Welcome to this week’s wrap where I share some of the successes and challenges of being a specialist dyslexia teacher.

Plus – New planning structure

A few weeks ago I was chatting with a fellow tutor who explained how she organizes and plans for a tutoring session. I thought it sounded so good that I also wanted to share it with you. It’s definitely helped me plan more efficiently as well as cut my planning time down. I also feel that each session is more cohesive and I have a clear idea about what I need to do in each session.

This was not my friend’s idea, but rather it is from the Letters and Sounds program. I don’t know too much about this phonics program but I like the format for a lesson. It includes: Review > Teach > Practise > Apply > Review.

The below provides a bit more information about each component.

Review: This includes activating prior knowledge by reviewing previously taught knowledge, such as learned letters and graphemes.

Teach: The teacher models the new knowledge and/or skill. Model how to blend and segment and teach new graphemes.

Practise: The teacher and the student work together where the teacher provides guidance.

Apply: The student completes activities independently.

Review: The teacher checks for understanding to ensure the goal has been achieved.

Below is an example of a couple of lessons I’ve planned using this new format. I am only using the structure for my lesson, all parts of the lesson come from the Sounds-Write Program.

Interesting – What is linguistic phonics?

So what is the difference between a phonics, synthetic phonics or linguistic phonics program any way? You hear these words bandied around and if you’d like to find out a bit more about them, then head over to The Literacy Blog. John has a range of interesting articles that help explain some of the differences between phonics programs as well as explain how the Sounds~Write program works. I found the below article particularly interesting:

Linguistic phonics: a practical example

For More TnT Weekly Wrap’s, see these:

• TnT Weekly Wrap: Free Digraph Worksheet;
• TnT Weekly Wrap: Teaching Through Errors; and
• TnT Weekly Wrap: Constant Errors.

Graphic Credits: Graphics From the Pond and Dollar Graphics Depot