Individualised support by learning support staff and language teachers

It has been suggested that the most effective instruction for an adult with dyslexia is intensive one-on-one tutoring that includes explicit instruction (Hock, 2012). Hock (2012, p. 71, as cited in Hock, Deshler & Schumaker, 2000) recommends the strategic tutoring model:

1. Assess the students’ approach, discuss its effectiveness.
2. Help the student develop a new strategy.
3. Model the strategy explicitly; observe the student applying the strategy and give feedback.
4. Discuss with the student how to transfer the strategy to other similar tasks.

THE SQ3R READING STRATEGY

It has been found that students with dyslexia who consciously adopt reading strategies may be more successful in their studies than those who do not (Chevalier et al., 2017).

An example of a strategy for students who have difficulty remembering what they read is the SQ3R reading strategy (Robinson, 1941). This is a systematic approach to reading involving the following steps:

1. Survey: Look at the text type, headings, diagrams, etc. and make an educated guess about what the text might be about.
2. Question: Develop questions based on headings.
3. Read: Read with the purpose of answering questions.
4. Recite: Stop frequently to determine if the question can be answered. Take brief notes.
5. Review: Go back and review important points in the text. Make detailed notes where useful.

The following video provides a good overview of the SQ3R reading strategy. Notice that the speaker in this video replaces the word ‘survey’ with ‘skim’.

ACTIVITY

The following activities are design to assist a learner with dyslexia. Which order would you put them in?

• Help the student develop a new strategy.
• Model the strategy explicitly: observe the student applying the strategy and give feedback.
• Discuss with the student how to transfer the strategy to other similar tasks.
• Assess the students’ approach, discuss its effectiveness.

Answer:

Step 1: Help the student develop a new strategy.

Step 2: Assess the students’ approach, discuss it effectiveness.

Step 3: Model the strategy explicitly; observe the student applying the strategy and give feedback.

Step 4: Discuss with the student how to transfer the strategy to other similar tasks.

How did you do?