Welcome
DSF Literacy and Clinical Services (The Dyslexia-SPELD Foundation of WA inc.) has provided vital support to West Australian children and adults with learning disabilities for over 40 years. It remains committed to improving the level of support provided to children and adults with learning disabilities and to the community’s understanding of specific learning disabilities, in particular dyslexia.
DSF continues to focus on ensuring that children and adults with learning disabilities are supported adequately and appropriately, and that all students are provided with the opportunity to achieve their potential. In addition it provides advice and support to families and educators on successful literacy acquisition, evidence-based practice, and the strategies most likely to improve literacy outcomes for all students. Our role includes supporting and advising students, adults and families directly, as well as indirectly through the support and advice provided at a school or employment level.
Upcoming Events
- Teaching Spelling using SoundCheck and Sound Swap
- 8 Oct 14
Spelling (encoding) and reading (decoding) are flipsides of the same literacy coin, however, spelling seems to be missing from the curriculum in many classrooms. Why? Spelling is in fact a more demanding skill and needs to be taught explicitly. It isn’t about sending home 10 random words that will be tested a few days later!
Maureen will explain how to use both SoundCheck and Sound Swap to teach spelling 1:1 and in small groups. The focus will be on understanding the phonological and phonic skills involved in spelling. This workshop will be hands-on with phonemic and phonic activities that you can use immediately.
Presenter: Maureen Pollard, the creator of Little Learners Love Literacy and SoundCheck, is an experienced literacy teacher and consultant who works with teachers, schools and parents. Her workshops focus on practical strategies for building phonemic awareness skills and alphabetic knowledge to ensure children learn to read, write and spell with confidence. Maureen has developed her ideas and resources from evidence-based literacy research and many years of teaching literacy skills in England, Spain, South Africa and Australia. Maureen presents workshops for the Australian Council of Educational Research (ACER) Professional Learning team.
214Z-1 Teaching Spelling using SoundCheck and Sound Swap
- Decodable Texts – The best route to reading and writing success
- 9 Oct 14
Maureen Pollard and Berys Dixon, authors of the Little Learner decodable books and Pocket Rockets, will explain how decodable books are phonically structured to ensure that children read with confidence and success.
Maureen and Berys will discuss the Simple View of Reading and the influence of research and teaching on their literacy-teaching model. Both implicit and explicit approaches to literacy will be discussed and an open forum to consider and reflect on what is happening in classrooms at the moment. How do levelled books work? How are they written and for what purpose?
The progression and sequence of the Little Learner books will be explained along with the use of Heart words and Speed sounds. Pocket Rockets are pocket sized, fold out booklets that children take home for reinforcement and consolidation. Berys Dixon wrote these when teaching the UK program Letters and Sounds in the classroom.
Presenters: Maureen Pollard, Special Education teacher and literacy consultant. Her workshops focus on specific strategies to building phonemic awareness and alphabet knowledge. Maureen has developed her ideas and resources from evidence-based literacy research and a lifetime of teaching literacy skills both her and overseas. Teachers find her approach practical and easy to use in classrooms, small groups and 1:1
Berys Dixon is an experienced phonics teacher and developed the Pocket Rockets series to use in conjunction with the Letters and Sounds program during her years teaching young children to read. She is now writing Little Learner books and is working on a parent pack to teach Letters and Sounds.
214Z-5 Decodable Texts
- Read at Home with Pocket Rockets
- 9 Oct 14
Research evidence gathered internationally, over many years, clearly shows that the best way to teach children to read and spell is to tune them in to the words and sounds of our language (phonological skills) and then begin with the explicit and sequential teaching of the Alphabetic Code.
In this workshop author Berys Dixon will demonstrate simple and effective ways to support their children’s alphabetic knowledge and phonological/phonemic skills, essential for success in reading and spelling. Berys will explain to parents how their children can use the Pocket Rocket stories at home to support developing skills in reading and writing.
Parents will also be provided with ways to extend their children’s fluency and comprehension skills and make reading come alive! The Pocket Rocket series consist of 44 imaginative stories to engage children with humorous characters and quirky plots.
All stories follow a proper story structure so are also perfect for developing comprehension skills, stimulating discussions on a variety of themes and a love of reading!
Presenter: Berys Dixon is an experienced phonics teacher and developed the Pocket Rockets series to use in conjunction with the Letters and Sounds program during her years teaching young children to read. She is now writing Little Learner books and is working on a parent pack to teach Letters and Sounds.
214Z-4 Pocket Rockets
