          Auditory Deficits (Teach More Visually)

1. Can’t rapidly give letter sounds (once learned)
2. Can’t rapidly name colors
3. Takes wild guess at words
4. Substitutes for meaning (“house” for home)
5. Substitutes one sound for another (esp. vowels)
6. Can’t readily blend sounds together
7. Can’t segment word, tell # of sounds in “met”

Visual Deficits  (Use More Auditory Approaches)

1. Unable to read words quickly if timed (1 sec. ea.)
2. Discerns the beginning but “loses” the middle
3. Reversals (“was” for saw)
4. inversions (“me” for we)
5. Unable to discern fine differences (“ship” for snip)
6. Additions (“dogs” for dog)
7. Excessive sounding of sight words (“sah-id” for said

 ORAL READING CLUES TO:

          Auditory Deficits (Use More Visual or Motor Approaches)

1. Mispronunciations (“pisghetti”, “liberry”, “chimley”)
2. Wild guesses
3. When stuck, unable to sound it out
4. Poor in blending the sounds together
5. Substitutes synonyms (“mommy” for mother)
6. Substitutes “a” for the (on a consistent basis)

 Visual Deficits (Use More Auditory or Oral Approaches)

1. Word by Word Reading, Poor Phrasing
2. Unable to keep place, skipping lines/ parts of lines
3. Insertions that don’t change the meaning (adding “the”)
4. Repetitions in attempt to get meaning
5. Reads through punctuation, often distorting the meaning
6. Reversals of letters, words, numbers
7. Inversions of letters (u for n,  b for p)
8. Sounds initial sound correctly, misses the rest of the word (“surprise” for something)

 BEHAVIORAL CLUES TO:

          Auditory Deficits

1. Turns one ear toward the speaker
2. Fails to answer his name from behind
3. Voice excessively loud, soft or monotone
4. Excessively asks for words/directions repeated
5. Difficulty repeating a clapped sequence
6. Difficulty following more than 1 step directions
7. Unable to pay attention with background noise
8. Unable to tell when sounds are alike or different
9. Unable to add or subtract sounds from words (“Say mat, but don’t say /m/”)(“Say mat, but don’t say /m/, say /f/”)

  Visual Deficits  (Use More Auditory Approaches)

1. Squinting, redness, watering of eyes, excessive blinking
2. Crossing of eyes (look from behind book)
3. Eyes too close to paper, leaning to one side while writing
4. Difficulty completing work on “busy-looking” worksheet
5. Difficulty copying from board (far-pt.) or paper (near-pt.)
6. Unable to reproduce bead pattern, sequence of letters, #’s
7. Unable to copy 3 acts in sequence (toe-knee-nose)
8. Successive reproductions of original letter get worse
9. Poor visual planning (margins, edges, layout not L to R, Top to Bottom)
10. Frequent erasures

We needed a new countdown timer for reading hockey.

http://www.online-stopwatch.com/stay-on-top-stopwatch/  was the best. We chose Download exe file and ran it from our Downloads folder.

When I did reading group, I noted that one student  in our group was forming the words on her lips as she read silently. A suggested Rx for that is to do “phrase-slashing” drills now and then. Copy a couple pages of an upcoming chapter, and have the kids divide the reading by phrases, /putting a slash/ between the groups / of words / that go together./ This speeds up every child’s reading, as they begin to abandon the word. by. word. reading. and take up reading in thought-units.

Another student couldn’t focus when there was background noise. Meeting in a nearby alcove, using a Whisperphone, noise-cancelling headphones, and discussing homework environment with parents at conference, etc. would be a good idea.

Jay showed me a site that’s perfect for doing in-classroom raps , allowing the musical, oral way for kids to show what they know in a fun way.

It’s called Incredibox. These groovy guys will provide the backbeat for student poems, raps, or group choral reading! Enjoy!

http://www.incredibox.com/en/play#

http://whenisgood.net/Create

WOW! Is this easy! Great! Better than Doodle, I think…”Paint over the dates and/or times that work for you and you’re done.

https://www.google.com/search?biw=984&bih=507&tbm=isch&q=birds+drawing&revid=1278458727

This is a great collection of birds, all line art for drawing, in case you are one of Bart White’s Harley Bird fans! They go to Braddock Bay to observe birds on Saturday October 12 2013 in the morning. Contact Bart if you would like to go.

I own a light box that teachers may use for tracing the birds–or any line art. To get line art of other objects, just Google it, click Images tab, click the “Search Tools” button, click “Type” and Line Drawing.

www.youtube.com/audiolibrary?feature=blog

YouTube has begun posting MP3 audio of royalty-free music. I use them for backing up video and Animotos. Hope the selection increases, but I found 8 songs worth downloading to my Video folder!

Does your learner occasionally skip a line, or re-read the same line twice? The problem is immature oblique and lateral muscles that make the return sweep to the next line a problem. This can still be a difficulty as late as 4th grade, but I’d recommend different solutions for different grades.

EZC Reader Strips help the 2nd-3rd grade learner maintain gaze on the line being read, and allow them to drop down with their eyes as they move the window down to the next line. You can use these for multiplication charts, too; use two different colors–yellow for the column and red for the row. Where the two strips intersect it turns orange, and that’s the answer! I have also used them to help kids answers in word searches.

4th or 5th Graders have to learn about ruler marks in fractional amounts, so this product, the EZC Ruler, serves a dual function.

1st graders, and occasionally younger readers, need a wider guide, and this EZC Reader serves the purpose.

If return sweep persists as a problem (still chronic in mid-3rd to mid-4th grade), insist on an eye doctor’s exam be done where the part of the eye exam is without drops. The eye drops immobilize the eye muscles (which is the actual problem), so the tests for “phorias and tropias” have to be done before the drops are put in. I’ve had dozens of parents tell me that they took their child to the eye doctor and they were told their eyes were fine. When I asked the doctor if phorias and tropias were checked, they weren’t.

Disc-O-Sits: What’s The Deal?

A disc-o-sit, disco seat, Balance Cushion, etc.—-It seems like all my kid does is bounce on it. Why is this such a good idea in class?

These inflatable cushions   are rubber  ~ 15″ diameter seat cushions with smooth tactile bumps, often just on one side. They enable your learner to work on postural training while seated, or balance activities in seated or standing positions. It centers the learners over themselves (vestibular function), and helps burn excess energy at the same time. It’s ideal for all ages of students who require dynamic seated activities. This is the best price I have seen.