The Key to Improving Working Memory and Dyslexia
Working Memory and Dyslexia- It’s no secret that improving the working memory and phonemic awareness of students who struggle with reading can be a challenging endeavor. But we’re here to tell you – it’s possible! Whether your student has dyslexia or is a struggling reader, with some patience, resourcefulness and creativity, you can help these students improve their working memory and dyslexia.
What is working memory?
Working memory is an executive function of the brain. It is the ability to store and process information for short periods. It involves the use of various brain functions, such as attention, reasoning, language processing, and problem-solving. Deficits with working memory and dyslexia are well documented so it is important to understand how to assist with these problems.
In terms of reading, working memory helps learners remember the words that they are decoding and then read them fluently. Students who continuously sound out the same words over and over again and struggle with learning new words typically have working memory issues and low ability with phonemic awareness. Students with strong working memory and phonological skills learn to read, much more quickly.
Working memory is a key factor in helping students who struggle with reading and decoding words. When children learn to read, it can affect their ability to decode words, comprehend text, and remember instructions and it can affect their writing skills.
Students with poor working memory skills often have difficulty remembering what they are taught or have problems focusing on the task at hand. They also have difficulty remembering the words they have read and struggle with reading comprehension. Since they do not retain information long enough for it to travel to long-term memory, these students experience significant differences in their ability to learn new information.
Warning Signs of Problems withWorking Memory And Dyslexia
– Difficulty remembering instructions
– Short attention span
-Low impulse control
– Difficulty following multi-step directions
– Struggling to remember spoken words or facts
– Poor organization skills
– Trouble recalling information quickly
– Difficulty focusing on tasks
-poor reading skills
-poor spelling skills
– trouble sounding out words
-reading a word on one line and forgetting it in the next
– mixing sounds in words
-poor word recognition
-guessing at words when reading
-poor word reading fluency
Working Memory And Overcoming Reading Difficulties
Working Memory is an important part of learning that helps students retain and process information. Students with learning difficulties, including struggling readers and ADHD, often have difficulties with working memory. This can lead to challenges in understanding information in the classroom or on assignments. It can also create difficulty with phonological processing and phonological working memory.
How Common Are Working Memory Problems
According to data from the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), approximately 20-50% of students who present with any kind of learning difficulty or developmental dyslexia have some form of working memory deficit showing that working memory and dyslexia are connected.
What Problems Does Low Working Memory Cause
These deficits can make it difficult for students to absorb and apply information, especially in a short period which makes teaching and learning more challenging for both the student and teacher. These difficulties can lead to low self-esteem and extreme frustration.
Students who struggle with working memory struggle with learning to read and spell because they can’t transfer oral language from their short-term memory to their long-term memory. Fortunately, there are strategies and supports available to help make learning easier for students who struggle with their working memory.
Strategies to Aid Working Memory and Dyslexia
1. Use visual aids such as diagrams, photos, or videos to help students understand the material better.
2. Break down complex tasks into smaller parts and practice them one at a time.
3. Provide reminders of what was already discussed before introducing new information.
4. Give students sufficient wait time when answering questions or explaining.
5. Have students rephrase directions you give them before going on to your activity.
The connection between working memory and phonemic awareness
Students who struggle with learning to read that have working memory issues and phonological memory issues need phonemic awareness instruction. One of the great things about phonemic awareness training is that it can improve working memory deficits as well.
What are phonological processing and phonemic awareness
Phonemic awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate the individual sounds that make up a word. It involves being able to identify, blend, segment, and substitute individual phonemes (sounds) in words. Phonological awareness is more general, it involves recognizing and manipulating larger units of sound such as syllables, rhyme, and sentence structures.
The brains of struggling readers have difficulty with manipulating sounds in words. The complexities of this challenge can manifest in multiple ways—multiple sounds may be fused as a singular sound, for example, the word ‘sock’ being heard as one rather than /s/ – /o/ -/ck/. Alternatively, these students may reverse, jumble, or guess at the sounds they are hearing. For instance, a student might say the letters /s/ – /o/ -/ck/, and then guess that the word could be salad or cast.
It is most often not a matter of trouble hearing– it’s more accurate that they are having difficulty retaining the oral language they hear: which is why they end up getting mixed up when attempting to read a word. The connection between working memory and phonemic awareness can provide teachers with valuable insights into how to best support struggling readers.
Ways to improve working memory and phonemic awareness with struggling readers
Teachers need to help their struggling readers build strong phonemic awareness skills as they teach letter recognition. Lack of phonemic awareness is known as a core problem for struggling readers and students with developmental dyslexia.
It used to be believed when teaching children with a phonological deficit that phonemic awareness lessons should be taught only auditorily without any letters present we now know it is effective to pair phonemic awareness with letters as well.
When concentrating on working memory and dyslexia. Teachers should create an environment that allows for both auditory and visual exposure to the sounds of language. This could include using games such as memory matching, clapping syllables or rhymes, and sound-letter association activities. These activities can be used with older children as well with more sophisticated vocabulary but simple word construction.
One way I accomplish this is through explicit instruction of having a student listen for a sound or word family and then write the corresponding letter or letters while saying the sound. I include these activities within my Science of Reading Orton Gillingham lessons. I use a technique called simultaneous processing which is a multisensory approach to teaching that engages as many senses as possible at one time. Each time students produce correct answers and connect those sound-symbol relationships they build their future decoding abilities.
Using Simultaneous Processing when Teaching Phonemic Awareness
Simultaneous Processing is a way of teaching phonemic awareness that can help struggling readers build their ability to process information in both visual and auditory ways. This approach involves having students use different senses at the same time to learn a concept or skill.
For example, when introducing a new sound-letter relationship, you could ask your student to look at the letter, say its sound out loud, and then trace it on the page with their finger while saying the sound. This method provides greater opportunities for learning because it helps students to make better connections between what they see, hear and do.
Using Multisensory Simultaneous Processing to help Working Memory and Dyslexia
Simultaneous Processing also increases a student’s working memory capacity because it forces them to use multiple senses at the same time. This can be very helpful when working with struggling readers who may have limited working memory resources. Utilizing this strategy can provide a better foundation for phonemic awareness and help students become more successful in their reading development.
Benefits of improving working memory
Helping students with working memory and dyslexia Is challenging. Using phonological awareness tasks is one of the best things a teacher can do to help students with reading disorders advance their learning. When students can actively retain and manipulate sounds that they hear then they can become more fluent readers and spellers. Practicing these skills with your students will lead to more engaged learning experiences in the classroom environment.
Games and Activities to help Working Memory and Dyslexia with Phonemic Awareness
If you have been searching for games and activities to help struggling readers, look no further! Try these fun activities.
- Play find the rhyming words with pictures or objects
- Clap the number of syllables in a name (if students struggle with this have them put their hand under their chin to see how many times their chin drops
- Read alliteration poems and have kids find the beginning sounds.
- Say a silly sentence and have students break the sentence into words
- ‘stretching out’ a word into its individual sounds can be done with colored blocks or markers or as a head and shoulders knees and toes activity.
- Teach your students to modify the beginning, middle, or ending sound in a word. Or if that is too difficult just start with 2 sounds
- With these games and activities, you can help your students improve their phonemic awareness and working memory skills. Make learning fun and engaging by trying out some of these strategies with your students today!
Fun Race Track Game For Phonemic Awareness and Working Memory
Watch the video below to learn to how to do this game with the fun Race Track Game for working memory and dyslexia.
Join The Resource Library for Access to more Games
Working memory deficits make it difficult for students to learn to read and follow directions. Activities to improve phonemic awareness will help all students. These activities not only improve working memory but also help struggling readers become better readers overall. If you need resources to help your student with working memory and phonemic awareness, sign up for my free-access library. You’ll find full games and activities to help your students succeed. Sign up today and get access to more great content!
Good luck on your journey of helping struggling readers develop their working memory and phonemic awareness. With the right strategies, you can help students excel in reading and other areas of learning. Have fun out there!
FAQ:
Q: What is working memory and phonemic awareness?
A: Working memory is a cognitive function that allows us to store and process information. Phonemic awareness refers to the ability to break words into individual sounds and blend them together again.
Q: How can I help improve my student’s working memory and phonemic awareness?
A: Multisensory simultaneous processing and activities such as find the rhyming words, clapping the number of syllables in a name and stretching out words into individual sounds are all great strategies to help students with working memory and phonemic awareness. Games and activities can also be fun and engaging ways to increase student’s skills in this area.
We hope this article has been helpful in providing strategies to improve working memory and phonemic awareness in students who struggle with reading. With the right approach and activities, you can help your students achieve more engaged learning experiences. Good luck on this journey of helping struggling readers!
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. If you need any help with your struggling readers please set up a free consultation or contact me. I am happy to help!