CLAY
(use a soft kind)
Clay is a great tool for reading!!! Consider reading the book The
Gift of Dyslexia. This book has some interesting ideas for using clay to help with reading. Check your local library or
bookstore.
I’ve found it helpful for young students that have extreme problems learning letters and numbers that making academic props with their hands can be a worthwhile activity. These activities take up a lot of instructional time and should not be used with all students. If you’ve tried all the standard procedures and tricks you can think of -- and the child still has trouble with letter and number recognition give clay a try.
Here’s what I do:
Have students roll the clay into ‘snakes.' They then use the snakes to build letters and numbers. Note: Only do one letter or number at a time. Encourage students to finish more than one “project” at a sitting or it’ll take you forever to get though the alphabet. This activity is a great at home project that parents might enjoy.
If a child is trying to learn a beginning sound for a letter === have the child think of a 3 dimensional object that starts with the same sound
(they usually pick an animal) and make it with the clay. Insist on lots of details -- eyes, nose, fingernails etc. The child then draws the object. If you have access to a camera, taking a picture of the clay creation is also helpful.
It is important that the child THINK about the letter and 3D object many
times. As the child is
working -- ask him/her numerous times (about 15-20 times should do it) the name, sound, whatever, you want the child to remember. --
Do not skip this repeating of the stimulus to be learned. It is important that the child use all three modalities to learn (visual, auditory & kinesthetic). Later, as you test for knowledge -- if the child stumbles on a “clay letter or number” you can sometimes mention the 3D object and *bingo*, they recall the name or sound of the “forgotten symbol”.
You might expand on this idea for letter combinations like ow, ou, igh, ar and so on if a child really can’t learn
them with the standard method.
When the student is ready, the teachers will
appear.
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(316) 733-9532