Books with three red blobs
( ) are particularly recommended.
Teaching
Assistants: Practical Strategies for Effective Classroom Support -
by Maggie Balshaw and Peter Farrell - This practical book is intended to support
schools and LEAs in developing effective strategies in working with teaching assistants.
It is related to the DfEE's Good Practice Guide (2000). Suggested approaches are
supported with real examples from practice, showing the reality of how schools
can review and develop practice and so become more effective in their management
and support of teaching assistants. The aim is to enable managers in schools and
LEAs to work effectively with teaching assistants; teachers to plan classroom
approaches for working with teaching assistants; teaching assistants to improve
their practice; and children to learn more effectively in inclusive settings.
This book will be of use to headteachers, senior staff in schools, SENCOs, LEA
support staff, class teachers and teaching assistants. USA | UK
Assisting
Learning and Supporting Teaching: A Practical Guide for the Teaching Assistant
in the Classroom by Anne Watkinson - The central aim of this book is
to give Teaching Assistants (TAs) an insight into the theories of teaching and
learning which they now need to fulfil their role, including looking at the TA
as both learner and teacher. The book also takes a look at school policies, structures
and systems in order to give basic context and to help promote partnership with
teachers and managers in schools. It explains the current learning initiatives
in schools such as inclusion, the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies, as
well as concerns such as accountability and inspection within the context of the
whole curriculum of a school. The author offers advice on personal development,
explaining what training is available to TAs and how to ask for this. The book
can be used by TAs, TA mentors and others in schools who work with TAs. USA | UK
Supporting
Literacy: A Guide for Primary Classroom Assistants by Kate Grant -
Classroom assistants are increasingly relied upon to support the most needy pupils,
and they have had significantly less training than their colleagues with qualified
teacher status. It is clear that these assistants need some very practical materials.
The book provides a large section of photocopiable resources so that classroom
assistants can get to work. The book will cover all they need to know about literacy;
it will explain, in very simple terms, what is expected from them and: * How
the National Literacy Strategy works * How to support reading, writing and spelling * How to select fiction and non-fiction * How to help children use computers It also covers issues such as: * How to help children for whom English
is not their first language * How to
help children with special needs * How
to set targets and monitor progress. USA | UK
Supporting Language
and Literacy 3 - 8: A Practical Guide for Assistants in Classrooms and Nurseries by Suzi Clipson-Boyles - written to help assistants in nursery and
Key Stage One classrooms to focus on how children learn language and literacy
skills in different contexts. It covers the language and literacy curriculum from
the Early Learning Goals to the Key Stage One statutory assessments, and includes
reference to the Foundation Stage guidelines, the National Curriculum, the National
Literacy Strategy (NLS) and the Additional Literacy Support (ALS). Photocopiable
sheets provide opportunities for the reader to engage in reflective and interactive
activities throughout the book and optional extension tasks are provided for group
training. This is an ideal handbook for trainers and trainees on Teaching Assistant,
BTEC and NNEB courses. USA | UK
Supporting Literacy
and Numeracy: A Guide for Learning Support Assistants by Glenys Fox
and Marion Halliwell - A practical guide to the ways in which the Learning Support
Assistant can effectively support the class teacher with regard to literacy and
numeracy frameworks. The authors provide a description of the roles and responsibilities
of the learning support assistant and its effect of raising standards in schools;
illustrate how children learn through the literacy and numeracy frameworks; and
describe how learning support assistants can support children in the literacy
class and mathematics. USA | UK
Supporting
Children with Behavior Difficulties: a Guide for Assistants in Schools by Glenys Fox - This practical guide is written to help assistants in supporting
children who have behavioral difficulties. The author provides: a description
of the role of the assistant in working with the class teacher to enable children
to learn good behavior in schools; a clear description of the range of behavior
difficulties; and information on strategies that work in managing behavior. The
book should be useful for any assistant working directly with children, as all
assistants in the course of their work need to develop a repertoire of effective
strategies for managing behavior. It should be particularly helpful for assistants
who work routinely with children who present behavior problems as it guides understanding
and provides a helpful framework for knowing where to start, what to do and how
to do it. The books should also prove to be a valuable resource in the training
of assistants. (Comment: This helpful book would
have been improved by including some information about children's diet,
which has been found to have a noticeable effect on their behavior - John Bradford). USA | UK

How to Reach
and Teach Children and Teens with Dyslexia by Cynthia Stowe - comprehensive,
practical resource giving educators at all levels essential information, techniques,
and tools for understanding dyslexia and adapting teaching methods in all subject
areas. Over 50 full-page activity sheets that can be photocopied for immediate
use and interviews with students and adults who have had personal experience with
dyslexia. Organized into twenty sections, information covers everything from ten
principles of instruction to teaching reading, handwriting, spelling, writing,
math, everyday skills, and even covers the adult with dyslexia. USA | UK
Spelling Smart! - a ready-to-use
activities program for students with spelling difficulties, by Cynthia Stowe.
USA
| UK

Teaching Kids with Learning
Difficulties in the Regular Classroom - Strategies and techniques to use to
challenge and motivate struggling students. Susan Winebrenner, Free Spirit Publishing,
1996. Ph. 1-800-735-7323. ISBN 157542004X
USA
| UK
Phonics from A to
Z: A Practical Guide
- Everything you wanted to know about phonics but were afraid to ask! This practical
handbook, written by an early reading specialist, will show you how to build engaging,
effective phonics practice into your reading-writing program. Lots of ready-to-use
lessons, word lists, games and learning center ideas (K-3). USA
Strategy
Instruction for Increasing Reading Comprehension - Edwin S. Ellis describes
the paraphrasing strategy that has been demonstrated to increase reading comprehension
skills for adolescents with learning disabilities.
Strategy
Instruction for Problem-solving Unknown Words - Edwin S. Ellis Offers several
strategies for building word attack skills. 
Multisensory Teaching of Basic Language Skills - Judith R.
Birsh, Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. - 1999 ISBN 1557663491. - Dr. Judith Birsh
has succeeded in bringing together the expertise of a constellation of respected
and well-known contributors to produce what will undoubtedly become a highly prized
and much-used text/reference book in the field of dyslexia and learning differences.
USA
| UK
Making the Writing Process Work
- Strategies for Composition and Self-Regulation - Describes an integrative
approach to writing instruction for students with diverse abilities and backgrounds
in the elementary and middle grades. USA 
To
Teach A Dyslexic - by Don McCabe - a compelling autobiography illustrating
what it is like to grow up dyslexic. He was born in 1932 and this was well before
"dyslexia" was a term, let alone a diagnosis. He was just treated as a boy who
couldn't sit still. He credits his older sister and others who worked intensively
with him to help him learn to read and eventually to become a respected scholar.
USA

SensAble
Strategies - Provides practical, creative strategies that will help you reach
all the students in your classroom. SenseAble Strategies provides sensible ideas
that address learning styles in a way that will enhance students' abilities to
learn.
The Dyslexic Scholar: Helping your Child Succeed in the School
System - by Kathleen Nosek. If you are looking for a book that explains dyslexia
and how to cut through the red tape at school, this is the book. I finally found
some answers to my questions about dyslexia and what I need to do to get my child
help. Ms. Nosek's book is very parent friendly. She gives you wonderful advice
in a step by step fashion. I found the most useful part of the book to be the
section on the federal laws (she gives you the public law number) that the schools
must obey. I finally know what my rights are! You should read this book if you
are having any problems getting your child services. I think it would be useful
to any parent of a child with a learning disability.(A reader from Newport Beach,
California) USA
| UK
Phonemic Awareness in Young Children - A Classroom Curriculum
- Phonemic awareness - distinguishing the individual sounds that make up words
and affect their meanings - is an essential preliteracy skill, and a hot topic
in education today. This supplemental curriculum is brimming with engaging, adaptable
language activities proven to increase phonemic awareness. Use them in any preschool,
kindergarten, or first-grade classroom. Its developmental
sequence builds on simple listening games and gradually moves on to more advanced
sound manipulation exercises like rhyming, alliteration, and segmentation. USA
Lindamood
Phoneme Sequencing Program (LIPS) - and Seeing
Stars - stimulates phonemic awareness. Individuals become aware of the mouth
actions which produce speech sounds. This awareness becomes the means of verifying
sounds within words and enables individuals to become self-correcting in reading,
spelling, and speech.
Inclusive High Schools - Learning from Contemporary Classrooms
- by Fisher, Sax and Pumpian; from LD Online.
USA
| UK
The
Bangor Dyslexia Teaching System - E. Miles, Whurr Publishers 3rd Edition 1997
(recommended by Juliet Freud, Dyslexia Parents Group, dyslexia@canada.com - 'good
examples of work with phonics.') USA
| UK
Multisensory
Reading, Spelling & Penmanship Program CD-ROM - This multisensory reading,
spelling and penmanship CD-ROM program builds an association between symbols and
sounds in the English language through self-paced repetition. It utilizes the
close association of visual, auditory and kinesthetic elements to help students
improve their language skills. The beginning of the program assumes the student
does not know the letters of the alphabet. The program then proceeds to teach
all the skills one needs to read on a sixth grade level. Orton-Gillingham approach.
How to Teach your Dyslexic Child to Read - by Bernice H. Baumer.
Readers can learn how to structure lessons in order to connect with a dyslexic
child. This book uses accessible terms along with charts, graphics, and lesson
plans. It is broken down into three functional sections: a discussion of learning
disabilities; an explanation of how to teach the dyslexic to read, step by step
from kindergarten through the first, second and third grades (giving detailed
instructions for teaching phonics, spelling, and syllabication); and a section
devoted to pictures, charts, and word lists that are an integral part of tutoring
the child. ') USA
| UK
Let's write: a Ready-to-use Activities Program for Learners with Special
Needs - by Cynthia Stowe - Starting with simple words and progressing to sentences,
paragraphs, reports, stories, and essays, Let's Write! Takes into account all
ability levels and learning styles to help each student achieve success. Basic
to more advanced skills are presented sequentially in lessons that devote small
amounts of time to four diverse tasks. The program provides over 200 activities
and over 100 worksheets, and is organized into two parts: Part I - focuses on
teaching the basic structures of written language in seven sections: Words, Sentences,
Paragraphs, Research Reports, Book Reports, Stories, and Essays. Part II - offers
a combination of specific skills development and opportunities for practice in
nine sections: Grammar, Editing, Poetry, Literature Connection, Holidays, Letters,
Using the Newspaper, Real Life Writing, and Gimmicks & Gags. USA
| UK
Tregear
Books - valuable
series of multi-sensory phonics books which can be photocopied. One book - 'Mnemonics'
- is especially helpful in dealing with spelling errors commonly made by dyslexic
children and teens, e.g. because, said and enough.
Alpha to Omega - by Beve Hornsby.
Well recommended phonics manual used very widely in UK schools, listing words
in their phonic groupings. 'I
just wanted to say that I find "Alpha to Omega" really good to use. ' (V.L., UK)
There are only a few words which differ from English to American spellings (e.g.
color/colour), and this book is recommended for classroom assistants and teachers
worldwide. UK
Overcoming Dyslexia - Yale neuroscientist Sally Shaywitz demystifies the roots of dyslexia and offers
parents and educators hope that children with reading problems can be helped.
Shaywitz delves deeply into how dyslexia occurs, explaining that magnetic resonance
imaging has helped scientists trace the disability to a weakness in the language
system at the phonological level. According to Shaywitz, science now has clear
evidence that the brain of the dyslexic reader is activated in a different area
than that of the non-impaired reader. Interestingly, the dyslexic reader may be
strong in reasoning, problem solving and critical thinking, but invariably lacks
phonemic awareness-the ability to break words apart into distinct sounds-which
is critical in order to crack the reading code. The good news, Shaywitz claims,
is that with the use of effective training programs, the brain can be rewired
and dyslexic children can learn to read. She walks parents through ways to help
children develop phonemic awareness, become fluent readers, and exercise the area
of the brain essential for reading success. Sally
Shaywittz, MD, discusses dyslexia in children and adults. Book: USA | UK
Glue
Ear by Lindsay Peer.
Glue Ear is a common condition among young
children but until recently its long-term effects on learning and achievement
weren't fully understood. Lindsay Peer's research has found significant links
between the condition and dyslexia. As well as helping teachers to understand
the potential consequences of temporary hearing loss, this book will be useful
for health professionals who may be aware of the medical implications of Glue
Ear but not the educational reverberations. Similarly, parents of children who
have the condition will appreciate the accessible, jargon-free text and practical,
credible ideas.
USA | UK
Wilson Reading
System - also known as the Wilson Language Program (USA).
Scholastic 'Little Red Toolbox' - (very slow to download) Recommended Literacy Manipulative Program (USA). 'Powerful new literacy manipulative program based on research on how children learn to read, using interactive learning that involves visual, auditory, and kinesthetic modalities.'
Learning
Staircase - Ros Lugg is a specialist teacher and assessor, specializing in
learning disabilities (including dyslexia). She and several colleagues set up
a resource company to provide resources and support for both children and adults.
The resources are designed to be used by specialist teachers, speech/language
therapists, tutors, classroom assistants or parents who wish to work with their
own children. Most of the materials are game-based and detailed instructions are
provided. The resources concentrate on developing the pre-literacy and early literacy
skills and there is a teaching manual which can teach parents how to teach alphabet
knowledge and spelling and reading skills. Individual advice is available by e-mail.
The Learning Staircase also retails leading international software for literacy
and numeracy. Ros’s company are particularly proud that many New Zealand schools,
speech language therapists, SPELD tutors and parents are now using these materials
with great success.
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