Date
16 March 2024

Support participation and confidence

Provide accommodations that allow students to have equal access. Make accommodations available for all students.

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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 the students’ cultures, interests, and strengths to create opportunities for them to take the lead.
  • Foster tuakana–teina relationships and create a class culture where students support each other.
  • Give ongoing prompts and positive feedback. Provide the student with strategies to help them when they get stuck.
  • Recognise and eliminate situations that students 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 student’s wellbeing.
  • Give feedback on students’ 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.

Source: Good fonts for dyslexia (opens in a new tab/window)

Provide time

Provide time

Allowing additional time to complete school work and take tests can have a huge impact on a dyslexic student’s ability to succeed.

Teachers share tips to support success.

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

Source:
Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga

Useful resources

Useful resources

Website

Technology tools for learning

Strategies and approaches for using technologies to provide inclusive and personalised learning pathways.

Publisher: Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga

Visit website

Dyslexia in the classroom What every teacher needs to know

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

Website

Carla McNeil | Highlights from the Working Memory Conference 2016

Carla shares some insights about working memory and considerations when developing IEPs.

Publisher: TEST

Visit website

Next steps

More suggestions for implementing the strategy “Helpful classroom strategies in years 1-8”:

Return to the guide “Dyslexia and learning”

Guide to Index of the guide: Dyslexia and learning

Strategies for action:

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