Great Middle Grade Reads discussion

I wasn't sure which heading went under so I chose "Resources".

My daughter has un-diagnosed dyslexia. Meaning testing is expensive, lol. Are there any books or site you all may know of that would help me help her with understanding what she is reading? Sites with books w/ discussion questions. Maybe some "classics" for 4th-6th graders (she's going to 6th) with discussion questions?

Great question! I'm sure there are lots of parents out there wondering the same thing, so I'm glad you started this thread. Surely many of our other members have had children or students with similar reading challenges and will be able to share what they know.

I found this promising resource: http://dyslexia.yale.edu/EDU_Culture4...

Thanks, MG. My daughter has read a Babymouse book before. She seemed to like it. But I like what the caption of this book:

The Invention of Hugo Cabret
by Brian Selznick

A 566-page novel told mostly through illustration. Kids love this fat book; it makes them feel like “real readers.” A Caldecott Medal winner. Ages 9-12

She tends to pick up think books because she sees everyone else reading big books, but I don't think she ever finishes them.

Perfect caption! And it's truly a beautiful book, if you haven't read it before. It's a good story and the illustrations are fantastic.

I have an adult friend who is dyslexic. The biggest simple thing that helps her is books that leave some white space between the lines of text.

The second most helpful thing is listening to the audio *at the same time* as reading. Some of us remember learning to read, back in kindergarten, from book & cassette sets - I think she got the idea from remembering those.

(Dunno if that helps, just thought I'd offer.:)

Oh, and of course she loves her e-reader, so she can enlarge the text and change the font, etc.

As far as enriched books, I've seen several lately, but none I can remember offhand. I can dig later if you want to remind me. What I've seen are award-winning MG books with questions & author interview in the back, meant to appeal to a classroom teacher so the teacher will buy a set for the 'reader's circles' or 'discussion clubs' s/he assigns. Your school librarian might possibly be the best source if you want to find books with these kinds of addendum.

Elsewhere in this group folks have talked favorably about https://www.biblionasium.com/#tab/all....

Thanks, Cheryl. I will definitely try the audio book and follow method. I had planned to be her audio book LOL, as she read along to see if she heard more "important" information, than she read.

I just saw an article about a special font that is now being used to help dyslexic readers. The letters are "weighted" at the bottom -- I thought of our discussion here and thought I would mention it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10...

Not a recommendation that will help with the reading per say, but my son had difficulty with reading and writing, and liked the "Hank Zipzer" books by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver.
Hank struggles with dyslexia, and he's a creative, smart, spunky character. My son related so well with Hank--I think it validated his own experiences.
(They're a good read for others too-- it will sensitize them in a fun way to the needs of kids with dyslexia.)

An adult friend of mine who has dyslexia said that when the text is a different color it helps him. I wonder if some e-readers let you change the color as well as the size.

Slightly off topic here, but I just finished reading David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell, and he had a chapter on dyslexia.

In addition to telling the stories of several people who excelled in their fields BECAUSE of dyslexia, he also highlights some research that shows that advantages that dyslexics have in the way they process visual information.

Worth the read, especially if someone you know struggles with dyslexia. Gladwell is a tremendous storyteller!

Wow, that is cool. I'm not a fan of Gladwell's science, in his previous books, but I think I will read this. I just noticed the phrase 'embrace dyslexia' the other day, and thought that was odd. (Sorry, don't remember where.) Maybe not so much....
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Rebecca, I'd be willing to bet that color-enabled e-readers do have the feature of changing color of the font. Maybe the font 'style' itself can be changed to something more helpful, too.

There are rumors that GR is pairing with Amazon on a new Kindle - you might want to look at GR blogs or such to try to learn more. It might have better accessibility features, since it's new and since members of GR have posted in Feedback asking for general help with accessibility.

I just read the synopsis of Hank Zipzer and one of the first reviews on it and he sounds like my girl. She is creative, but the writing and reading....

Organization is another issue.

I know some very successful dyslexic writers, myself included. I did not learn to read until grade five. Thank God for good remedial teaching.

James wrote: "I know some very successful dyslexic writers, myself included. I did not learn to read until grade five. Thank God for good remedial teaching."
How's your spelling? Do you ever find it gets in the way? I know some kids who are such poor spellers, spell check doesn't help them.

Liza wrote: "I wasn't sure which heading went under so I chose "Resources".

My daughter has un-diagnosed dyslexia. Meaning testing is expensive, lol. Are there any books or site you all may know of that woul..."

Hi Lisa.

I was doing some research on dyslexia and found a site that offers a bunch of teacher resources you might be interested in - http://www.kathyyoung.me/resources-fo...

She also has a list of books with characters with disabilities, and there are some in there with dyslexia - http://www.kathyyoung.me/download/Boo...

Jenny :)

Wow . . . OK Liza as a dyslexic reader myself . . . I can say your daughter will be fine but it will take some time. For me, comic books and graphic novels are what really got me started . . . and sadly the toughest on moving beyond that is I'm a bit of a slow read. So maybe the best thing is time management? In order to help my son read things for schools (he's 8) we make sure to always make use of the time in the car running errands or picking up his little sister at daycare.

One of the funny things I aways tell people is that in order to remember which way b's and d's should go . . . is that I think of the word bed . . . which petty much looks like a bed. :)

And while my spelling and hand writing my leave a bit to be desired . . . I have written my first MG novel and I've been told it's not that bad. :) Sure your daughter has a few stories in her as well!!! Good luck.

Hi Liza

I have experience writing educational material for dyslexic readers. One of the series I worked on provides excellent resources (book and audio together.) The series was called 'Focus Forward' put out by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt a few years ago. I was part of a team of writers, and we were asked to create short, exciting stories that were easily deciphered by young readers with extreme reading difficulties.

I know the program works as I have received letters from families telling me so.

Here is the resource link: http://www.hmhco.com/shop/education-c...

I hope this helps!

Pete

*Just as a note - this post is for informational purposes only. The series was put together with a team of 30 writers over a three year period and no author receives any individual promotion or publicity benefits.*

Pete, is there anywhere that you can actually see these books? The cover or a sample page or two? Thanks, Bec

Good point. I'll do some research...

I found one of the audio files streaming on the web. It's from the book 'Super Fit'.

http://www.wadsworthmedia.com/marketi...

This Australian site has some good info:

https://cengage.com.au/primary/browse...

And there is a free software demo here:

https://cengage.com.au/primary/the-st...


Failing that, check with a library if they have the books. They came out in 2007.

Pete :)

What a cool thread!

I'm a 53-year-old dyslexic writer. I was lucky enough to have been diagnosed in first grade and tutored in second and again in fifth grade.

A couple of things to keep in mind about dyslexic kids. We are insanely smart. One LD teacher told me, "I love my dyslexic kids. I bring all my problems to them because they solve them so much better than I do."

Einstein, Da Vinci, Edison, Churchill, Ben Franklin, Freud, all dyslexic - and that's just a partial list.

Another teacher told me that reading is like a sport. In sports, a few people are natural born athletes. They can play just about any sport without having to work at it. But not all professional athletes are naturally born that way. Most people are natural born readers. Their brains are pre-wired to be good at reading. Dyslexics aren't that way, so must work a little harder to teach their muscles (the eyes) to sync with the brain to read smoothly.

Another trick I've just learned that I wish someone had told me as a kid. When reading out loud, don't try to read faster - read slower. If you listen to documentaries, notice how slowly the narrators speak. So relax and go slower.

The problem with finding books for dyslexic kids to read is finding the balance between what is easy to read with what isn't boring. While I was struggling to read Dick & Jane, I would bring home textbooks on Time theories, faster-than-light travel, etc. My Dad would read me those books after I did the gawd awful chore of "my reading."

Not to hock my own book, but you might give Billy Bobble Makes A Magic Wand a try. It has lots of dialogue, which is easier for dyslexics. We read in character better than as ourselves (there are a ton of dyslexic actors). Billy Bobble also has a lot of quantum physics and biology, which will keep a sharp dyslexic mind interested.

If you have any questions, or need a pep talk, shoot me a note. I love sharing my love of being dyslexic.

A wonderful book is Thank You Mr. Falker, about a girl who struggles to read because of dyslexia. It's a picture book, so its targeted at a younger audience, but is a beautiful story.

Did you guys know that Rick Riordan made Percy Jackson dyslexic because his own son struggles with it? He wanted to give him a hero he could relate to.

Thank You, Mr. Falker

The Lightning Thief

Deanna wrote: "A wonderful book is Thank You Mr. Falker, about a girl who struggles to read because of dyslexia.

I've just read a book about a girl with dyslexia, how she hides it and how the right teacher helped her. So I thought I'd put it in this forum in case anyone is looking for something like this.Fish in a Tree