This page includes training videos from the archives of training provided by the Tennessee Center for Dyslexia. These videos focus on topics related to word reading and spelling. We hope that these videos help you in your study of these topics.

Spelling with Regular Words, Rule Words, and Irregular Words

Dr. Suzanne Carreker leads participants through the qualities of both good and poor spellers, with a focus on how to analyze errors to drive instructional decisions. By outlining typical speller profiles, the most common types of spelling errors, what those errors mean, the advised instructional foci for particular errors, and the most reliable rules to teach for spelling improvement, Dr. Carreker arms teachers with an arsenal of knowledge and strategies for effectively instructing struggling spellers. She also presents how understanding etymology and morphology can help inform spelling of particular words and how to use this knowledge to guide students to the most informed spelling choices.

Learning Objectives

• Recognize the characteristics of various speller profiles
• Identify and classify types of spelling errors
• Analyze spelling errors and pair appropriate, effective instructional strategies to identified spelling errors
• Make connections between spelling and reading ability
• Understand the contribution of etymology and morphology to word spelling
• Gain knowledge of most common spelling rules that can be taught to improve spelling performance
• Practice and understand various instructional methods for teaching spelling 

About the Presenter

Dr. Suzanne Carreker is Principal Educational Content Lead at Lexia Learning Systems.  Dr. Carreker previously served as Senior Vice President of Innovative Solutions at Neuhaus Education Center in Texas. She is the author of systematic literacy curricula and journal articles. Dr. Carreker is a Certified Academic Language Therapist and Qualified Instructor. She has also authored textbook chapters on reading and spelling, including  Multisensory Teaching of Basic Language Skills.  She has served serves on the board of directors of the International Dyslexia Association, and she coordinated the development of a certification exam for teachers of reading. 

Spelling Instruction for English Language Learners

English Language Learners (ELL) represent a continually growing subgroup of our United States’ school demographics. Despite the increasing numbers of ELL students, there is not an increase in trained teachers for this population of learners. In this session, Dr. Cardenas-Hagan presents a breakdown of the differences between the spoken languages of English and Spanish, the most common native language of the U.S. ELL population. In addition, she provides explicit instructional recommendations on the instruction of spelling, including how to analyze the types of errors common to ELL students, how to identify the stages of spelling development, and how to deliver effective instruction to close learning gaps in the area of spelling specifically, but also in the areas of reading and vocabulary. 

Learning Objectives

• Understand the characteristics of an ELL student
• Understand the contributions of native language proficiency to the acquisition of a second language
• Understand the important contribution of spelling knowledge to language development
• Recognize the stages of spelling development
• Identify and classify types of spelling errors
• Pair appropriate and effective instructional strategies to identified spelling errors
• Make connections between spelling, reading, and vocabulary knowledge and performance

About the Presenter

Dr. Elsas Cardenas-Hagan is a Bilingual Speech Language Pathologist, a Certified Academic Language Therapist, a Certified Dyslexia Therapist and a Qualified Instructor. She is the President of Valley Speech Language and Learning Center and an Associate Research Professor for the Texas Institute for Measurement Evaluation and Statistics at the University of Houston.

Her research interests include the development of early reading assessments for Spanish-speaking students in addition to the development of reading interventions for bilingual students. She has authored curricular programs, book chapters, and journal articles related to language and literacy development for English language learners. 

Dr. Cardenas-Hagan has engaged in a national projects - one of which explore Response to Intervention/Multi-tiered Systems of Support among English learners and was sponsored by the Office of Special Education Programs. She has served as the Vice Chairperson of the International Dyslexia Association and Chairperson of the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities.

Supporting Effective Interventions within Response to Intervention and Multi-tiered Systems of Support

The purpose of this presentation will be to describe ways to support effective interventions from both a school systems and classroom level. Response to intervention approaches focus specifically on academics, such as reading, whereas Multi-tiered systems of support are broader and include supports not only for academics, but for behavior and social emotional learning. There are several shared core components for RTI and MTSS including evidence-based core instruction, universal screening for risk, evidence-based interventions that increase in intensity, and more frequent formative progress monitoring. At the school level, it is important that data-based decision making has consistent procedures for identifying risk, that explicit and systematic core reading and intervention programs are available, that teachers receive professional development and coaching to support their use of data to guide instruction within their classrooms. Click to Access the Supporting Effective Interventions Handout

Learning Objectives

• Understand the similarities and differences between RTI and MTSS 
• Learn what effect size is and what it tells you about an intervention 
• Gain knowledge about MTSS research and features of evidence-informed interventions to understand how implementation contributes to a larger effect size 
• Understand considerations for determining if an intervention is effective 
• Understand how resilience factors impact reading outcomes for at-risk students 
• Discover available resources which promote more effective intervention implementation  

About the Presenter

Dr. Stephanie Al Otaiba is the Patsy and Ray Caldwell Centennial Chair in Teaching and Learning at Southern Methodist University. She is also a Faculty Affiliate of the Florida Center for Reading Research, where she previously taught at Florida State University. She received her doctorate in special education from Vanderbilt University. A former special education teacher, her research focuses on early literacy interventions for students with or at-risk for disabilities, response to intervention (RTI), multi-tiered systems of support, and teacher training. She is the author or coauthor of over 140 journal articles and book chapters. She is the editor of the Journal of Learning Disabilities, she serves on review boards for many journals in education and psychology, and was an Associate Editor for Education Researcher and Elementary School Journal. She serves on the Board of Directors for the International Dyslexia Association.

Advanced Orthographic Mapping: How the Science of Reading Informs Foundational Reading Instruction Beyond Phonemic Awareness and Phonics

Skilled readers must establish sufficient word-level proficiency so that words are recognized automatically. In this session, Barbara Wilson will draw on the science of reading that forms the underlying basis for all reading instruction to discuss the key elements necessary to firmly establish phoneme/grapheme correspondence and beginning decoding skills. Additionally, she will describe the critical importance of going well beyond that to help students establish orthographic memory of words at more advanced levels. Lastly, she will describe how building knowledge, from the beginning, is a key component of foundational reading instruction. Click to Access the Advanced Orthographic Mapping Handout

Learning Objectives

• Understand the role of orthographic mapping in learning to read  
• Recognize the type of instruction needed to support the orthographic mapping process 
• Gain knowledge about orthographic memory and why it is important 
• Learn about Ehri’s phases of reading acquisition and determine how they relate to orthographic mapping 
• Identify the instructional factors that facilitate orthographic mapping and memory at each of Ehri’s phases of reading acquisition 
• Understand the concepts of and instructional strategies for developing phonemic awareness, phonics, phonology, morphology, and orthography 
• Recognize that practice leads to automaticity 

About the Presenter

Barbara Wilson is the co-founder and president of Wilson Language Training, which provides materials and professional learning throughout the country. She has worked to improve the lives of individuals with dyslexia for over 30 years. Barbara is the author of 3 programs: Wilson Reading System® for students with dyslexia, now in its 4th edition; Wilson Just Words® an intervention for older students with a word-level deficit; and Fundations® for students learning to read in K-3. Barbara developed and oversees graduate courses and clinical practicums that lead to Wilson® Dyslexia Practitioner and Therapist certifications, which are accredited International Dyslexia Association (IDA) Tier 3 training programs. This certification is also an integral component for several university programs.

Barbara is a founding member of the Global Implementation Society as she is dedicated to implementation and recently co-edited an International Dyslexia Association publication on this subject with an emphasis on how to bridge the gap between research, educational legislation, and classroom instruction. At Wilson Language Training, she assures that the principles of implementation science are incorporated into the literacy work with districts throughout the country. Barbara provides professional expertise for several organizations and efforts dedicated to reading and dyslexia. She is also a reviewer and contributor to the International Dyslexia Association’s fact sheets for parents and educators. In 2015, she testified in front of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee in support of H.R. 3033, the Research Excellence and Advancements for Dyslexia (READ) Act, which was later signed into law. Barbara has been awarded honorary doctorate degrees from two Massachusetts institutions: Becker College and Fitchburg State University.