Teaching phonics to students with visual recall difficulties

Hmmm…. what did they do with “intense phonics?” (I’m trying to figure ouit… what’s the missing link?) Sometimes these kiddos need things really multisensory — a motor action to go with everything — to help them make the connection.

Hi, I have been using a direct, concrete, multisensory, pencil-and-paper method that works with any text, any level. It helps the student learn the words that he/she needs to know. Email me if you would like me to send you copies of letters I exchanged with another teacher about the strategy. Anita [email protected]

For two years, we used a combination of Preventing Academic Failure, an adaptation of Orton, very multisensory and taught commonly known actions and sounds for each phoneme (ex. /b/ heartbeat ). We also did daily phonological awareness activities using many manipulatives and taught sight words. We used the Get Set, Get Ready, Go workbooks as well as another phonics book as well. And, students began using letter tiles to spell/read words as soon as possible.

These students learned very few sight words taught and still go through the alphabet starting with A - find the letter they want - and then produce the sound. While they know many of the sounds, they still do not know all after 2 years, 90 mins. minimum of activities per day. Obviously, with their system it makes it difficult for them to blend sounds to form words.

One student is from a bilingual home the other is not. Both students have similar problems identifying numbers, going through the number line to find the name of the number before them before attempting math problems.

Any thoughts?
Kelli

For two years, we used a combination of Preventing Academic Failure, an adaptation of Orton, very multisensory and taught commonly known actions and sounds for each phoneme (ex. /b/ heartbeat ). We also did daily phonological awareness activities using many manipulatives and taught sight words. We used the Get Set, Get Ready, Go workbooks as well as another phonics book as well. And, students began using letter tiles to spell/read words as soon as possible.

These students learned very few sight words taught and still go through the alphabet starting with A - find the letter they want - and then produce the sound. While they know many of the sounds, they still do not know all after 2 years, 90 mins. minimum of activities per day. Obviously, with their system it makes it difficult for them to blend sounds to form words.

One student is from a bilingual home the other is not. Both students have similar problems identifying numbers, going through the number line to find the name of the number before them before attempting math problems.

Any thoughts?
Kelli

What I use to pull things together is handwriting the letters — you say you are using letter tiles which are OK for visual training but don’t get the kinesthetic identification of the letter. I use markers and a whiteboard and oodles of paper, and make letters large and loose. As the student forms the letter, I say the sound and get the student to say the sound. We work into words and I *teach* blending directly by modelling it and having the student follow along.

When kids have a non-functional habit like tracking through the whole alphabet, I stop them. Just have them trace the letter and say the sound, period. At first they don’t like to let go of their coping mechanism, but when it isn’t really coping it’s better to interrupt it.

I don’ t believe in “sight words” as such, in general just means unguided and counterproductive running the eyes in circles and recognizing words from the back end; but I do teach high-frequency vocabulary. I teach the high-frequency words by tracking them left to right and sounding them out and spelling and writing them like any word, and just help the student with sounding vowel patterns they haven’t learned yet or with irregularities.
The materials I use for the high-frequency words are the *old* Ladybird Key Words readers 1a, 1b through 6a, 6b, recently reprinted and available through Penguin.uk (note that’s .uk, NOT .com); also if you can get your hands on them the workbooks that go with levels 1 to 6.
The advantage of this approach is that the child can read real books with “stories” (OK, the plots are nearly nonexistent, but that is not the point here). The books have real sentences, hundreds and thousands of running words in real sentences, and enough repetition of the key words that they come out your ears BUT in continually different contexts so it’s really reading and not memorization or guessing, and then even more repetition and writing the words in the workbooks. Except for a few British phrasings the sentences are natural so the child feels a natural connection between reading and oral language (a real problem in many decodable plans which are so artificial that even as an adult I have trouble with them.)

This combination of (1) direct modelling especially of sounding and blending (2) tying the kinesthetic to the oral — form the letter, with correct directionality, stress direction and consistency *and* say the sound as you write (3) absolute consistency, every word is analyzed left to right by sounds, period, and (4) real continuous reading of real sentences with the high-frequency texts — has worked with a number of non-readers aged from seven to eighteen that I have worked with. No miracle cures, but results usually start to show within five to ten hours of tutoring.

Kelli,

Take a look at Seeing Stars by Lindamood-Bell. You’ll find some good strategies in there. www.lblp.com

Janis

The use of multisensory tools could be a very positive experience. We use a “word/card” game called Deal A Word and it has been very effective in our SpEd program. You can e-mail me at [email protected] if you would like more information.

Sheila

Phonics is a left brain task and visual recal is a right brain task. It’s very unusual to be poor at both. Dyslexics are left brain deficient by definition which is why phonics takes so long.

At the Edinburgh Centre for Accelerated learning in the 1980’s we developed a series of WHOLEBRAIN learning techniques to combat this problem of the underdeveloped left hemisphere.

Wholebrain Learning is right brain dominant (visual) and this carries the weaker left brain (auditory) and helps it to develop. All our techniques are designed to do this, at the same time raising confidence and self esteem, which all the research has shown is essential to the learning process.

To help the girls mentioned in the first post I would suggest the Magic Garden technique to help relax them, build confidence and develop their visualisation ability. Nearly all cases of poor visualisation in my experience comes down to anxiety. Cure that and we cure many other side issues as well, everything from bedwetting to exam nerves.

The Internal Eyescan is a visually based technique for spellings and tables and has 7 year old dyslexics spelling psychiatrist backwards and forwards in under 5 minutes during the first session. (backwards to strenghten the visualisation process and make them realsie just how smart they actually are)

What you really want to be looking at is the very simple Repeat Reading technique which is based on how we learned to talk as toddlers. It’s stress free and the kids love it because they see improvements from day one.

Check it out: www.edinburghstudies.co.uk

Brian Hill MA (Edin)

My son was poor at both phonics and visual recall so kids like this do exist. Vision therapy helped with the visual recall—before we did it he would not recognize words he’d seen just a few minutes earlier. We also did Seeing Stars by Lindamood Bell-probably the best program around for kids who don’t automatically “see” words in their heads.

Beth