Listen to this page with proReader
 

 

This year’s Dyslexia Action Week (15-21 June) is all about, you guessed it, action! So we are proud to present three fantastic and free downloadable resources which can be used to inspire action in your classroom. These are in addition to the poster, brochure, and other activities that are featured on our main Dyslexia Action Week page.

Dyslexia is an alternative way of thinking which, if addressed effectively, can produce great creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. With this in mind, these three resources are ideal for engaging your class and nurturing their creativity – dyslexic or not.

These inspiring resources can be used as the launch point for all sorts of activities, from class discussions through to performances and plays or unleashing the artist within through music, paintings and sculpture.



 

To mark Dyslexia Action Week, some of New Zealand’s most respected music industry figures have come together on a unique and exciting project to raise awareness and understanding of dyslexia.


Written for the Foundation by one of New Zealand’s foremost singer/songwriters, Don McGlashan, ‘The Closer You Get, The Bigger I Look’ is both inspired by the challenges of difference and celebrates the creative gifts that dyslexia can bring. The Foundation enlisted the help of Sean Donnelly to produce the song and roots/rock band dDub to perform it.


Perhaps your class would like to sing or play along to this track; talk about what it would be like to be a musician and all the different instruments that musicians play; think of other inventive things that could be used to make music; or even compose their own songs about creativity!


The song will be launched to the public on 11 June, and you can find out more here. Free downloads will be available from this link from 11 June.



 

This audio piece tells the story of a young boy called Ted who meets up with Thomas Edison while on a school trip to a London Science Museum. While Ted’s daydreaming often gets him into trouble, he is relieved to find that daydreaming can be an asset according to one of history’s greatest inventors.


Why not play this to your class and use it as the basis for explorations of what they daydream about; what would they invent if they could; what they think Thomas Edison would have to say to them, and so on!


This free download is available exclusively here, and only until Sunday 21 June, so be sure to download it now!
It comes courtesy of UK website Xtraordinary People. More stories are available for purchase on this site.


Founded by award-winning UK campaigner Kate Griggs, Xtraordinary People unites leading UK dyslexia charities and champions change at Government level. DFNZ thanks Kate for her generosity and support of Dyslexia Action Week.



 

This soundtrack from the acclaimed Dyslexia Discovery Exhibit in Christchurch tells what it is like to be dyslexic from a child’s point of view. This includes struggles with words that won’t stay still on the page, and trying harder and harder but not getting anywhere. The track also talks about famous New Zealanders who have harnessed their creative gifts, such as Weta Workshop founder Richard Taylor and the late motorbike engineer John Britten.

Use this free download as a launch pad to talk about what your class makes of Richard and John’s experiences; what imagination is; and how they would describe it; or perhaps invite them to paint or sculpt the Weta Workshop creatures used in Lord of the Rings, or the Chronicles or Narnia!


Designed as an interactive sculpture garden, the Dyslexia Discovery Exhibit also features inspirational artworks by Richard Taylor, celebrated sculptor Paul Dibble (representing the achievements of John Britten) and renowned British artist Mackenzie Thorpe.

Click here for your free Dyslexia Discovery Exhibit soundtrack



   



 

©Copyright Dyslexia Foundation of New Zealand. All rights reserved.
Content may be reproduced with permission of DFNZ, contact info@dfnz.org.nz