Post by Admin on Jan 11, 2015 0:14:47 GMT -6
Hey fellow school psychologists,
Although the National Reading Panel released the 5 major areas for evidence-based reading instruction in 2000, they didn't have enough research at the time for orthographic awareness. This is the 6th most important component of reading instruction! Dr. Sally Shaywitz talked about the Visual Word Form Area in her 2003 book on dyslexia, but she made it sound like it was only a component for reading fluency. This is not true. At the time, they thought the angular gyrus was the sole part of the brain that joined graphemes and phonemes together. They now have a different model of how the brain learns to read, although there still exists some uncertainty. It is now generally accepted that the left fusiform gyrus and adjacent sulcus (Visual Word Form Area) encodes and sequences the graphemes, which are then associated with phonemes in the planum temporale through the downward extension of the arcuate fasciculus. The right inferior frontal gyrus and left angular gyrus may also be involved in an orthographic working memory system. Multisensory teaching methods that stimulate orthographic processing include a key missing link to reading instruction for individuals with dyslexia. By using air writing, kids use the dorsal stream of the visual system to create the orthographic shapes necessary to activate the ventral stream where the VWFA is. In addition, it helps them practice holding letter & word forms in their orthographic working memory long enough to create and strengthen better connections between the graphemes and phonemes. This produces superior results! All teachers in Manitoba need to become aware of this to help boost the achievement of students struggling with reading and spelling! Now, if you want some ideas for orthographic intervention, check out the attachment below.
Orthographic Explanation Strategies.pdf (105.34 KB)