Short Term Memory and Reading
We all have a limit to our capacity to store very short-term information. The standard range is quoted as seven plus or minus two, for the number of digits a person can recall over a matter of seconds. If you have a good memory you can remember a 9-digit number like...
read moreFamous Dyslexics: Olympic Athlete Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson was a star player in the ‘Dream Team’ – the U.S. men’s basketball team in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Did you know he is also dyslexic? From a young age, Magic (whose real first name is Earvin) struggled to read and write, performing poorly in...
read moreStory Writing for Struggling Students
**This article is a guest post from Karla at http://lifeinspecialeducation.blogspot.com. Thank you for your wonderful contribution!** Story Writing for Struggling Students Many students who struggle with reading, writing, and spelling have a very difficult time...
read moreFamous Dyslexics: Olympic Torch-bearers
A 14 year-old dyslexic girl was among those chosen to carry the Olympic torch in this year’s torch relay for the games of the 30th Olympiad. Jessica Hogarth-Hall is a student at All Saints RC School in York, United Kingdom, and was nominated for the honor of bearing...
read moreAre you a right-brain or left-brain thinker?
These days, a popular internet past-time is to take an online test in which after asking you a series of seemingly random questions, the computer spits out your “type”. You might be labelled a dreamer rather than a do-er. Or you might be placed into the famous...
read moreFamous Dyslexics – Bruce Jenner, Olympian
In honour of this year’s summer Olympic games in London, we’re bringing you a couple of posts on famous dyslexic athletes who fly the torch high for learning challenges. One of the United States’ star athletes in the 1970s was Bruce Jenner. He had dyslexia and always...
read moreWhat is Phonics?
So…what is phonics anyway? The term ‘phonics’ is somewhat of a hot potato these days, especially since the UK government controversially promoted it as the best way to boost reading standards in 2011. The new phonics test, which is now underway in primary schools,...
read moreFactoid Friday: Go!
Did you know that: “Go!” is the shortest complete sentence in the English language? A sentence needs to have a subject and verb to be considered complete. However, commands (also called imperatives) have an understood, implicit subject - 'you'. Everyone understands...
read moreCan playing games help us live longer?
A recent TED talk by game designer Jane McGonigal illustrated the power of games. There is a lot of mixed emotion about gaming in the wider culture - some people argue it isolates us from others and is ultimately a waste of time, while others focus on the...
read moreFamous Fridays: Henry Winkler
Let’s play guess who! “Known for being especially cool and for his catchphrases "Eyyyy!" and "Whoa!", his coolness gave him special powers, such as making machinery function by pounding his fist, or getting the attention of girls by snapping his fingers.” Do you give...
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