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Teaching Students with Dyslexia and Dysgraphia: Lessons from Teaching and Science
How can teachers provide effective literacy instruction for students with learning differences—while meeting the needs of all students in the class?
Finally, a single accessible textbook answers that question for every K-12 educator. The only teacher training text to cover the three learning disabilities that require differentiated instruction—dysgraphia, dyslexia, and oral and written language learning disability (OWL LD)—this book prepares educators to teach students with learning differences in explicit, reflective, and intellectually engaging ways.
Ginger Berninger, a seasoned researcher and former teacher, partners with 40-year teacher and teacher trainer veteran Beverly Wolf for a one-of-a-kind text that gives readers the best of both worlds: critical insights from scientific studies and lessons learned from actual teaching experience. Educators will get the research-based guidance they'll need to organize their classrooms, routines, and lesson plans through differentiated instruction to meet instructional needs of students with learning differences and their peers improve every aspect of students' literacy, including reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills, by providing both oral and written language instruction
create a positive learning environment that promotes intellectual engagement apply a specific framework for instruction that helps students overcome working memory inefficiencies and fluency problems consider how preservice teacher education and inservice professional development can prepare teachers for differentiated instruction in general education.
Throughout the book, relevant research findings from diverse fields—including genetics, neuroscience, cognitive science, linguistics, and education—show teachers the why behind the how. And the extensive instructional guidelines, applicable across school settings and specific curricula, offer innovative approaches to practice that will help teachers successfully meet the needs of individual students. An essential part of every teacher's preparation, this text ensures that educators are ready to deliver effective, individually tailored instruction to students with dysgraphia, dyslexia, and oral and written language disabilities.
Finally, a single accessible textbook answers that question for every K-12 educator. The only teacher training text to cover the three learning disabilities that require differentiated instruction—dysgraphia, dyslexia, and oral and written language learning disability (OWL LD)—this book prepares educators to teach students with learning differences in explicit, reflective, and intellectually engaging ways.
Ginger Berninger, a seasoned researcher and former teacher, partners with 40-year teacher and teacher trainer veteran Beverly Wolf for a one-of-a-kind text that gives readers the best of both worlds: critical insights from scientific studies and lessons learned from actual teaching experience. Educators will get the research-based guidance they'll need to organize their classrooms, routines, and lesson plans through differentiated instruction to meet instructional needs of students with learning differences and their peers improve every aspect of students' literacy, including reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills, by providing both oral and written language instruction
create a positive learning environment that promotes intellectual engagement apply a specific framework for instruction that helps students overcome working memory inefficiencies and fluency problems consider how preservice teacher education and inservice professional development can prepare teachers for differentiated instruction in general education.
Throughout the book, relevant research findings from diverse fields—including genetics, neuroscience, cognitive science, linguistics, and education—show teachers the why behind the how. And the extensive instructional guidelines, applicable across school settings and specific curricula, offer innovative approaches to practice that will help teachers successfully meet the needs of individual students. An essential part of every teacher's preparation, this text ensures that educators are ready to deliver effective, individually tailored instruction to students with dysgraphia, dyslexia, and oral and written language disabilities.
- GenresEducation
256 pages, Paperback
First published April 5, 2009
22 people are currently reading
155 people want to read
About the author
Virginia W. Berninger
20 books1 followerVirginia Wise Berninger, PhD (Ginger) is a Professor of Learning Sciences and Human Development at the University of Washington, former Program Coordinator of APA-accredited and NASP- approved School Psychology Program, and Principal Investigator of NIH Center Grant on Defining and Treating Specific Learning Disabilities awarded December 15, 2011 for five years. She has been on the University of Washington faculty since 1989, and is also a Research Affiliate (1994-present) and Coordinator Research Specialization for Learning Disabilities (2000-present), Eunice Kennedy Shriver Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC).
Professor Berninger is a licensed psychologist and former teacher (general education, special education, and reading specialist) with extensive experience in school-related assessment, consultation, and research. She is the Principal Investigator and Director of the NICHD-funded, University of Washington Multidisciplinary Learning Disability Center and Center for Oral and Written Language Learners (OWLs). During her 30 years of research on normal reading, writing, and math development and learning disabilities in reading, writing, and math, she has authored, co-authored, or edited over 200 research publications, including 12 books.
Professor Berninger is a licensed psychologist and former teacher (general education, special education, and reading specialist) with extensive experience in school-related assessment, consultation, and research. She is the Principal Investigator and Director of the NICHD-funded, University of Washington Multidisciplinary Learning Disability Center and Center for Oral and Written Language Learners (OWLs). During her 30 years of research on normal reading, writing, and math development and learning disabilities in reading, writing, and math, she has authored, co-authored, or edited over 200 research publications, including 12 books.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 15, 2009
My sister and I read this as part of our informal book club. We read books that connect to our work: tutoring kids and particularly kids who have difficulties with, and different ways of, learning. We're going to be seeing Berninger and Wolf make a presentation this weekend.
I had difficulties reading 'Teaching Students,' but there are many good reasons to do so and I will undoubtedly be returning to it as a resource. I've been interested in Berninger's work for a while, especially her investigation into handwriting and its possible importance in literacy. She and Wolf are respected and well known in their field.
'Teaching Students' contains many bits of information and insight which furthered my own knowledge or crystallized my thinking. For example, Berninger and Wolf clearly frame the central thesis of Venezky's 'The American Way of Spelling,' a book I struggled to get through.
My own framing of that thesis had been a little murky and now I can proudly tell you that Venezky's main idea is that our spelling represents our speech and because of that is predictable, although not at a single-letter level and not with one-to-one sound-to-symbol relationships, 'but rather alternations.' (I love that word!) A beautiful distillation.
Another jewel of vocabulary used by Beringer and Wolf that made sense to me was 'habituate,' in the psychological sense of reducing response through repetition. How often educators label a lack of response as learning laziness or inattention, rather than examining the teaching and following the principle Berninger and Wolf lay out: that 'short duration, constant change that introduces novelty, and predictable routine across lessons can help students attend, engage, and self-regulate their learning.'
The Venn-diagram, three-circle graphic for the processes involved in learning to read and write, that Berninger supplies from her 'Process Assessment of the Learner' is a wonderful model to which I know I will return. I also like the pyramid hierarchy for three levels of diagnosis (dysgraphia, dyslexia and oral and written language learning disability, or OWL LD) for reading and writing problems.
I got a ton of ideas for my work from the chapter called 'Teaching Oral Language,' and because of this work, I'm about to read Roald Dahl's 'The Vicar of Nibbleswicke,' and there are a number of other books referenced in 'Teaching Students' that I'm sure to read in the future.
Even with all of those bright spots, reading 'Teaching Students' is like slogging up an unnecessarily muddy road. The authors use a stilted tone (they refer to themselves as 'the first author' and 'the second author') and I found myself habituating as I trudged through convoluted passages filled with academic hot air and repetition. One chapter begins:
'Teaching is what teachers do--what they say and write verbally and communicate nonverbally and how they structure learning activities and situations for teacher-directed explicit instruction and student-guided learning and discovery. Learning is what students do....'
And so on. Empty verbiage.
I find myself frustrated with a convention used by many of the people who write about teaching reading and writing to children that Berninger and Wolf employ over and over again--making a supposed scientific research-based statement of accepted theory (often starting with the words, 'Research shows...') followed by a parenthetical laundry-listing of sources and dates. I long for works that would really get into that research as books about neuroscience do.
For that matter, Richard Nesbit in his 'Intelligence and How to Get It' posits that much of what is called 'research' in education is shoddy and sloppy. But there seems to be little crossover between investigations of teaching by educators I respect, like Berninger and Wolf, Marcia Henry and Louisa Moats, and the new wave of neuroscience researchers led by people like Nesbit, Antonio Damasio, and even entrepreneurs like FastForWord's Michael Merzenich. How come?
Overall, too much work for too few results.
I had difficulties reading 'Teaching Students,' but there are many good reasons to do so and I will undoubtedly be returning to it as a resource. I've been interested in Berninger's work for a while, especially her investigation into handwriting and its possible importance in literacy. She and Wolf are respected and well known in their field.
'Teaching Students' contains many bits of information and insight which furthered my own knowledge or crystallized my thinking. For example, Berninger and Wolf clearly frame the central thesis of Venezky's 'The American Way of Spelling,' a book I struggled to get through.
My own framing of that thesis had been a little murky and now I can proudly tell you that Venezky's main idea is that our spelling represents our speech and because of that is predictable, although not at a single-letter level and not with one-to-one sound-to-symbol relationships, 'but rather alternations.' (I love that word!) A beautiful distillation.
Another jewel of vocabulary used by Beringer and Wolf that made sense to me was 'habituate,' in the psychological sense of reducing response through repetition. How often educators label a lack of response as learning laziness or inattention, rather than examining the teaching and following the principle Berninger and Wolf lay out: that 'short duration, constant change that introduces novelty, and predictable routine across lessons can help students attend, engage, and self-regulate their learning.'
The Venn-diagram, three-circle graphic for the processes involved in learning to read and write, that Berninger supplies from her 'Process Assessment of the Learner' is a wonderful model to which I know I will return. I also like the pyramid hierarchy for three levels of diagnosis (dysgraphia, dyslexia and oral and written language learning disability, or OWL LD) for reading and writing problems.
I got a ton of ideas for my work from the chapter called 'Teaching Oral Language,' and because of this work, I'm about to read Roald Dahl's 'The Vicar of Nibbleswicke,' and there are a number of other books referenced in 'Teaching Students' that I'm sure to read in the future.
Even with all of those bright spots, reading 'Teaching Students' is like slogging up an unnecessarily muddy road. The authors use a stilted tone (they refer to themselves as 'the first author' and 'the second author') and I found myself habituating as I trudged through convoluted passages filled with academic hot air and repetition. One chapter begins:
'Teaching is what teachers do--what they say and write verbally and communicate nonverbally and how they structure learning activities and situations for teacher-directed explicit instruction and student-guided learning and discovery. Learning is what students do....'
And so on. Empty verbiage.
I find myself frustrated with a convention used by many of the people who write about teaching reading and writing to children that Berninger and Wolf employ over and over again--making a supposed scientific research-based statement of accepted theory (often starting with the words, 'Research shows...') followed by a parenthetical laundry-listing of sources and dates. I long for works that would really get into that research as books about neuroscience do.
For that matter, Richard Nesbit in his 'Intelligence and How to Get It' posits that much of what is called 'research' in education is shoddy and sloppy. But there seems to be little crossover between investigations of teaching by educators I respect, like Berninger and Wolf, Marcia Henry and Louisa Moats, and the new wave of neuroscience researchers led by people like Nesbit, Antonio Damasio, and even entrepreneurs like FastForWord's Michael Merzenich. How come?
Overall, too much work for too few results.
November 5, 2013
This book was so useful, I don't think I stopped taking notes. Should have bought it instead of borrowing from the library. Only reason it doesn't get all 5 stars from me is because I need vital information/images/examples from the workbook that goes with it, which my library does not have.
April 27, 2024
This book gave our family the words "ear reading" to describe listening to audiobooks. That phrase has been a game changer especially for those who may say that listening to audiobooks is cheating.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews