Dyslexia and the Nonsense Word Conundrum ◯ DTI

Dyslexia and the Nonsense Word Conundrum

Dyslexia Training Institute: 3.31.2017 by Dr. Kelli Sandman-Hurley

The use of nonsense words in intervention programs for reading and spelling to struggling readers is ubiquitous. It is ubiquitous in assessments too. Publishers use the rationale that nonsense words help the teacher and assessor know whether or not the student is able to transfer what they have learned about decoding to new words and this signals progress. The problem with this is twofold. First, many of the nonsense words that are used are not possible letter strings in the English language. (For a detailed and well-support description of this, please read Gina Cooke’s article). Secondly, the English writing system is based on meaning before phonology, so when a student is reading a word with no meaning, it can be impossible to really determine what the correct pronunciation is. In teacher trainings, we always ask the group, how do you pronounce the letter string *? The answer we always get is /chom/ or [ʧɑm] in IPA. The problem with this answer, is that the correct answer is really, we can’t know what the correct pronunciation is until we know what the word is. In the case of a digraph like the meaning and etymology of the word will drive the pronunciation. Look at the following three common words: chip, machine and ache. Their histories drive their pronunciations, so how in the world can a student know which is correct?

Today I observed a very good teacher using letter tiles to teach spelling. She was dictating a list of real words and then veered into the nonsense word territory. What happened during this time is not inconsequential, it is downright confusing to students. Here is the list of words she dictated.  READ MORE >>

Dyslexia Virtual Conference

April 20 - May 8, 2020

Rewordify

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 8.7

Lexical Density: 55.8%

Total word count 278

Unique word count 155

21 hard words

Sentence count 17

Assistive Reading Tech ◯ Single Word Single Word ◯ Rewordify ◯ Text To Speech

Assistive Reading Technology

Single Word ◯ Rewordify ◯ Text To Speech

Speed Reading Apps

Rapid Serial Visual Presentation

This minimizes eye movement by displaying one word at a time in quick succession; the fastest setting is 3000 words a minute, for the bravest of us.

Accelareader

Readsy

Spreeder

Spritz

Sprint Reader - Speed Reading Extension

Sprint Reader is an easy to use speed reading Chrome extension.

Simply select text on a webpage, right-click and select 'Sprint read selected text' from the menu. This will launch the reader window, the selected text is displayed word-by-word in a fixed focal position. The duration of each slide is calculated based upon a word-per-minute (WPM) setting.

10 Speed Reading Apps To Help You Tackle Your TBR (To Be Read)

Book Riot: 10.29.2018 by Brandie Derusha

Rewordify.com

is powerful, free, online software that improves reading, learning, and teaching. Intelligently simplify difficult English, for faster comprehension

Effectively teach words, for building a better vocabulary

Help teachers save time and produce engaging lessons

Help improve learning outcomes

Text To Speech

TTSREADER - TEXT TO SPEECH ONLINE

Reads out loud any text with natural sounding voices

Free & simple, directly from your browser

Supports inline-editing as well as txt. files, pdf’s, ebooks, etc

Auto-saves so you can continue listening from where you left it

Natural Readers

Powerful Text-to-Speech for at home, work, or on the go

Upload text and documents or convert to mp3 to listen to anywhere anytime

Long Beach Library ◯ Center for Adaptive Technology ◯ WYNN Wizard

@LBCityLibrary

Center for Adaptive Technology

Long Beach Public Library

One of the many assistive devices available at the Center for Adaptive Technology at BJK Main is the WYNN Wizard. WYNN is a literacy tool that reads text out loud, highlights words as they're spoken & color-codes toolbars to support individuals w/ #dyslexia, dysgraphia & aphasia.

We provide adaptive hardware and software, library materials, and library staff to answer reference requests and assist with computers and technologies.

Many of these assistive technologies are also available at the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library.

Adaptive Software

JAWS

WYNN Wizard

WordQ + SpeakQ

ZoomText

Dwell Clicker 2

Dragon Naturally Speaking

Adaptive Hardware and Assistive Devices

Hearing Loops

Tracker Pro

Switch Click

Joystick + Rollerball Mouse

High-Contrast, Large Print, + Braille Keyboards

Interpretype (ITY)

Optelec Full Page Magnifier

Handheld Magnifiers

Power-Adjustable Workstations

READ MORE >>

GUNNING FOG INDEX: 19.46

punctuation marks: 4

words: 81

3+ syllable words: 23

Flashcards :: Amazingly Simple Technique Lets You Learn Anything in 5 Minute via Incs

The Ultimate List  

Best DIY Flashcard Apps

This Amazingly Simple Technique Lets You Learn Anything in 5 Minutes and Remember It Forever

Inc: 2.13.2018 by Minda Zetlin

If you're struggling to master a complex topic, a new language, or anything else that seems to strain your brain, Michael Nielsen has a suggestion for you: Try flashcards. Nielsen is a scientist and a research fellow at Y Combinator, and he's written books on such brain-straining topics as quantum computing and neural networks.

In a recent series of tweets, he explains his process and why he finds flashcards so useful. Silicon Valley insiders have been passing his advice along and asking for details about how he does it.

Nielsen says he first started memorizing flash cards (using an app called Anki, although there are lots of options) two years ago. Since then, he's memorized more than 9,000 flashcards, reviewing them while doing things like standing in line for coffee or riding in transit. He says he spends a total of about 20 minutes a day reviewing flashcards.

═════════►

Nielsen has a simple rule: If learning something could save him five minutes in the future, then he'll put whatever it is onto flashcards because it takes less than five minutes total to learn things this way.

1. Spaced repetition

This is what Nielsen sees as the reason for his success. Research has long shown that we absorb information better when it's repeated, but also when we have time to rest and reflect between study or practice times.  READ MORE >>

Healthy Living: Reading Activities for Healthy Choices via The READ Center

Healthy Living

Healthy Living: Reading Activities for Healthy Choices

The READ Center

Jennifer Goldberg, Nausha Brown-Chavez, Sarah Ramirez

The health literacy stories are designed to develop reading, writing, and reasoning skills in adults students, The stories emphasize learning to read about health topics, developing vocabulary, comprehension, and writing skills.

THERE ARE A TOTAL OF 10 UNITS:

1. Health Professionals

2. Emergencies

3. Self-Care and Non-Emergency Care

4. Preventative Care: Regular Check Ups and Making an Appointment

5. Talking to Professionals

6. Forms

7. Tests and Medications

8. Medications

9. Medications (drugs and alcohol)

10. Nutrition and Exercise

READ MORE >>

Let’s Make Better Slideshows via Cult of Pedagogy

@cultofpedagogy

Let’s Make Better Slideshows

Cult of Pedagogy: [Podcast 22:25]

OK, look. We need to have a talk. A lot of you are out there giving lectures, presentations, and workshops, and your slideshows need work. Maybe not all of them, but definitely most. I thought I got the message out there a few years ago when I urged people to read Presentation Zen, the book that forever changed my own slideshows. But I didn’t have much of an audience back then, and since that time I’ve seen far too many PowerPoints and other slideshow presentations that still appear to be suffering from some very fixable problems.

So I’m going back in. I’ve put together a list of seven things you can do to make your slideshows better. A lot better. Here we go.

1. PUT IT IN PRESENTATION MODE (PLEASE!!)

I can’t count the number of times I’ve sat down to listen to a presentation, and watched in horror as the presenter simply scrolled through the slides while still in editing mode, where the featured slide takes up about half the screen, the thumbnails of the other slides are visible on the left, and the editing toolbar is still visible across the top. No no no no nooooo!!!

In both PowerPoint and Google Slides, there’s a button you can click to put your slide deck in presentation mode, where the entire screen is filled with just one slide and the animations work as they are supposed to. Doing this gives the audience a rich, full-screen experience with each slide, one at a time, which is much more pleasing than looking at the back end of it all.

2. CUT WAY BACK ON YOUR TEXT

Slides are meant to supplement and enhance your presentation, to provide visual interest and add new dimensions to your message. If your presentation is going to be memorable, the audience should get something from both you AND the slides. The slides themselves shouldn’t BE the presentation.

This seems like common sense, but somehow we have arrived at a place where many, many presenters use the slideshow to deliver the whole presentation: They put ALL the information on the slides and assign themselves the role of simply dictating that information to the audience. Once your audience realizes this is what you’re going to do for every slide, they immediately start looking for ways to occupy their brains for the foreseeable future.

➧ Shorten your bullet points. Instead of writing long sentences or phrases on your slides, try sticking to just short phrases. Then use the notes panel to script out what you’re going to actually say.

➧ Make more slides. Take one slide that has a lot of information and spread that text over several slides, rather than cramming it all together on one.

➧ Create a handout. Many presenters and instructors want to put lots of information on their slides so they can provide those slides to students or audience members after the presentation, for reference.

3. UPDATE YOUR ASSETS

One of the simplest ways to improve your slideshows is to update outdated artwork and fonts.

═════════►

NEED SOME FRESH TEMPLATES?

I have just created a set of four slideshow templates that you might want to get for yourself. They’re available in PowerPoint for Windows and Google Slides. Each one contains 27 different slide designs, and they also come with a separate template for a 2-page handout, styled to look similar to the slideshow, so you can create a PDF to accompany your presentation.

The templates also come with a collection of video tutorials that show you exactly how to customize them for your use. Click on each design below to preview the whole template, or scroll to the bottom to get the bundle of all four designs at a discount!  READ MORE >>

Learn to Earn Toolkit via NCFL

Learn to Earn Toolkit

National Center for Families Learning

Use the Learn to Earn Toolkit to build skills to prepare you for the workforce. Through your training on the Learn to Earn Toolkit, you will:

➧ Create your personal account and profile

➧ Be introduced to 10 topic areas of learning for the workforce

➧ Learn specific lessons within each topic area

➧ Explore career possibilities

➧ Learn new vocabulary in context

What is the Learn to Earn Toolkit?

Learn to Earn Toolkit is a free online collection of articles that focus on work skills. Articles focus on ten skills that employers say are important for new employees to have. The skills are also ones that employers say many new employees do not have. There are a total of 30 articles at each level that focus on these ten skills. Adult students can read articles and take quizzes on their own. The topics can also be used in adult education or family learning programs. Instructors can track a learner’s progress, and learners can print a list of the skills they have learned.

What is included in the content?

Learn to Earn offers a topic overview for each of the ten focus skills. Skill overview pages include a short introduction to the skill, an activity to practice with a partner, and a link to explore for more information about a specific job that uses the skill. On each skill page, you can link to three lessons for deeper learning about specific concepts of that skill.

What is the grade level of the text on Learn to Earn Toolkit?

Intermediate texts on Learn to Earn Toolkit are written at an average 4.7 grade level. Advanced texts are written at an average 7.7 grade level. Grade levels were determined using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level.

How are the quizzes structured?

Each quiz consists of six content questions, one idiom question, and three vocabulary questions.

Choose a skill and start learning!

You’ll find an introduction to read for each skill. Read the overview, practice the skill, and explore more information about the topic. You will find three articles for each skill.

You’ll find vocabulary words to help you learn more. You can use the Word Wheel to see how many words you learn. Take a quiz after each article to add that skill to your work-related skills list.

✬ Critical Thinking

✬ English Language

✬ Oral Communication

✬ Reading Comprehension

✬ Teamwork

✬ Diversity

✬ Information Technology Application

✬ Professionalism

✬ Social Responsibility

✬ Written Communication

Easy News – June 2019 :: United Response

Easy News
June

Easy News – June 2019

United Response

Easy News (UK) is the first news magazine designed to be accessible for people with learning disabilities.

Features

Tragic fire at Notre-Dame cathedral

Deadly church bombs in Sri Lanka

Theresa May's resignation as Prime Minister

Wikileaks’ Julian Assange arrested

Quick news

New Royal baby

Climate change protests in London

First ever black hole picture taken

Previous issues

You can read every issue of Easy News, plus our Special Editions, in our archive

READ MORE >>

California Library Literacy Services Webinar :: Family Literacy

@infotweets

A California Library Literacy Services Webinar: Family Literacy

Infopeople: 3.29.2019

Webinar 1:

Getting Started: Laying the Groundwork for New Family Literacy Programming.

March 29, 2019 from 10am - 11am PDT

Natalie Cole, Library Programs Consultant, California State Library;

Amy Prevedel, Independent Literacy Contractor;

Kelly Tyler, Managing Librarian, Office of Education and Literacy, Los Angeles Public Library

Webinar 2:

Family Literacy Programming Goes to School: How our programs can help adult learners make a difference in the school lives of their children, from teacher conferences to homework help.

April 10, 2019 from 10am - 11am PDT

Sherry Drobner, Former Literacy Program Manager - LEAP, City of Richmond; Amy Prevedel, Independent Literacy Contractor;

Abigail Sims-Evelyn, Literacy Program Manager - LEAP, City of Richmond

Webinar 3:

Family Literacy 101: From Flyers to Food.

May 2, 2019 from 10am - 11am PDT,

Deborah Bernal, Literacy Coordinator, Fresno County Public Library;

Pat Jarvis, Literacy Services Coordinator, South San Francisco Public Library;

Amy Prevedel, Independent Literacy Contractor

Webinar 4:

Family Literacy on the Wild, Wild e-Frontier: Strategies for Raising Digitally Savvy Families.

June 4, 2019 from 10am - 11am PDT

Kim Noriega, Family Literacy Coordinator, READ/SanDiego - San Diego Public Library;

Amy Prevedel, Independent Literacy Contractor

So, you've got the exciting opportunity to provide new family literacy programming!

How do you even get started? In this webinar you'll take away tools you can use to find answers to this question, within your program and library, and outside of your library, too.

This webinar will be of interest to: the California Library Literacy community, especially literacy program staff people who will offer literacy programming with new CLLS funds.

If you are unable to attend the live event, you can access the archived version the day following the webinar.  View Webinar Archive

Covina Library :: Family Literacy @ Your Library

Family Literacy @ Your Library

Special Events Covina

Literacy is a family affair !

This program offers caregivers and parents the opportunity to learn strategies and gain free Literacy resources to support independent readers. Join us in breakout informational sessions for parents and children filled with fun, activities, snacks (for children) and giveaways!

Space is limited, register in person the Circulation Desk.

For information, call (626) 384-5303.

March 20: Literacy @ Home

April 17:   Learning @ Your Library

May 15:    Reading Tips & Tricks

June 19:   Reading Together, Talking together

July 17:    School Talk

Wednesdays, 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

The Only Reading Comprehension Tools You Need Are Right Under Your Nose

The Only Reading Comprehension Tools You Need Are Right Under Your Nose

Fluent U: by Susan Verner

Less is more.

Simple is best.

Apply this wisdom to your English teaching, and you’ll have the recipe for success.

That’s because to teach reading comprehension effectively, you don’t need to look any further than your own classroom for three seriously valuable teaching tools.

Yes, you heard right—the key you’ve been searching for has been right under your nose!

And putting these simple tools to use, we’re sharing 12 phenomenal, tested-and-approved reading comprehension activities below that require nothing more than a few bare essentials: pencil, notebook, post-its. Let’s get started!

Reading for Comprehension: 3 Simple Tools That Are Right Under Your Nose

1. Writing in the Book

2. A Reading Notebook

3. Off the Page

READ MORE>>

Camarena Library :: 7 Steps to Improve Vocabulary

7 Steps to Improve Vocabulary

Literacy Place: June 2017

Camarena Library Literacy

The Adult Literacy Program provides educational opportunities for adults who want to improve their literacy skills. Students develop their reading, writing and critical thinking skills through one-on-one tutoring sessions that will focus on individual needs. (760) 768-7480

Tutor Resources :: All Things Topics | BrainPop | Enchanted Learning | Idea Finder | LOC Everyday Mysteries | Nature Play Queensland | VOA News Learning English

Tweet – Tweeter – Tweetest

Superlatives from SCLLN

All Things Topics

resource for practicing reading, writing,

speaking, listening and vocabulary!

BrainPop

Animated Educational Site for Kids

Science, Social Studies, English, Math,

Arts & Music, Health, and Technology

@brainpop

Enchanted Learning

educational web sites and games designed

to stimulate creativity, learning, enjoyment, and imagination.

@EnchantedLearni

Idea Finder

stories behind the world's greatest inventors

and great inventions

Library of Congress Everyday Mysteries

answers to these and many other of life’s

most interesting questions

Nature Play Queensland

increase the time Queensland kids spend

in unstructured play outdoors and in nature.

@NaturePlayQld 

VOA News Learning English

Words and Their Stories

A Way to Learn American English and Much More

@VOALearnEnglish