Support participation and confidence
Provide accommodations that allow learners to have equal access. Make accommodations available for all learners.
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Create a dyslexia-friendly classroom
Create a dyslexia-friendly classroom
Understand the needs of your learners. Remove barriers so they can engage and be successful.
Use this checklist to identify how you can make your classroom more dyslexia friendly.
Foster trust and confidence
Foster trust and confidence
Build practical supports into the culture of your classroom.
- Use ākonga cultures, interests, and strengths to create opportunities for them to take the lead.
- Foster tuakana–teina relationships and create a class culture where ākonga support each other.
- Give ongoing prompts and positive feedback. Provide the learner with strategies to help them when they get stuck.
- Recognise and eliminate situations that learners may find difficult or embarrassing, such as reading aloud to the class.
- Recognise avoidance strategies and provide practical support and encouragement.
- Act quickly on any concerns about a learner’s wellbeing.
- Give feedback on learners’ success to their parents and whānau.
Fonts for easy reading
Fonts for easy reading
Children learning to read benefit from larger text sizes.
When creating resources and worksheets, keep plenty of blank space on the page.
Easy-to-read fonts are sans serif, mono-spaced, and roman font types, including:
- Helvetica
- Courier
- Arial
- Verdana
- Computer Modern.
Italic fonts are more difficult to read.
Provide time
Provide time
Allowing additional time to complete school work and take tests can have a huge impact on a dyslexic learner’s ability to succeed.
Teachers share tips to support success.
Closed Captions
Reduce quantity of work
Reduce quantity of work
Consider reducing the quantity of work rather than the complexity of the learning for students with dyslexia.
Ask students what will help.
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Source: Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga
Useful resources
Useful resources

Dyslexia in the classroom: What every teacher needs to know
Read time: 28 min
A toolkit to provide classroom teachers with information about dyslexia, classroom strategies, tips and tools.
Publisher: International Dyslexia Association
Download PDF
Working memory
Working memory is a key component of learning to read and remember letter names and sounds. This video gives helpful strategies for teachers to help with strengthening working memory.
Publisher: You Tube
Next steps
More suggestions for implementing the strategy “Helpful classroom strategies in years 1-8”:
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Guide to Index of the guide: Collaborative planning for learning
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Collaboratively planning a universally designed learning environmentShow suggestions for Collaboratively planning a universally designed learning environment
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