Students with such learning differences as dyslexia may face great challenges in the classroom. Recent advances in neuroscience and technology can shed light on how schools can meet diverse student learning needs. Westmark School, an independent school in Encino, California, serves children with language-based learning differences—such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia—in grades 2 through 12.
Dyslexia is a difficulty in learning to read, write, or spell; understanding oral language; or expressing oneself in oral and written language. Dysgraphia is a difficulty in automatically remembering and mastering the sequence of muscle motor movements needed in writing letters and numbers. Dyscalculia is a difficulty in understanding symbols or functions needed for success in math.
During the last two school years, Westmark staff began to study the concept of neuroplasticity—how the brain reorganizes itself throughout our lifetime—and started using more technology in the classroom. The result is an atmosphere where children thrive. Weaving the latest neurological research into the school's instruction and curriculum to suit the learning styles of children with learning differences has revitalized teaching and learning at our school.
Our work has led to provocative discussions on such topics as the opening of multisensorial pathways and the possibilities of stimulating dendrite growth, encouraging neural branching, creating more synapses, and changing the structure of the brain. Our program is based on the theory that the brain responds to challenges, stimulation, and interactivity, and that it learns spontaneously. For educators, this approach brings an excitement to learning that not only challenges students but also enriches the entire curriculum.
A brain-based program creates a safe, nurturing environment where children expand their knowledge, find patterns, make connections, and take risks. An important part of a stimulating program is staff development for teachers and the entire school community. We offer numerous staff development opportunities to our teachers to help meet the school's learning objectives. We also regularly work with our parent community to provide them with a deeper understanding of our evolving programs. We inform parents about the brain research we are studying so that they can understand how their children think. Such communication is essential to involve families in their children's education and to gain their support.
Using Multiple Modalities
We began implementing our brain-based instructional plan with a modalities assessment for all staff members so they could determine their own learning styles. A multiple modalities assessment lets students, teachers, and parents discover their learning styles and strengths. In addition to administering such assessments as the San Diego Title V18 Project's Multi-Modality Assessment Learning Styles/Strengths, we offer online assessments including Muskingum College's Personal Style Inventory Questionnaire (muskingum.edu/~cal/database/PSInventory.html) for the larger community through our Web site.
To create a dynamic learning environment, we have implemented a number of ideas from brain research:
A rich learning environment. All students possess the inherent ability to motivate and inspire another student to learn. Some students with language-based learning differences may shy away from text-related activities as a result of their previous struggles with reading or because they are strong visual and kinesthetic learners. A live, 10-minute daily broadcast of student news lets us reach students through our closed-circuit television setup, Westmark News Network (WNN). When we ask students to develop a daily news show, we ask them to add sound, text, and graphics into announcements so that all students can access the information easily. The combination of images with sounds appears to enhance comprehension. Brain-based theory states that a complex environment—when coupled with engaging interactions—produces a greater supply of blood to the brain. Working on a news program lets students tap into multiple modalities and gives them real-life experiences.
Thematic instruction and integrated curriculum. Brain research suggests that thematic instruction and the integration of the curriculum can enhance learning by allowing the student to identify patterns and build on prior knowledge. Through our home economics classes, the joy and fun of cooking and sewing offer opportunities to integrate math, literature, and social studies. In their desire to create a quilt, a pillow, a cake, or cookies, students learn to compare and contrast, measure, and follow directions.
For example, a unit on the Underground Railroad comes alive as students make a quilt and read such thematic books as Deborah Hopkinson's Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt (1993). Children learn best by doing, and these activities give students hands-on opportunities. Studying patterns on the quilts, learning about period fabrics, and growing and cooking foods of an era expand and reinforce learning. We incorporate stories and simulation in a holistic approach.
Both the Westmark News Network and home economics programs employ several brain-based instructional strategies: full brain interaction and communication, the development of patterns that are built on previous experience, hands-on activities, a rich environment with a variety of stimuli, and an atmosphere of relaxed alertness that is low in threat and high in challenge.
Musical stimulation. Through reading clubs, we inform parents and staff of recent research that suggests music may stimulate language development, spatial and temporal transitioning, art, journal writing, and cursive and printing skills practice. We also include music throughout the curriculum.
Multiple intelligences theory. We provide students with complex activities and varied approaches for learning different subjects. Experiences that appeal to different learning styles help embed information in students' memory systems. For example, our elementary science cycle focused on the rain forest. The students transformed their classrooms into rain forests by using humidifiers, music, sound effects, wall decorations, and flora of the rain forest to produce an authentic setting. We encouraged students to look through books and magazines to find photos of the rain forest to share with the class. Teachers bookmarked Internet sites and provided other information to help the students delve into the topic.
We took two in-school field trips to view insects and animals native to the rain forest and add a sense of adventure and excitement to the classroom. Students met and learned about a giant iguana and a kapuchin monkey, both native to South America. On another day, an entomologist brought in exotic bugs, insects, and arachnids. The students learned about the ecology of the rain forest and the important roles that little creatures play. Field trips appeal to the visual learner by imprinting the images and pictures of creatures that students have seen only in their textbooks. Such trips also appeal to kinesthetic learners, who touch the iguana's skin, and the naturalists, who understand the rain forest by petting the fur of the monkeys from that region.
In addition, one of our high school students created a rain forest unit with our elementary teachers. He guest-taught the younger students for two weeks, sharing his interest in the sciences with the elementary students. He led discussions and wrote unit assessments. We videotaped his classes, and other students produced a story for WNN. The high school student gained a unique leadership opportunity and he motivated our elementary students. From their experience with the older student and by working on a thematic, interdisciplinary unit, the elementary students learned to find patterns and to summarize a diverse range of information.
Multisensorial specialized programs. These programs are based on the theory of brain plasticity, which suggests that learning alters the functional organization of the brain throughout an individual's lifetime. Special instructional programs offered by Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes (LBLP)—such as Lindamood Phonemic Sequencing Program (LiPS); Visualizing and Verbalizing; and Seeing Stars: Symbol Imagery for Phonemic Awareness, Sight Words, and Spelling Program—help develop the sensory-cognitive process, including phonological awareness and oral and written language skills. These programs increase a student's ability to match letters with sounds, to visualize imagery, and to attack phonemic processing problems by activating articulatory feedback. We use the Visualizing and Verbalizing program in all classes to improve students' comprehension skills.
Scientific Learning's Fast ForWord prereading phonemic awareness, computer-based training program acoustically stretches out words until the student's brain can learn to discriminate the sounds. We have used this program as part of our curriculum for three years with marked results. This strategy uses visual and auditory styles to present instruction. Students work in this state-of-the-art technological program for six to eight weeks, building the skills that language learning-impaired students need for listening, speaking, and reading. Teachers recommend and assess students to see whether their deficits in phonological awareness, language comprehension, sequencing, and auditory processing are appropriate for this strategy.
We also employ the Wilson Language Training, which was developed for students with dyslexia who are in grade 5 or above. The Wilson method is based on the Orton-Gillingham approach, which uses auditory, visual, and kinesthetic elements and teaches reading and spelling simultaneously. The Orton-Gillingham approach is structured, sequential, and cumulative—teaching students to read and write sounds in isolation and then to blend sounds into syllables and words. The Wilson method requires students to use their hands as they separate the sounds in words. Students tap one finger (each finger is assigned a different sound) against their thumb each time the sound occurs in a word. The Wilson Language Training system starts with word and sound patterns and builds on prior knowledge. Students learn spelling, reading, and composition by writing spoken words, using word cards, reading aloud, and listening to others read.
All of these multisensory programs activate a student's sensory system and help the sensory system correct itself. If you say the word flat and the student says fat, you have a chance to guide the student forward through self-correction by asking what letter the student saw after the f or what he or she heard after the f. Students can also tap their fingers for each sound and say what the second sound was or write the second letter in the air and say what the second letter was. Stimulating different senses and questioning students helps them learn to self-correct and find the answer.
The entire learning process is built on recognizing a student's needs. For example, we found that one student needed symbol imagery as well as articulatory feedback. We provided Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes's LiPS (phoneme sequencing) program for articulatory feedback and Seeing Stars for developing symbol imagery and visualizing the letter patterns. We individualized this program for the student in a small-group setting and then incorporated these strategies into the classroom. Ongoing assessment showed when the student had mastered the articulatory feedback program; we were then able to concentrate on symbol imagery. An ongoing assessment-centered curriculum supports the refinement of learning opportunities and the development of goals and objectives.
For skills in mathematics, we use touch math; math manipulatives; word, number, and picture problems; Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes's On Cloud Nine: A Visualizing/Verbalizing Math Program; and supplemental units that teach arithmetic strategies. For example, touch math is a teaching approach that integrates digits 1 through 9 with a corresponding number of "touch points" that equal the digit's quantity. Numerals 1 through 5 have single touch points, placed at key points on the numbers. Numerals 6 through 9 have double touch points that are surrounded by a concentric circle. These double touch points are counted twice. Students touch each point in a logical pattern as they count aloud, providing a natural, repetitive, multisensory reinforcement of their newly acquired number recognition skills. Such strategies allow students to learn how to monitor their learning and discover when to use different strategies for problem solving.
A safe learning environment. We are responsible for identifying each student's learning style strengths and then building a reading program for each student. Each student must feel safe enough to take learning risks. Our staff uses a technique of responding to students' errors in a positive way—"responding to the response." For example, when a teacher asks the class for the capital of California and a student answers, "San Francisco," the teacher would respond, "Yes, San Francisco is a city in northern California, but let's look at the map and locate the city with the star that signifies a state capital." In this way, the teacher guides the student and reinforces the visual stimulus through looking at the map and allowing the student to take a risk and correct his or her answer.
As our staff members continue to learn about the brain's ability to grow and adapt in response to a non-threatening environment, they appreciate the importance of emotional experiences for students in making useful learning connections. For example, studies have shown that the tempos and texture of music appear to increase verbal, emotional, and spatial intelligence and that some music can increase concentration, memory, and creativity. Our teachers use what they know about music's effect on learning to create a lunchtime music program two days a week and a regular teacher-student talent night. Teachers also invite families to work together on a Saturday to beautify the school.
Assistive technology. In this age of communication, we find it important to use the computer to its fullest extent. Much hardware and many software programs help students with specific learning differences. The AlphaSmart keyboards, which work with Mac and IBM personal computers, allow students to type, edit, and electronically store text at their desks without the use of a personal computer. The students can transfer text to a computer or directly to a printer. The textHELP! company provides Read and Write software, which allows students to type in text and then reads it back to them. Ultimate Reader software lets students scan in pages from their favorite books and reads the text aloud. Similarly, students can open text files or scan in pages from books into EVAS Ability Pros's Arkenstone WYNN to be read aloud. This software also lets students alter the onscreen page presentation, change background color and font size, create bookmarks, highlight sections of text for study, look up words in a dictionary, and make notes. Teachers must understand their students' strengths, needs, and learning styles to help them effectively use these products.
Our school Web site (www.westmarkschool.org) is an effective tool for communicating with parents and students. Teachers post assignments with explanations, deadlines, and an e-mail response component. A list of required reading guides student learning during the summer vacation. We provide links to specialty search engines, the Braille Institute Books on Tape, online encyclopedias and dictionaries, subscription resources, schedules for school sports teams, parent association meetings, and event updates.
Think and Teach Differently
To improve our ability to teach using brain-based strategies, we know that we must keep informed about brain-based learning research. We entered into a partnership with California State University in Northridge to study the relationship among attention, concentration, learning differences, and central processing. We gather research data from student assessments for two projects: (1) central auditory processing with attention deficit disorder and (2) approaches to reading instruction for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade children. After analyzing the data, the university researchers give us information on the effectiveness and the application of different approaches to help us refine our curriculum.
At Westmark, we do not view our students as learning disabled, but as gifted young people who learn differently from others. As a result, we think and teach differently. We are nurturing students who will be vital community members. With our students, our only option is to be on the cutting edge of brain-based teaching. Our philosophy is best summed up by a famous dyslexic, Albert Einstein:I believe in intuition and inspiration . . . at times I feel certain I am right while not knowing the reason. . . . Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.
