Making Maths Dyslexia Friendly

This course is designed for primary teachers and lower secondary Maths teachers.

A short PowerPoint presentation will provide a definition of dyslexia and show what brain imaging reveals about the dyslexic brain. Participants will be provided with instructions for explaining dyslexia using a hand model of the brain. They will be asked to use this with a student or colleague. Further reading will be provided for those who wish to read about brain studies related to dyslexia and Maths performance.

Participants will be provided with a list of typical dyslexic strengths and weaknesses in Maths and information on the impact these may have on Maths learning (PDF). They will be asked to identify a student who shows a number of these strengths and weaknesses in Maths and read about recommended teacher responses to these. During the course, they will be asked to develop an Action Plan or IEP for supporting this student.

This session will focus on developing understanding and fluency and will introduce participants to teaching strategies that help dyslexic students to see patterns within numbers, learn number combinations, understand place value and use consistent addition and subtraction strategies. It will also give participants the opportunity to see in practice (via video) the use of a selection of manipulatives to support addition and subtraction, in particular those from Addacus, Math-U-See and Numicon. Participants will be given instructions for making a variety of resources (PDF). They will be encouraged to trial strategies and resources with a student and share video footage of them in use.

This session focuses on developing mathematical reasoning and will show participants how to use the area model to explain multiplication and division. It will provide methods for teaching ‘tables’ facts including use of a multiplication square, reasoning from key facts, using manipulatives, colour, music, rhymes, mnemonics and playing Maths games. Participants will be provided with websites to explore, videos to watch and instructions for the creation of resources. They will be required to focus on one ‘table’ and design a series of activities for teaching it.

This session focuses on developing problem-solving skills. Participants will be shown methods and tools for overcoming dyslexic difficulties in linking words to symbols, recalling vocabulary and comprehending word problems. They will be taken through a step-by-step procedure for increasing comprehension. They will be shown how to develop a student Maths dictionary and asked to create pages for one with a student.

In this session, participants will look at and trial a number of software programs, online programs and games, and apps designed to support students who have the difficulties typical of dyslexics struggling with Maths. They will be required to trial at least one of these with a student and report on its effectiveness. They will also be shown ways of using IT to make activity sheets more dyslexia-friendly (PDF).

In this session, many of the strategies introduced throughout the course will be applied to the topics of Time and Money. Some new resources will be introduced (by video). Participants will be asked to design a short lesson and an activity page on either Time or Money and share it with fellow participants.