GISD Dyslexia Informer
September 2020
GISD Dyslexia Participates in Fall Intersession
Dyslexia Intersession is at Sellers Middle School for grades k-8 and Naaman Forest High School for grades 9-12.
Here are the start and end times for students.
- Elementary: 8:10 a.m.-12:10 p.m.
- Middle School: 8:50 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
- High School: 7:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m.
#GISDIntersession, #Differencemaker.
Language, History, and the Story of Words
In our example, the word pig, deer, lawyer, and angry come from the Anglo-Saxons, while words such as swine, venison, attorney and irate come from the elite French. We also have Italian and Spanish words that are part of our everyday language, for example, alto, spaghetti, piano, and carnival are Italian. In Texas, the Spanish influence is prevalent, stampede, cilantro, mesquite, and of course, Texas, all stem from the Spanish language. Can you imagine where words like typhoon, hurricane, banana and ski come from? Well, tsunami comes from the Japan, typhoon comes from China, while banana is of African origin and ski is Norwegian.
Greek and Latin have a prominent presence in academics. Matter of fact, over 60 percent of English words have Greek or Latin roots. Greek words are typically seen in science and math; for example: chemistry, physiology, psychology, quadrilateral, and chromosome, while words like jurisprudence, jury, benevolent, per capita, antebellum all stem from Latin.
Every day words we use to speak with one another, and some of the first words we learn as children stem from the Anglo-Saxons. Words ending in suffixes -s, -ing, -less, -ful, and -ness and many one syllable words such as: girl, name, like, month, baby, and sad are Anglo-Saxon.
Some words come from famous, or not so famous, people. Have you ever heard of the words gerrymander or boycott? Have you eaten a sandwich, lately? Well, these words are named after Elbridge Gerry, John Mantagu-Earl of Sandwich, and Charles Boycott.
While this is just a glimpse of the background of our language, hopefully, it sparks an interest in learning the "why" behind words. With this understanding, vocabulary increases and educational opportunities grow.
Resources: Free Audiobooks and Helpful Websites
Support Tools/Assistive Technology:
https://learningtools.donjohnston.com/
Audiobooks:
Learning Ally: http://www.learningally.org
MyOn: http://www.garlandisd.net/node/10279
Bookshare: https://www.bookshare.org/cms/
Websites:
Quote of the Month
“There needs to be a lot more emphasis on what a child can do instead of what he cannot do.”
- Dr. Temple Grandin
Professor, Activist
A Year in Review....2019-20
GISD Dyslexia Symposium
Nelson Lauver
Thank you, Board Members!
Eric Mc Gehearty
Welcome to the GISD Symposium!
Bilingual Literacy and Language
What a Crew!
Dyslexia Therapist Spotlight
Anne Ruff has been a Certified Academic Language Therapist for 9 years and was the first CALT hired by the district. She earned her undergraduate degree in Child Development from the University of Texas at Austin. She received her training for Academic Language Therapy and her Master of Education, both from Southern Methodist University. She has previously been in the classroom as a Special Education ELA Resource teacher and a Lead ESL teacher. Additionally, she has also taught every grade level, k-12. She is the Dyslexia Therapist at Sachse High School and is currently completing her Leadership Certification courses at Texas A & M – Commerce. She loves to teach, mentor others, learn, read, and serves at her church in a leadership position.
GISD Dyslexia
Email: MEisinger@garlandisd.net
Website: garlandisd.net/content/dyslexia
Location: 501 South Jupiter Rd., Garland TX, 75042
Twitter: @gisd_dyslexia