Spring Branch ISD Featured News

Thanks to funding she received from a J. Landon Short Mini Grant last fall, Spring Branch ISD Dyslexia Support Specialist, Amy Griffith, was able to purchase additional sensory supplies, card decks and Recipe for Reading manuals to use with the dyslexia students she serves at multiple campuses in the district. 

The Recipe for Reading manual includes a series of systematic, and structured lessons that are part of the Orton Gillingham Approach, which is a program used in SBISD to support students identified with dyslexia. It is a multi-sensory approach that teaches explicit lessons on letter sounds and spelling patterns.

With the extra materials Griffith purchased with the grant money, she is able to share the supplies and lesson manuals with colleagues who serve multiple campuses, as well as with classroom teachers so they can continue the strategies she teaches the dyslexia students during targeted intervention sessions.

During a recent session, Griffith led three first grade students through a progressive lesson on vowel sounds, and introduced strategies for recognizing words with the “sh” sound at the beginning or end of the word. To reinforce the way these letters look and feel when writing, the students drew the letters in colorful sand on a tray while saying the sounds of the letters aloud.

“Our pointer fingers have over 100 nerve endings in the tip,” said Griffith. When a student feels how to write the letters it reinforces their recognition of them when reading, and mimicking the letters in the sand helps with their writing skills.

“We have seen growth in reading levels,” she said. “In addition, students have been implementing spelling patterns in classroom writing.”

The multi-sensory approach also helps students who have dysgraphia, which is a learning disability that affects the ability to form letters efficiently and legibly. Griffith said classroom teachers have commented how much the students’ handwriting has improved since working with the dyslexia program methods and materials. 

For 29 years, SBISD has conducted a Mini-Grants for Educators program. In 2000, The Robert and Janice McNair Foundation created a permanent endowment for the program in memory of J. Landon Short, a lifelong education advocate and SBISD patron.

In fall 2019, grants of up to $500 for individual teachers or $750 for teams were awarded to 63 out of 151 applications. Applications for the fall 2020 grants will open later this spring.

If you would like to join other community partners as a mini grant sponsor so more innovative ideas can be funded, please contact Katie Redd, 713-251-2460 or partner@springbranchisd.com.

Submitted by Becky Wuerth, SBISD Communications
Becky.wuerth@springbranchisd.com