TO:

Elena Ilina, Erma Petrova, and Mitchell Boucher

FROM:

Joe Student

DATE:

November 19, 2012

SUBJECT:

Progress Report on Proposal for Instructing Elementary School

Teachers to Identify and Help Children with Signs of Dyslexia.

Introduction
This progress report provides an update on the most significant findings from my research.
An outline of my final report is presented, as well as a detailed description of the project. A
diagram showing the activities in which teachers should spend more time in the classroom is
included. Finally, this progress report also briefly describes procedures that elementary
school teachers can use to identify and help a child with signs of dyslexia.
Project Description
Subject. Children with dyslexia show signs of the condition before they begin to read.
Elementary school teachers should be properly instructed at detecting children with
early symptoms, and they should follow a methodology to help dyslexic children cope
with the disorder. Throughout my research, a combination of ideas and methods that
have been successful in the past studies will lead me to formulate an effective
technique that elementary school teachers could implement in their jobs to help
children with dyslexia.
Purpose. The purpose of my final report is to identify the best possible method that
can be used by elementary school teachers to help children with signs of dyslexia.
Progress Summary
Information obtained from journals and text books has been very helpful. Although there is
not one source that completely describes the magnitude of my research project, I have been
able to compile material from different sources and use the variety of findings wisely. I have
spent a great deal of time analyzing longitudinal reports from psychology journals, but my
project is still not finished. I estimate that preparing the results and connecting all the final
ideas will take about two weeks.
After carefully reviewing and analyzing the research material, I have learned that it is very
important to instruct elementary school teachers about the destructive effects of not correctly
identifying and helping a child with dyslexia. It is important to understand that the teachers
attitude toward children that show signs of dyslexia can create a negative connotation of the
childs condition, and the teacher can lower the expectations for that particular student, and as
a result, the dyslexic child can have low academic achievement (Hornstra, 2010, pp. 520522). Teachers need to clearly understand that elementary school children are sensitive to
different treatment, and these children can be easily affected if they feel excluded from
participating or doing a certain activity in the classroom.

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Identifying the child with signs of dyslexia and setting him/her aside will only create a
negative effect on the emotional growth of the child. In turn, treating children differently in
the classroom can lead for behavioral and emotional problems in the child (Pollock & Waller,
1994, pp.162-174).
The Ottawa School Board Association should take into account the magnitude of the negative
effects of not properly identifying and helping children with signs of dyslexia. I will present
a comprehensive outline on my final report that will describe the procedures that teachers can
follow in the classroom to help their students.
Work Completed
I have designed a chart that describes the percentage of time that teachers should assign to
each activity done in the classroom. I assigned each percentage to the different activities
based on the information I obtained from different resources. Figure 1 clearly shows that
most of the time should be spent on reading exercises, while less time should be spent on
verbal memory tasks.
As Hayes (2006) explained, dyslexia is more frequently identified by the low reading levels
of a child and low reading comprehension (pp. 51-54). His research shows that practice and
perseverance can help the child overcome major difficulties while reading. According to the
same author, group activities show to be beneficial since children are able to practice social
skills (pp. 36-40).
Computer activities seem to be a new technique, but they have also proven to be effective
since they targets multisensory systems (Thompson & Madigan, 2005, p. 251). Writing tasks
are also helpful because they help to build connections between what the child hears and
what the child writes (Lawrence, 2009, p.52). Spelling and verbal memory tasks are also
important, but more research needs to be conducted on these areas.

Figure 1. Percentage of time that should be assigned to each classroom activity.

Tentative Outline
I have created an outline that describes how elementary teachers can identify and help
children with signs of dyslexia. A more comprehensive outline will be provided in the final
report.
I.

Instruct elementary school teachers on how to

a. Define dyslexia
b. Identify children with dyslexia
c. Understand the perspective of a child with dyslexia

II.

Help children with signs of dyslexia

a. Propose a set of guidelines to be followed in the classroom
b. Implement different types of mental exercises
c. Acquire different type of games that target the use of different sensory systems

III.

Approach the parents of child with signs of dyslexia

a. Communicate with parents
b. Show activities that can be dont at home
c. Suggest professional help

Work Remaining
A lot of research has been done on this topic and the most important ideas have been
identified. All the research information needs to be assembled and the above outline needs to
be revised and finished. About 20% of the project remains to be done. I anticipate that this
amount of work will take me approximately two weeks. The provided references will help
me complete the reminder of my project.

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Overall Assessment of the Project
I am currently on schedule to meet the deadline, and I will be able to allow time for editing
and reviewing my report. I also plan to continue to research my topic up until the deadline.
The final report will be submitted on December 10, 2012.

References
Hayes, C. (2006). Dyslexia in children: new research. New York: Nova Science Publishers,
Inc.
Hornstra, L., Denessen, E., Bakker, J., Van den Bergh, L., & Voeten, M. (2010). Teacher
attitudes toward dyslexia: Effects on teacher expectations and the academic
achievement of students with dyslexia. Journal of learning disabilities, 43(6), 515529.
Lawrence, D. (2009). Understanding dyslexia: A guide for teachers and parents. New York:
McGraw Hill.
Pollock, J., & Waller, E. (1994). Day to day dyslexia: In the classroom. New York:
Routledge.
Thompson, R., & Madigan, S. (2005). Memory: the key to consciousness. New Jersey:
Princeton University Press.