STOP - or at least pause! Books have a place in dyslexia therapy.

Books have a place in dyslexia therapy. Don’t throw them out, but ask where and when?

Lately I have seen the wave of advice from people to throw out their traditional books and it causes me great pause. I have always been one to pull books out of the giveaway piles and dumpsters - although I will agree that some do in fact need to be let go, I don’t want educators to over-correct in the name of “science”.

There certainly is a place, and necessity, for traditional or authentic books within reading instruction. It is imperative that as educators we understand the purpose of the lessons and materials we use with students. While decodable text lays the critical foundation for our students with dyslexia or those first learning to read, we must understand the role it plays and for how long. We don’t want students remaining in decodable text forever. Decodable text is vital to our instruction - a necessary step on the path to learning to read, but exactly that - a step to move us forward. (Read more about decodable text, and listen to the podcast episode)

As we move along the reading path within reading intervention or dyslexia therapy, there is a gradual release to the amount of time spent on decodable word lists and passages and an introduction of applying the skills and concepts taught within a less controlled text.

Using Books In Dyslexia Therapy

While the timing of this varies from student to student, and grade level, generally I find that I can begin to introduce more text to students once they have an understanding of the syllable types and beginning syllable division and morphemes, and are moving to more advanced vowel team patterns.

Here is an example of a second grade student who is in a dyslexia therapy program. We have covered the syllable types and are moving toward introduction of more advanced vowel team patterns.

Within this lesson, I explicitly introduced the concept of diphthong /ou/ spelled <ou> and <ow>, we applied this to reading word lists, discovered and practiced the concept of the spelling generalizations (ou in the initial and medial position of words; ow generally at the end of a syllable or word, and sometimes before an l or n), applied the concept to word chains/ladders (phonemic awareness + spelling + reading), spelling of words and sentences, read controlled sentences to increase the opportunity for application, and then moved to the less controlled application within the story. All within the lesson for the day, or over two lessons. That is a lot, and yet it flows together in meaningful ways for the student.

I find that my students enjoy applying their knowledge to books, both decodable/controlled and those less controlled, and this allows them to engage in text where they are applying concepts taught and perhaps those which have not yet been explicitly taught. During this time, I am observing their application of skills and knowledge surrounding word attack strategies we have learned; offering immediate corrective feedback and guidance when reading - all within the gradual release of responsibility model of our structured literacy lesson.

Students Become Motivated To Pick Up A Book

This is honestly one of my favorite parts of seeing my students grow - when they have enough success with reading that they become engaged and motivated to pick up a book and read. Parents tend to note around this time as well that they “catch” their child reading. Love this!

So, what are your thoughts on embedding or bringing more text into your lessons? Have you done this or thought about how to bring books into your dyslexia therapy or intervention in meaningful ways?

Let me know if you would like more ideas about how I do this. And if you want to see it in action with non-fiction, I have an entire PD session in the Empowered Beyond the Program Membership  - Maximizing Student Engagement & Learning in Expository Text (April session). This is available to those in the annual membership. Learn more here!

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