These resources promote a range of options for helping students living with dyslexia to learn in ways that work best for them. They will support dyslexic learners to be recognised and to access the curriculum through reasonable accommodations. Over time, further resources will be made available to support neurodiverse learners.
This resource is for teachers, learning support coordinators, literacy leaders and school leaders in primary and secondary schools with students who show signs of dyslexia. About Dyslexia supports the teaching and learning of literacy, and provides practical, strengths-based approaches for:
This update replaces the Ministry of Education’s 2008 About Dyslexia resource, with a greater emphasis on practical strategies and approaches for educators to respond effectively to learners with dyslexia.
All schools, Resource Teachers Literacy and Learning Support Co-coordinators (LSCs) have been sent a copy of About Dyslexia: Supporting Literacy in the Classroom to help support children and young people living with dyslexia, and ultimately lift their literacy outcomes.
This Ministry of Education page provides information on how parents and whānau can support their child at home and at school. It gives guidance for identifying the signs that a child might have dyslexia, practical tips for helping at home, how school can help; who they can talk to and seek support from, and how to actively take part in their child’s learning.
Tīpaopao – Kauwhata Reo
The Tīpaopao brochure is an introductory resource for supporting ākonga with dyslexia in Māori medium settings. It contains key ideas and strategies (including a learning support plan) that teachers, whānau, and support personnel can use to enhance learning conditions for children who may have specific literacy needs in Māori medium. It is supported by two videos outlining effective literacy teaching and support in Māori medium kura.
All kura and kohanga reo in Māori medium settings will receive the Tīpaopao resource. This useful resource has been designed to raise awareness and understanding of tīpaopao (dyslexia) for kaiako and whānau.
The New Zealand Dyslexia Handbook has been selected to be used as an interim tool for monitoring learners’ progress while further, more comprehensive resources to support all learners are developed. The handbook provides various assessments suitable to use in identifying dyslexic-type traits, as well as other underlying issues in literacy progress. All schools, Resource Teachers Literacy and Learning Support Co-coordinators (LSCs) have been sent a copy of the New Zealand Dyslexia Handbook.
There will be further work to develop:
A selection of non-Ministry resources that can be used to support ākonga with dyslexia are listed below. Please note that teacher input is necessary with all software as dyslexic children require responsive, sounds-based teaching that is delivered by someone who can listen to and respond to their errors and identify the reasons for their errors.
These resources were reviewed in 2022 against criteria that were developed in consultation with a range of dyslexia stakeholders. The kete will be periodically reviewed to ensure that the resources continue to meet the criteria.
This selection of resources is not exhaustive. We know there are many other high-quality resources that benefit learners with dyslexia in the market. You can use the review criteria to assess resources that have not been included in this selection.
Audience: Teachers
Years: 4–10
Description: A structured literacy programme and decodable books for older students. Primarily for use with small groups or 1:1 intervention. Organised into eight levels, each kit contains a teacher manual, decodable readers, and practical material for teaching activities. Learners progress through levels at their own pace. From the Agility with Sound website, access:
Wordchain is recommended for use in conjunction with Agility with Sound for practice and reinforcement.
Audience: Classroom teachers, SENCOs, LSCs, school-based intervention teachers working with learners who have dyslexia, and parents
Years: 1–13
Description: Practical, researched approaches for teaching school-aged learners with dyslexia. A range of assessments are included to identify learning needs and monitor progress, along with lesson plans and printable resources. Accompanying videos that demystify dyslexia and illustrate practical classroom approaches for teachers are accessible from NZCER. The text aims to bridge the gap between research on dyslexia and school and community understanding.
Audience: Teachers, students
Years: 2–10
Description: Wordchain is a series of online learning games for reinforcing phonological skills through word building and phoneme manipulation. The games are designed for use with Agility with Sound but can be used as a standalone support within a literacy programme. Originally designed as a series of apps which run on iOS and Android devices, from February 2022, Wordchain for the Web enables users to access the games via a browser from any device and save progress. Wordchain for the web uses a browser-based admin platform that allows educators or parents to monitor progress, set recommended levels and other preferences, and group students. Demonstration versions of all the Wordchains are on the website.
Audience: Classroom teachers, SENCOs, LSCs, and school-based intervention teachers
Years: 0–8
Description: This online teaching and learning platform provides educators with the knowledge, appropriate assessments, reporting systems, and multisensory resources to explicitly teach foundation literacy skills using a systematic and cumulative evidence-based approach. It is for use in both mainstream classes and intervention settings.
Audience: Parents, classroom teachers
Years: 0–8
Description: These 12 freely accessible videos describe “bite sized” and practical foundational literacy skills and activities based on the Building Blocks of Reading Success. They were developed to support learning at home. It is recommended that the videos are viewed in the progressive order that they are listed. Each video has supporting resources available through the Learning Matters website.
Audience: Classroom teachers, SENCOs, LSCs, and school-based intervention teachers
Years: 1–13
Description: Taking a phonological approach, the book is set out in the form of lesson plans for teaching phonics skills sequentially. It begins with the basic alphabet sounds through to blends, digraphs, syllable breaking, and decoding Latin and Greek words. Each lesson is followed by a worksheet for students.
Diagnostic assessments of phoneme awareness, basic decoding skills, word reading, spelling, writing, and attitudes to learning are included. Teachers can use these assessments to establish learner needs and evaluate whether teaching has been successful at the end of the programme.
Additional teaching strategies are given to reinforce spelling and assist reading comprehension. Strategies for students experiencing learning difficulties and information on reporting to parents are included, incorporating research on effective tutoring methods.
Audience: Classroom teachers, SENCOs, LSCs, and school-based intervention teachers
Years: 5–13
Description: Use Sort Out Your Syllables for teaching ākonga how to decode, pronounce, and spell multisyllabic words using their knowledge of phonemes and the alphabetic code. The resource consists of a teacher manual, a student practice book, and a desktop card/poster of English vowel patterns.
The programme starts with two short assessments that identify the gaps in skills for reading and spelling unfamiliar multisyllabic words, followed by a series of 10-minute lessons that have been designed to close the gaps. The strategies are designed to make it easier for ākonga to read and write multisyllabic words, which in turn promotes growth in reading and writing.
Audience: Classroom teachers, SENCOs, LSCs, and school-based intervention teachers
Years: 0–13+
Description: A sound wall supports learners to connect speech with print, helping them make sense of the alphabetic code they are working in. This resource supports the teaching and learning of NZ English and te reo Māori speech sounds (phonemes), and the letters (graphemes) used to represent them in writing.
The teacher manual explains how to use sound walls effectively to:
The resource can be used for classroom teaching and tier 2 and tier 3 interventions.
Audience: Classroom teachers, school-based intervention teachers, parents
Years: 0–13/Adult
Description: StepsWeb is an online programme designed to support literacy learning. It can be used with the whole class, groups, or individuals with specific learning needs, such as dyslexia. A support site provides information and guidance for using StepsWeb and some specific information about supporting dyslexic learners using StepsWeb.
Diagnostic assessments and screening tests are provided for identifying learner needs, where to begin in StepsWeb scope and sequence, and to measure progress.
StepsWeb has its own detailed scope and sequence.
StepsWeb is customisable – individual activities and resources can be used to reinforce any research-based literacy approach. Teachers can create and customise their own chosen literacy progression and schools are able to build entire banks of resources specifically for their school.
The StepsWeb programme includes individual workbooks and printable resources and games. It is strongly recommended that Foundation Level learners and older learners who are struggling with literacy are on the workbooks as well as the online activities. Boxed sets of supporting games are available for group teaching with higher-need learners.
Audience: Classroom teachers, SENCOs, LSCs, RTLits, RTLBs, and school-based intervention teachers
Years: 1–8
Description: The Code provides a systematic and cumulative literacy approach for teaching spelling. It includes:
Updated on: 05 Apr 2023
