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Spring 2023 Dyslexia Services Spring Campus PDBy: 1

PAGEAgenda● Your Brain on Reading ● Strong Brain Activities In the fall, we went over the characteristics of Dyslexia, accommodations and the referral process. Today we are going to focus in on the brain. 2

What do you think happens when you read? (get 2-3 answers) What we are going to talk about now is what parts of your brain you use when you. If we understand what goes into reading, we can better help our students. Your Brain on ReadingDyslexia Services

PAGEDyslexia Serviceshttps://integralyogamagazine.org/the-science-of-yoga-part-5-yoga-and-the-brain-systems/ Thinking about what we just spoke about, take a look at this picture of the brain. What areas do you think we use? (get 1-2 answers). We actually use our WHOLE brain when we read. 4

PAGEhttps://scchen.wordpress.com/2010/01/18/neuronal-recycling-hypothesis-4-letterbox/ Dyslexia ServicesWe have to learn how to read, it is not something we are born knowing how to do. Reading requires us to use our memory, cognitive functions and emotion. Because we use all these, we end up using areas of the brain that have changed to do other things. Add into to that cognitive functions such as attention, planning, working memory, long term memory and retrieval to name a few and you have what you need to read. This slide illustrates what is happening as you read and it all happens simultaneously. If one area is not as strong, then the student has the potential to become a struggling reader. 5

PAGELet’s work your brain!Dyslexia ServicesPut your right hand out in front of you. Rotate your index finger clockwise. (let participants do this for just a few seconds) Ok stop. Now rotate your wrist counterclockwise. (let participants do this for just a few seconds). Now put them together- rotate your index finger clockwise WHILE rotating your wrist counterclockwise. (have participants do this for no more than 10 seconds). Doing something as simple as this will activate your whole brain! 6

PAGEDyslexia ServicesYour Limbic SystemWith all this talk about the brain, there is one area that is overlooked often and that is our limbic system. Our limbic system plays a large role in emotion regulation and memory. Research is showing that the emotional development of the student affects their literacy achievement. 7

PAGEDyslexia ServicesYour Limbic SystemLimbic Systemcontrols emotionVestibulum congue tempusLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor. Ipsum dolor sit amet elit, sed do eiusmod tempor.Emotions conveyed by the words in the textThe Limbic System (emotional state of the brain)How long a student spent paying attention to the text.The emotional state of our limbic system plays a large role in reading. The emotions that a word carry can impact how long a student reads. The more emotionally invested a student is in the text, the more likely they are to continue to read as well retain what it is they are reading. If imagine ourselves reading more often than not we remember what we read when we felt connected to the text and were in a good state of mind. The same is true for our students. The emotional aspect provided through the limbic system is as important as any other area. 8

Did you know?Comics use visual language to get bigger emotional responses. This is a great way for students to improve their reading and communication skills as well as their cognitive functions. So….Let Them Read Comics! https://www.verdict.co.uk/comic-book-day-the-most-valuable-comic-books-in-the-world/ *There is an animation on Let them read comics! Give everyone a chance to read the slide then click again to get Let Them Read Comics! 9

PAGELet’s work your brain!Dyslexia ServicesRoll your head to the left (neck rolls). (let participants do this for a few seconds). Now I want you to roll your tongues inside your mouth to the right. (let participants do this for a few seconds). Now I want you to do both at the same time! (have participants do this for no more than 15 seconds) Again you just worked your whole brain!10

PAGEThe Dyslexic Brainhttps://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/6/708 Now that we’ve talked about the brain, let’s compare a student without dyslexia to one that does. You can see the areas of the brain for the student with dyslexia are far less than those of a student without Dyslexia. Can we change the brain so that dyslexic students can improve their reading? YES!11

Dyslexia ServicesStrong Brain Activities In addition to receiving dyslexia services, there are short activities you can do with your entire class that will help strengthen the entire brain. In fact we have already done 2 of them. (the activities on the slides that say Let’s Work your Brain) The point of whole brain activities is to get the neurons in your brain working so they are receptive to new information. It is not important if they do the activity correctly, what matters is that they tried it!12

Doing physical exercises can help improve your brain. We know it can decrease stress, but did you know that doing sports drills can improve the brain’s attention? 13

PAGEDyslexia ServicesArt and music use the whole brain. Try to incorporate it into your class. You can have them draw their notes instead of writing. Listening to music is an excellent way to get the brain working which is our goal. 14

PAGEDyslexia ServicesOther Activities● Storytelling ● Yoga ● Obstacle Courses ● Bingo ● Word SearchesWhen choosing activities to work the whole brain, they do not need to be new or difficult. For storytelling, have 1 student start a story and go around and have students add onto it a sentence at a time. Obstacle Courses are great because they require focus while still working the body. Or you can change the rules in Bingo for each game. Students are still working on a skill but having to pay attention to the new set of rules. You will be receiving a PDF of different activities you can do to help strengthen the brain. 15

PAGEKey Takeaways ● We use the whole brain when reading. ● Emotions play an important part in reading. ● Strong Brain Activities are short activities that get the whole brain working. Dyslexia Services*There are animations on this slide! Each point will show up when you click your mouse. Please only put up the point as you are talking about it. As we wrap up, there are 3 points to take away. The first is to remember that we use our whole brain when reading, not just certain parts of it. Secondly we need to take emotions into consideration when we are reading as it is beneficial to improve literacy skills in students. Lastly, we talked about strong brain activities which get your neurons working and receptive to new information. 16

THANK YOUQuestions?Dyslexia Services 17