As a follow-up to Matthew Bickerton's self-organizing workshop on Saturday at the Scratch Conference, I am requesting that educators share any stories about using Scratch with dyslexic students. I teach at a K-8 school for children diagnosed with dyslexia and other language based learning differences. I introduced Scratch to a group of 6th level students last year and they took off with it. I am excited about introducing it to younger children this year and gleaned lots of ideas at the conference. With its graphical interface and immediate results, Scratch is perfect for students who struggle with reading and yet allows them the opportunity for discovery/exploratory learning in what is usually a very structured learning environment. Matthew's experiences at the Maharashtra Dyslexia Association in Mumbai, India, reinforced my ideas of introducing Scratch to my students at The Odyssey School.
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martyh wrote:
As a follow-up to Matthew Bickerton's self-organizing workshop on Saturday at the Scratch Conference, I am requesting that educators share any stories about using Scratch with dyslexic students. I teach at a K-8 school for children diagnosed with dyslexia and other language based learning differences. I introduced Scratch to a group of 6th level students last year and they took off with it. I am excited about introducing it to younger children this year and gleaned lots of ideas at the conference. With its graphical interface and immediate results, Scratch is perfect for students who struggle with reading and yet allows them the opportunity for discovery/exploratory learning in what is usually a very structured learning environment. Matthew's experiences at the Maharashtra Dyslexia Association in Mumbai, India, reinforced my ideas of introducing Scratch to my students at The Odyssey School.
This inquiry might also apply to students who have not yet learned to read. I had an experience with a young (4 year old) student who learned reading skills while selecting and viewing blocks. Each time he observed his object "do" something, he learned the meaning and spelling of the equated block!
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