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30 b. Self-Regulation Strategy Development - resources for teachers

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30 b. Self-Regulation Strategy Development - resources for teachers

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think SRSD (self-regulated strategy development)

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Understand the key characteristics of SRSD that make it a deeply structured and evidence-based approach to teaching writing. Transform your classroom today.

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22. Word Study Instruction in the K-2 Classroom

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22. Word Study Instruction in the K-2 Classroom

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Bear, D.R., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2000). Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Bear, D.R., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2008). Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Bear, D.R., & Templeton, S. (1998). Explorations in developmental spelling: Foundations for learning and teaching phonics, spelling, and vocabulary. The Reading Teacher, 52(3), 222-242.

Beckham-Hungler, D., & Williams, C. (2003). Teaching words that students misspell: Spelling instruction and young children's writing. Language Arts, 80(4), 299-309.

Brand, M. (2004). Word savvy: Integrated vocabulary, spelling and word study, grades 3-6. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

Brown, G.D.A., & Ellis, N.C. (Eds.). (1994). Handbook of spelling: Theory, process, and intervention. Chichester, England: Wiley.

Cambourne, B. (1995). Toward an educationally relevant theory of literacy learning: Twenty years of inquiry. The Reading Teacher, 49(3), 182-190.

Clay, M. (1997). An observation survey. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Clay, M. (2001). Change over time in children's literacy development. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Cunningham, P.M. (1995). Phonics they use: Words for reading and writing (2nd ed.). New York: HarperCollins.

Cunningham, P.M., & Hall, D.P. (1996). Making words: Multilevel, hands on, developmentally appropriate spelling and phonics activities. Carthage, IL: Good Apple.

Dudley-Marling, C. (1997). Living with uncertainty: The messy reality of classroom practice. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Ehri, L.C. (1992). Review and commentary: Stages of spelling development. In S. Templeton & D. Bear (Eds.), Development of orthographic knowledge and the foundation of literacy: A memorial Festschrift for Edmund H. Henderson (pp. 307-332). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Fountas, I.C., & Pinnell, G.S. (1996). Guided reading: Good first teaching for all children. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Gee, J.P. (2001). A sociocultural perspective on early literacydevelopment. In S.B. Neuman & D.K. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy research (pp. 30-42). New York: Guilford.

Goswami, U.C., & Bryant, P. (1990). Phonological skills and learning to read. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Hughes, M., & Searle, D. (1997). The violent "e" and other tricky sounds: Learning to spell from kindergarten through grade 6. York, ME: Stenhouse.

Invernizzi, M., & Hayes, L. (2004). Developmental-spelling research: A systematic imperative. Reading Research Quarterly, 39(2), 216-228.

Joseph, L.M. (2000). Developing first graders' phonemic awareness, word identification and spelling: A comparison of two contemporary phonic instructional approaches. Reading Research and Instruction, 39(2), 160-169.

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. New York: Cambridge University Press.

McCarrier, A., Fountas, I.C., & Pinnell, G.S. (2000). Interactive writing: How language and literacy come together, K-2. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Pinnell, G.S., & Fountas, I.C. (1998). Word matters: Teaching phonics and spelling in the reading/writing classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Richgels, D.J. (1995). Invented spelling ability and printed word learning in kindergarten. Reading Research Quarterly, 30(1), 96-109.

Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeship in thinking: Cognitive development in social context. New York: Oxford University Press.

Schulman, M.B., & Payne, C.D. (2000). Guided reading: Making it work. New York: Scholastic.

Snowball, D., & Bolton, F. (1999). Spelling K-8: Planning and teaching. York, ME: Stenhouse.

Templeton, S. (2003). Spelling. In J. Flood, D. Lapp, J. Squire, & J. Jensen (Eds.), Handbook of research on teaching the English language arts (2nd ed., pp. 738-751). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Treiman, R., & Cassar, M. (1997). Spelling acquisition in English. In C.A. Perfetti, L. Rieben, & M. Fayol (Eds.), Learning to spell: Research, theory, and practice across languages (pp. 61-80). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes (M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, & E. Souberman, Eds. & Trans.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Wertsch, J.V. (1998). Mind as action. New York: Oxford University Press.

Williams, C., & Hufnagel, K. (2005). The impact of word study instruction on kindergarten children's journal writing. Research in the Teaching of English, 39(3), 233-270.

Williams, C., & Lundstrom, R. (2007). Strategy instruction during word study and interactive writing activities. The Reading Teacher, 61(3), 204-212.

Williams, C., & Phillips-Birdsong, C. (2006). Word study instruction and second-grade children's independent writing. Journal of Literacy Research, 38(4), 427-465.

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Word Study Instruction in the K-2 Classroom

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Word study is an approach to spelling instruction that moves away from a focus on memorization. The approach reflects what researchers have discovered about the alphabetic, pattern, and meaning layers of English orthography. This article describes nine tips for implementing a word study program in your classroom.

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"Word study" is an alternative to traditional spelling instruction. It is based on learning word patterns rather than memorizing unconnected words. This article describes the word study approach.

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20. (Vulnerable) Students Need Explicit Spelling Instruction

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20. (Vulnerable) Students Need Explicit Spelling Instruction

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Spelling knowledge is essential for the brain's reading architecture. To connect the alphabet code the reader sees on the page to circuitry enabling reading comprehension, the reader must use knowledge of spelling. (Ehri, 2022) As a skilled reader you see the word on the page, recognize it automatically, and connect to the word's sound and meaning already in your brain. See, recognize, and connect to meaning in your spoken language. That's the process.

Reading researcher Dr. Louisa Moats, a long-time proponent of spelling books and a leader in the science of reading movement, doesn't mince words when stating the equity problem in reading education, a challenge directly addressed by explicit spelling instruction:

Students who are African American, Hispanic, learning English, and/or from impoverished homes fall behind and stay behind in far greater proportion than students who are white and middle class. Moats goes on to give the statistics: The rate of weak reading skills in these groups is 60-70 percent, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. (Moats, 2020, p. 42-43)

While reasons for reading failure in America among these vulnerable populations are complex, the lack of a spelling curriculum is a visible, affordable, fixable first step supported by cognitive science and neuroscience. In schools where ESLs and others don't have a spelling book, here's what English spelling often looks like in fourth grade:

These two writing samples were gleaned from two fourth graders, one African American and one a Hispanic student who is learning English. You can see samples like these in every school or district in America where English learners and vulnerable populations are struggling with literacy in districts that are short changing spelling instruction. Too often, students who produce samples like these don't have a spelling book-a tangible signal that spelling is being neglected-or access to systematic, explicit spelling instruction. Too often the teacher doesn't have a grade-by-grade English spelling curriculum. Many desperately search for something on the internet or do the best they can but the results are haphazard with no consistency across the grades.

5 Achievable and Desirable Instructional Goals for Explicit Spelling Instruction

Here are five achievable and desirable instructional goals for both regular and ESL classroom teachers who have a spelling book in each child's book bag.

1. Teach English spelling 20 minutes a day in grades 1-8 (Moats, 2005/2006, p. 42-43). Recognize that spelling instruction and practice transfer to reading improvement and benefits word reading throughout elementary school (Graham & Hebert, 2011; Graham & Santangelo, 2014 ). Think of those 20 minutes a day as a wise investment of time enabling the teacher to integrate essential components of reading in every weekly spelling lesson such as phonological awareness, a deeper level of phonics knowledge, sentence building and grammar, plus sight word and vocabulary building. The integration of these skills as opposed to teaching each of these components as separate subjects saves valuable teaching time in the reading and language arts schedule.

2. Use spelling books and weekly posttest assessments to gather data and monitor each child's individual progress. A child's spelling is a window into the mind of how the child is internalizing spoken and printed English. Use a spelling book curriculum as a resource for providing early identification of students including ESLs who may be having problems and be in need of early intervention. Beyond assessment, modern spelling books come in both print and digital formats with options for long distance learning and student self-pacing-a boon for ESLs and others.

3. Use each child's spelling to explicitly show what word study, including phonics and pronunciation awareness, she or he needs to be taught in English. At each grade level kindergarten through high school, there's a common thread in the spelling of students: the spelling reveals foundational English word knowledge the student already knows or will need to learn for continual development as a fluent reader, writer, and even speaker of English.

Cognitive science and neuroscience have clarified the critical role of spelling for reading. For example knowledge of spelling patterns is the best differentiator of good and poor readers (Adams, 1990). Neuroscientists report that neuroimaging studies show "atypically low activity in a part of the brain that processes the spelling of words." (Seidenberg, p.10) Explicit spelling instruction enables teachers to connect this science into solid classroom practices.

4. Recognize that the history of reading education in America backs the current cognitive science and neuroscience by providing strong evidence of the value of spelling books for literacy success. From Noah Webster's Blue-Backed Speller which taught over 80 million Americans to read in the 1800s, to the emergence of Ernest Horn's research-based spelling books considered essential for reading instruction in the early 20th century, the spelling book was front and center in reading education. Yet spelling books and explicit word study anchored in spelling instruction are absent from curricula used in four of the current most popular reading programs across America. (Gentry, 2022: Swartz, 2019). These programs need to be supplemented with explicit spelling instruction.

5. Know that investment in spelling books and explicit word study for spelling is money well spent. You don't have to wait. These resources are available and ready-to-use to supplement any reading program.

Integrated spelling instruction is a powerful teaching tool for enabling ESLs and other venerable populations to learn, correctly spell, automatically read, and speak new English vocabulary; this intense word study activates automatic word reading fluency and connects to comprehension. For example, note how a third grade spelling lesson on single syllable homophones such as role, roll, cent, sent, way, weigh, grate, great, sail, cell, and sell enables immediate gains in spoken vocabulary and reading fluency in just one weekly lesson. The words become brain words for automatic use.

A Five-Step Science-Based Spelling Pretest for Your Toolkit (For All Grades)

On the Monday pretest take the student through these five steps with each word: Hear It, Say It, Write It, Read It (and Self-Correct), Use It.

Celebrate a comeback in explicit spelling instruction to revitalize equity in reading education for children vulnerable for reading failure.

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Vulnerable Students Need Explicit Spelling Instruction

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Spelling knowledge is essential for the brain's reading architecture. To connect the alphabet code the reader sees on the page to circuitry enabling reading comprehension, the reader must use knowledge of spelling. (Ehri, 2022) As a skilled reader you see the word on the page, recognize it automatically, and connect to the word's sound and meaning already in your brain.

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19. Current Research on Spelling Instruction

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19. Current Research on Spelling Instruction

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17. 3 Steps to Effective Word Study Instruction & Word Study in Upper Intermediate Grades

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17. 3 Steps to Effective Word Study Instruction & Word Study in Upper Intermediate Grades

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If your school is working on implementing teaching practices that align with the science of reading, then chances are you are probably going to be giving a lot more instructional time to word study.

If you are a third, fourth, or fifth-grade teacher, then you have probably been told that you need to make word study a priority this year, but maybe you're wondering what exactly word study is.
Simply put, word study is the study of words.
It is the part of our instructional day that teaches students how words work.

Word study is the process of learning everything about words: spelling, meaning, pronunciation, historical origin, and connection to other words.

When you think of word study instruction in upper elementary, you want to keep a big picture perspective. We want to make sure that we are giving students tools that will make them skilled readers.

Word study lessons can help our students make progress towards that goal.

Why is word study important in upper elementary?

If we want our students to be skilled readers, they have to have a foundation that allows them to actually read and understand the words they see on a page, and your word study instruction will help with that.

In upper elementary, students start to see more multisyllabic words. Many students who are fluent or proficient readers in the primary grades start to struggle when they see big words. It's possible they were fine reading single syllable words, and they might have a strong phonics foundation, but with the introduction of multisyllabic words, they start to struggle. Word study instruction can help students read multisyllabic words.

Word study lessons also support both reading and writing.

Finally, it is estimated that over 60% of English words have meanings that can be predicted from their word parts. This means we definitely want to be giving enough focus on word study to give students the tools to help them understand the meaning of most words they encounter.

What does effective word study instruction look like in upper elementary?

There are three steps you can take to create an effective word study block in upper elementary.

You need to provide systematic and explicit instruction.

You need to provide students with opportunities to play with, manipulate, and explore words.

You need to provide opportunities for students to transfer their word study understanding to the texts they read.

Let's break each step down.

Step 1: Provide Explicit and Systematic Instruction:

When we are teaching word study concepts, we want our instruction to be both explicit and systematic.
Systematic refers to the order in which you teach the concepts.
You want to teach your words study lessons in an order that makes sense. You want to start with simple concepts and progress to more complex or challenging ones.

For example. If you are teaching your students about word parts and how each part of a word has a meaning that can help readers figure out the meaning of the whole word, then you might follow a progression like this:

Start by introducing compound words.

Move into prefixes.

Introduce suffixes

Explain that some suffixes are inflectional, and some are derivational.

Show students examples of words that have both prefixes and suffixes.

Then you might introduce common Latin roots.

Then you probably move on to explain Greek roots and combining forms.

So rather than just jumping straight into your instruction about roots (which is a key standard in upper elementary), you start by teaching the more simple and basic concepts and build on the knowledge your students have as you progress to the more advanced concepts.
Explicit instruction refers to how you teach your lessons.
Whether you are teaching whole group or small group, you can provide explicit instruction. Explicit instruction means you are being specific and intentional with how you explain and model word study concepts.

You want to introduce word study concepts one at a time (small bite-sized chunks).

Define terms and use academic language.

Model using concrete examples.

Show students examples of words that are the exception to the rule.

For example, if you are teaching suffixes to your students, you wouldn't just explain that adding a suffix can change the meaning of the word, but you would explain that suffixes can change the spelling, meaning, pronunciation, and even the part of speech.

When we introduce and teach a word study concept, we want our students to have a full understanding of that specific topic.

Step 2: Give Students Opportunities to Explore and Play With Words

Before students can fully master and apply their word study knowledge to their independent reading and writing, they need an opportunity to play with words in a hands-on way.

This is often the missing link in word study instruction. We don't always give our students an opportunity to play with words but instead expect that after one whole group lesson, they have mastered the concept.

When students get to play with and explore words, not only do they develop a much deeper understanding of the concept, but they start to feel much more confident in their ability to notice word study generalizations. They also get a chance to apply what they are learning in a fun and engaging way.

One of my favorite activities f or wordplay is word of the week.

Word of the week is a super simple word study routine that can be modified or adapted to address a variety of word study concepts like context clues, prefixes, suffixes, and roots.
Here are some other ideas for activities that you could incorporate into your word study lessons:
Word play activities word great in literacy work stations or are part of any independent practice routine.

Step 3: Help students transfer their word study understanding to the texts they read.

The ultimate goal of our word study instruction is to help students become more fluent readers (automatically reading a text with comprehension) and strong writers. So we don't want their word study knowledge to only be present during word study lessons.

This means we need to actively provide opportunities and reminders to help students transfer what you have taught them during word study lessons to their actual reading and writing.

Once you have explicitly taught a concept, you want to regularly review, discuss, and spiral it into your literacy instruction to support automaticity and fluency.

This can be done with any and all teaching experiences.

Anytime you are encountering words, take a minute to find a word that includes a word study concept and point it out to your students. Do a short little mini-lesson on that word and show students how the word study lessons you've been teaching are helping them read, spell, pronounce, or understand the words they read.
Consider bringing word study into the following parts of your instructional day:

Read Alouds

Other Content Areas

Small Group Lessons

Morning meetings

Literacy Workstations

Basically, anytime you are reading or writing something, you have the opportunity to reinforce word study concepts.

One of the really cool things about word study is that your word study instruction doesn't have to be long.

Your explicit and introduction lessons might take 5-10 minutes, but once you've introduced a word study concept, you're giving your students permission to notice that word study concept in anything they are reading and writing.

Put it into practice...

If you are ready to take action and start to give more focus to your word study lessons, here are three things you can do.

Grab my Word of the Week freebie and introduce that routine to your students.

Listen to episode #94 of the podcast, where I share four word study concepts every upper elementary teacher should be teaching.

Come join us inside The Stellar Teacher Reading Membership to get access to a ton of word study resources and support so you know how to incorporate them into your classroom.

Happy Teaching!

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3 Steps to Effective Word Study Lessons in Upper Elementary

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If your school is working on implementing teaching practices that align with the science of reading, then chances are you are probably going to be giving a lot more instructional time to word study.

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16. Word Study, Word Work, and Spelling: What’s the difference?

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16. Word Study, Word Work, and Spelling: What’s the difference?

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Word Study, Word Work, and Spelling: What's the difference? - Tarheelstate Teacher

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Word study, word work, and spelling...confused about the difference and why it matters in your upper elementary classroom?! These three types of word learning structures often get thrown around interchangeably in the upper elementary teaching world, but they have important differences in approach an

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40. Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School

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40. Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School

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16 c. A Syntax-focused Kindergarten Lesson

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16 c. A Syntax-focused Kindergarten Lesson

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4. The effects of handwriting experience on functional brain development in pre-literate children

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4. The effects of handwriting experience on functional brain development in pre-literate children

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The effects of handwriting experience on functional brain development in pre-literate children

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In an age of increasing technology, the possibility that typing on a keyboard will replace handwriting raises questions about the future usefulness of handwriting skills. Here we present evidence that brain activation during letter perception is influenced ...

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17. How Handwriting Supports the Science of Reading

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17. How Handwriting Supports the Science of Reading

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‎EDVIEW 360: How Handwriting Supports the Science of Reading on Apple Podcasts

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‎Show EDVIEW 360, Ep How Handwriting Supports the Science of Reading - Jan 4, 2022

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24. How Explicit Writing Instruction Can Compensate for Gaps in Background Knowledge

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24. How Explicit Writing Instruction Can Compensate for Gaps in Background Knowledge

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Writing is potentially the most powerful lever we have for building knowledge and improving reading comprehension. It can uncover gaps in background knowledge that prevent students from accessing grade-level material. And, because writing helps new information stick, it can also boost students' academic performance.
But writing is the most difficult thing we ask students to do. If inexperienced writers are asked to write at length, they can easily become overwhelmed as they juggle everything from spelling to word choice to organizing their thoughts. And if students are asked to write only about personal experience or topics in a separate writing curriculum, writing won't help them acquire the knowledge they need to succeed in school.
Join this informative podcast as we talk with esteemed researcher and author Natalie Wexler. She will share ways to make writing less overwhelming by starting at the sentence level and how to include writing activities in the content of the core curriculum. This is an approach that shouldn't be limited to English classes. It can have powerful effects in any subject-and at any grade level.

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how explicit writing instruction can compensate for gaps in background knowledge

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‎EDVIEW 360: How Explicit Writing Instruction Can Compensate for Gaps in Background Knowledge on Apple Podcasts

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Writing is potentially the most powerful lever we have for building knowledge and improving reading comprehension. It can uncover gaps in background knowledge that prevent students from accessing grade-level material. And, because writing helps new information stick, it can also boost students' acad...

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16. From “Assigning” to Teaching — How research can reshape writing instruction

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16. From “Assigning” to Teaching — How research can reshape writing instruction

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I once had a student who loved rhinos. After all, what's not to love? During 'free choice' writing sessions (the opportunity for students to engage and communicate across genres of their choice), this student continued to write about rhinos in several formats. There was the narrative on rhinos, the persuasive, the poem - both Acrostic and Haiku.

His writing was engaging, passionate, showed an awareness of purpose and audience, but what niggled at me was that I wasn't teaching him anything.

Actually, what I found was that my competent writers avoided authorial risks. They wrote texts where the topic was the focus, while writers who found writing challenging, continued to find it so. The struggle to engage was confronting.

Giving students time to write about things they care about seemed like a good course of action. Wouldn't it make sense that time, unhindered by correction and interruption, would build fluency? The data from my classroom suggested otherwise: Streams of consciousness unpunctuated and uncapitalised, plenty of sentence fragments, and several lines of 'and then...and then'.

In these writing sessions, mechanics and conventions fell away, common errors were embedded and it became difficult for me to attend to the needs of every student. This began my journey to teaching scaffolded writing techniques (whilst considering when to avoid student choice ( Christodoulou 2020).

... declining enjoyment in writing was linked to the barriers that students faced.

In a 2018 report from the National Literacy Trust in the UK surveying over 9000 8-11 year olds, the researchers found that declining enjoyment in writing was linked to the barriers that students faced-namely thinking of ideas, and struggles with spelling and punctuation.

At Templestowe Heights PS we were invested in improving our writing data, launching into a whole school survey similar to the NLTUK to ascertain, from students, what writing skills they learned from our teaching and whether or not they believed they were 'good' at writing, or even liked it.

Our finding was that predominantly,students from Foundation to Year 4 enjoyed writing. The lowest motivation came from Year 5 & 6, where:

- 1 in 10 students did not enjoy writing.
(In Year 5/6, this equated to approximately half a class.)

The next survey question asked students if they considered themselves good writers - the data shifted to an average of:

- 1 in 5 students who identified that they do not consider themselves good writers
(This was equivalent to a whole class in every year level)

So, how can we think about data like this? 20% of students feeling ill-equipped to write well is a significant proportion.

To shift the studentdata, skills would need to come before enjoyment.

We could say the data shows that engagement matters; however, without the tools of the trade, writing-with high cognitive demands-is not going to be enjoyable. I could identify with the phenomenon described by Judith Hochman of teachers 'assigning writing' without teaching it. To shift the studentdata, skills would need to come before enjoyment.

Enter Cognitive Load Theory. Of all the things I understand to be high impact, this is perhaps the theory I would share with educators above all else. My fault in the writing classroom was in not making the abstract, concrete for the students - writing is an intangible and deeply cognitive expression. I needed to tie writing to something concrete, using modelled processes, exemplars and explicit steps that reduce working memory demands - also clearly advocated in the cognitive research linked to Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction.

Natalie Wexler, co-author of The Writing Revolution, suggests that it is hard to become fluent or develop a voice if you're overwhelmed by the mechanics of writing.

It turns out that research does not simply transfer into the classroom. Our teaching of writing is a great example of using knowledge from the Science of Learning to inform planning and instruction for the better. The process of writing places a heavy burden on working memory. Natalie Wexler, co-author of The Writing Revolution, suggests that it is hard to become fluent or develop a voice if you're overwhelmed by the mechanics of writing. So, a key starting point to improving writing instruction is understanding the mechanisms behind the core of our writing: the sentence!

Evaluating our practice and scaling it back to a sentence-level focus required time to collect and interrogate data, and utilise conversations with teachers and students. The difference between simply teaching something because you have always done it this way and embedding something new into teacher belief, requires us to be vulnerable, open and inquiring.

From interrogating the research literature, and engaging in research-to-classroom trial and error, a crucial missing part of writing instruction was the explicit preparation of students to define and construct a sentence. This has sculpted our ongoing journey from instruction to assessment to feedback.

What is your journey in the writing classroom?
We encourage you to join in the discussion on this page.

Following these regular blog posts, we encourage you to join in the discussion below. A key goal of Think Forward Educators' Writing Network is opening a conversation about writing in the classroom, using research, trialled techniques, assessment and data collection.

Our first Writing Network Connect discussion will be held on Tuesday July 20 at 7:45pm Melbourne Time.

We hope to see you there!

Discussion Questions
What have you found is/is not working in your classroom? What do you feel ill-equipped to deliver instruction on, and what approach would you like to evaluate? What research have you found, and how could you trial this in your classroom?

I once had a student who loved rhinos. After all, what's not to love? During 'free choice' writing sessions (the opportunity for students to engage and communicate across genres of their choice), this student continued to write about rhinos in several formats. There was the narrative on rhinos, the persuasive, the poem - both Acrostic and Haiku.

His writing was engaging, passionate, showed an awareness of purpose and audience, but what niggled at me was that I wasn't teaching him anything.

Actually, what I found was that my competent writers avoided authorial risks. They wrote texts where the topic was the focus, while writers who found writing challenging, continued to find it so. The struggle to engage was confronting.

Giving students time to write about things they care about seemed like a good course of action. Wouldn't it make sense that time, unhindered by correction and interruption, would build fluency? The data from my classroom suggested otherwise: Streams of consciousness unpunctuated and uncapitalised, plenty of sentence fragments, and several lines of 'and then...and then'.

In these writing sessions, mechanics and conventions fell away, common errors were embedded and it became difficult for me to attend to the needs of every student. This began my journey to teaching scaffolded writing techniques (whilst considering when to avoid student choice ( Christodoulou 2020).

... declining enjoyment in writing was linked to the barriers that students faced.

In a 2018 report from the National Literacy Trust in the UK surveying over 9000 8-11 year olds, the researchers found that declining enjoyment in writing was linked to the barriers that students faced-namely thinking of ideas, and struggles with spelling and punctuation.

At Templestowe Heights PS we were invested in improving our writing data, launching into a whole school survey similar to the NLTUK to ascertain, from students, what writing skills they learned from our teaching and whether or not they believed they were 'good' at writing, or even liked it.

Our finding was that predominantly,students from Foundation to Year 4 enjoyed writing. The lowest motivation came from Year 5 & 6, where:

- 1 in 10 students did not enjoy writing.
(In Year 5/6, this equated to approximately half a class.)

The next survey question asked students if they considered themselves good writers - the data shifted to an average of:

- 1 in 5 students who identified that they do not consider themselves good writers
(This was equivalent to a whole class in every year level)

So, how can we think about data like this? 20% of students feeling ill-equipped to write well is a significant proportion.

To shift the studentdata, skills would need to come before enjoyment.

We could say the data shows that engagement matters; however, without the tools of the trade, writing-with high cognitive demands-is not going to be enjoyable. I could identify with the phenomenon described by Judith Hochman of teachers 'assigning writing' without teaching it. To shift the studentdata, skills would need to come before enjoyment.

Enter Cognitive Load Theory. Of all the things I understand to be high impact, this is perhaps the theory I would share with educators above all else. My fault in the writing classroom was in not making the abstract, concrete for the students - writing is an intangible and deeply cognitive expression. I needed to tie writing to something concrete, using modelled processes, exemplars and explicit steps that reduce working memory demands - also clearly advocated in the cognitive research linked to Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction.

Natalie Wexler, co-author of The Writing Revolution, suggests that it is hard to become fluent or develop a voice if you're overwhelmed by the mechanics of writing.

It turns out that research does not simply transfer into the classroom. Our teaching of writing is a great example of using knowledge from the Science of Learning to inform planning and instruction for the better. The process of writing places a heavy burden on working memory. Natalie Wexler, co-author of The Writing Revolution, suggests that it is hard to become fluent or develop a voice if you're overwhelmed by the mechanics of writing. So, a key starting point to improving writing instruction is understanding the mechanisms behind the core of our writing: the sentence!

Evaluating our practice and scaling it back to a sentence-level focus required time to collect and interrogate data, and utilise conversations with teachers and students. The difference between simply teaching something because you have always done it this way and embedding something new into teacher belief, requires us to be vulnerable, open and inquiring.

From interrogating the research literature, and engaging in research-to-classroom trial and error, a crucial missing part of writing instruction was the explicit preparation of students to define and construct a sentence. This has sculpted our ongoing journey from instruction to assessment to feedback.

What is your journey in the writing classroom?
We encourage you to join in the discussion on this page.

Following these regular blog posts, we encourage you to join in the discussion below. A key goal of Think Forward Educators' Writing Network is opening a conversation about writing in the classroom, using research, trialled techniques, assessment and data collection.

Our first Writing Network Connect discussion will be held on Tuesday July 20 at 7:45pm Melbourne Time.

We hope to see you there!

Discussion Questions
What have you found is/is not working in your classroom? What do you feel ill-equipped to deliver instruction on, and what approach would you like to evaluate? What research have you found, and how could you trial this in your classroom?

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From "Assigning" to Teaching - How research can reshape writing instruction - Think Forward Educators

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I once had a student who loved rhinos. After all, what's not to love? During 'free choice' writing sessions (the opportunity for students to engage and communicate across genres of their choice), this student continued to write about rhinos in several formats. There was the narrative on rhinos, the

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32. Providing explicit feedback on Writing – What could this look like?

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32. Providing explicit feedback on Writing – What could this look like?

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We ask permission before we put student writing up for analysis and it is pleasing to see that they are so open to receiving honest, reflective feedback from their peers.

In this example, the comparative judgement was used as a retrieval. In the whole class feedback, the students articulated the following:

Luke's handwriting fluency has improved

Luke has moved from run-ons to more accurate sentences

Luke remembered most of the correct punctuation and capitals

Luke's spelling was better

Luke showed evidence of revising and re-reading his writing ('He crossed things out!')

Luke made better use of Tier two vocabulary in the second example

Instead of just making up a story about his mates, which the audience might find boring, Luke created an actual character

They also noted what was needed for Luke's journey to improvement:

Luke could provide an appositive - about his character or the setting

Luke could incorporate more description and utilise complex punctuation to list words or add phrases

Luke could improve his handwriting even further with more attention to joining letters and the formation of tricky letters like 'k'

What did the teachers learn from this whole class feedback?

When reflecting on this as a team we were pleased to see that the students were embedding the language of writing that we were continually using in our instructional sequences. Words like 'Tier two vocab', 'run-ons' and 'appositives' ( The Writing Revolution), demonstrate a working knowledge and ability to apply these techniques in their writing. It was affirming to see that instruction given in explicit small sequences, transferred to learning when we did turn our students loose to free-write.

Why is there so much trial and error in the teaching of writing at the moment? Probably because it is globally accepted that we are not taught how to teach writing. What may seem like an inspiring way for students to build their skills, is proving to do the opposite. Nat Wexler writes about extended writing sessions as being 'born out of necessity'. Daisy Christodoulou proposes that we have students do less extended writing.
At THPS we are trialing several ideas, with the overarching principle being whole class feedback. How students can use their own writing to be explicitly guided through improving sentences, their accuracy and not be shouldering the heavy cognitive load that writing demands, is a consistent discussion in our lesson design.

As we think of the efficiency of whole class feedback, we do not forget the individual narratives that we are addressing - such as Luke's learning journey. In fact, in dealing with a whole class, we are pulling all the students towards a consistent set of writing principles, not leaving them to write at random and figure it out on their own.

Repetition and retrieval, followed by feedback, followed by further repeated practice - under the guidance of a teacher who feels confident that teaching the concepts of a sentence is the '...key to unlocking their true potential.' ( Nat Wexler)

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Providing explicit feedback on Writing - What could this look like? - Think Forward Educators

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He is an example of a student who has managed to demonstrate that working at the sentence level is making a difference to his writing skills.

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37. Curiosities from writing practitioners: What works best from whole school to classroom?

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37. Curiosities from writing practitioners: What works best from whole school to classroom?

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This has formed the basis of the Writing Connect Discussion group founded with Dr Nathaniel Swain & Think Forward Educators (TFE) - a space to impart the findings in a practical sense.
Reading some impressive blogs from fellow teachers demonstrates the varied approaches to whole school practice around writing. There is no one way. However, such learnings highlight that there are a few common overarching philosophies that could guide writing instruction in any school context.

This blog will focus on four aspects that came through in nearly 70 sign-up questions from participants for the next TFE Writing Connect. We will address these in more depth in our free May 26 session - however I will provide a brief overview of things educators are most curious about in their school contexts.
1. The formation of a whole school approach according to the Science of Writing:

Consistency

Teacher buy-in

Writing scope and sequence

First steps (What to do and what not to do?)

What does change look like? (Is it an overhaul of current practice or bit by bit?)

Writing programs - The Writing Revolution (TWR)

We should start by breaking open the term 'The Science of Writing'. Actually, the science is lacking, as referenced by AERO, (Australian Education Research Organisation). A quick google will demonstrate that there is not much out there.

What we do know is that the continuum of Writing has two distinct streams that thread together -

v Transcriptive
(the act of putting words on paper requiring fluency in skills)
VERSUS
v Generative
(the generating of ideas that translate into language requiring higher cognitive capacity)

Knowing the science behind this as a practitioner, is more linked to watching what has NOT worked in my classroom and this previous blog post explains this in detail.
Enter sentence level work.
While this is widely agreed on, one of the most useful texts to base a whole school approach on is The Writing Revolution (TWR). The good news is, the techniques-once you trial them-demonstrate short term gains even before investing in the course. This book has been instrumental in providing a greater depth of understanding about writing, which can inform the direction of a whole school approach.
2. Aligning key terms:
There were several questions from signed up participants that start with a 'how' and contain one of these words. My definitions of these terms in classroom practice have somewhat shifted so I will provide a brief overview of some thinking here and we can discuss further in our live session.

Moderation - Historically this practice is one that schools use to set up writing assessment using a rubric, but I advocate against this as I outlined in a Teacher Magazine article over a year ago. Moderation is useful to provide teacher clarity about a standard but it does not align with an accurate assessment of student writing (Dylan Wiliam - Embedded Formative Assessment 2018). The best process I have explored is the use of Comparative Judgement, which has made a recent emergence on the Australian education landscape and you can read about it here.

Differentiation - One of my favourite summary tweets on this belongs to Reid Smith,

'I advocate differentiation by support rather than curriculum.'

Mary Myatt in ' Death by Differentiation' states it is most effective when we prepare for the top, then offer the support to get there, rather than a ceiling view where we have already decided, going into a lesson, what students are capable of.
TWR actually provides a useful scaffold for writers at differing abilities (see p. 224). Their premise is in line with Reid and Mary: Be responsive to student mastery and provide intervention where necessary, without removing the opportunity for all to be engaged with the content and activities.

Genre teaching - Knowing about genres doesn't equate to being able to churn them out purposefully. In my experience, leaving students to wade through this without the breakdown of skills, analysis and background knowledge of quality text types, interconnected with the hierarchical set of writing skills necessary, is cognitive overload (Just like that sentence!).
Nathaniel Swain and I wrote about genres previously here.
In the global No More Marking Comparative Judgement projects, it's worth noting that students receive one of two options to write about in a writing stimulus - they either write a fiction or non-fiction. This is actually a really sensible way to think about a cold write because it links writing to the content and context, instead of trying to configure it to a framework that ties up student cognitive load.

Best practice - What does this mean in writing instruction?

Emina McLean in her work with AERO has collaborated on two very useful documents which compile all the evidence for best practice writing. A practical example framework of what has worked best to shift results, from both Emina's school (Docklands PS) and mine (Templestowe Heights PS) is available here.

In summary findings from AERO include:

o Handwriting

o Spelling

o Grammar

o Punctuation

o Complex sentences (addition of detail and use of conjunctions)

o Knowledge of tiered vocabulary

o Expectations across different academic disciplines eg. science

o Sentence level work

Lastly from our participant questions -
3. Assessment and tracking:
Writing assessment and data is the thing that defines my practitioner journey because I was not satisfied with the status quo. The evidence of student progress is actually what we are all looking for - the results tell the story and the Templestowe Heights (THPS) narrative can be found here.

Using Comparative Judgement as a standardised writing assessment has allowed us to interpret scaled scores into writing ages, therefore measuring and tracking students and cohorts. I have written about this here.
Some of the other assessment techniques we have trialed in our context include multiple choice questions which provide both summative and formative data and highlight misconceptions both for teacher and students. These are simple, useful as short assessment loops, and are easily created in the form of - 'Choose the correctly formed sentence' with 4 closely scaffolded choices.
Providing whole class feedback and designing lessons that address point of need are in direct response to more efficient and reliable methods of measuring students than moderation with a rubric.

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Curiosities from writing practitioners: What works best from whole school to classroom? - Think Forward Educators

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This has formed the basis of the Writing Connect Discussion group founded with Dr Nathaniel Swain & Think Forward Educators (TFE) - a space to impart the findings in a practical sense. Reading some impressive blogs from fellow teachers demonstrates the varied approaches to whole school pra

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17. The difference between a sentence that’s well-written and a sentence that’s, well, written.

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17. The difference between a sentence that’s well-written and a sentence that’s, well, written.

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Do you accept that correct sentence structure is the building block of quality writing?

Then you possibly have entered into a journey with grammar that feels like a road map of rules, terms, symbols and arrangements that are blasting cognitive load.

There's a great deal to understand and each rule builds on another as students advance toward automaticity in constructing text. Knowing how to work with the rules of grammar frees working memory so students can focus on the way they share thinking. Whether you have an opinion or large knowledge base on the way grammar is taught in schools, one thing is evident. There is a huge variation teacher to teacher in what we understand as being grammatically correct. Maybe it's a failure of a system that dropped some of the old skills and drills or, an over-reliance on the little blue squiggly line in our Word docs; regardless grammar is moving back to the fore.

Bringing teachers to the right knowledge.

Nothing gave me more pleasure than to walk into the staffroom the other day and find several teachers arguing about the rules around comma placement. We identified in a teacher survey several years ago that overall teachers found the teaching of grammar confronting. To now hear a mix of generations arguing over a symbol with so much passion, shows that knowledge is building. Teaching the teachers has been our journey in grammar lesson design. One of the issues we noted was teacher feedback to students - or lack of it due to their own inadequate usage. Telling students to add more punctuation is useless if we can't tell them where and how to use it.

A recent scaffold to our work has been the use of MCQ (Multiple Choice Questions) tests that identify correctly formed sentences from The Writing Hub, No More Marking. It has required teachers to align a few key ideas and has clearly demonstrated where misconceptions lie for the students AND teachers. While rules are important, what students actually need is multiple examples where rules are demonstrated. Teachers have benefited from having to think about the overview of key concepts to build their own understanding.

As William Van Cleave says, 'An understanding of the structure of a sentence shows the student the relationship between not just the words, phrases, and clauses within it, but also the relationship between the ideas that those elements convey,'

Students - to define or not to define?

The problem for the classroom teacher lies in the limited time we have available to embed grammar in a way that relieves cognitive load and makes it routine. While we know to teach it in context, we have to also understand that parts of grammar are sequential. It is common to think about how we could use onomatopoeia, alliteration, narrative dialogue, non-fiction text features and poetry study to demonstrate for students, different grammatical features.

However, in my experience students rarely pick up the rules this way and these are complicated features of text where adding the aspects of grammar make it even more complex for the novice to embed. We don't necessarily need students to be all over memorised definitions (such as 'independent' vs. dependent clauses). But we do want them to be able to identify how to combine these with an accurate conjunction, comma in the right place, and determine which phrase precedes the other. To do this, I advocate for taking the time in your writing scope and sequence to design lessons that focus on a small aspect of grammar, cement it in working memory, practice it, retrieve it and then drop in opportunities for reference or application among all the other moments when students are writing. It is also important to note that students do not need mastery before moving forward.

For teachers though, using some student examples to pull apart, is an incredibly rich way of setting up the next point of need with sentence level grammar. This is one of the exercises we will demonstrate in our next Writing Connect Discussion, Tuesday 30 Aug.

In this example from our Comparative Judgement project start of the year, note some key points to address in a whole class feedback session.

The difference between a sentence and a run on - how can we provide practice in what part of this could be split to create a short sentence? As Daisy Christodoulou notes - students use length as a proxy. Short succinct sentences are useful to the reading flow!
Just ask Hemingway - he did not like adverbs. Have you seen students add one in to 'improve' their sentence, then wonder how you will provide the feedback about overuse while they stare at you blankly?

It is significant to see this student experimenting with various conjunctions because it is something we taught - however, more opportunities needed to practice and refine.

The use of two conjunctions in a single sentence - exemplars that model how to do this accurately followed by practice in manipulation of sentences. Conjunctions in pairs is tricky - demonstrating when it does work such as 'Neither.... nor', 'Both... and' or 'Whether...or'.

It is fascinating to watch people argue grammar rules however as readers we often see that authors break them. When we think about authors, we need to remember that they have developed expertise as writers. The move from novice to expert is a huge investment in practice time-10,000 hours to be exact. We do not have this kind of time, so we need to make our lessons count-multiple opportunities to engage in grammar examples, manipulation, and using them in context.

Secure grammar in working memory. Release students to write.

Do you accept that correct sentence structure is the building block of quality writing?

Then you possibly have entered into a journey with grammar that feels like a road map of rules, terms, symbols and arrangements that are blasting cognitive load.

There's a great deal to understand and each rule builds on another as students advance toward automaticity in constructing text. Knowing how to work with the rules of grammar frees working memory so students can focus on the way they share thinking. Whether you have an opinion or large knowledge base on the way grammar is taught in schools, one thing is evident. There is a huge variation teacher to teacher in what we understand as being grammatically correct. Maybe it's a failure of a system that dropped some of the old skills and drills or, an over-reliance on the little blue squiggly line in our Word docs; regardless grammar is moving back to the fore.

Bringing teachers to the right knowledge.

Nothing gave me more pleasure than to walk into the staffroom the other day and find several teachers arguing about the rules around comma placement. We identified in a teacher survey several years ago that overall teachers found the teaching of grammar confronting. To now hear a mix of generations arguing over a symbol with so much passion, shows that knowledge is building. Teaching the teachers has been our journey in grammar lesson design. One of the issues we noted was teacher feedback to students - or lack of it due to their own inadequate usage. Telling students to add more punctuation is useless if we can't tell them where and how to use it.

A recent scaffold to our work has been the use of MCQ (Multiple Choice Questions) tests that identify correctly formed sentences from The Writing Hub, No More Marking. It has required teachers to align a few key ideas and has clearly demonstrated where misconceptions lie for the students AND teachers. While rules are important, what students actually need is multiple examples where rules are demonstrated. Teachers have benefited from having to think about the overview of key concepts to build their own understanding.

As William Van Cleave says, 'An understanding of the structure of a sentence shows the student the relationship between not just the words, phrases, and clauses within it, but also the relationship between the ideas that those elements convey,'

Students - to define or not to define?

The problem for the classroom teacher lies in the limited time we have available to embed grammar in a way that relieves cognitive load and makes it routine. While we know to teach it in context, we have to also understand that parts of grammar are sequential. It is common to think about how we could use onomatopoeia, alliteration, narrative dialogue, non-fiction text features and poetry study to demonstrate for students, different grammatical features.

However, in my experience students rarely pick up the rules this way and these are complicated features of text where adding the aspects of grammar make it even more complex for the novice to embed. We don't necessarily need students to be all over memorised definitions (such as 'independent' vs. dependent clauses). But we do want them to be able to identify how to combine these with an accurate conjunction, comma in the right place, and determine which phrase precedes the other. To do this, I advocate for taking the time in your writing scope and sequence to design lessons that focus on a small aspect of grammar, cement it in working memory, practice it, retrieve it and then drop in opportunities for reference or application among all the other moments when students are writing. It is also important to note that students do not need mastery before moving forward.

For teachers though, using some student examples to pull apart, is an incredibly rich way of setting up the next point of need with sentence level grammar. This is one of the exercises we will demonstrate in our next Writing Connect Discussion, Tuesday 30 Aug.

In this example from our Comparative Judgement project start of the year, note some key points to address in a whole class feedback session.

The difference between a sentence and a run on - how can we provide practice in what part of this could be split to create a short sentence? As Daisy Christodoulou notes - students use length as a proxy. Short succinct sentences are useful to the reading flow!
Just ask Hemingway - he did not like adverbs. Have you seen students add one in to 'improve' their sentence, then wonder how you will provide the feedback about overuse while they stare at you blankly?

It is significant to see this student experimenting with various conjunctions because it is something we taught - however, more opportunities needed to practice and refine.

The use of two conjunctions in a single sentence - exemplars that model how to do this accurately followed by practice in manipulation of sentences. Conjunctions in pairs is tricky - demonstrating when it does work such as 'Neither.... nor', 'Both... and' or 'Whether...or'.

It is fascinating to watch people argue grammar rules however as readers we often see that authors break them. When we think about authors, we need to remember that they have developed expertise as writers. The move from novice to expert is a huge investment in practice time-10,000 hours to be exact. We do not have this kind of time, so we need to make our lessons count-multiple opportunities to engage in grammar examples, manipulation, and using them in context.

Secure grammar in working memory. Release students to write.

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The difference between a sentence that's well-written and a sentence that's, well, written. - Think Forward Educators

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Do you accept that correct sentence structure is the building block of quality writing? Then you possibly have entered into a journey with grammar that feels like a road map of rules, terms, symbols and arrangements that are blasting cognitive load.

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19. The Role of Complex Sentence Knowledge in Children with Reading and Writing Difficulties

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19. The Role of Complex Sentence Knowledge in Children with Reading and Writing Difficulties

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Perspect Lang Lit. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2015 Mar 25.

Published in final edited form as:

As shown by the publication of this issue of Perspectives on Language and Literacy, there is increasing attention to the role of sentences and grammar in both typical and atypical readers and writers. We know that a child's oral language and, specifically, listening comprehension abilities are a major determinant of reading comprehension ( Kamhi & Catts, 2012). We know that syntactic difficulties are a core feature in the profiles of children with specific language impairment (SLI), and we also know these children are at high risk for long-lasting reading difficulties ( Catts, Bridges, Little, & Tomblin, 2008). We are gratified to see increased emphasis on sentence-level components of text complexity in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). And, recent knowledge and practice standards for teachers of reading single out sentence processing and structure as important knowledge domains ( International Dyslexia Association [IDA], 2010).

Although this attention to sentences is encouraging, it is another matter entirely to translate this information into principles and practices that influence what educators, clinicians, and special educators actually do. Even though sentence processing and structure are cited in IDA's Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers ( http://www.interdys.org/standards.htm) as areas teachers should know about, sentences are not discussed in the section of the IDA standards on assessment for planning instruction, and there is only one brief mention in the entire section on structured language teaching, which adheres to the outline instantiated by the National Reading Panel, namely, phonology, phonics/word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. There are undoubtedly many reasons for the lack of translation to educational and clinical practice, but, in our view, three stand out. These include a lack of information or understanding about 1) syntax per se and the formidable processing challenges posed by syntactic variations found in academic texts, 2) how to determine whether syntactic difficulties are actually contributing to reading or writing problems for a particular student, and 3) instructional implications when a student's sentence understanding or production is not strong. In this article, we concentrate on the first two issues. (Authors Nelson, Schleppegrell, Eberhardt, and Hochman discuss instructional implications in their respective articles in this issue of Perspectives.)

Syntactic Structures and Principles Important for Reading and Writing

Recently, we were working with a 10-year-old with a language disorder who was struggling academically. Although reading accuracy and fluency were within broad normal limits, he struggled to comprehend what he read. We suspected that poor sentence comprehension was part of the problem, and to investigate further, we read (out loud) a grade-level passage about Rachel Carson, periodically stopping to ask sentence- specific comprehension questions:

The sentence just read:

Rachel Carson, who was a scientist, writer, and ecologist, grew up in the rural river town of Springdale, Pennsylvania.

The question:

What do you know about Carson now?

Student answer:

They grew up together in the same place.

His answer provided a clue that he had "hooked up" the wrong subject with the verb grew up. Instead of the true subject, Rachel Carson, he thought the subject was the scientist, writer, and ecologist, in other words- they. This type of comprehension mistake-where the noun closest to the verb is taken to be its subject-is not unusual ( Scott, 2009).

In our work with struggling readers and writers in whom we suspect sentence-level problems, we routinely ask questions such as those listed in Table 1 . Answering these questions requires, at a minimum, knowledge of the types of syntactic features shown in the right column of the table. In the next several pages, we discuss a syntactic framework that should assist readers in addressing these questions. For this discussion, we will assume that simple sentences (those with one subject and verb) are adequately understood and produced, but complex sentences can present problems.

TABLE 1

Question

Syntactic Knowledge

1. Are the sentences the student speaks and writes of sufficient length, complexity, and well-formedness (free of grammatical errors) for his or her age?

Recognize simple versus complex sentences

For complex sentences, recognize:

dependent vs. independent clauses

number of clauses per sentence

three main types of dependent clauses (adverbial, object complements, relatives)

common grammatical errors for students with language disorders

General developmental guidelines

How written sentence patterns differ from spoken patterns

2. What are the syntactic requirements of assessment tests/tasks or of common class assignments?

The ability to deconstruct a test/task (or classroom activity) and individual stimulus items according to syntactic requirements that may complicate processing

3. Does the inability to parse a particular sentence (or sentences) in a text interfere with text comprehension?

Same as questions 1 and 2

What Makes Sentences Complex?

Noun Phrase Expansion Increases Sentence Length

While length is not the only determinant of syntactic complexity, in general, longer sentences are more complex. One of the major ways that sentences become longer is by adding modifiers to nouns. Grammarians use the term noun phrase (NP) to define a noun and all the words that modify it. Nouns can have modifiers that come before (or premodify) them in the NP, such as adjectives, as in "I heard a new song." Nouns can also have modifiers that follow them (or postmodify), as in "The song playing on the radio is new." The following sentence contains two NPs (underlined) whose nouns are shown in italics:

The three-alarm fire destroyed the recently refurbished apartment building that was just completed last year.

The noun fire in the first NP is premodified by three words and is the grammatical subject of the sentence. The second NP serves as the grammatical object of the sentence. Its noun building is premodified by four words and postmodified by a relative clause that has six words. To illustrate how NPs can "grow," consider the two sentences below. The subject of sentence 2 is a simple NP with two words, but it has the capacity to be expanded considerably, as in sentence 3 where the NP is now 10 words:

The amendment was a disaster.

The thoroughly rewritten and meaningless amendment inserted by his aide was a disaster.

Sentence 3 manages to tell three things about the amendment within the confines of the NP: that it was rewritten, that it was a meaningless revision, and that an aide inserted it. Creating long NPs with extensive pre- and postmodification is one of the major ways that writers "pack" information into a text. Because these long and complex NPs can be found any place that a noun is found in a sentence-as grammatical subjects, direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions, there is great potential to embed information in any one sentence-information that must be "unpacked" in the reading (or listening) comprehension process. Without the ability to recognize NPs as language units functioning as a whole in particular grammatical roles, the reader will have difficulty extracting meaning (like the student in the Rachel Carson example). We can also appreciate that, for writers, crafting sentences such as sentences 1 and 3 would require the ability to translate considerable knowledge about a topic into a complex linguistic form.

Subordination Increases Sentence Length

Sentences are also lengthened by the process of subordination-when one or more clauses (basically simple sentences) are combined within one sentence in an arrangement where one clause is the main one (independent and can stand alone), and the other is subordinate to the main clause (dependent and cannot stand alone). In adult expository writing, the average sentence has three clauses, and some have many more. These multiclausal sentences take planning and effort to construct as a writer, and the reader must be able to discern the main proposition from the others and the subordinate and logical meaning relationships among them.

Three types of subordination account for a large majority of multiclausal sentences. In sentences with adverbial clauses, a subordinate clause is joined to a main clause with a conjunction such as although, while, whereas, because, if, unless, and so forth. These types of clauses expand on the verb in the main clause by adding information about time, manner, or place, just like adverbs (as single words). In the following sentence, the adverbial clause (underlined) adds manner information to the main clause by stating something unexpected:

Even though he had already broken the record for the most gold medals, he stated that his goal was to win even more in the next Olympic Games.

The prototypical adverbial clause appears after the main clause, but in the example above, it has been moved to an earlier position (pre-posed).

This sentence also illustrates a second type of subordination by using an object complement clause (in italics) where the direct object of the main clause verb ( stated) is itself an entire clause. These types of clauses often begin with that, but this is optional, and, if taken away, the sentence would be perfectly grammatical. Other words that begin object complement clauses include question words such as what, when who, where (e.g., She decided what she would wear to the inauguration). Note that not all main clause verbs can "take" an object complement, and the ones that do tend to be verbs referring to state of being or communicative acts (stative and reportative verbs, such as be, let, tell, say, and exclaim) or that code mental states (cognitive state verbs, metalinguistic verbs) such as think, know, conclude, decide, and predict. This group of verbs is important in academic language because they allow writers to address processes, ideas, and opinions.

Relative clauses, the third type of subordinate clause, follow a noun (as in sentence 1) and provide additional information about that noun. As noted earlier, they form the postmodfication portion of the NP. Typically they begin with a relative pronoun ( that, who, whose, which) but that can be optional, and sometimes the clause is further reduced (see sentence 3 where that was has been omitted before inserted but is still understood). A relative clause can modify any noun in a sentence-in sentence 1 it postmodifies the direct object building and completes the sentence. When a relative clause postmodifies a subject noun (see amendment in sentence 3) it interrupts the subject and verb. These are often called center-embedded relatives. In sentence 3, it is not the aide that is a disaster, it's the amendment. Relative clauses also vary in another important way, namely, whether the relative pronoun replaces the subject or object of the relative clause. In the complex sentence below, based on the two simple sentences shown beneath, the relative pronoun replaces the subject of the relative clause:

In sentence 6, however, the relative pronoun replaces the object, which then "moves" to the beginning of the relative clause:

This type of relative clause is harder to process because the relative pronoun must be related to a "trace" (indicated by the caret) that is farther away than is the case for the subject in sentence 5. Linguists refer to these situations as "long distance dependencies."

Multiclausal sentences may contain all three types of subordinate clauses or more than one of each type. Because clauses, by definition, must contain a verb, a reliable way to tell how many clauses are in a sentence is to count the verbs, which are underlined in the following sentence:

Although the President acknowledges that recovery is slow, he will not deviate from key policies that his team announced earlier in order to stimulate growth.

This five-clause sentence begins with a pre-posed adverbial clause that has an object complement clause ( that recovery is slow) embedded within it. A relative clause postmodifies policies in the main clause and another adverbial clause ( in order to stimulate growth) is embedded within the relative clause. It is easy to imagine that a reader with weak general comprehension skills would struggle with this sentence.

Other Contributors to Sentence Complexity

Several other linguistic factors increase complexity and render sentences harder to comprehend and produce. First, any change from an expected word order increases processing load. English is a subject-verb-object (SVO) language where the canonical (or typical) word order is the grammatical subject (the agent) followed by the verb and object. In passive sentences, which are harder to process than active sentences, the grammatical agent follows the verb ( media in the passive sentence that follows):

He was criticized by the media for his remarks.

Pre-posed adverbial clauses (see sentences 4 and 7) also represent a type of order variation because the entire main clause is "delayed." Cleft sentences are another variation on word order. In these types of sentences an element of the sentence is brought to the front for focus. In the following cleft sentence, the element tone of voice is moved to the left, making it harder to "reconstitute" the underlying SVO structure of this basic sentence ( Her boss reacted to her tone of voice):

It could have been her tone of voice that her boss reacted to.

Another factor that increases complexity is when two critical elements that are normally close together are separated (also called long-distance dependencies, see sentence 6). Center-embedded relative clauses can be hard to understand because the main clause subject and verb are effectively interrupted (see sentences 3, 5, and 6).

Sentences in Academic Texts

From the mid-elementary through the secondary school years, the main job of a student is to learn, and this takes place increasingly in the context of language that is written (not spoken), is expository/informational (not narrative), and is discipline specific. Functional linguists ( Halliday, 1987) have provided rich descriptions of sentence-level patterns unique to each of these distinctions. Compared with spoken sentences, written sentences are lexically dense (having a higher proportion of content words, that is, nouns, adjectives, verbs) and nominally embedded (having a larger number of long NPs with both pre- and postmodification). Written sentences are also longer, with more instances of multiclausal embedding, where one clause is subordinate to another subordinate clause. Halliday (1987) used the term hierarchical to refer to written text, which he contrasted with the linear format of spoken language, where clauses are connected with coordinating conjunctions (e.g., and, but, so) and common subordinating conjunctions (e.g., because, when, if). Others emphasize the fact that the writer, who has more time to make grammatical choices, uses a greater variety of complex structures than the speaker, who is under more stringent fluency constraints in real time ( Biber, 2001). Due to these and many other differences, we could, with fair accuracy, judge which sentences were spoken and which were written if we heard them out of context. As evidence that they have somehow absorbed these grammatical differences, mid-elementary school children are beginning to write sentences that they would be unlikely to say, such as " There stood a little tiger cub"(an example used by Scott [2012, p. 255] that appeared in a story about a picnic written by an eight-year-old). When comparing sentences in narrative and expository texts, long complex NPs are again a contrastive feature of the latter. Additional high-frequency syntactic features of expository sentences include a) passives, b) nominalizations (use of the nominal derivative of a verb, e.g., evaporate to evaporation), c) nonfinite forms of verbs (verbs not marked for tense or number, e.g., failing to improve in the last quarter, the economy ...), and d) phrasal coordination (global warming is affecting agricultural productivity and wildlife migration patterns). (See Scott and Balthazar (2010) for a discussion of these and other syntactic features common in informational text.)

The fact that separate standards for history/social studies, science, and technical subjects are found in the CCSS belies an increased emphasis on disciplinary literacy-the idea that learning within a discipline requires an understanding of the way that discipline uses language to encode its unique nature and purposes. For example, the natural sciences are concerned with classification, description, and processes, while history works to "weave together" events and groups, often with incomplete evidence, thus requiring interpretation and perspective of the writer. In a recent article, Fang (2012) illustrates the lexical and syntactic features that distinguish science, math, and history texts and links these differences to underlying discipline-specific purposes. Readers of his work would find reference to many of the structures discussed in this section, but with an added appreciation for their unique employment as required by subject matter.

Identifying Students Whose Syntactic Problems Contribute to Reading and Writing Problems

As a student gets older, language problems may have indirect and less obvious consequences for academic performance. The impact is often profound for overall academic achievement, but the evidence can be subtle-observable mainly in more challenging and complex contexts, such as when students are writing, or using an academic style of writing, or learning disciplinary content independently. For some students, sentence comprehension and production are major contributors. It is possible to ferret out sentence-level (syntactic) problems once they are suspected. The first step is understanding which students are likely to have syntactic problems.

Using Language and Academic Histories to Identify Individuals at Risk

Syntactic limitations may be suspected when a student who is performing poorly with reading and writing has a known history of developmental language disorder, because syntactic deficits are a particular hallmark of language disorders ( Leonard, 1998; Scott & Koonce, in press). Some, but not all, children with reading comprehension deficits have a documented history of difficulty with language development, and students with language disorders are at greater risk for reading comprehension problems ( Catts & Kamhi, 2005). The evidence suggests that reading skill development (including both word identification and comprehension) among children with language disorders lags behind well into high school, although it follows a trajectory that is similar to that of typically developing peers ( Catts, Bridges, Little, & Tomblin, 2008). For these reasons, students with a history of language disorders will be among the most likely to experience syntactic problems in reading and writing, and their problems should, as a general rule, be assessed with that in mind.

Whether or not a student has a documented language disorder, sentence-level problems should also be suspected in students who have difficulty with both listening comprehension and reading ( Scott, 2009). under the Simple View of Reading ( Gough & Tunmer, 1986), reading problems can result from either poor word recognition or poor listening comprehension. Kamhi & Catts (2012) described subtypes of reading disability resulting from the combination of good or poor performance on these two factors in the Simple View. Students with poor word recognition and good listening comprehension were classified as dyslexic, while those with good word recognition and poor listening comprehension were classified as having a specific comprehension deficit. Researchers have shown that some of these latter children appear to be typical readers in early elementary years when the emphasis is on reading accuracy, only to "lose ground" by late elementary years when their texts become more challenging ( Catts, Adlof, & Weismer, 2006). Struggling readers with poor performance in both word recognition and listening comprehension were designated as having a mixed reading disability and have been variously referred to as low achievers, backward readers, or garden-variety poor readers.

Children with reading disabilities that fall into either the specific comprehension deficit or mixed reading disability categories are candidates for further assessment regarding syntactic knowledge. Word (vocabulary), sentence (syntax), and discourse (e.g., inference) problems can all contribute to reading and writing difficulties, so is important to try to isolate the impact of sentence-level contributions. What follows are some general developmental guidelines that pertain to sentence-level syntactic abilities.

Using Sentence Development Guidelines to Identify Individuals at Risk

By kindergarten, we should hear many complex sentences in a child's spoken language, and some examples of all three types of dependent clauses. By that age, there should be very few, if any, problems with verb tense in spoken language. As children progress through elementary school, average sentence length (in words) roughly corresponds to chronological age to age 10, or about the fourth grade. Also around that time, a child's writing should begin to contain sentences with distinctly written syntactic structures (i.e., sentences that would sound too formal if spoken). From late elementary school on into middle and high school, students' written language should continue to become more differentiated from spoken language and should demonstrate greater structural complexity and variety. A good sign that a student is increasing fluency with academic sentence form is the ability to combine several complex features within one sentence, for example, an adverbial clause and a relative clause. By age 12, a child should write sentences that are at least as long as spoken sentences, and sometimes longer (pertinent developmental studies and reviews include Berman & Nir, 2010; Mackie & Dockrell, 2004; Nippold, Hesketh, Duthie, & Mansfield, 2005; Scott, 2010).

There may be a sizable proportion of students with reading and writing problems who have no history of language disorders but who fail to progress with respect to these sentence-level developmental expectations. In such cases, some relatively quick and accessible testing tools might be used to further narrow the field. If oral language skills have not been assessed, it is possible to look for indicators of potential sentence-level problems on tasks that include sentence recall, sentence combining, or recognizing sentence paraphrases. The following standardized subtests, any of which can be administered in 15 or so minutes, can be used for this purpose.

Poor performance on any of these measures would increase the likelihood of syntactic contributions to reading and writing problems, and indicate a need for consultation or referral for speech and language evaluation.

A survey of sentence types and quantity in a student's written work can also be revealing, especially if multiple samples can be reviewed. Consultation with a classroom teacher can usually produce examples of written sentences, such as responses to essay questions, journal entries, stories, and reports. Syntactic difficulties would be suspected when such samples are briefer than those of most classmates, contain little variety in sentence form, exhibit patterns of verb tense or pronoun errors, tend to omit words or word endings, or lack more formal, written-sounding sentences. Additionally, fragments and punctuation troubles that exceed grade-level expectations may indicate a lack of understanding about what constitutes a sentence-a skill necessary for writing.

Students with syntactic problems are likely to struggle more with the kinds of classroom activities that pose greater sentence-level challenges. It is important to do a task analysis of assignments that carry heavy sentence comprehension loads, such as verbal math problems, assignment instructions, and reading comprehension questions, as well as assignments that require writing at the text level. Poor performance in these contexts in particular presents "probable cause" for the existence of a syntactic contribution to reading comprehension problems ( Scott, 2009).

Identifying Individual Problems with Sentences

Because students must bring to bear multiple processes, skills, and knowledge as they meet academic challenges, it can be puzzling to sort out language problems at the sentence level from those more related to other aspects of language, such as vocabulary (especially multiple meaning words and, of course, unfamiliar words and concepts), problems related to general knowledge (as when comprehension depends in part on prior experience with content), problems drawing inferences, decoding (misunderstanding when words are skipped or misread), or fluency (as when reading takes so long a student does not remember the content well).

There are several efficient ways to investigate whether and how syntactic deficits are affecting an individual's reading and writing performance. One way is to carefully scrutinize classroom performance for particular kinds of problems associated with syntactic difficulties. A second is to extend or modify assessment and intervention practices to better understand the specific syntactic barriers to a student's performance. The emphasis of this scrutiny should fall on those sentence structures that pose the greatest challenges to comprehension and tend to develop later.

Examining Classroom Work for Syntactic Problems

Individual student problems related to sentences can be seen in many forms. Table 2 summarizes some observable behaviors in oral and written expression among students with syntactic weaknesses. Not all of these behaviors would be expected for a given individual, and individual performance could vary substantially depending upon how challenging the task is.

TABLE 2

For complex sentences, recognize:

False starts, multiple attempts, incomplete sentence formulation

Fragments and punctuation troubles (especially placement of periods or commas) that exceed grade-level expectations

Omissions of words or word endings, especially (but not only) verb tense errors

Inflexibility with attempting different ways to say the same thing (in tasks requiring paraphrasing or clarifying or sentence combining)

Errors or difficulties related to syntactic movement, embedding, and subordination:

Pronominal reference (pronouns and antecedents)

Constructing relative clauses (especially center-embedded and object-relatives),

Pre-posed adverbial clauses

Errors or difficulties with key vocabulary for complex sentences:

Limited range of metacognitive/cognitive state verbs used

Atypical or awkward-sounding object complement clauses

Limited range of meaning and variety of adverbial conjunctions used, or overuse of one or a few conjunctions (e.g., because) whether viable or not

For students with syntactic problems, it is common to find very limited oral or written language output relative to grade- level expectations, and this would in turn limit opportunities to observe features such as the variety and frequency of use of various sentence structures; however, many of the problems listed in Table 2 are evident even in small samples of student writing, and limited written output is itself a sign of potential sentence-level problems. It is also possible to get a better picture of student capabilities by looking at several work samples. As the examples of class work accumulate, patterns may emerge. An individual student's sentence-related performance can usually be characterized by one or more of the problem types in Table 2 , and this information will direct further assessment and intervention with the exact sentence types requiring support. For example, a student who tends to connect sentences primarily with and and provides few details about nouns may have restricted ability with relative clauses. It would be useful to know whether he or she understands and could use relative clauses given the opportunity, and if so, which types. The extent of sentence-level knowledge can be evaluated dynamically using some of the methods described in the next section of this article.

Extending Assessment and Intervention Practices to Sentences and Syntax

Assessment is an ongoing process that is integral to teaching and intervention. It is a process by which knowledge and skill are continually monitored and addressed directly in the course of instruction. Educators are familiar with assessments aimed at the word and text levels of language, and have many tools at hand for those purposes. Generally, such tools are not designed to provide a means of evaluating sentence-level capabilities; thus, it is left to the skill of the educator or clinician to find ways to do so. The following sections describe some common academic activities that can be adapted to examine sentences, to determine whether a particular type of clause or sentence is responsible for a student's problem. As a general guideline, we start with the prime suspects-later-developing varieties of subordinate clauses. Table 3 summarizes these later-developing structures.

TABLE 3

Relative clauses

Center-embedded

The scientists who discovered a way to help the body fight cancer won the Nobel Prize for chemistry this year.

Relative pronouns that stand for (deleted) objects in the relative clause (object-relative)

Ranchers in the west closely watch the cattle, which FDA inspectors have quarantined (the cattle).

Adverbial clauses

Adverbial conjunctions that express

condition ( if, unless, even if, if only, in case, provided t hat)

contrast ( while, whereas)

concession (although, even though, even if, while, whereas, when)

Pre-posed adverbial clauses

While scientists debate global warming trends, summers in southern states are getting hotter and hotter.

Object complement clauses

Main clause verbs that can take object complements and are

low-frequency (e.g., suggest, determine, speculate)

The audience speculated that the reality show contestants were actors .

"meta" (e.g., predict, hypothesize, assume)

Every press conference confirms what we already know about the team .

Sentence Combining

Generating sentences is a necessary part of writing at the text level, and use of more varied and complex sentence structures can be both assessed and supported with activities such as sentence combining ( Scott & Nelson, 2009). When sentence combining is already a part of classroom activities, these activities can be focused or expanded to address the individual needs of a student with reading and writing problems. When sentence combining is not explicitly part of classroom activities, it can be incorporated into composition tasks as a part of the revision process. Sentence combining is a type of writing task that can be completed and evaluated relatively quickly, and it offers more control over the content and output than a free-writing activity ( Scott & Nelson, 2009). Further control over specific sentence structure characteristics, such as subordinate clause position (which is a developmentally and clinically significant feature), can be exerted by limiting responses with a starter word or phrase, or by providing a cloze-type (i.e., fill-in-the-blank) response format. Sentence combining works particularly well to expand noun phrases using multiple tools such as relative clauses, appositives, and various noun modifiers, but it also can be used for generating subordinate clauses with adverbial conjunctions.

Application of these concepts is illustrated below for two later-developing structures-the center-embedded, object relative clause and the pre-posed adverbial clause. The center- embedded relative clause modifies a main clause subject noun. It must be placed right after the noun it modifies, and the subordinate clause will always have that main clause subject noun (or its pronoun) in it as either its subject or object. To create a sentence combining task to assess a center-embedded, object-relative clause, then, we generate two sentences, where the second sentence (sentence 11) has the subject noun of the first sentence (sentence 10) in object position. We instruct the student to make one longer sentence that says both things without using the conjunctions and, but, so, or then. This request could be open-ended, or a starter or cloze response format could be provided as in sentences 12 and 13. In the example below, the target sentence would be " The store owner that the plaintiff's attorney called to testify witnessed the car accident." Note that there are other ways to combine these two kernel sentences, such as "The store owner who was called to testify by the plaintiff's attorney witnessed the car accident" or "The plaintiff's attorney called the store owner, a witness to the accident, to testify."

The store owner witnessed the car accident. (Target main clause, target NP in bold)

The plaintiff's attorney called the store owner to testify. (Target embedded clause, target NP in bold)

Note that the target NP in the embedded clause is in object position, so it would have to be deleted and replaced with a relative pronoun, which would be moved to the beginning of the clause (this is the most difficult and latest-developing type of relative clause).

Students who have not developed facility with this structure will often attempt to combine using conjunctions, such as The store owner witnessed the car accident and the plaintiff's attorney called him to testify, even if instructed not to do so. If an open-ended request produces these types of attempts, the more restrictive response formats in sentences 12 and 13 can force an attempt at a relative clause:

The store owner that _________________________________.

The store owner _____________________________ witnessed the accident.

Later-developing adverbial clauses can be elicited with sentence combining as well. We suggest "forcing" an attempt at pre-posing the adverbial clause so that it is stated before the main clause by using a cloze response format (which would allow the student to pick the exact adverbial conjunction) or by requiring the student to start with an adverbial conjunction (which would restrict the possible meaning relationships between the clauses). Two kernel sentences with some obvious or deducible (to the student) time, place, or manner relationship can be provided, such as sentences 14 and 15. Starter word and cloze response formats are shown in sentences 16 and 17. Here, our target production would be " Whereas students elsewhere attend for at least 182 days, Chicago Public School students go to school 177 days a year." As before, there are other possible solutions, using other adverbial conjunctions that signal contrast such as while or although. If left open-ended, an acceptable response could also include non-pre-posed adverbial clauses, such as " Chicago Public School students go to school 177 days a year, while students elsewhere attend for at least 182." The advantage of the open-ended and cloze formats is that the student must generate his or her own adverbial conjunction, and this can offer insight into the diversity and abstractness of their lexical choices for complex sentences. An advantage of the cloze format is that it can restrict the position of the adverbial clause to before the main clause, which is a later-developing form.

On the other hand, students with sentence-level problems often find both of these response formats to be very difficult, which could mask what they know. For this reason, it is also worthwhile to explore student responses when given a starter adverbial and the instruction, "Begin your sentence with the word I give you." using that strategy, lower frequency adverbial conjunctions that a student is likely to encounter, or has already demonstrated problems with, can be sampled.

Chicago Public School students go to school 177 days a year.

Students elsewhere attend for at least 182 days a year.

Whereas _______________________________________

______________________________________________, Chicago Public School students go to school 177 days a year.

Paraphrasing

In the context of reading activities, it is very helpful to assess comprehension of individual sentences along the way, and one method for doing so is to ask a student to paraphrase periodically what he or she has learned ( Gillam, Fargo, & Robertson, 2009; Scott & Balthazar, 2010). We have found paraphrasing to be particularly helpful for identifying student misunderstandings in longer sentences, which often involve multiple forms of complexity and challenging concepts or vocabulary simultaneously. The technique is less helpful with shorter sentences, which students might simply repeat from memory whether they understand them or not.

An informed instructor can identify potentially troublesome sentences as they occur during a reading activity or can review materials in advance. After each is read, a request to paraphrase can be inserted, such as "What did you learn about in this sentence?" or "Tell me what you just learned in your own words." When the student explains what he or she learned, we can question information that was left out or follow up with questions focused specifically on the meanings encoded by particular syntactic structures.

Comprehension Questions

Reading comprehension is typically assessed with a variety of question types at the end of a given passage, but for identifying sentence-level comprehension issues, strategic placement of comprehension questions after complex, later-developing sentence types is more useful ( Balthazar & Scott, in press). It is best to prepare these questions in advance so that they can be formulated precisely to focus on specific syntactic culprits.

The art of asking sentence-level comprehension questions builds upon the ability to identify the later-developing clause structures and how they function in a sentence. Table 4 offers a few key landmarks for detecting the presence of later-developing relative clauses, adverbial clauses, and object complement clauses, and some examples of questions aimed at identifying potential comprehension problems.

TABLE 4

Clause Type/Landmark Features

Comprehension Question

Relative Clause

Always follows the noun it tells about

Often begins with a relative pronoun (that, which, who, whose, etc.)

a) Center-embedded

Comes after the main clause subject NP and before the main clause verb

b) Object-relative

Relative pronoun replaces the object NP in the relative clause

Question Form: Who did what?
Example for (a)
Reading: All insects that go through incomplete metamorphosis must shed their outer skeletons as they grow. A new larger skeleton then forms around its body.
Question Options:
What insects shed their outer skeletons as they grow? (only the ones that.....)
Do all insects shed their outer skeletons as they grow? (no or just the ones that....)
Example for (b)
Reading: The Berlin Wall, which communist guards patrolled during the Cold War, divided Germany into two sides.
Questions:
What divided Germany into two sides? (the Berlin Wall.... not the Cold War....)
What did communist guards patrol? (the Berlin Wall)

Pre-posed Adverbial Clause

Starts with an adverbial conjunction

Comes before the main clause to which it is attached

Question Form: Does it mean the same thing?
Example
Reading: These insects have only three stages of development: egg, nymph, and adult. At each stage the insect looks different from the way it looks at another stage. When a grasshopper nymph first hatches, it doesn't have wings.
Question Options:
Do grasshopper nymphs have wings? (yes, but not when they first hatch)
Does a grasshopper nymph have wings when it first hatches? (no)
Listen to these two sentences and tell me if they mean the same thing:
When a grasshopper nymph first hatches, it doesn't have wings.
A grasshopper nymph doesn't have wings when it first hatches. (yes)

Object Complement Clause

Associated with cognitive state and metacognitive verbs

Can be in the direct object or indirect object position

May start with that or a question word

Question Form: What did X verb?
Example
Gregor Mendel, who was a monk and a scientist, spent much of his time working with pea plants in a monastery garden. He observed that some plants produced green peas and others produced yellow peas.
Question Options:
What did Gregor Mendel observe? (that some plants...)
If I said, "He saw that some plants produced green peas and others produced yellow peas," would that mean the same thing? (yes)

For relative clauses, the emphasis should be on determining the student's understanding of who did what in the main and embedded clauses. Recall that the anticipated problem here is that the student will assign the closest NP before the verb as its subject, so when a relative clause intervenes between a subject and its verb, a misunderstanding may occur.

For adverbial clauses, there are two approaches. First, if a student has paraphrased or generated a sentence containing a pre-posed adverbial clause incorrectly, it is helpful to reduce the lexical difficulty and have them try again, replacing the adverbial conjunction with a more common synonym or alternative. If the student's problem resolves, then it is likely that it had more to do with vocabulary than sentence structure. If not, it is likely that the later-developing pre-posed position of the clause is at least part of the barrier to comprehension. The second approach would be to present a complex sentence with the adverbial clause twice, once in pre- and once in post-posed positions, and then ask if they mean the same thing. As a single instance, this may not be a reliable indicator, because a student has a 50/50 chance of a correct answer due to the nature of the question; but if several of these were presented, and if some foils were included, it would be possible to discern problems with the later-developing clause position.

For object complements, note that the difficulty a student might have here depends upon how well they have fleshed- out the sentence frames of lower-frequency verbs that take complements and recognize that the entire subordinate clause is the verb's object. The examples in Table 4 are focused on the structure of object complements for later-developing verbs, but object complements are found very early in language development with common stative and reportative verbs (i.e., verbs used to describe states of being, conditions, or behaviors), such as be, let, have, say, ask, and tell, as well as common verbs referring to social and emotional experiences, such as promise, suppose, help, make, and try. Most of these allow for the subordinate clause verb to be in an infinitive ("to") form (with or sometimes without the word "to" included) or nonfinite ("-ing") form, both of which are less common patterns to be associated with the later-developing verbs. As with adverbial clauses, the testing of comprehension for object complement clauses involves manipulating lexical difficulty by replacing a troublesome verb with a more common synonym. We have found that most students can understand sentences with object complement clauses, provided they have good knowledge of the verb. However, we suspect that part of developing knowledge of less frequent and more academic verbs involves deducing their meanings from subordinate clauses, and that this may be an area of weakness for students with sentence- level challenges.

A Place for Sentences

Even with ample research pointing to sentences as a unit of language that confounds some struggling readers and writers, it isn't easy to apply this information. One obstacle is the fact that sentence structure (grammar) is a huge topic. Which structures? Which sentences? unless educators and clinicians have a clear sense of how sentences become complex to the point of having an impact on reading and writing, it is difficult to take the next step-identifying which students have this problem. We hope that this discussion establishes a place for the sentence in our instructional practices for students with reading and writing problems and encourages educators and clinicians to identify and support them accordingly.

Acknowledgments

Preparation of this manuscript was supported in part by Grant #1R15011165-01 from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communicative Disorders. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders or the National Institutes of Health.

Biographies

Cheryl Scott, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is a Professor in the Department of Communication Disorders and Sciences at Rush University Medical Center where her teaching, research, and clinical work focus on language and literacy disorders of school-age children and adolescents. Dr. Scott is currently collaborating with Dr. Catherine Balthazar on a study examining the effect of treatment centered on complex sentences in students with language disorders, with funding from the NIH/NIDCD. Dr. Scott is a fellow of ASHA.

Catherine Balthazar, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is Associate Professor of Communication Disorders at Governors State University, where her teaching and research focus on language assessment and intervention for school-age children. She is a principal investigator for an NIDCD-funded study examining the effect of treatment on children's complex sentence knowledge.

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The Role of Complex Sentence Knowledge in Children with Reading and Writing Difficulties

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Perspect Lang Lit. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2015 Mar 25. Published in final edited form as: As shown by the publication of this issue of Perspectives on Language and Literacy, there is increasing attention to the role of sentences and grammar in both typical and atypical readers and writers.

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36. Writing Craft: What Is This and Why Does It Matter?

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36. Writing Craft: What Is This and Why Does It Matter?

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Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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Literacy Block: Writing Craft: What Is This and Why Does It Matter? - Evidence Based Early Literacy

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The goal of the Massachusetts public K-12 education system is to prepare all students for success after high school. Massachusetts public school students are leading the nation in reading and math and are at the top internationally in reading, science, and math according to the national NAEP and int…

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Some of the research done that involves sentence combining comes from a whole language perspective. We"ve listed some of that research here. Our instructions for using sentence combining encourage a more explicit approach to using the strategy than what is included in some of the research listed below.

Graham, S., & Perin, D. (2007). Writing next: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescents in middle and high schools - A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington, DC Alliance for Excellent Education.

Robinson, L. K., & Howell, K. W. (2008). Best practices in curriculum-based evaluation & written expression. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best Practices in School Psychology V (pp. 439-452). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

Saddler, B. (2005). Sentence combining: A sentence-level writing intervention. Reading Teacher, 58, 468-471.

Strong, W. (1986). Creative approaches to sentence combining. Urbana, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills & National Council of Teachers of English.

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Combining sentences encourages students to take two or more short, choppy sentences and combine them into one effective sentence - to make their writing more readable and engaging. Sentence combining is a skill that develops over several short practice sessions.

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20. Sentence Expanding: Elementary School Example Lesson

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20. Sentence Expanding: Elementary School Example Lesson

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Iowa Reading Research Center | The University of Iowa

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Striving to improve the literacy skills of all students.

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5. The direct and indirect effects model of writing

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16. Brain research shows why handwriting should be taught in the computer age

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11 b. Handwriting without tears - YouTube channel

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Learning Without Tears is a leading educational publishing company that provides easy to teach, easy to learn, and developmentally appropriate curricula to Pre-K-5 students and teachers. We make learning and teaching easy and fun with engaging, multisensory methods and superior educational products and training for Pre-K readiness, K-5 handwriting, and K-5 keyboarding.

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15 b. Handwriting Heroes - YouTube channel

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15 b. Handwriting Heroes - YouTube channel

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Handwriting Heroes - YouTube

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"handwriting strategies" "handwriting and phonics" "teaching handwriting" "abc songs" "letter songs" handwriting "letters of the alphabet" "alphabet writing"...

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Handwriting Heroes is a multi-sensory program that teaches kids how to write in a fun way. Our program uses research-based and systematic methods to teach handwriting and has revived classrooms across the nation. Our playful heroes teach students how to form their letters through captivating stories, hilarious animations, and catchy songs.

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LIGHTNING-FAST, SUPER-EASY AND SERIOUSLY-FUN
HANDWRITING INSTRUCTION

Handwriting Heroes is a systematic Pre-K through 2nd grade curriculum that has revived handwriting instruction in classrooms across the nation! Let our playful heroes teach your students how to form their letters through memorable tales, hilarious animations, and catchy tunes. The format is simple, and the pace is fast!

Digital Learning Platform

Handwriting Heroes is a turnkey solution that requires minimal training and preparation. The videos lead teachers and students step-by-step through each lesson. Ready-to-use printables and editable resources enrich instruction, and game-based learning makes practice feel like play!

Fast-paced Format

Each week , students learn one of five letter groups, comprised of similarly formed letters. For example, the skydiver letters – l, t, k, i, and j - which all start with a vertical line, are taught in the first week and then reviewed in subsequent weeks. Linking letters in this manner builds motor memory and establishes fluency at a faster pace.

Magical Stories

Letter stories explain why the letters move along a specific path in a logical, memorable way. Students are instantly engaged by wordplay and slapstick humor. Retelling the letter stories bolsters their ability to write letters with correct form!

Adaptive Design

Our multisensory approach, developed by an occupational therapist, is easily adapted to each student's learning strengths! Its versatility makes it the top choice for one-on-one, small- and whole-group models in virtual, in-person, or hybrid settings.

When children are singing the songs at recess, and choosing to write their letters at free time, you know you've found a winner. This program has the versatility to adapt to any teacher or parent's needs.
Spanglish Schoolhouse,
Elementary School

Our teachers had a list of criteria they wanted for a handwriting program. This program met and exceeded their expectations. Highly recommended to boost literacy skills for elementary students!
Y. Thomas,
School Principal

Handwriting Heroes is a total game-changer in my classroom. My students LOVE it - they beg me to watch the videos. The rhymes truly stick with them and also help to reinforce letter sounds!
Mrs. Krause,
Kindergarten Teacher

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Handwriting Program | Handwriting Heroes

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LIGHTNING-FAST, SUPER-EASY AND SERIOUSLY-FUN HANDWRITING INSTRUCTION Handwriting Heroes is a systematic Pre-K through 2nd grade curriculum that has revived handwriting instruction in classrooms across the nation! Let our playful heroes teach your students how to form their letters through memorable tales, hilarious animations, and catchy tunes.

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12. Handwriting Without Tears | Using print workbook at home

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12. Handwriting Without Tears | Using print workbook at home

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Handwriting Without Tears | Using print workbook at home

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Even though the English spelling system (orthography) is alphabetic with letters representing spoken sounds in many words, English can be challenging because English spelling is not purely phonetic. Many words cannot be spelled phonetically, although teaching the most common sound-spelling relationships is still very useful, given that approximately 84% of English words are phonetically regular (Hanna et al., 1966). A systematic, explicit approach to teaching phonics concepts supports word decoding as well as spelling. See a post I wrote in 2020 that includes a systematic phonics scope and sequence.

Another area that should be included in spelling instruction for multisyllabic words is the schwa vowel sound. The schwa sound is the most common vowel sound in the English language, accounting for 20% of all vowel sounds (Yule, 1996), and it often is the cause of spelling mistakes. Schwa replaces a vowel sound in the unaccented syllables of multi-syllable words. It is sometimes called the "lazy" vowel. The schwa sound often sounds like a muffled version of the short u sound, although it can sometimes sound more like a muffled short i sound. It can be spelled with any vowel. See the post I wrote in 2021 with suggestions for teaching schwa.

The focus of this post is on explicit instruction, with examples, of spelling rules and generalizations. There are basic generalizations shown in the chart below with examples.

There are also spelling rules for adding suffixes, as shown in the chart below with examples.

When teaching spelling rules and generalizations, it is best to introduce one at a time and share multiple examples. Have students read and then spell these examples. At first, students benefit from hearing and stating a spelling rule, but the goal should be to quickly move to internalizing the concept so students automatically apply the principle or rule when spelling.

Related Resources:

References:

Hanna, P.R., Hodges, P.R., Hanna, J.L & Rudolph, E.H. (1966). Phoneme-grapheme correspondences as cues to spelling improvement. Washington, DC: U.W. Office of Education.

Yule, G. (1996). The study of language (2 nd ed.). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Joan Sedita

Joan Sedita is the founder of Keys to Literacy and author of the Keys to Literacy professional development programs. She is an experienced educator, nationally recognized speaker and teacher trainer. She has worked for over 35 years in the literacy education field and has presented to thousands of teachers and related professionals at schools, colleges, clinics, and professional conferences.

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Spelling Rules and Generalizations - Keys to Literacy

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Even though the English spelling system (orthography) is alphabetic with letters representing spoken sounds in many words, English can be challenging because English spelling is not purely phonetic. Many words cannot be spelled phonetically, although teaching the most common sound-spelling relationships is still very useful, given that approximately 84% of English words are phonetically regular (Hanna et al., 1966).

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11.     Supporting your child’s reading and WRITING at home :A Guide for Parents

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11.     Supporting your child’s reading and WRITING at home :A Guide for Parents

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Supporting your child’s reading and writing at home

Welcome, parents! One of the most important gifts we can give our children is to help them learn to read and write so that they can succeed in school and beyond. Confident, active readers are able to use their reading skills to follow their passions and curiosity about the world. We all read for a purpose: to be entertained, to take a journey of the imagination, to connect with others, to figure out how to do something, and to learn about history, science, the arts, and everything else.

Learning to read is complex. Children don't learn one reading-related skill and then move on to the next in a step-by-step process. Instead, they are learning to do many things at the same time: decoding, reading with comfortable fluency, absorbing new vocabulary, understanding what the text says, and discovering that reading is pleasurable and builds knowledge about the world.

We hope this guide will give you a better understanding of what it takes to learn to read (and write) and how you can help your children grow as readers, writers, and learners!

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Welcome, parents! One of the most important gifts we can give our children is to help them learn to read and write so that they can succeed in school and beyond. Confident, active readers are able to use their reading skills to follow their passions and curiosity about the world.

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A child's writing development parallels the child's development as a reader.

Part of early print awareness is the realization that writing can be created with everyday tools such as pens, pencils, crayons, and markers. Children begin to imitate the writing that they see around them. What often starts as scribbling ends up being important clues to a young child's understanding that print carries meaning.

How writing develops

Young children move through a series of stages as they are learning to write. The stages reflect a child's growing knowledge of the conventions of literacy, including letters, sounds and spacing of words within sentences. Almost every interaction in a child's world is preparing them to become a reader and writer.

It's important to remember that every child is different and there are variations in the way kids move through writing stages - it may not happen in the same way or at the same time and the lines between the stages can be blurry.

Scribbling/drawing

Most children begin their writing career by scribbling and drawing. Grasping the crayon or pencil with a full fist, a young scribbling child is exploring with space and form. He is creating a permanent record of his ideas and thoughts. These first scribbles can be proud accomplishments! Thick markers, crayons, and unlined paper are good writer's tools for this stage.

Letter-like forms and shapes

At this stage of writing development, children begin to display their understanding that writers use symbols to convey their meaning. Writing begins to include shapes (circles, squares) and other figures. A writer in this stage will often write something and ask, "What does this say?" There's little orientation of forms and shapes to space (i.e., they appear in random places within the writing or drawing). Tubs of markers, crayons, and paper remain good writer's tools.

Letters!

As a child's writing continues to develop, she will begin to use random letters. Most children begin with consonants, especially those in the author's name. Pieces of writing are usually strings of upper-case consonants, without attention to spaces between words or a sense that writing moves left to right and top to bottom. At the beginning of this stage, there remains a lack of sound-to-symbol correspondence between the words they are trying to write and the letters they use. Later efforts may include letters for the key sounds in words and include the author's own name. Different types of paper, including memo pads, envelopes, lined paper and some smaller pens and pencils are good writer's tools at this stage. Tubs of foam letters and letter magnets are also handy.

Letters and spaces

As beginning writers practice their craft, they are learning many concepts about print. When a child points to individual words on a page when reading, and works to match their speech to a printed word, a "concept of word" is developin - the awareness of the purpose and existence of spaces separating words and that spoken words match to printed words. It's a watershed event of kindergarten! Adults watch young writers insert these important spaces in their own work. Guided either by an index finger in-between each word or by lines drawn by the parent or teacher, children demonstrate one-to-one correspondence with words.

At this stage, children write with beginning and ending sounds. They also may begin to spell some high frequency words correctly. Vowels may be inserted into words. As children transition to more conventional writers, they will begin to write words the way they sound. Punctuation begins as writers experiment with forming sentences.

Conventional writing and spelling

At this stage, children spell most words correctly, with a reliance on phonics knowledge to spell longer words. Writers use punctuation marks correctly and use capital and lower case letters in the correct places. Writing for different purposes becomes more important. First and second grade students often write signs for their bedroom doors or a letter to a friend. Storybook language, "Once upon a time," and "happily ever after," become a part of writing samples as the child joins the league of writers with a storytelling purpose. As students progress through the writing stages, various pieces become more automatic and fluent. Handwriting becomes easier, as does the spelling of a majority of words.

At all stages, it's important to honor the writing efforts of your young child. Find opportunities to have your child share his work with others. Display efforts on the wall or on the refrigerator. Ask your child to read his work at the dinner table or by sitting in a special author's chair.

To write well, children need a broad set of skills

Basic writing skills: These include spelling, capitalization, punctuation, handwriting or keyboarding, and sentence structure (for example, elimination of run-ons and sentence fragments). Basic writing skills are sometimes called the "mechanics" of writing.

Text generation: Text generation means translating your thoughts and ideas into language - the "content" of writing. Text generation includes word choice (vocabulary), details that add meaning, and clear expression.

Writing processes: Good writing involves planning, revising, and editing. These processes are extremely important to success in writing, and become even more important throughout a child's schooling.

Writing knowledge: Writing knowledge includes an understanding types of writing (genre) - for example, understanding that narrative writing or descriptive writing is organized differently than informational writing or persuasive writing. Another eimportant part of writing knowledge is understanding the audience you are writing for.

"The primary goals of writing are to communicate, to persuade, to inform, to learn, to reflect about yourself, and also to entertain others. What really makes writing motivating for young children is sharing it and being successful with it."

- Steve Graham, Arizona State University

Foster a love of writing at home for your child

This video is from Home Reading Helper, a resource for parents to elevate children's reading at home provided by Read Charlotte. Find more video, parent activities, printables, and other resources at Home Reading Helper.

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A child's writing development parallels the child's development as a reader. Part of early print awareness is the realization that writing can be created with everyday tools such as pens, pencils, crayons, and markers. Children begin to imitate the writing that they see around them.

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All of the following resources can be opened in individual tabs and downloaded or printed.

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13. Learning about spelling - resources 

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13. Learning about spelling - resources 

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Welcome!

This website provides information and support for those who wish to learn more about English orthography. This information is vital for teachers, tutors, administrators, advocates, parents, and anyone involved with the science of reading and structured literacy.

The resources I recommend will help you develop a deeper understanding of the writing system. As you learn more, I encourage you to use that knowledge not only with students but in your conversation, collaboration, training, and mentoring of other adults.

In addition, some of these resources provide information about specific teaching approaches. Because of my focus on students with dyslexia, I support instruction that is engaging and explicit, which includes opportunities for students to practice, apply, and continue exploring the concepts and skills they are learning. The resources listed below may present differing approaches to instruction, but they all provide access to an accurate understanding of the writing system. Ultimately, we want to empower all students and teachers to be lifelong learners, able to make sense of novel words as they encounter them-in ways that will develop a deeper understanding of the overall writing system.

Watch for the addition of more resources as they become available.
BOOKS AND RESOURCES THAT EXPLORE THE ENGLISH ORTHOGRAPHIC SYSTEM
Toolbox2: The ToolBox2 was the original source of much of the information on these pages. Initially created by Real Spelling in 1999 and revised in 2011, the Toolbox2 has now become available on the web. It provides information covering an extraordinary range of orthographic topics and consists of six Toolkits, each containing 12 "themes." Each theme covers a particular topic, but within each theme you will find links to related (or background) information discussed in other places in the ToolBox. The landing page for the Toolbox2 site provides a link to an Overview of the themes, as well as a link to a sample theme, "Learning from the Spelling of <Love>. The website is .

Orthographica: This site provides access to a rich library of short films that were used for study in the Spellinars offered by Real Spelling. They were not designed as stand-alone films, but are intended to be used in collaborative study. Visit the site and read more about these resources here: https://www.orthographica.net .

Beneath the Surface of Words: What English Spelling Reveals and Why it Matters. The author of this site published this book in December 2021. Beneath the Surface of Words takes readers on a step-by-step journey through the information explored on this site, introducing and explaining three concepts that are essential to an understanding of English spelling. You can read more about it here. It's published in paperback form, available in the U.S. and globally through Amazon. It's also available in the U.S. through Kendore Learning and in Australia through Seelect Educational Supplies or SilverEye Learning Resources.

For non-U.S. Amazon sites, type in your local Amazon site name (e.g. Amazon.com.au or Amazon.co.uk) and follow it with //dp/057832671X. Or you can just search for the title.

Backpocket Words: Sharing the Essence of English Spelling, written by Gail Portnuff Venable. This wonderful book is a collection of 53 engaging stories and fascinating explanations of words. Each entry shows how the process of making sense of a given word's spelling reveals universal concepts of spelling. While Beneath the Surface of Wordswas written as a step-by-step introduction to those universal concepts, Backpocket Words shows that we can find them at work everywhere in the system. Available as a paperback through Amazon in the U.S. at https://www.amazon.com//dp/1940722101. Worldwide, type the Amazon site name and follow with //dp/1940722101. It's also available through Kendore Learning in the U.S. and Seelect Educational Supplies and Silvereye Learning Resources in Australia (see above for links).

Truer Word Cards, created by Emily O'Connor.This resource consists of several decks of 10 cards, each card exploring words in two ways. The front of each card offers an exploration of a word and its etymological family using a metaphorical floral illustration. The back of each card provides a morphological matrix and considers the word through the lens of Structured Word Inquiry. See more at http://www.advantagemathclinic.com/truer-words-vol-1 .

A Field Guide to Words, created by Lyn Anderson and Ann Whiting. Each guide takes a deep, rich look at a key word and its relatives to reveal how the English orthographic system works. The Field Guides demonstrate how to carefully unfold an orthographic investigation in the classroom. Learn more at https://caughtinthespellofwords.wordpress.com .

Analyzing Math Language, created by Lisa Klipfel. This booklet provides a view of mathematical terminology in terms of morphological structure and etymological relationships. It reveals connections that allow a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts. You can find this resource at https://leveluped.com/shop/ .

Webinars through the International Dyslexia Association.

Click the title of any webinar to go to the YouTube video.
Morphological Awareness and Written Language
This presentation for the Northern California Branch of the International Dyslexia Association explores the idea of morphological awareness as it pertains to written language. It discusses what matters for literacy and presents ideas about how to get started introducing morphology to students, along with some important concepts to keep in mind while doing so. Download an accompanying document here.
Beneath the Surface of Words: Demystifying Spelling-Sue Hegland-June 2022
When looking at the spelling of any given word, we will find the concepts that underlie the writing system at work. This presentation for the Northern California Branch of the International Dyslexia Association used the spelling of the word "toward" to explore key concepts of English spelling.

The following three webinars can be found on the Webinars page of the website for the Upper Midwest Branch of the International Dyslexia Association ( https://ida-uppermidwest.org/webinars/ ). You can find handouts there, along with the links to the YouTube videos. Click the titles below to go directly to the recorded presentations.

WEBSITES AND RESOURCES FOR INVESTIGATING AND LEARNING ABOUT WORDS:

All three of the following sites are free to use.

Etymonline This site is authored by Doug Harper who has done extensive research into the etymology of tens of thousands of words. The site is meticulously researched and invaluable for understanding etymology. I use it every day, even when I am not teaching! You can support this amazing site through Patreon. See the bottom of the Etymonline home page for information on how to get involved. etymonline.com

Mini Matrix-Maker This site was created by Neil Ramsden. It allows you to create a matrix and print the result.

Word Searcher Another site by Neil Ramsden, the Word Searcher allows you to search a database of 60,000 words (or a larger database) for all words that contain a particular string or combination of letters. The databases include both American and British spellings of many words.
BOOKS AND RESOURCES ON SPECIFIC TEACHING APPROACHES
The concepts explained in the resources above can be taught in many ways. Many of the teaching resources available today focus on inquiry-based learning, but it's possible to teach these concepts in direct ways as well. Here are a few of the growing resources to learn more about approaches to teaching these concepts.

Teaching How the Written Word Works. Peter Bowers wrote this book as an introduction to Structured Word Inquiry (SWI). It provides a series of 10 lessons that can guide students through an inquiry-based process of discovering various aspects of spelling. Available through wordworkskingston.com.

The High Frequency Word Project. Rebecca Loveless and Fiona Hamilton created this resource which consists of a guidebook containing background information about high frequency words and English orthography, along with a teaching plan for implementation. Learn more here.

Dyslexia and Spelling: Making Sense of It All. Dr. Kelli Sandman-Hurley, co-founder of the Dyslexia Training Institute, authored this book on Structured Word Inquiry. In it, she provides examples of student spelling errors and explains how they can inform and guide Structured Word Inquiry (SWI) instruction. Available through Amazon in both paperback and Kindle editions.

Resources for Training and Further Learning:

Pete Bowers at Word Works Kingston The term Structured Word Inquiry" (SWI) was first used by Bowers and Kirby (2010) to describe the instruction in their instructional study that showed generative vocabulary learning. Bowers has since suggested that the phrase scientific word investigation" may be a more accurate description of this type of instruction. His work with SWI has taken him to schools around the world, where he provides engaging, practical sessions that model classroom activities using scientific investigation to learn about the English writing system.

Liisa Freure is an experienced teacher, tutor, and trainer. As a Fellow with the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators, Liisa has a deep understanding of the Orton-Gillingham approach, but she has also been studying Structured Word Inquiry and linguistics intensively for years. Liisa offers training, workshops, and presentations on a wide variety of language and literacy related topics and always seeks to provide accurate information and deep understanding along with practical applications.

Rebecca is a Structured Word Inquiry Coach who does training on a number of topics, including work with early learners. She also writes a wonderful blog at her site.

Language Insights Mary McBride and Ellen Meyer are experienced teachers and trainers providing training on implementing SWI in schools.

Dyslexia Training Institute Kelli Sandman-Hurley and Tracy Block-Zaretsky, the founders of the Dyslexia Training Institute, provide training on the Orton-Gillingham approach as well as Structured Word Inquiry.

Resources from Fiona Hamilton, a Bangkok-based educator with extensive experience in international schools in Asia. Training and mentoring to help educators learn more about Word Inquiry and its implementation in the classroom.

Caught in the Spell of Words Consultancy
Ann Whiting and Lyn Anderson are experienced Australian based educators who have taught orthography in their classrooms to a wide range of students for many years. They conduct collaborative workshops modelling the inquiry process to develop an understanding of orthographic principles and conventions.

Courses on teaching orthography using SWI and on teaching grammar.

Facebook Groups where you can discuss analyses of words and share ideas for word study

These are all private Facebook groups. You can request to join, and you can let them know you learned about them here. Note that these groups all use the term "Structured Word Inquiry" but anyone with an interest in words will find them useful, whatever teaching approach they use.

Structured Word Inquiry in the Classroom

Learning How Words Work with Structured Word Inquiry (SWI)

Teaching Spelling Through Structured Word Inquiry

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Welcome! This website provides information and support for those who wish to learn more about English orthography. This information is vital for teachers, tutors, administrators, advocates, parents, and anyone involved with the science of reading and structured literacy. The resources I recommend will help you develop a deeper understanding of the writing system.

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Handwriting Without Tears is a proven program for teaching handwriting to children. Developed by OTs, it uses multisensory techniques to make writing fun.

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11. Explicit Spelling Instruction or Invented Spelling?

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11. Explicit Spelling Instruction or Invented Spelling?

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I teach kindergarten. We've been arguing over whether we should teach spelling or developmental spelling. Which is best?
Shanahan response:
You're asking if learning to spell comes more surely from "transmission" (teaching by telling or demonstrating) or from "construction" (learning through discovery or operating on the world). Arguments in educational psychology have raged over this for decades.

I think the dispute - at least with regards to spelling - is misleading. The two approaches are posed as contradictory, that teachers must choose one way or the other.

I don't see it that way.

Explicit spelling versus invented spelling is a false dichotomy. I encourage both - and did so in my classroom teaching, in my research, and these days even in what I urge on my grandkids.

What does the research say? There is an extensive body of studies showing that explicit spelling instruction results in better spelling and reading and enables better writing. There is also a body of research into invented spelling showing that it results in better phonemic awareness, word reading, and spelling.

Although these approaches may appear to emerge from different philosophical positions, they both confer learning advantages to children. We should not forget that.

It's easy, of course, to caricaturize proponents of each these approaches. Those who advocate explicit instruction are unreformed behaviorists who champion spelling accuracy at the expense of creativity. Those on the invented spelling side are a bunch of Rousseau-inspired hippies rebelling against society and its rules - including spelling rules.

None of that claptrap has anything to do with the real issues. Everyone wants kids to spell well, and as I pointed out, there is plenty of research supporting both approaches.

What does it mean to "teach" developmental spelling?

Let's clear one thing up right away. Developmental spelling isn't something that you teach.

You encourage it, you nurture it, but you don't teach it, per se.

That's the whole idea of "invention." The kids are using what they know about letters, sounds, and words to try to determine reasonable spellings.

I know some on the explicit spelling side dismiss this approach as being akin to the cueing-system guessing that they deplore. But that isn't the case. One of the major reasons for engaging kids in spelling invention is to induce them to closely think about the phonemic structure of words and the relationship of those phonemes with letters.

That isn't guessing, it's analysis - analysis beneficial to kids' learning.

Not surprisingly, many phonics advocates prefer "speech-to-print phonics." Part of the reason for this may be that speech-to-print - getting kids to go from sounds to letters - provides a greater opportunity for kids to develop phonemic sensitivity.

If you have any doubts, compare the number of phonemes a nascent writer analyzes when composing a single sentence, and the number included in a good phonemic awareness lesson. That's also likely the reason that invented spelling is a better predictor than is accurate spelling of growth in reading during the first year of reading instruction (Senechal, 2017).

We encourage developmental spelling because kids may balk at writing in fear of mistakes. A lot more learning happens when students set aside those anxieties. Encouraging students, in this case, means urging them to spell the words in they think they are spelled and not to worry about getting them exactly right. "Just try," we tell them.

We also need to nurture developmental spelling. There is no learning benefit from laborious corrections. That feels like punishment and kids will avoid attempting to spell if they think their errors will lead to that. Celebrate their efforts rather than reproving them. Bring parents into this equation too - they need to know why you aren't correcting those misspellings (and that you recognize those spellings as incorrect).

One big benefit of invented spelling is that it provides teachers with a window into their students' understanding of the spelling system. It is valuable to analyze students' spelling attempts to try to understand what is going on. That way instruction can be better targeted on students' needs.

If you are uncertain how to do that, I strongly endorse Richard Gentry's books on spelling or Charles Temple et al.'s Beginnings of Writing, or Words Their Way. They all have a ton of insight and good teacherly advice.

I know some teachers and parents worry about invented spelling. Their concern is that once kids misspell a word, they will learn the error. That isn't really how it works. Young children's spellings are more fluid than that. Their hypotheses about the spelling system are based on what they know, and as they know more - from phonemic awareness and phonics lessons, and from reading words - they adjust their hypotheses.

That's where formal spelling instruction comes in (Graham, 2000). That teaching adds to what children know about words and becomes part of the grist that they mill. At first, knowing the spelling of a word likely only affects how a child spells that word but over time (memorizing isn't enough) - as children incorporate that new information into their thinking, their spelling improves more generally. Over time, they incorporate the new information, and their spelling attempts get closer and closer to accuracy.

Of course, kids make plenty of spelling progress just by learning to read (Share, 1999), but with explicit instruction students can make even more rapid progress (Treiman, 2017, p. 273). Good spelling instruction is not the enemy of invented spelling - it's just another source of information that feeds that invention.

Some facts about early spelling:

Invented spelling increases student awareness of the speech segments in words (Martins & Silva, 2006)

Invented spelling, together with alphabetic knowledge and phonemic awareness, influence reading and spelling development (Oulette & Sénéchal, 2017)

First-graders who are encouraged to spell as well as they can end up with significantly better reading scores than those that relied on traditional spelling instruction alone (Clarke, 1988)

Invented spelling and phonemic awareness training lead to the same level of phonemic awareness processing (Ouellette & Sénéchal, 2008; Ouellette et al, 2013), even for students at risk of reading difficulties (Senechal, et al., 2012)

Explicit phonemic awareness instruction increases the quality of students' spelling inventions (Ball & Blachman, 1991)

Giving students appropriate feedback on their invented spelling leads to greater progress (Ouellette, Sénéchal, & Haley, 2013)

Explicit spelling instruction should do more than get kids to memorize words - it should focus on the analysis of spelling, including considering spelling alternatives (Berninger, et al, 1992)

Explicit teaching in spelling improves spelling and increases the vocabulary diversity in student writing (Graham, Harris, & Adkins, 2018)

Adding explicit spelling instruction to developmental approaches improves spelling (Graham, 2000)

Explicit spelling instruction improves spelling, reading, and writing (Graham & Santangelo, 2014)

References

Ball, E. W., & Blachman, B. A. (1991). Does phoneme awareness training in kindergarten make a difference in early word recognition and developmental spelling? Reading Research Quarterly, 26(1), 49-66. doi:https://doi.org/10.1598/RRQ.26.1.3

Berninger, V. W., Vaughan, K., Abbott, R. D., Begay, K., Coleman, K. B., Curtin, G., . . . Graham, S. (2002). Teaching spelling and composition alone and together: Implications for the simple view of writing. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94(2), 291-304. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.94.2.291

Graham, S. (2000). Should the natural learning approach replace spelling instruction? Journal of Educational Psychology, 92( 2), 235-247. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.92.2.235

Graham, S., & Santangelo, T. (2014). Does spelling instruction make students better spellers, readers, and writers? A meta-analytic review. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 27(9), 1703-1743. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11145-014-9517-0

Graham, S., Harris, K. R., & Adkins, M. (2018). The impact of supplemental handwriting and spelling instruction with first grade students who do not acquire transcription skills as rapidly as peers: A randomized control trial. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 31(6), 1273-1294. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11145-018-9822-0

Martins, M. A., & Silva, C. (2006). The impact of invented spelling on phonemic awareness. Learning and Instruction, 16(1), 41-56. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2005.12.005

Ouellette, G., & Sénéchal, M. (2008). Pathways to literacy: A study of invented spelling and its role in learning to read. Child Development, 79(4), 899-913. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01166.x

Ouellette, G., & Sénéchal, M. (2017). Invented spelling in kindergarten as a predictor of reading and spelling in grade 1: A new pathway to literacy, or just the same road, less known? Developmental Psychology, 53( 1), 77-88. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/dev0000179

Ouellette, G., Sénéchal, M., & Haley, A. (2013). Guiding children's invented spellings: A gateway into literacy learning. Journal of Experimental Education, 81(2), 261-279. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2012.699903

Sénéchal, M. (2017). Testing a nested skills model of the relations among invented spelling, accurate spelling, and word reading, from kindergarten to grade 1. Early Child Development and Care, 187(3-4), 358-370. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2016.1205044

Sénéchal, M., Ouellette, G., Pagan, S., & Lever, R. (2012). The role of invented spelling on learning to read in low-phoneme awareness kindergartners: A randomized-control-trial study. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 25(4), 917-934. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11145-011-9310-2

Treiman, R. (2017). Learning to spell words: Findings, theories, and issues. Scientific Studies of Reading, 21(4), 265-276. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2017.1296449

P.S. Evidence that students will not need later to "unlearn" their early misspellings comes from a rather extensive body of longitudinal developmental evidence on children's spelling growth over time (references below). This week my granddaughter shared with me her year-long kindergarten journal - which reveals yet again the fluid nature of young children's spelling attempts as they try to master an understanding of the phonological/orthographic structure of words. For those, for whom such descriptive studies are insufficient, there are also experimental tests of the idea refuting the notion that invented misspellings are learned (Ehri, Gibbs, & Underwood, 1988). The preponderance of evidence suggests it is better to encourage developmental spelling attempts than to try to prevent children from putting to use what they are learning about words. Learning to read and spell words is more than a rote memorization task - nascent readers benefit from analyzing the speech stream and attempting to map letters to those sounds.
References
Bissex, G.L. (1980). GNYS AT WRK: A child learns to read and write. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

Clemens, N. H., Oslund, E. L., Simmons, L. E., & Simmons, D. (2014). Assessing spelling in kindergarten: Further comparison of scoring metrics and their relation to reading skills. Journal of School Psychology, 52(1), 49-61.

Ehri, L. C., Gibbs, A. L., & Underwood, T. L. (1988). Influence of errors on learning the spellings of English words. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 13(3), 236-253. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/0361-476X(88)90024-0

Ferreiro, E. (1978). What is written in a written sentence? A developmental answer. Journal of Education, 160, 25-39.

Frost, J. (2001). Phonemic awareness, spontaneous writing, and reading and spelling development from a preventive perspective. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 14(5-6), 487-513.

Gentry, J. R. & Ouellette, G. P. (2019) Brain words: How the science of reading informs teaching. Portsmouth, NH: Stenhouse Publishers.

Godin, M., Gagné, A., & Chapleau, N. (2018). Spelling acquisition in French children with developmental language disorder: An analysis of spelling error patterns. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 34(3), 221-233.

Henderson, E. H. and Beers J. W. (1980). (Eds.) Developmental and cognitive aspects of learning to spell: A reflection of word knowledge. Newark, Del.: International Reading Association.

Huxford, L., Terrell, C., & Bradley, L. (1992). 'Invented' spelling and learning to read. In C. M. Sterling, & C. Robson (Eds.), Psychology, spelling and education; psychology, spelling and education (pp. 159-167). Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.

Kamii, C., & Manning, M. (1999). Before "invented" spelling": Kindergartners' awareness that writing is related to sounds of speech. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 14, 16-25.

Lazo, M. G., Pumfrey, P. D., & Peers, I. (1997). Metalinguistic awareness, reading and spelling: Roots and branches of literacy. Journal of Research in Reading, 20(2), 85-104.

McBride-Chang, C. (1998). The development of invented spelling. Early Education and Development, 9(2), 147-160.

Lie, A. (1999). Effects of a training program for stimulating skills in word analysis in first-grade children. Reading Research Quarterly, 26, 234-250.

Ouellette, G., & Sénéchal, M. (2017). See above.

Read, C. (1971). Preschool children's knowledge of English phonology. Harvard Educational Review, 41, 1-34.

Read, C. (1975). Children's categorizations of speech sounds in English. Urbana, Ill.: National Council of Teachers of English

Read, C. (1986). Children's creative spelling. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Zhang, C., Bingham, G. E., & Quinn, M. F. (2017). The associations among preschool children's growth in early reading, executive function, and invented spelling skills. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 30(8), 1705-1728. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-017-9746-0

Zhang, Y., Nie, H., & Ding, B. (1986). The ability to manipulate speech sounds depends on knowing alphabetic reading. Cognition, 24, 31-44.

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Explicit Spelling Instruction or Invented Spelling?

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Explains why engaging students in invented spelling is such a good idea. When children try to spell words they have to think about the phonology and letter-sound relations. Evidence shows this to be beneficial. The information students should use to fuel this invention is explicit spelling, phonemic awareness, and phonics instruction.

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10. The Screener of Handwriting Proficiency

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10. The Screener of Handwriting Proficiency

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The Screener of Handwriting Proficiency is a free and easy-to administer whole-class assessment tool that provides insightful data through formative and summative assessments on students' handwriting skills and areas in need of remediation.

Educators can use the Screener to identify and measure specific skill areas where students need print or cursive instruction and intervention throughout the year.

The Screener can be used independently or as part of an RtI framework. Administer the Screener to your whole class in just 10-15 minutes. Then, score online and instantly receive individual and class reports with personalized learning strategies that are targeted to the students' areas of need to help you better focus handwriting instruction.

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The Screener of Handwriting Proficiency is a free and easy-to administer whole-class assessment tool that provides insightful data through formative and summative assessments on students' handwriting skills and areas in need of remediation. Educators can use the Screener to identify and measure specific skill areas where students need print or cursive instruction and intervention throughout the year.

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6. Writing folder tools for K - Grade 2 

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6. Writing folder tools for K - Grade 2 

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Give your students the tools they need to write independently! This pack has spelling charts, editing checklists, mini anchor charts, transition word lists, and more! Click the button below to down...

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7. What Is a Dictation and Why Is It Valuable?

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7. What Is a Dictation and Why Is It Valuable?

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When I was in my second year of teaching Kindergarten, I tried something new.

A few times a week, I started having my students practice writing sounds on whiteboards. For example, I might say the /m/ sound and students would write the letter m.

Eventually, they began writing words - at first, with lots of help from me.

After that, they began writing sentences. (Again, with lots of help at first.)

I noticed that this several-times-weekly practice seemed to be really helpful. It appeared to be improving their letter sound knowledge, their decoding, and their overall phonics knowledge.

A year or two later, I learned that I was not the first teacher to have discovered this practice.

This instructional practice - the one I thought I'd "invented" - had a name. It was called a dictation.

And - good news - it WAS an effective practice!

But the funny thing about a dictation is that it seems SO simple...and yet there are lots of nuances.

So we're going to cover all of this in this post:

What is a dictation?

How do you give a dictation?

How do you support students who need extra help? (Or a challenge?)

Sound Dictation

As I mentioned, I began by having my Kindergarten students write sounds (or rather, the letter for a sound).

But hold on! Even if you teach 1st grade, 2nd grade, or above, you will still want to include sounds on some of your dictations.

For example, you might say the sound /ō/ (long o, as in "oatmeal") - and then your students would need to write all of the following:

You would have them write as many ways as they've learned to spell the sound. So if they only know "o" and "oa," for example, they would only be responsible for writing those two spellings.

Sound dictations aren't just for Kindergarteners! ?

Here are the steps I follow when I do a sound dictation:

Teacher: "The sound is /ch/. Repeat."

Students: "/ch/"

Students write "ch" on their whiteboards / paper.

Teacher: "What says /ch/?"

Students: (pointing to the letters) "C-h says /ch/." (They're naming the letters and giving the sound.)

Teacher writes "ch" on the board and students fix their work if needed. (Note: If you see many students spelling the sound incorrectly, you can do this step before asking "What says /ch/?". Either way, the kids get almost immediate feedback on their work and make changes if needed.)

Notice how I have them repeat the sound before they write it - and after they write it.

Word Dictation

Except for the first few weeks of Kindergarten, I always include individual words in my dictations.

I choose words that have our target phonics patterns PLUS some review patterns from previous weeks. Kids are only asked to spell sounds / patterns that they've already been taught.

(However, they might be asked to spell unfamiliar words, so that I can see if they can apply their sound knowledge to spell a new word.)

This is what it might look like in practice:

Teacher: "The word is flip. Repeat."

Students: "Flip"

Teacher: "She can do a flip on the monkey bars. Let's say the sounds in 'flip.'"

Teacher + Students: /f/ /l/ /ĭ/ /p/

Teacher: "Write 'flip.'"

Students write "flip" on their whiteboards / paper.

Once students are finished, the teacher writes "flip" on the board and students fix their work (if necessary).

You can then do some quick work with the word. For example:

Teacher: "Let's say the sounds in flip and touch the letters as we say them. Ready?"

Students + Teacher: "/f/ /l/ /ĭ/ /p/" (all pointing to each letter as they say the sounds)

Teacher: "What's the blend in this word?"

Students: "F-L"

Teacher: "What's the vowel sound in this word?"

Students: "/ĭ/"

Teacher: "Which letter says /ĭ/?"

Students: "i"

You don't need to go through all that for EVERY word, but I usually do discuss 1-2 of the words in depth in each dictation.

If you're thinking right now, "Well, some (or all) of my kids wouldn't be able to do that" - no worries! I've got you covered!
Ways to Provide More Support with Word Dictation

Tell students each sound in the word. (Like "/f/ /l/ /ĭ/ /p/," in the example above.) Have them repeat the sounds after you finish.

Tell them each sound, one at a time. After you say the sound, students write the corresponding letter(s). (Only do this if students truly need a lot of support.)

Ways to Provide Less Support with Word Dictation

Have students say the sounds in the word without your help.

Don't say the sounds in the word as a group - require students to say the sounds and write the word on their own.

You can provide more (or less) support if needed.

Sentence Dictation

Last but not least, my dictations usually include at least one (sometimes two) sentences.

High frequency words that I've taught

Words with sounds / spelling patterns that I've taught

The sentences only include:

In other words, students are practicing concepts they've already been introduced to (just like the sound and word dictations).

Have students repeat the sentence twice.

For younger students (Kinder and early 1st grade), consider drawing a line for each word to help students space correctly and develop concept of word. As they repeat the sentence a second or third time, they can touch each line as they say each corresponding word.

Keep the sentences shorter for younger students.

Incorporate high frequency words from previous weeks for review.

After you dictate the sentence, write it correctly so students get immediate feedback. Younger students do better with re-writing the entire sentence (as opposed to fixing their mistakes in their original work) - erasing can cause paper tears and other drama.

Use this opportunity to remind students about capitalizing the first letter in the sentence and ending the sentence with a punctuation mark.

Here are some tips for success with the sentence dictation:

Putting It All Together

Many times, I'll dictate sounds, words, AND sentences for students to write. We do this in a 7-10 minute dictation.

If it sounds like a lot to fit into 10 minutes...it is! Earlier in the school year, we don't do very many words. Once students get in the routine, things do move more quickly!

As I mentioned, dictations can be done on whiteboards.

But I also like to do them on paper. In mid-Kindergarten and up, at least one weekly dictation is done on paper like this:

This dictation paper comes from my phonics program, From Sounds to Spelling. The lessons tell you exactly what sounds, words, and sentences to dictate to students - so that you cover your weekly patterns AND review previous patterns.

Notice that there are 2 columns for the sounds and words ("My letters" and "Copied letters;" "My words" and "Copied words"). This gives students a place to write the correct sounds and words after they see the teacher's version. ALL students re-copy, even if they were correct the first time. They leave their original work as-is, so that you can see their mistakes.

You may also have noticed that the "My words" column has sound boxes. These can be used to guide students in writing words. One sound goes in each box. The larger box in #5 is for a digraph, like "ch" or "sh."

Here's another version of a dictation paper. Notice how we aren't practicing sounds during this particular dictation. There are no sound boxes, and there are no individual word lines in the sentence:

As you can see, there are tons of minor variations and adaptations that you can make to the dictation process! It's all about meeting the needs of your students. You want to provide them with enough support so that they can be successful - but not too much support so that the tasks are easy.

Do you use dictations in the classroom? Or do you plan on giving them a try? Let me know in the comments!

And if you need a ready-to-use program to guide you in using dictations and other phonics teaching practices, check out From Sounds to Spelling. The program includes professional development videos to help you understand the "why" behind many phonics concepts - plus ALL the materials you need to teach phonics, phonological awareness, and spelling to Kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade students.

Happy teaching!

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What Is a Dictation and Why Is It Valuable? - Learning at the Primary Pond

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Dictations are amazing for teaching phonics. But what is a dictation? How can it be used with K-2 students?

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5. Teaching writing in K - Grade 2 (a variety of blog posts)

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5. Teaching writing in K - Grade 2 (a variety of blog posts)

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I’m Alison, a literacy specialist. I love getting kids excited about reading and writing – and sharing teaching ideas with other teachers!

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Writing Archives - Learning at the Primary Pond

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I'm Alison, a literacy specialist. I love getting kids excited about reading and writing - and sharing teaching ideas with other teachers!

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13. Peterson Directed Handwriting (cursive)

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13. Peterson Directed Handwriting (cursive)

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The most important reason to choose this program is simple. We offer a unique strategy. That means the teaching and learning activities are different from the program you have been using. We provide a developmental curriculum, and simple materials for teaching fluent handwriting. This is NOT the typical "Trace & Copy" strategy that like virtually every other program out there. This strategy is movement-based. That means we lead you to teach your student "how to move" using a planned series of Directed movement exercises.

This page provides a bit of history and explains why Peterson Directed Handwriting is different from other programs. The long successful history is another good reason to choose the Peterson Directed Handwriting strategy. We thank you for your interest and urge you contact us when questions arise.

Peterson Directed Handwriting was founded in 1908 by Dr. P. O. Peterson. While training in Spencerian and Palmer methods, Dr. Peterson recognized a connection between rhythm and ﬂuency. He developed a unique curriculum for teaching The American Standard Alphabet which included learning how to move with smooth rhythm. He changed the way letters were taught to enhance rhythmicity. Initially, he operated a school training adults for the business workplace. The success of his methods soon led school directors to hire Peterson to train teachers in his methods. The Peterson curriculum has been in continuous use in schools and homes ever since.

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Learn Cursive Step by Step with Videos. Peterson Directed Handwriting.

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The most important reason to choose this program is simple. We offer a unique strategy. That means the teaching and learning activities are different from the program you have been using. We provide a developmental curriculum, and simple materials for teaching fluent handwriting.

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11. Disorder of written expression and dysgraphia: definition, diagnosis, and management

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11. Disorder of written expression and dysgraphia: definition, diagnosis, and management

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Abstract

Writing is a complex task that is vital to learning and is usually acquired in the early years of life. 'Dysgraphia' and 'specific learning disorder in written expression' are terms used to describe those individuals who, despite exposure to adequate instruction, demonstrate writing ability discordant with their cognitive level and age. Dysgraphia can present with different symptoms at different ages. Different theories have been proposed regarding the mechanisms of dysgraphia. Dysgraphia is poorly understood and is often undiagnosed. It has a high rate of co-morbidity with other learning and psychiatric disorders. The diagnosis and treatment of dysgraphia and specific learning disorders typically centers around the educational system; however, the pediatrician can play an important role in surveillance and evaluation of co-morbidity as well as provision of guidance and support.

Keywords: Dysgraphia, specific learning disorder, disorder of written expression, accommodation, remediation, modification

Introduction: definitions and disagreement

At its broadest definition, dysgraphia is a disorder of writing ability at any stage, including problems with letter formation/legibility, letter spacing, spelling, fine motor coordination, rate of writing, grammar, and composition. Acquired dysgraphia occurs when existing brain pathways are disrupted by an event (e.g., brain injury, neurologic disease, or degenerative conditions), resulting in the loss of previously acquired skills. In contrast, this review will concentrate on developmental dysgraphia, i.e., the difficulty in acquiring writing skills despite sufficient learning opportunity and cognitive potential. This article will use the terms dysgraphia and specific learning disorder with impairment of written expression in their broadest terms, to encompass any difficulty an individual may have in written communication.

Much controversy exists regarding the precise definition of and deficits seen in dysgraphia, depending on the theoretical mechanisms attributed to the disorder ( 1). Historically, dysgraphia was most often defined as an impairment in the production of written text, usually due to a lack of muscle coordination. Specific testing in affected children highlighted minor differences in performance of fine motor tasks (e.g., repeated finger tapping) or abnormal measures of hand strength and endurance ( 2). These deficits stemmed from hindrance in fine motor coordination, visual perception, and proprioception and manifested an illegible or slowly formed written product. Oral spelling was usually preserved. This conceptualization of dysgraphia has been categorized as "motor" or "peripheral" dysgraphia ( 3).

Secondly, Deuel ( 4) proposed a second subtype of dysgraphia termed "spatial dysgraphia". The primary impairment in this sub-type of dysgraphia was thought to be related to problems of spatial perception, which impaired spacing of letters and greatly impacted drawing ability. In such cases, oral spelling and finger tapping were preserved but drawing, spontaneous writing, and copying text were impaired.

However, others have placed much more focus on the language processing deficits related to written expression, with less emphasis on any motor issues. Qualifying terms for this type of dysgraphia include "dysorthography", "linguistic dysgraphia", or "dyslexic dysgraphia" ( 5). The primary mechanism of this dysgraphia is related to inefficiency of the "graphomotor loop", in which the phonologic memory (regarding sounds associated to phonemes) communicates with the orthographic memory (regarding written letters). Impaired verbal executive functioning, including storage and working memory, have also been related to this disorder ( 5). Oral spelling, drawing, copying, and finger tapping are usually preserved in this type of dysgraphia. In contrast but related to dysgraphia, dyslexia is theorized to result from two-way dysfunction of the "phonologic loop", which is the communication between orthographic and phonologic processes.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5 th edition (DSM-5) ( 6) includes dysgraphia under the specific learning disorder category, but does not define it as a separate disorder. According to the criteria, a set of symptoms (Table 1 ) should be persistent for a period of at least 6 months in the context of appropriate interventions in place. For any specific learning disorder, the academic skills as measured by individually administered standardized tests must fall significantly below expectations for the child's age. The onset of difficulty in learning is generally during early school years; however, it is more apparent as the complexity of work increases with progression to higher grades. Other causes of learning difficulty include intellectual disability, vision impairment, hearing impairment, underlying mental or neurological disorder, and lack of adequate learning support or academic instructions.

Table 1

Inaccurate or slow and effortful word reading

Difficulty understanding the meaning of what is read

Difficulty with spelling

Difficulty with written expression

Difficulties mastering number sense, number facts, or calculation

Difficulties with mathematical reasoning

In the United States, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) revised in 2004 broadly defines "Specific Learning Disability" in the following manner ( 7):

❖ The child does not achieve adequately for the child's age or to meet State-approved grade-level standards in one or more of the following areas, when provided with learning experiences and instruction appropriate for the child's age or State-approved grade-level standards: Oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skills, reading fluency skills, reading comprehension, mathematics calculation, or mathematics problem solving.

❖ The child does not make sufficient progress to meet age or State-approved grade-level standards in one or more of the areas when using a process based on the child's response to scientific, research-based intervention; or the child exhibits a pattern of strengths and weaknesses in performance, achievement, or both, relative to age, State-approved grade-level standards, or intellectual development, that is determined by the group to be relevant to the identification of a specific learning disability, using appropriate assessments; and the group determines that its findings are not primarily the result of a visual, hearing, or motor disability; mental retardation; emotional disturbance; cultural factors; environmental or economic disadvantage; or limited English proficiency.

Between 10% and 30% of children experience difficulty in writing, although the exact prevalence depends on the definition of dysgraphia ( 8). As with many neurodevelopmental conditions, dysgraphia is more common in boys than in girls ( 9). Handwriting problems are a frequent reason for occupational therapy consultation. Dysgraphia and disorders of written expression can have lifelong impacts, as adults with difficulty writing may continue to experience impairment in vocational progress and activities of daily living ( 10).

Writing development

As noted above, the concept of "writing" encompasses a broad spectrum of tasks, ranging from the transcription of a single letter to the intricate process of conceptualizing, drafting, revising, and editing a doctoral dissertation. Writing is an important academic skill that has been associated with overall academic achievement ( 11). On average, writing tasks occupy up to half of the school day ( 12), and students with difficulty writing are often mislabeled as sloppy or lazy rather than being recognized as having a learning disorder. Deficient handwriting has been associated with lower self-perception, lower self-esteem, and poorer social functioning ( 13, 14).

The acquisition of writing follows a step-wise progression in early childhood; individuals who struggle with foundational writing skills are likely to exhibit greater delays as they fail to match their peers' growth in writing ability. In preschool, children are taught to copy symbols and shapes to develop the basic visual-motor coordination skills for transcription. Letter awareness typically begins in kindergarten and progresses through second grade, during which time the child becomes familiarized with the relationship between sounds and phonemes while continuing to grow in motor skills ( 15). Automaticity, in which individual letter writing has become a rote response, is usually developed by third grade ( 16). As many American school curricula no longer include specific instruction on the steps of letter formation, children who struggle to develop automaticity may fail to acquire this skill ( 5, 17). Automaticity and handwriting should continue to improve through the elementary school years ( 18) with implications for long-term outcomes; notably, the skill of automaticity is associated with higher quality and longer length of writing products in high school and college ( 19, 20).

Beyond the early school years, writing projects require the additional ability to organize, plan, and implement a complete written product. Such tasks require the recruitment of executive functioning and higher-order language processing. For example, writing a sentence requires several steps: (I) internally creating the desired statement; (II) segmenting the desired statements into sections for transcription; (III) retaining the sections in verbal working memory while executing the task of writing; and (IV) checking that the completed written product matches the original thought. Writing more complex products such as paragraphs or essays requires additional planning, organization, and revision to stitch together multiple statements and thoughts into a coherent whole. Failure to develop writing automaticity by third grade greatly increases the likelihood of difficulty in more complex writing tasks, as the child's higher cognitive functions may be preoccupied by the graphomotor requirements of letter formation.

Mechanisms and etiology

Many of the theories regarding mechanisms of dysgraphia have been derived from studies of individuals with acquired dysgraphia ( 21, 22). Writing has been shown to be a complex process that requires the higher order cognition (language, verbal working memory and organization) coordinated with motor planning and execution to constitute the functional writing system ( 23). Different writing tasks require different cognitive processes, and individuals with dysgraphia may have disorders in one or more areas. For example, when asked to spell a dictated word, the listener must utilize phonological awareness to access phonological long-term memory and the associated lexical-semantic representations. This in turn activates the orthographic long-term memory to create abstract letter representations that require motor planning and coordination to execute the task of writing, all maintained in the working memory. Spelling a pseudoword or novel word requires the function of sublexical spelling process that applies known phoneme-graphene conventions to predict the correct spelling. Generating a new word spontaneously would first require the usage of orthographic skills, which would then access the lexical representation. Writing rapidly and fluidly requires motor planning and coordination mediated by the cerebellum. Throughout the writing task, visual and auditory processing and attention is crucial to the production of legible writing.

Impairment in even one facet of the writing process can impair an individual's ability to generate an age-appropriate product ( 24). Although researchers have theorized that different subtypes of dysgraphia may be correlated to different mechanisms ( 25), newer studies have demonstrated interrelations between brain areas responsible for automaticity, language, and motor coordination. The perceived divergence between theories of dysgraphia may not be as great as once thought. For example, children with dyslexia have also been noted to be at increased risk for other mild motor deficits in tasks like finger tapping, riding a bike, and tying shoelaces.

Increased attention has also been placed on the cerebellum as playing a role in dysgraphia. Case studies have shown that cerebellar injury can cause symptoms of acquired dysgraphia, indicating that it plays some role in the coordination of writing ( 21). Functional imaging studies have also demonstrated that this region of the brain plays a vital role in language and automaticity ( 26). Possible mechanisms of involvement include the hypothesis that the cerebellum is required in the development of a neural system or framework, which can be disrupted in different ways and result in different functional impairments ( 1).

Genes and their role in the possible etiology or mechanisms of learning disorders is an emerging field. Genetic aggregation studies suggest that verbal executive function tasks, orthographic skills, and spelling ability may have a genetic basis. For example, genes on chromosome 15 have been linked to poor reading and spelling ( 27) and genes on chromosome 6 have been linked to phonemic awareness ( 28). Individuals with learning disabilities and their family members have been noted to have differential brain activation patterns on functional magnetic resonance imaging, suggesting a genetic contribution, but not causation ( 29). As the field of genetics continues to evolve, more information regarding the genetics of learning disorders like dysgraphia is likely to emerge.

Co-morbidities

Dysgraphia may occur in isolation but is also commonly associated with dyslexia as well as other disorders of learning. Depending on the definitions utilized, anywhere from 30% to 47% of children with writing problems also have reading problems. In addition, difficulty in writing can be seen in many other neurodevelopmental disorders, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, cerebral palsy, and autism spectrum disorder. Research demonstrates that 90-98% of children with these disorders struggle with writing ( 29- 32). Developmental coordination disorder (DCD), in which individuals have deficiencies in motor development and motor skill acquisition, often also affects writing development; around half of those with DCD also exhibit impaired writing abilities ( 33). With regards to the association between learning disorders and mental health disorders, co-morbidity is the rule, not the exception ( 34, 35). Given this high risk of co-morbidity, clinicians should be surveilling patients for possible related conditions; e.g., the patient with autism spectrum disorder should be monitored for problems with reading, writing, and math while the patient with dysgraphia may warrant an investigation of co-morbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Red flags

As academic demands increase and neurodevelopment progresses, dysgraphia may manifest in a variety of signs and symptoms. It can affect one or more levels of the writing process. As noted above, handwriting is typically developing in the early school years, and thus, dysgraphia is usually not recognized during this period. However, dysgraphia (especially isolated dysgraphia) may not be recognized, even into the young adult years. Co-morbid dyslexia and dysgraphia is more readily recognized, although impairments in reading ability are usually prioritized and addressed over impairments in writing. The National Center for Learning Disabilities has published a summary of warning signs for dysgraphia based on the age and stage of development (Table 2 ) ( 36). As in seen in the table, dysgraphia symptoms manifest first as concrete impairments at younger ages and later as abstract impairments at older ages.

Table 2

Age group

Signs or symptoms

Pre-school children

An awkward grip or body position when writing

Tire easily with writing

Avoidance of writing and drawing tasks

Written letters are poorly formed, inversed, reversed, or inconsistently spaced

Difficulty staying within margins

The school-aged child

Illegible handwriting

Switching between cursive and print

Difficulty with word-finding, sentence completion, and written comprehension

The teenager and young adult

Difficulty with written organization of thought

Difficulty with written syntax and written grammar that is not duplicated with oral tasks

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of specific learning disability is typically made in an educational setting by a team assessment, which often includes occupational therapists, speech therapists, physical therapists, special education teachers, and educational psychologists. In the United States, most often, the diagnosis is made following an assessment towards eligibility for an individualized educational plan ( 36). The diagnosis of a learning disability or dysgraphia can also be given through a psychoeducational evaluation outside of the educational system. As the term "dysgraphia" is not recognized by the American Psychological Association, there is no professional consensus on specific diagnostic criteria. As in the case for other learning disorders, a key factor should be the degree of difficulty that the writing impairment imposes on the child's access to the general education curriculum. Evidence should be drawn from multiple sources and contexts, including observation, anecdotal report, review of completed work, and normative data.

One expert recommendation for the diagnosis of dysgraphia is the following: slow writing speed; illegible handwriting; inconsistency between spelling ability and verbal intelligence quotient; and processing delays in graphomotor planning, orthographic awareness, and/or rapid automatic naming. Secondary tests to consider are evaluations of pencil grip and writing posture. Formalized handwriting assessments (Table 3 ) can be used to measure the speed and legibility of students when copying letters, words, sentences, and/or pseudowords. Visual-motor integration assessment may include evaluations such as the Beery Developmental Test of Visuomotor Integration (VMI) ( 37); however, these tests typically do not analyze difficulties specific to orthographic processes. Children with suspected dysgraphia should be evaluated for other potential learning problems given the high rates of co-morbidity with dyslexia and other learning disorders.

Table 3

Minnesota Handwriting Assessment

Evaluation Tool of Children's Handwriting

Scale of Children's Readiness in Printing

Detailed Assessment of Speed of Handwriting

Beery Developmental Test of Visuomotor Integration (VMI)

There is no medical testing required or available for diagnosing dysgraphia. However, given the high rate of co-morbidity between psychiatric, neurodevelopmental, and learning disorders, the physician should investigate for symptoms of possible related conditions. The physician should conduct a thorough neurologic examination, including "soft" neurologic signs like poor coordination, dysrhythmias, mirror movements, and overflow movements. Co-morbid neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) and mood disorders (e.g., anxiety, depression) can be evaluated through the use of semi-structured interviews and/or validated parent and teacher report forms. Should screening procedures indicate any areas of concerns, the general medical practitioner should consider referring for specialist consultation for additional diagnostic conceptualization and treatment recommendations, including child neurology, child psychiatry, developmental-behavioral pediatrics, or other mental health providers.

Management

The primary intervention for dysgraphia and other learning disorders occurs in the educational setting. Interventions can generally be stratified into the following levels: (I) accommodation, where the student accesses the mainstream education curriculum with supportive or assistive resources without changing the educational content; (II) modification, where the school adapts the student's goals and objectives as well as provides services to reduce the effect of the disability; and (III) remediation, where the school provides specific intervention to decrease the severity of the student's disability. As the manifestations of dysgraphia and other learning disorders change with shifting academic demands and cognitive development, management of these conditions is a fluid and life-course process that must adapt with the most current level of impairment. As outlined by IDEA, the school system should assess and provide the necessary supports for the student's needs in the educational setting.

Accommodations

Accommodations should be directed to decrease to the stress associated with writing. Specific devices may be utilized, such as larger pencils with special grips and paper with raised lines to provide tactile feedback. Extra time can be permitted for homework, class assignments, and quizzes/tests. Depending on the student's comfort level, alternative ways of demonstrating knowledge (e.g., oral or recorded responses rather than written examination) can be considered. Technologic accommodations include automated spellcheck, voice-to-text recognition software, tablets, and computer keyboards; as devices become increasingly more advanced, new devices should be considered for their application in the classroom. However, handwriting practice should continue at school as written language is still needed for many daily tasks (e.g., filling out forms). Research has also demonstrated that the process of writing words by hand may provide a unique impetus to learning ( 38). It is important to note that accommodations may not directly address impairment of executive functioning tasks related to writing, including planning and organization. Computers and voice-to-text supports can decrease writing stress in those with continued automaticity challenges, but these accommodations do not address higher-level writing difficulties ( 39).

Modifications

Dysgraphia may require modifications to the student's academic program, especially with regards to written products. Teachers can opt to scale down large written assignments, break up large projects into smaller ones, or grade students based on a single dimension of their work (e.g., content or spelling, not both). In general, following the "least restrictive environment" for learning, the school should strive to keep the student within the mainstream education environment as much as possible.

Remediation

Remediation should be determined by the individual student's severity of difficulty in written expression. As with many neurodevelopmental conditions, early intervention produces the greatest gain ( 24). A stratified approach may be utilized following a response-to-intervention model (RTI). This model consists of three tiers of intervention; students who continue to struggle to lower tiers "step up" to higher tiers. Tier 1 consists of preventative screening on all students for learning differences. Expert recommendations have been written for general education teachers regarding ways to encourage sound writing habits ( 9). Tier 2 consists of targeted intervention towards students with specific learning issues. Tier 3 focuses the most intensive treatment on students who have continued to struggle and require the most support. In most intervention studies, students usually demonstrate improvement after 20 lessons over several weeks.

Most often, intervention for dysgraphia in the early elementary years focuses on developing fine motor skills. Motor activities for increasing hand coordination and strength include tracing, drawing in mazes, and playing with clay as well as exercises like finger tapping and rubbing/shaking the hands. Intervention can also include teaching grip control and good writing posture. However, research has demonstrated that teaching motor skills in conjunction with orthographic skills is the most effective approach ( 40). One example method of teaching orthographic tasks is described by Berninger ( 19): the student learns to write each letter by first visually learning the steps to write the letter (based on a sample with numbered arrow cues), then visualizing the act of writing the letter, using the cues to transcribe the letter, and checking the written product with the initial sample ( 41). Other techniques focus the learners' attention on the movements associated with writing rather than the written product itself [e.g., reviewing video models instead of static guides ( 42) and using placeholder pens without ink ( 43)].

The family should provide enjoyable writing activities outside of the educational setting so that the individual can learn that writing can be a pleasant and enjoyable experience. Research has demonstrated that educational games and activities can be used to help students practice retrieving letters from long-term memory ( 44).

Students with dysgraphia may also need help in more complex parts of writing, including planning, drafting, and revising, especially as they enter the middle and high school years. Randomized-control trials have shown that interventions like "writing clubs" can improve performance in students struggling with these skills. Another validated approach is the self-regulated strategy development program that has shown generalized and sustained efficacy ( 45). This curriculum specifically instructs in strategies of writing and self-regulation with students acting as collaborators during the course. Students who continue with writing difficulties in middle and high school may require additional specific instruction in composition ( 46, 47). Some psychoeducational programs (Table 4 ), handwriting programs (Table 5 ) and support groups (Table 6 ) are useful resources for children with dysgraphia and their families and other professionals.

Table 4

Name

Psychoeducation for parents

Table 5

Name

Handwriting supplemental programs

Big Strokes for Little Folks

Suitable for students who have problems writing letters but can recognize them. Published by Psychological Corp.

Sensible Pencil

A program to teach letter writing, applicable in the home and school. Published by ATC Learning Company

Conclusions

Writing is a skill that is central to learning and activities of daily living; it begins to develop in early childhood but continues through the school age. Though common in children, dysgraphia and disorders of written expression are often overlooked by the school and family as a character flaw rather than a genuine disorder. A variety of cognitive mechanisms have been proposed regarding the mechanism of dysgraphia and continued research is needed in the field to clarify the definition and etiology of the disorder. Regardless of the presenting symptoms, early diagnosis and intervention has been linked to improved results. Because of typical delay in the diagnosis of dysgraphia, the primary care provider can play an important role in recognizing the condition and initiating the proper work-up and intervention. Screening for co-morbid medical, neurodevelopmental, psychiatric and learning disorders is also an important function of the provider. Education and support for the family, coordination of care with the educational system, additional referrals to subspecialists, and follow-up screening for co-morbidities are important tasks for the primary care provider to adopt.

Notes

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Footnotes

Conflicts of Interest: DRP serves as the unpaid Deputy Editor-in-Chief of TP and the unpaid Guest Editor of the focused issue "Neurodevelopmental and Neurobehavioral Disorders in Children". TP. Vol 9, Supplement 1 (February 2020). The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

References

4. Deuel RK. Developmental dysgraphia and motor skills disorders. J Child Neurol 1995;10 Suppl 1:S6-8. 10.1177/08830738950100S103 [[ PubMed] [ CrossRef] Google Scholar]

14. Sassoon R. Dealing with adult handwriting problems. Handwriting Review 1997;11:69-74. [ Google Scholar]

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Catalog of the most frequent spellings for each phoneme – Bruce Murray, College of Education

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The top spellings for phonemes and their percentages of the 17,000 most frequent words were investigated by Paul Hanna (see Hodges, R E. (1966). The case for teaching sound-to-letter correspondences in spelling. Elementary School Journal, 66, 327-336, and the update, Fry, E. (2004). Phonics: A large…

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30a . Combining Writing and Self-Regulation Strategies: The SRSD Approach

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30a . Combining Writing and Self-Regulation Strategies: The SRSD Approach

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By Véronique Parent, Anne Rodrigue, Julie Myre-Bisaillon, Carole Boudreau, and Annick Tremblay-Bouchard
Students with learning disabilities often experience difficulty with writing. These difficulties result from limited strategies, skills, knowledge, and motivation (Graham, Harris, & McKeown, 2013).

The Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model combines instructional strategies with a means to self-regulate (Harris, 1982). The goal is to teach the strategies that students need in order to write, while supporting them to be motivated. Taking the specific needs of each student into account is central to this approach. It can be used with an entire class, small groups, and individual students, from Grade 2 to secondary school.

The SRSD approach consists of explicit teaching of:

general and specific writing strategies, such as:

using the right vocabulary,

being mindful of the intended reader,

creating interesting introductions and conclusions

the knowledge required to use these strategies;

ways to manage these strategies;

the writing process; and

one's behaviour as a writer

self-regulation

self-instruction

This approach offers a general framework for working with students that the teacher can then adapt to the writing strategies students are working on. It consists of six steps that can be re-arranged, re-combined, revisited, modified or even omitted, depending on student needs.

Detailed Description of the Approach

Step 1: Develop Background Knowledge

In the first step of the SRSD approach, teachers must identify the skills students will need to use a particular strategy, assess whether the students possess these skills, and help students develop the necessary skills (e.g., vocabulary) they may need to learn the academic and self-regulation strategy.

Self-regulation strategies are integrated at this stage by having students think about whether their performance is adversely affected by any negative thoughts or perceptions; the teacher may then help them to demystify these perceptions.

Step 2: Discuss

In this step, the teacher and the students discuss the specific strategy to be used. Each step of the strategy is explained and mnemonics are used for support, where applicable. The teacher and the students explore how and when to apply the strategy, whether the strategy can by generalized to other tasks, and how the students will benefit from the strategy.

Self-regulation skills are also tied in at this stage by emphasizing the importance of effort in order to increase student motivation and the development of positive thoughts and perceptions. The students should also be taught to set goals for learning the strategy, using it, and then continuing to use the strategy. Self-monitoring can be explicitly taught at this stage by having students plot their progress on a graphic organizer, and highlighting the changes that will happen when they master the strategies. This is so that, later on, they can compare their new writing and their old writing.

Step 3: Model

The teacher models the writing process, demonstrating for the students when and how to use the strategy for writing, while incorporating self-regulation strategies. This modelling includes:

A definition of the problem ("I must write an essay in eight parts.")

A focus on attention and planning ("I need to concentrate. First, I need to choose an idea.")

Implementation of the strategies ("I know what to do. I am going to use the first strategy.")

Self-evaluation and correcting mistakes ("Did I use all of the steps of the strategy? Ooops, I forgot one. I'd better add it.")

Self-control ("I can do this. I know the strategy. I'm going to slow down and take my time.")

Positive reinforcement ("Wow! I like this part of my essay!")

After modelling the strategy, the teacher talks about its benefits and challenges, and suggests ways for making it even more effective. Then, the teacher helps the students to come up with a short list of instructions that the students can give themselves before, during, and after the writing task. This list and other lists that are produced are placed in a folder, so that the students can refer to them throughout the learning process. Peer modelling can also be used.

Step 4: Memorize

This step begins as soon as the instruction begins. The students participate in fun, engaging activities that assist them in memorizing the steps of the strategy and the actions involved in completing each step. Additional time can be spent on this step for students who need it, in order to ensure that they have correctly memorized everything.

Step 5: Support

Step 5 is the longest step. The teacher supports the students as they apply the writing and self-regulation strategies during a guided writing task. This step features experiences of collaborative writing, with teacher accompaniment and incentives that support the process and that are based on the students' progress. The teacher encourages the students and guides them, as necessary, to ensure that they meet the objectives that they have set for themselves.

Step 6: Independent Work

The teacher invites the students to use the strategies they have learned in written production tasks in order to demonstrate that they have mastered them independently and correctly. Booster sessions can be added as often as necessary in order to help the students to maintain their use of the strategies; during these booster sessions, the strategies are re-visited and re-discussed. Similarly, through the use of this approach, various procedures to help the students to maintain and generalize their learning can be integrated. These include:

Identifying opportunities to use the writing strategies and self-regulation strategies in other situations;

Analyzing how these procedures could be modified in these other situations;

Creating homework assignments requiring the students to use the strategies in other contexts;

Evaluating the success of these efforts.

Please refer to the Resources section for print and online resources relative to the SRSD approach.

Supports for the efficacy of the approach

There have been many studies on the SRSD approach. According to a meta-analysis by Graham, Harris and McKeown. (2013), it is a versatile approach for improving writing of different types of texts, for working with students of all ages, whether or not they have learning disabilities, and for working with entire classes, small groups, and individual students. The research also indicates that a regular classroom teacher who receives professional development can implement this approach. Other studies indicate that the SRSD approach can be used with students with learning disabilities to improve student attitudes toward writing. It has also been shown to increase the quality of written productions, the knowledge about writing, the time taken to plan a composition, and the length of compositions (Graham & Harris, 1989; Harris, Graham, & Mason, 2006; Reid & Lienemann, 2006, as cited in Sandmel et al., 2009).

Related Resources on the LD@school Website
Click here to access the article Writing Interventions for Children in Grades 1 to 6 with Learning Disabilities. Click here to access the article Writing Interventions for Adolescents with Learning Disabilities. Click here to access the article Expressive Writing.
Additional Resources
Click here to access interactive online tutorials on the SRSD approach. Click here to access interactive online tutorials from the Iris Centre for improving writing (English only).
References

Graham, S., Harris, K. R. and McKeown, D. (2013). The writing of students with LD and a meta-analysis of SRSD writing intervention studies: Redux. In L. Swanson, K.R. Harris, & S. Graham (Eds.), Handbook of Learning Disabilities (2nd Edition). MY: Guilford Press.

Harris, K. R., & Graham, S. (2011). "An adjective is a word hanging down from a noun": Learning to write and students with learning disabilities. Annals of Dyslexia, 1-15.

Harris, K. R., Graham, S., & Mason, L. H. & Friedlander, B. (2008). Powerful Writing Strategies for All Students. Baltimore: Brookes.

Harris, K. R. (1982). Cognitive-behavior modification: Application with exceptional students. Focus on Exceptional Children, 15(2), 1-16.

Sandmel, K. N., Brindle, M., Harris, K. R., Lane, K. L., Graham, S., Nackel, J., & Little, A. (2009). Making it work: Differentiating tier two self-regulated strategies development in writing in tandem with schoolwide positive behavioral support. Teaching Exceptional Children, 42(2), 22-33.
Julie Myre-Bisaillon is a full professor at the Département des études sur l'adaptation scolaire et sociale (Department of Academic and Social Accommodation Studies) in the Faculty of Education at the University of Sherbrooke. She is in charge of the Collectif de recherche sur la continuité des apprentissages en lecture et en écriture (CLÉ) (Research Group on the Continuity of Learning to Read and Write), a research team with roughly twenty members. Her research interests focus on teaching accommodation for special education students, using by-project approaches based on children's literature from a multidisciplinary perspective, and on reading and writing awareness in disadvantaged areas. She has also taught at the high school level and performed remedial work. Carole Boudreau teaches at the Département d'études sur l'adaptation scolaire et sociale (Department of Academic and Social Accommodation Studies) at the University of Sherbrooke. Before accepting this position, she worked as a remedial teacher in the school environment, as a guidance teacher specialized in hearing impairment and as a project officer for the Quebec Ministry of Education's Direction de l'adaptation scolaire (Academic Accommodation Branch). Her research interests focus on reading and writing difficulties as well as remedial instruction. She is a member of the Collectif de recherche sur la continuité des apprentissages en lecture et en écriture (CLÉ) (Research Group on the Continuity of Learning to Read and Write). Véronique Parent is a psychologist and professor at the Département de psychologie (Department of Psychology) at the University of Sherbrooke. Her research interests focus on cognitive disorders related to learning disabilities and accommodation. She is also interested in using novel intervention approaches in school environments, such as the use of cognitive training programs, to promote the development of special education students' learning potential. She is a member of the Collectif de recherche sur la continuité des apprentissages en lecture et en écriture (CLÉ) (Research Group on the Continuity of Learning to Read and Write). Anne Rodrigue is a Ph.D. student in the Département des études sur l'adaptation scolaire et sociale (Department of Academic and Social Accommodation Studies) at the University of Sherbrooke. She was trained as a remedial teacher and for over 10 years has been dividing her time between research at the University and practice in schools. Annick Tremblay-Bouchard is a Masters student in Education Science focusing on academic accommodation at the University of Sherbrooke. Trained as a primary school teacher, she specializes in students with hearing disabilities.
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Combining Writing and Self-Regulation Strategies: The SRSD Approach

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By Véronique Parent, Anne Rodrigue, Julie Myre-Bisaillon, Carole Boudreau, and Annick Tremblay-Bouchard Students with learning disabilities often experience difficulty with writing. These difficulties result from limited strategies, skills, knowledge, and motivation (Graham, Harris, & McKeown, 2013). The Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model combines instructional strategies

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29. Self-regulated strategy (strategy instruction for writing)

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29. Self-regulated strategy (strategy instruction for writing)

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LINCS | Adult Education and Literacy | U.S. Department of Education

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Self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) is an instructional approach designed to help students learn, use, and adopt the strategies used by skilled writers. It is an approach that adds the element of self-regulation to strategy instruction for writing. It encourages students to monitor, evaluate, and revise their writing, which in turn reinforces self-regulation skills and independent learning.

What Is Self-Regulated Strategy Development?

One of the greatest challenges for instructors in adult education programs is to help students acquire the basic cognitive skills and habits needed to be self-directed learners. A large body of research from both secondary and postsecondary settings suggests that strategy instruction strengthens students' abilities to engage with learning, benefit from instruction, and succeed.

Strategy instruction is an approach that teaches the tools and techniques necessary for understanding, learning, and retaining new content and skills. It involves teaching strategies that are both in assisting learners with acquiring, retaining, and generalizing information, and helping them acquire the information in the least amount of time (Lenz, Ellis, & Scanlon, 1996). There is a range of approaches and a range of uses for strategy instruction in all content areas for learners of all ages.

Strategy Instruction for Writing

Writing researchers identified what good writers do: plan, monitor, evaluate, revise, and manage the writing process. They also observed struggling writers who do not perform these same steps when writing and produce lower-quality writing. For example, proficient writers engage in extensive planning, in which they set goals about their topic and audience, generate ideas, and use their knowledge of genres or text structure to organize ideas. When they revise, they think about their audience and the substance of what they have written. They apply evaluation criteria to identify problems and opportunities for improvement.

Self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) is an instructional approach designed to help students learn, use, and adopt the strategies used by skilled writers. It is an approach that adds the element of self-regulation to strategy instruction for writing. It encourages students to monitor, evaluate, and revise their writing, which in turn reinforces self-regulation skills and independent learning.

As with other types of strategy instruction, SRSD is explicit, direct, and guided so that strategies become integrated into the overall learning process. Instruction begins as teacher-directed but with a goal of empowering students to be self-directed. The self-regulation element addresses negative self-talk or perceptions of self-as-learner through replacement with positive self-talk, self-instructions, and new habits with which to approach learning tasks.

Why Teach SRSD to Adult Learners?

Strategies can be used to teach learners how to learn and study, how to accomplish specific cognitive tasks, or how to apply and communicate their knowledge in a variety of contexts. The goal is for learners to internalize the process and strategies and to select and use them independently and with confidence. Strategies are tools in the learner's toolbox. Knowing which tool to choose for a given task is a closely related challenge, one discussed in the TEAL Center Fact Sheet No. 4 on Metacognitive Processes. Monitoring whether the task is done fully is the reflective element discussed in the TEAL Center Fact Sheet No. 3 on Self-Regulated Learning.

What's the Research?

A large body of research demonstrates that strategy instruction can be effective for improving writing and for boosting learners' planning, editing, and overall written product quality (De la Paz, 2007; De la Paz & Graham, 2002; Englert, 2009; Graham, 2006; Graham & Perin, 2007; Perin, 2007). Moreover, when taught systematically, strategy use by learners can be retained and applied beyond the immediate instructional setting (De la Paz & Graham, 2002; Graham & Perin, 2007). Strategy instruction has been found to be particularly supportive of adults with learning disabilities (Berry & Mason, 2010; Ellis & Scanlon, 1996; McArthur & Lembo, 2009; Mellard & Scanlon, 2006).

A meta-analysis of strategy instruction research conducted with students in first grade through postsecondary grades identified elements of the approach that had the greatest impact for learners (De la Paz, 2007). Twelve studies were combined and their effects analyzed. The most powerful elements of strategy instruction were found to be self-regulation, motivation, and peer support.

Elements of SRSD Instruction

Instructor modeling of strategies is essential to SRSD and must explicitly show learners how to create meaning. Graham and Harris (2005) describe a five-step process. By completing the following scaffolded instructional sequence, teachers can help learners gain confidence in the strategy and learn to use it automatically for more independent learning.

Discuss It. Set the stage. Discuss when and how learners might use a strategy to accomplish specific writing tasks and goals. Talk about the benefits of becoming a more proficient and flexible writer. Address any negative self-talk or negative beliefs the learner holds, and ask the learner for a commitment to try to learn and use the strategy. Discuss how the learner should track progress to document the use and impact of the strategy.

Model It. Model the strategy using think-alouds, self-talk, and self-instruction as you walk through the steps. Discuss afterwards how it might be made more effective and efficient for each individual, and have learners customize the strategy with personal self-statements. Ask students to set specific writing goals. Model the strategy more than once with various sample texts; for example, use a graphic organizer to demonstrate how to comprehend various texts of a similar genre (persuasive arguments or editorials).

Make It Your Own. Strategies are composed of multiple steps, similar to a checklist. When steps are captured in a mnemonic or acrostic sentence, they are easier to remember. Paraphrasing or re-naming the steps in a mnemonic or creating a new mnemonic is fine, provided that the learner is able to remember the steps that the names represent. Customizing the checklist or mnemonic helps learners make it their own.

Support It. Use the strategy as often as possible, in as many ways as possible. Instructors and other students can be supports, offering direct assistance, prompts, constructive feedback, and encouragement. When you introduce a new type of application (a new genre or writing frame, for example), it may be appropriate to model the strategy again. Learners can rely on charts and checklists too, as they learn the strategy and make it their own, but all of this should fade as learners become familiar enough with the strategy to set their goals, monitor their use of the strategy, and use self-statements independently.

Independent Performance. Learners come to use the strategy independently across a variety of tasks. For example, learners may begin to draw graphic organizers without being prompted as a means to help them comprehend and plan.

Recommended SRSD Strategies

The strategies here may be helpful for adult education students to improve their literacy skills. All strategies must be taught explicitly for learners to generalize and apply them when faced with a new task. Teach each step through the sequence described in the previous section.

RAP. Active comprehension requires self-monitoring and self-regulation. This strategy, researched with adolescents (Hagaman, Luschen & Reid, 2010; Schumaker, Denton, & Deschler, 1984), supports learners in monitoring their reading and comprehension. Explain to students that RAP means Read, Ask, and Paraphrase, as in the following: Read a paragraph or passage. Ask yourself, "What is the topic?" "What is the most important thing it tells me about that topic?" "What are the most important details?" Paraphrase, or put it in your own words. Now start by introducing a paragraph. After students have mastered identifying the main idea and important details at the paragraph level, you can increase the amount of text. Students will vary in how much practice they need. All students should practice with a variety of types of text, increasing in challenge, to identify topics in passages where main ideas are not explicitly stated. In the Ask step, the student first identifies the topic. Prompt students to check their thinking by asking whether they think that the whole paragraph is about the topic they have chosen. After they have identified the topic, ask them to determine the main idea-that is, what the author wanted to say about the topic. Finally, ask them to determine details that are essential to capture important information. Then, ask students to describe their understanding of the passage in their own words. Set the text aside and explain. When students are comfortable using the RAP strategy for comprehension, you can extend it to helping them write summaries.

POW+TREE. The POW+TREE strategy helps writers approach an essay-writing task and check their work as they become more independent (Harris, Graham, Mason, & Friedlander, 2008). It was found to be effective with adult education students (Berry & Mason, 2010). The first part, POW, represents and emphasizes the importance of the planning process: ick my idea and pay attention to prompt; rganize; rite and say more. The TREE acronym is a memory and visualization tool that helps writers structure their essays: the opic sentence is like the trunk of the tree that supports the whole argument; easons (at least three) are like the roots of the argument; xplain is a reminder to tell more about each reason; and finally, nding is like the earth that wraps up the whole argument. Think sheets or graphic organizers shaped like stylized trees that learners write in as they brainstorm and plan can prompt the internalization of this strategy.

References

Berry, A. B., & Mason, L. H. (2010). The effects of self-regulated strategy development on the writing of expository essays for adults with written expression difficulties: Preparing for the GED. Remedial and Special Education OnlineFirst, June 23, 2010.

De La Paz, S. (2007). Managing cognitive demands for writing: Comparing the effects of instructional components in strategy instruction. Reading and Writing Quarterly, 23, 249-266.

De La Paz, S., & Graham, S. (2002). Explicitly teaching strategies, skills, and knowledge: Writing instruction in middle school classrooms. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 687-698.

Ellis, E. S., & Scanlon, D. (1996). Teaching learning strategies to adolescents and adults with learning disabilities. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed, Inc.

Englert, C. S. (2009). Connecting the dots in a research program to develop, implement, and evaluate strategic literacy interventions for struggling readers and writers. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 24(2), 104-120.

Graham, S. (2006). Strategy instruction and the teaching of writing: A metaanalysis. In C. A. MacArthur, S. Graham, & J. Fitzgerald (Eds.), Handbook of writing research (pp. 187-207). New York: Guilford Press.

Graham, S., & Harris, K. R. (2005). Writing better: Effective strategies for teaching students with learning difficulties. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

Graham, S., & Perin, D. (2007). Writing next: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescents in middle and high schools - A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education. Available at http://www.all4ed.org/files/WritingNext.pdf.

Hagaman, J., Luschen, K., & Reid, R. (2010). The RAP on reading comprehension. Teaching Exceptional Children, 43(1), 22-29.

Harris, K., Graham, S., Mason, L., & Friedlander, B. (2008). Powerful writing strategies for all students. Baltimore: Brookes.

Lenz, B. K., Ellis, E. S., & Scanlon, D. (1996). Teaching learning strategies to adolescents and adults with learning disabilities. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed, Inc.

Mellard, D., & Scanlon, D. (2006). Feasibility of explicit instruction in adult basic education: Instructor-learner interaction patterns. Adult Basic Education: An Interdisciplinary Journal for Adult Literacy Educational Planning, 16, 21-37.

Perin, D. (2007). Best practices in teaching writing to adolescents. In S. Graham, C. MacArthur, & J. Fitzgerald (Eds.), Best practices in writing (pp. 242-264). New York: Guilford Press.

Schumaker, J. B., Denton, P. H., & Deshler, D. D. (1984). The paraphrasing strategy. Lawrence, KS: The University of Kansas.

Authors: TEAL Center staff

Reviewed by: Charles MacArthur, University of Delaware

About the TEAL Center: The Teaching Excellence in Adult Literacy (TEAL) Center is a project of the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE), designed to improve the quality of teaching in adult education in the content areas.

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TEAL Center Fact Sheet No. 10: Self-Regulated Strategy Development

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Self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) is an instructional approach designed to help students learn, use, and adopt the strategies used by skilled writers. It is an approach that adds the element of self-regulation to strategy instruction for writing. It encourages students to monitor, evaluate, and revise their writing, which in turn reinforces self-regulation skills and independent learning.

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28. Teaching as a Writer—Assigning as a Reader

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28. Teaching as a Writer—Assigning as a Reader

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Abstract

The chapter addresses effective practices for teaching writing in middle and secondary schools and offers a framework for thinking about writing assignments through content, design, and language conventions, with emphasis on purpose, audience, and idea development. The chapter will enable readers to understand school-based writing assignments by asking, "In what ways do people in my content area write, and how can in-school writing assignments best provide real-world opportunities?" The chapter makes an argument that for students to attain meaningful outcomes related to writing, they need to develop their skills within a community of writers.

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, readers will be able to

establish language used by educators for discussing the teaching of writing;

describe ways that written genres make communication possible;

highlight the importance of purpose, audience, and idea development when teaching writing;

discuss writing as an activity requiring students to be motivated to reach specific outcomes through tools, rules, division of labor, and community;

identify several effective practices for writing instruction.

Introduction

A wise writing teacher in Syracuse, New York, Mark Austin, tells students, "Writing is a foreign language to everyone" (personal communication). Mr. Austin teaches in a diverse high school where multiple languages are spoken. Many young people arrive to his class with varied communication skills, and more often than not, they are not the traditional language skills valued in standard curricula or assessments. Although most people are born with the potential to communicate and to express their ideas, writing is indeed a foreign language to everyone because it is not instinctive and must be learned. This is especially true for the ability to write in school settings, which serves as an important gateway to achievement in the Western world.

In the words of cultural critic and historian Henry Louis Gates (1986/2006), writing has "stood alone among the fine arts as the most salient repository of 'genius,' the visible sign of reason itself. In this subordinate role, however, writing, although secondary to reason, is nevertheless the medium of reason's expression" (p. 217). In other words, those who write have the power to influence others, including employers, supervisors, teachers, business leaders, politicians, and financial agents. Being able to write well is a form of empowerment. Teaching written communication, then, helps young people to participate in a world of divergent opinions, varying interpretations, conflicting viewpoints, and multiple perspectives. It may be said that he or she who writes effectively is also he or she who "rights" and "wrongs" the world.

Students in middle and high school classrooms are not born journalists, novelists, historians, scientists, poets, bloggers, tweeters, or musicians. They are, however, born within social, historical, political, and cultural traditions that help shape an innate desire to communicate with others (Prior, 2006). Another way to look at this is that writers arrive at who they are because of their lived experiences, and because of the ways writers before them have written about the world.

All of us who read learn from texts. All of us who write texts gain entry into the communities in which we hope to belong. As discussed in Chapter 1, texts include diverse modes of communication such as books, videos, billboards, and clothing. The term "texts" in this chapter is also used broadly to include essays, novels, news articles, poetry, movies, scripts, reports, proofs, or even instant messaging. Reading and writing texts are interconnected like yin and yang-the Chinese philosophy-complimenting one another fluidly. We become writers through the experiences we have as readers. Similarly, we gain authority when writing effectively for others to learn what we have to say. The written word is documented definitively because it is a commitment and testimony to the page.

As Mr. Austin (personal communication) noted, none of us is born a writer, even if we are born to express our needs to others. Babies begin life by making basic sounds and performing simple gestures that are rewarded and celebrated by doting adults. Thus, particular forms of communication are encouraged, and the language-acquisition process begins. Soon, the sounds a child utters become conditioned to represent words that are recognizable and have meaning to others. The child begins to associate words with wants, needs, and ideas. In Western cultures, the oral language may eventually move to marks on paper. Children marking their world with crayons and doodles in the United States is a progression toward more sophisticated acts of writing. Scribbles that seem random to an adult are often a first step in a child's development as a writer.

Once in school, children's language advances through learning vocabulary and sentence structures. Their innate need to communicate is met with formal rules. Over time, the rules become more aligned with traditions that are valued by particular cultures such as academic essays, editorials, on-demand responses, formal emails, and personal narratives. Beyond school, individuals write in the ways of their fields. The lawyer learns to write as a lawyer, the accountant learns to write as an accountant, the novelist learns to write as a novelist, and ultimately, a citizen learns to write as a civic participant. To participate and gain authority, one must write in the ways that are valued by his or her communities.

The National Writing Project is one of the nation's most celebrated writing networks for teachers and promotes written communication as being essential for learning and democratic participation ( Whitney, 2008). A core principle promoted by the organization is, "There is no single right approach to teaching writing; however, some practices prove to be more effective than others. A reflective and informed community of practice is in the best position to design and develop comprehensive writing programs" (National Writing Project, 2015, Core Principle #4). Teachers of writing can become more effective by reflecting on their own writing processes, as well as by becoming active readers, listeners, and consumers of knowledge. They should participate in professional communities and design lessons that help students write for college and career readiness, and support the ways individuals write to learn (Shanahan, 2004).

Readers of this chapter should understand what it means to be a teacher who instructs students in the traditions of specific academic communities. Such teachers encourage readers to think about assignments that are "real world" and audience-driven so that students have the opportunity to see themselves as apprentices working toward mastery in a particular subject area.

A Shared Language for Teaching Writing in School

Kelly Gallagher (2011), a teacher and author of several practitioner texts, states that writing "can be used as a vehicle to express ourselves as we negotiate the journey through our lives" (p. 24). Because numbers of ideas are infinite, so are the ways humans express their ideas in writing. In everyday conversation we say random things, shout out opinions, ask silly and profound questions, gossip, and declare information in the form of statements and affirmations. Committing ideas to a laptop or paper, however, can be more anxiety-provoking. Yet composing for others in written forms is important because it makes the ideas we have more permanent, even if the process feels more intimidating. Writing records history, demands action, and shares stories. It is a negotiation of how we think, and as will be highlighted in this chapter, usually has a purpose, an audience, the development of thought, support for claims, awareness of genre, and knowledge of language conventions(Lunsford, Ede, Moss, Clark, & Walters, 2012). In other words, what is written depends on what it is we want to say, who it is we want to say it to, where it is we want it to be said, when it is we want it to be read, and why it is we feel it is important. A shared language for teaching writing is provided in this chapter. Such language allows educators to communicate effectively with one another by providing the vocabulary for discussing classroom objectives and goals and for conferencing with students about their own writing development.

In the section that follows, the terms for teaching writing- content, design, and language conventions-are discussed in depth to provide an overarching framework for the language commonly used by teachers. Within each frame, additional terms are provided.

Content

Within any school day, a tremendous amount of content instruction occurs. In a Physical Education class, students might learn the intricacies of playing badminton while thinking of ways to strategize against their opponents. In an English class, a teacher might highlight the Greek suffix meaning "fear" in the words agoraphobia, claustrophobia, and omphalophobia,in anticipation of a quiz on Friday. Down the hall, a World Civilization teacher might create a complicated web to demonstrate the entangled politics that led to World War I. Meanwhile, a math class might graph slopes and intercepts on calculators, while a science class is midway through a lab that involves making homemade yogurt during a study of bacteria. Knowledge (and there is much of it to be covered!) is content. In the simplest sense, content is the material and information instructors provide.

Content is often learned through what we read and write. For readers, content is the information that is gathered from reading new information. For writers, content is what is composed and shared with others-a distribution of the knowledge that a writer knows. Without content-specific knowledge and details within any field-there is no reason for reading or writing. Content is a necessity, and for a writer, it is the specific knowledge to be used to establish a purpose for communicating with an audience through the development of ideas.

Purpose

A lament heard in classrooms all across the country is, "Why are we doing this?" Although many teachers cringe when hearing these five words, the inquiry is natural and spot on. If students do not understand the purpose of an assignment, teachers stand a chance of losing their engagement. Therefore, it is necessary to explain to students exactly why a lesson is taught and help them to see the relevance it. Writing needs to have a purpose. Students need to know what is expected of them and why they are engaging in writing before they set out to compose.

Purposes vary, but all writing has at least one. For example, the purpose for writing this particular chapter is to provide a shared language for teaching writing for beginning teachers and to provide a heuristic or model for looking at writing assigned in classrooms. Even short pieces of writing have purpose. For example, my niece, who was graduating high school last spring, tweeted an inquiry regarding when I would be traveling to attend her party. The prose was short but fulfilled her purpose. Through a tweet she prompted me to pinpoint an exact date and time for my arrival. This initiated me, however, to also purchase a gift for the celebration and to call my sister to see what else I needed to bring for the party. At only 140 characters long, my niece's written text accomplished its purpose, and even motivated me to arrange my travel, check my bank account, and let my sister know my willingness to help.

Of course, most purposes for writing in school are more substantial than a simple tweet. As previously stated, writing assignments require teachers to be clear about why they are given. One purpose for writing is to communicate information quickly, such as asking students to write responses on an exit slip, compose a short notebook entry, or complete a quick quiz. Another may be to help students think through or show what they know. Such a purpose might be featured in assignments or activities such as taking specific notes, writing a lab report to synthesize findings from an experiment, or writing freely about pet peeves. Additional writing assignments with the purpose of showcasing what a student knows and/or has learned include writing a biography of a historical figure with references to primary sources, or drafting an editorial to highlight findings from a statistical survey. Teachers can readily prepare young people to become better writers by helping them understand the purposes for which they write.

Audience

Another word important to the language of writing is "audience." In addition to having a purpose for writing, students should be asked to consider an audience for whom they are composing (Lunsford, et. al, 2012). Envisioning potential readers helps a writer to anticipate the kinds of questions a reader might have. For example, when authors composed chapters for this textbook, we imagined a demographic for our readers-individuals thinking about a career in teaching-so we could better shape the researched practices we desired to share. Versatility in communicating to a variety of audiences in school better prepares students for the work they will do as adults in a diverse society. Typically, students write just to get a grade and writing becomes a guessing game of "what does this teacher want me to say?" A more effective practice, however, is to have students write for larger audiences beyond school.

One way to highlight the importance of writing for different audiences is to ask students to write down a basic sentence that makes a request. They may write, "Can you pick me up after work?" "Go get the mail," or "Would you let me borrow your pen?" After, a teacher shares images on a large screen that depict a variety of characters such as a nun, a punk rocker, a child, an elderly man, a police officer, and a wounded soldier. Students are then asked, "How does your request differ depending on the audience it is intended for?" Students then turn to one another and make their requests as if they are delivering them to each character.

Another activity to sensitize students to the importance of audience is to have them think about something they are passionate about. Next, have them think about this passion and how they would write about it for a variety of audiences, such as elders in a nursing home, an irate crowd with rocks in their hands, or a congressional representative. Although their passion stays the same, what they write and how they write it depends on who it is they imagine as recipients of their words. Discuss other examples, such as writing a comic performance for an audience who wants to laugh, or creating a TedTalk for an audience who desires inspiration, or a speech to persuade peers to take action. Helping young people to realize the importance of audience can influence how they use language in specific ways to communicate with them (Lunsford et al., 2012).

Idea development/supporting claims

Once students have a purpose for writing and an audience in mind, they then need to develop ideas to support claims they will make. This is the task of choosing which content is suited for communicating their purpose to their chosen audience. Brainstorming, or the act of listing possible ideas to fulfill a particular purpose, is an effective practice for choosing content (Lassonda & Richards, 2013), and modeling this for students is also important.The teacher should introduce a writing topic to his or her students and then demonstrate how to structure a response through modeling the act of brainstorming with them. The ways ideas are generated will vary depending on the purpose and the audience, yet effective teachers model their thinking in front of students (Lassonda & Richards, 2013). Students can contribute to a list of ideas, create an outline, or even draw thought bubbles above a stick figure.

Most school-based writing requires young people to make claims that can be defended through the knowledge students acquire, often with content from classroom instruction, notes, assigned reading, and independent research. Teachers play an important role in helping students develop ideas based on content as they coach students to formulate their thinking. Posing questions is one way to help students to elicit ideas to support their claims. What do you think right now? Why do you think this way? Where else can you go to find support for this thinking? What have others said? What evidence is there that your thinking is on track? What other sources might you consider for helping your thinking? Such questions help young writers to develop good ideas and to support claims.

Design

Like content, design offers teachers a framework for discussing writing practices. In writing, designs arrive as genres, which are specific writing forms and features unique to disciplines. Genres allow a writer to communicate in particular ways because they provide structures commonly used in a field. Herrington and Moran (2005) describe genres "as social knowledge" (p. 247) and Beach (2000) refers to them as "social glue" (p. 17) because they situate and bind knowledge within communities. The spoken word artist communicates in a genre of oral poetry and performance, while the journalist writes in the genre of a news article. A scientist shares through lab reports, while the mathematician showcases knowledge through proofs. Genres unite people within communities-ones that are entwined with their own history, traditions, and structures. Each content area has its own genres for writing, and a teacher should reflect often on what those genres are.

A genre (see Table 1) is organized with familiar patterns to bring unity among readers through customary sentence structures and uses of media (Freedman, 1993). The genre becomes the design that allows an individual to communicate with others according to specific traditions and disciplines. For example, a restaurant menu is a written genre that is used to offer prices and descriptions of food selections to customers. A person who composes a restaurant menu must understand the purpose of a menu, as well as reasons for using it. Likewise, a family who eats at the restaurant must understand what a menu does in order to effectively use it for selecting food. Thus, something as simple as a menu accomplishes the complex task of creating a relationship between writers and readers. The same principle holds true for genres used in school and within specific fields of study.

Organization

Every genre has its tradition of how language communicates specific ideas to others and offers hints at how writers are to organize their thinking. For schools in the United States, teachers commonly introduce the 5-paragraph essay, which includes an introduction, a body of three paragraphs, and a conclusion. Although the 5-paragraph essay provides an organizational structure that can be helpful to new writers, some argue it is not helpful for writing in the real world (Campbell & Latimer, 2012) because real-world writing is rarely organized in a 5-paragraph manner. For example, an English teacher might highlight personal narratives or short stories that require more development of thought, and a history teacher might discuss biographies or opinion pieces written for a local newspaper that have their own format unlike the 5-paragraph essay. No matter the genre, the teacher should ask, "How is information organized? What are the patterns of the genre? How can awareness of these patterns allow us to write in the traditions of such work?" Paying attention to such design will benefit student writers when they set out to write on their own.

Coherence and unity

Equally important to the ways writers organize thoughts within a genre is how coherent their ideas are so that they make sense to readers. Coherence in writing typically refers to the flow of sentences and paragraphs with one another to create internal consistency in the writing, whereas unity means the ability to stay focused on a particular purpose for a sustained time to create a sense of wholeness to the writing piece. Given the fast-paced, highly stimulating nature of 21st century information, assisting young people to write with unity can be a monumental task, especially since the opposite of unity is disconnectedness, and our technological, ever-changing culture too often rewards the unpredictable. Even so, successful writers maintain a focus that brings readers with them. Genres can bring coherence and unity to readers by offering familiar patterns and forms, and teachers who assign writing should share models with students to point out qualities of effective writing, especially in reference to unity. For example, teachers could highlight the use of transition words such as "first" or "in addition to" and discuss with students how such words help keep the reader focused and move information forward in an organized way.

Sentence structure

Quality writing instruction requires students to read like writers and write with specific readers in mind. In other words, a teacher asks students to think about the style of writing as they are reading and then has them use similar techniques in their own writing. Composing in this way requires drawing attention to the various ways sentences are constructed (Hillocks, 2005). Research demonstrates that teachers who spend time analyzing sentence structures of various published writers are able to better assist young writers with learning how to effectively structure their own sentences ( Applebee & Langer, 2009; Graham & Perin, 2007). A method for teaching students about structure is to offer them a set of tools for varying sentences. As an illustration, if a writer uses colons proficiently, a teacher might highlight this and state, "Notice how the author used a colon here before listing important items. This could be an effective style to use in our own writing." Another practice teachers can model is how to effectively combine several short sentences into a more complex (and more interesting) sentence. For example, the sentences, " The United States is diverse. The United States is a democracy. The United States is heterogeneous. The United States is always changing." can be combined to read, " The diverse and heterogeneous United States is a democracy that is always changing." Another combination might be, "The United States, a diverse and heterogeneous democracy, is always changing." Sentence combining exercises demonstrate how writers use language in a variety of ways and that varying sentences lead to effective writing.

Media

Also important to design is the use of media when writing in particular genres. Using media has long been part of the composing processes (cave drawings, a form of media, were some of the earliest pictographs used to communicate with others). For additional examples and discussion on media, please see Chapter 10 of this textbook. Current technologies allow a writer to embed illustrations, videos, photographs, and tables in written documents. Highly advanced uses of media allow writers, such as those who create and manage blogs, to include recorded audio from a cellphone, to link websites that influence the ideas of what they are communicating, to upload videos, and to utilize hyperlinks to enhance what they intend others to know. Media includes everything from tables and graphs to embedded videos and referenced resources. The use of media is often genre-specific, too, and sharing models of genre-specific media will help young people use multimedia to share information and further develop claims they want to support. Programs like Prezi, Glogster, and PowerPoint, which are all digital tools, can help visually organize content in colorful and animated ways that enhance written and spoken communication.

Teachers in all content areas must pay attention to the characteristics of genres in their field so they can effectively work with students on writing within such designs. The curriculum should help students create unity in their writing, vary sentence lengths and structure for effect, and use media to enhance communication. Teachers should make themselves aware of the ways that genres in their particular discipline communicate information to specific audiences. The more familiarity students have with how professionals communicate in real world ways, the better prepared they will be to write within such communities as they move beyond school.

Language Conventions

Weaver and Bush (2008) write, "Grammar can be a way to enrich student writing-a way to make writing better, more complex, more exciting, and overall, more rich and interesting" (p. xi). Grammatical conventions for language, which are the standard rules, methods, and practices, can also be fodder for debates, insecurities, and frustrations. Rules for how to properly use language conventions were once a primary concern of teachers (see Chapter 6 for more discussion and critique about teaching decontextualized language conventions in writing). Even today, national assessments like the SAT place much importance on language usage, yet the use of emoticons and other abbreviated semiotics (i.e., the study of signs and symbols) has become a concern among teachers who find "text" in their students' classroom writing. The mere red-penning of incorrect usage, however, is an exercise in editing rather than establishing dialogue about the various conventions of written expression, and where and when they are acceptable (Hillocks, 1984). Teaching a student to write takes more than correcting a student's errors.

Today, adolescent writing instruction focuses more heavily on content and design over the emphasis of conventional rules (Applebee & Langer, 2013; Graham & Perin, 2007). Grammar, usage, and documentation are best taught in context of the writing students produce, and although language conventions traditionally fall within the jurisdiction of English and foreign language teachers, writing instruction belongs to all content areas (McKenna & Robinson, 2014). Content area-teachers should feel comfortable hosting mini-lessons on grammar, usage and correctness, especially in the context of their field.

Grammar and usage

At the most basic level, grammar is the systemic and structured system for using language, arranging words and phrases, and creating meaning in recognizable forms. Grammar provides rules to effectively communicate with others. Similarly, usage is how individuals typically use words and phrases. More whimsically, UrbanDictionary.com-an online site popular with youth that offers alternative definitions-defines grammar and usage as "a form of writing or speaking which is hard to learn and hence is ignored by the general populous [ sic]" (Severian, 2006). Rules for written language are often debated. Even so, a common goal for teachers who teach writing is to teach and model the use of Standard American English, that is, the English language used in professional communication in the U.S. and taught in American schools. Thus, it is the responsibility of teachers to know these (and perhaps other) language conventions, and if they have a question about language use, they should model for students how to resolve it.

Correctness

In addition to having adequate knowledge of language conventions to write well, students need to know the meanings of a lot of words, they need to spell words correctly, and they need to understand how and when to cite references consistent within academic disciplines (e.g., the Modern Language Association for English and American Psychological Association for Psychology). Such protocol allows young writers to join in professional communities beyond school. A lack of knowledge for how to write well may cause individuals to be rejected by particular communities. Rightly or wrongly, a student runs the risk of a rejection from professional writing communities if his or her writing strays too far from what academic institutions value. Teaching conventions is important because it assists writers with the most effective ways to communicate, given the purposes of their communication both within and beyond school (Freeman & Freeman, 2009). Language conventions, like design and content, are part of the package for instructing young writers in school, and all three together provide a framework for how teachers talk about and assess writing (Calfee & Miller, 2007).

In this section of the chapter, I offered shared language for teaching writing in middle and secondary schools, including content, design, and language conventions. No matter the content area, students need a purpose for what they write and an audience with whom to communicate. Teachers should be familiar with the genres used in their field and teach young writers so they, too, design through recognizable traditions. This includes how writers organize thinking, bring unity to their work, and vary sentences. Students should be mentored to use proper language conventions as well, including grammar, usage, word choice, spelling, and documentation. To accomplish these important goals, teachers need a shared language for teaching writing, and effective practice requires teachers to be aware of their own writing processes including genre-specific designs that enhance communication within a discipline. In the next section, I provide a heuristic, or model, to assist how teachers might help students achieve written outcomes desired in specific disciplines.

Writing as Activity Within a Classroom

It is 7:50 a.m. and the buzzer sounds, signaling that students have exactly four minutes to get themselves to where they are scheduled to be. Imagine yourself as a teacher, in the hallway sipping coffee from a Styrofoam cup, making sure your backpack is on your shoulder, your keys are in your pocket, and you remembered to grab the cellphone from the front seat of your car. You did not sleep well last night because you forgot to plan for your elective class, administrators said they needed to see you during your preparation period, and you stayed up a little too late reading a book. Grogginess is still in the corner of your eyes as you reach your classroom, the gymnasium, the band room, or a lab or studio. You unlock the door for 32 sleepy, active, enthused, unenthused, anxious, apathetic, studious, rebellious, whimsical, confused, and frustrated learners assigned to your first period class. Today begins a new unit for you to help them develop written communication through an assignment important to your content area. You turn on the lights knowing that what happens in this room today will be essential to the outcome of what students produce tomorrow. There is not a second to waste, and every activity matters. Yikes. Teaching is a lot of responsibility.

Teachers are extremely busy, yet know that to teach writing effectively they need to be attentive to all of the components discussed throughout this chapter: content, design, and language conventions. Still, teachers also think about how a classroom environment influences the writing students do. They wonder what their role should be, what instructional tools they should provide, and which rules they should emphasize for students to follow.

Understanding Writing as an Activity To Reach a Written Outcome

Writing activity genre research (Russell, 2010) and activity theory (Engeström, 2015) provide a helpful model, or heuristic, for thinking about the delivery of writing instruction. Scholarship in this area situates learning as an activity within a classroom system that is enhanced by teachers thinking aloud about their own practices (Smagorinsky, 2002). It is important for teachers to pay attention to the classroom system, or the environment provided that helps a student to learn (see Figure 1). Seeing a classroom as an activity system helps a teacher to map out pedagogical choices to enhance student learning, including how they communicate in writing. Classrooms are complex and contain individuals with varying opinions, experiences, and histories that may or may not be in line with local, state, and national standards required of teachers to teach.

Thinking of a classroom as an activity system can benefit the choices a teacher makes, especially when paying attention to students ( subjects), the purposes a student has ( motives), and the products ( outcomes) a student produces. Also important are the tools provided to a learner, the rules they are expected to follow, how labor is divided in a classroom, and how a community is established for all. Together, subjects, motives, outcomes, tools, rules, division of labor, and community encompass a writing activity system (Engeström, 2015 & Russell, 2010). Thinking about our classrooms as a system for activity can also help us to think about the complexities of teaching writing. To enhance the outcomes of what students in our classrooms write, it is important to pay attention to every part of the system. This includes, of course, the language for discussing writing with students (as discussed in the previous section): purpose, audience awareness, idea development, support, genre, organization, and unity.

Subjects

Many experienced teachers are first to declare how there is no learning without building relationships with students ( Moje, Overby, Tysvaer, & Morris, 2008). Before a child can learn in a classroom, trust needs to be established, as well as recognition of student individuality. In a writing activity system, it is important to know each student (subject) as an individual. Early in the year, a teacher should inventory students'interests, talents, ambitions, and fears to help guide the instruction of the classroom. Teachers should also get to know who their students are both inside and outside the classroom. Although effective teaching requires strong content knowledge, it is also paramount for teachers to see their students as people first. Knowing each student as an individual will assist supporting their purposes and motivations as writers.

Motives

Most books published on the teaching of writing promote a six-letter word that is extremely important to the writing classroom: choice. Choice is important because it is the foundation of what motivates a student to want to write. If you think about your own history as a learner, you probably recall that you put more time and effort into projects that interested you. Assignments that offer choices to learners provide flexibility, and flexibility allows individuals to find a motive (purpose) to participate in writing activities. When students are motivated to write, they naturally become more invested in the outcomes they produce. For example, a teacher may wish to help students gain a deeper understanding of the Civil Rights movement from 1954-1968. As content is gained through notes, discussions, assigned readings, and documentaries, students may be given a choice to explore a humanitarian issue that is important to them. While they explore that particular era in U.S. history, they might also be assigned to write their own OpEds (i.e., opinion editorials) where they argue for or against a cause and/or take a stance on an issue they care about. In essence, effective writing teachers harness the motives of students to produce stronger writing by providing choice in writing assignments that are aligned with the content they also wish to deliver.

Tools

To facilitate a written outcome within a writing activity system, a teacher must also provide numerous tools for students to reach their goals. Tools might include the lessons provided, the models used, the notes shared, and the materials read. Tools can also be conversations, homework, visits to the library, and adhering to writing processes such as brainstorming, drafting, conferencing, rewriting, editing, and revision. Other tools include watching movies, building vocabulary, and even taking tests and quizzes. Writing activity systems that offer writers a variety of tools effectively help writers reach important written language outcomes. These tools can be material (e.g., a dictionary, a model of the genre being taught), mental (e.g., guiding questions, opportunities to brainstorm), and social (e.g., discussions, performance). The more tools teachers have, the better suited they are to provide instruction that can work for students.

Rules

Because classrooms are social environments where many personalities are brought together within the same space, it is important to establish rules within this activity system. In addition to establishing normal procedures and day-to-day routines (rules), as discussed previously, it is also helpful to work with young writers to establish how to communicate in particular genres (see the previous section on designs), which are also rules. Featuring models of writing can help young people learn to understand the rules of a genre. Rules establish traditions and provide frameworks for others to follow. Rules, too, are meant to be broken, but before this can occur, an understanding is needed of why rules were created in the first place. As rules are established, conversations about them will help students to think about what they are writing and when breaking a given rule makes sense. When looking at a genre, for example, students can point out characteristics they notice, and these characteristics can serve as guidelines or rules they follow in their own writing.

Division of labor

Although students spend much time writing alone, writing is rarely a solo act. A teacher who instructs students about what writing is supposed to be, without allowing them time to develop writing skills, is less likely to receive quality writing from students. Instead, the labor of writing requires roles within classrooms and should be viewed as a social activity where everyone participates. As a class, students can brainstorm ideas together, or teachers can model their thinking in front of students. The next day, students might share their drafts with classmates. Although the labor for writing typically falls on students, many others share in helping students compose a written piece. Encouraging students to think about writing together, allowing them time to write on their own, and providing space to share writing with one another can have a positive effect on the outcomes they produce. For example, I wrote this chapter alone, but through sharing drafts of the chapter with friends, colleagues, and the editors, it was shaped to what you read today. Writing may look like a solo act, but outcomes are a result of collaboration, including this volume of work. All writing is a community act.

Community

In addition to building relationships, creating community among young people enhances the written outcomes in an activity system. Communication and community both begin with "com," the prefix meaning together and with. A teacher's job is to help students come together as a community of writers who are willing to communicate with one another. Further, writing in genres used by professionals provides a location for young people to practice writing in the ways of a professional community. If adolescents view themselves as young scientists, they will more likely write like young scientists. If they view themselves as artists, they will fashion writing in artistic ways. If they learn their opinions are valued and supported, they will be more confident to share their opinions with others. A teacher who promotes effective writing practices creates an environment where students are willing to take risks and try new things. As a community, they share ideas, ask questions, and feel safe to explore thinking together. They do this by discussing models of writing unique to particular communities.

Outcome

The outcome in a writing activity system is the product created by the student. Outcomes arrive when teachers pay attention to all parts of the activity system rather than simply assigning writing tasks to students. If school is an arena for apprenticeship, then assigning real-world writing and providing mentoring are essential. Sharing examples of writing from students, published authors, and teachers better prepares students to reach important outcomes. Offering models and discussing them can enhance the quality of writing students turn in. The outcome is the result of all the parts in the activity working together, including the coordination of subjects, tools, rules, divisions of labor, and motives that create a writing activity system.

An example of a well-coordinated writing activity I once observed involved a teacher who spent a week teaching students how to approach writing the college essay. On the first day, she asked students to highlight personal achievements and interests. She used this information to first learn about her students as individuals (subjects) and as a way to assist them on narrowing a topic from which to write. The students were motivated to write the essays because they wanted to attend college and needed to be successful to achieve acceptance. On the second day, the teacher shared models of college essays (tools), and her students discussed the ones they thought were more effective. The teacher highlighted what experts have to say about college essays, and after reading the models they listed effective characteristics of the genre (rules). The teacher did not dictate what was best; instead, she worked with her students and listened to their contributions (division of labor). The classroom walls were covered with posters of several colleges and universities, and as a senior English class, materials supported the work of the room. The classroom, on the whole, was geared toward the success of all students (community). By the third day, students read first drafts with one another and made suggestions. On the fourth day, the teacher brought students to a computer lab to revise and edit their work. By the fifth day, they had a college essay to submit for a grade and also for a real-world audience-the college of their choice (outcome).

By viewing classrooms as activity systems involving subjects, motives, tools, rules, divisions of labor, and community, teachers can help students learn to write and apply their writing skills to accomplish important life tasks, such as getting into college. This can be accomplished by exploring content, design, and conventions used by writers in each of our disciplines as we prepare students for college and career readiness.

Summary

An aim of this chapter was to provide a common language to discuss the teaching of writing. Through a frame of content, design, and language conventions, the chapter highlighted the importance of purpose, audience, and idea development, with specific emphasis placed on genre. Writing is an activity requiring a subject to be motivated to reach a specific outcome through tools, rules, division of labor, and community. Effective teachers of writing assign writing that apprentices students into the genres of their field and involves well-coordinated activity systems where students can learn to communicate effectively using the written word.

Questions and Activities

What do you read in your discipline, and how do you write about what you read?

For what purposes and for what audiences have you had to write? Explain how you learned to develop your ideas in reference to purpose and audience.

Where did you learn about language conventions, and how have they been used to influence your own writing processes?

Think about a piece of specific writing you have done. Why did you write it, and what does it say about you as a writer? Describe the tools and rules that helped you accomplish your writing goal(s). What role did community play in reference to this writing?

What genres do writers in your field use to communicate knowledge? Discuss the conventions of writing associated with these genres. How do these conventions help establish a community of writers?

What genres of writing do you think you would assign your students? Describe the procedures and rules for writing your plan to teach your students.

References

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Steps to Success: Crossing the Bridge Between Literacy Research and Practice

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The chapter addresses effective practices for teaching writing in middle and secondary schools and offers a framework for thinking about writing assignments through content, design, and language conventions, with emphasis on purpose, audience, and idea development.

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2. Approaches to Writing Instruction in Elementary Classrooms

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2. Approaches to Writing Instruction in Elementary Classrooms

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Abstract

This chapter focuses on the different approaches to writing instruction that teachers use in elementary classrooms. It includes an overview of each approach, a description of how each is implemented, an explanation of how each has been critiqued, and research evidence about each approach's effectiveness. It also provides recommendations about how elementary teachers can incorporate the most promising components of each approach into their writing instruction.

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, readers will be able to

describe different approaches to writing instruction;

explain the benefits of each approach to teaching writing;

discuss how educators and researchers have critiqued different ways of teaching writing;

analyze the research conducted on different approaches to writing instruction;

integrate ideas about effective writing instruction in elementary classrooms.

Introduction

Imagine you are a second grader at the beginning of the school year. During writing time your teacher tells you to write about your summer vacation. What do you do? To an observer, it looks like you sat down at your desk, took out pencil and paper, wrote your story, and then drew a picture to accompany it. Yet, was the process really so simple? What happened inside your mind to get from the blank paper to a story about your summer? What thought processes and skills did you use to write this "simple" composition?

Writing is an important skill that is used throughout a person's life for academic, professional, and personal purposes. If you are a proficient writer, much of the process is automatic and requires little conscious effort. But consider it from a child's point of view. For a novice writer, there are many things to think about: forming letters on the page, writing left to right in a horizontal line, leaving spaces between words, using letters to represent the sounds in words, capitalizing proper nouns and the beginning of sentences, and placing punctuation in appropriate places. At the same time, like adult writers, children must also devote attention to generating and organizing ideas, including elements appropriate for the genre, choosing vocabulary to communicate the ideas clearly, and monitoring the quality of the text. Thus, writing places substantial cognitive demands on young children because they must attend to many things simultaneously in order to produce an effective text.

Because writing is such a challenging task, children need high quality instruction to develop their writing skills. Over the years, teachers have taught writing in many different ways, and components of each approach are still found in classrooms today. To understand current writing instruction, it is helpful to understand how it has been taught in the past and why educators have introduced new ways of teaching it over time. This chapter describes the different approaches that have been used, shows how each has been critiqued, and includes research evidence about the effectiveness of each approach. Each section also includes recommendations for how teachers can best incorporate the components of each approach into their classroom practice.

Penmanship Approach

In the United States, the earliest approach to writing instruction with young children was teaching penmanship, a practice that dates back to the colonial era. Penmanship focused on transcription-the physical act of writing-and it involved producing legible, accurate, and even beautifully formed letters on the page. Children learned penmanship through imitation and practice, so they copied models over and over again from printed copybooks. Young children began by practicing single letters, followed by words, sentences, and eventually paragraphs. In some classrooms, the teacher led the entire class to write letters in unison as she gave verbal commands: "Up, down, left curve, quick" (Thornton, 1996). Sometimes children even practiced the motions of writing, such as pushing and pulling the pencil on the paper, without writing actual letters. Regardless of how penmanship was taught, though, "writing" instruction consisted of copying rather than writing original words.

The goal of penmanship instruction was to ensure children formed letters correctly so they could produce neat, readable writing. However, students, and even many teachers, disliked the boring and mechanical drills. By the 1930s, some educators began to critique penmanship as an overly narrow approach to writing instruction (Hawkins & Razali, 2012). They suggested penmanship was not an end in itself, but a tool for communication. This led some teachers to encourage children to write their own ideas for real purposes, such as making classroom signs or recording lunch orders. Teachers' manuals began to separate penmanship and writing instruction, and penmanship was renamed "handwriting."

Handwriting instruction continued in most classrooms throughout the 20th century, but it was given less priority as the curriculum began to focus on writing original compositions. At the same time, some educators began to view handwriting as unimportant because the use of technology (e.g., computers, tablets) has reduced the need for handwritten texts. Teachers devoted less and less time to formal handwriting drills, though many children still practiced copying the alphabet in workbooks. Today, handwriting is usually taught in kindergarten through third grade, but much less frequently in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades (Cutler & Graham, 2008; Gilbert & Graham, 2010; Puranik, Otaiba, Sidler, & Greulich, 2014).

Even though handwriting has been taught in U.S. elementary schools for over two centuries, research on its effectiveness is relatively new. Recent studies show that handwriting is an important part of writing instruction, but for different reasons than educators believed in the past. The appearance of the writing, which was the focus of the penmanship approach, is no longer considered important for its own sake. Instead, researchers now know that proficient writers possess fluent handwriting skills, just as strong readers possess fluent decoding skills. They form letters quickly and automatically, without much conscious thought, which allows them to devote attention to the higher level aspects of writing such as generating ideas and monitoring the quality of their text (Christensen, 2009). Consider a child who wants to write, "My dog is brown." Because her mind can remember only a limited amount of information at once, if she directs all of her attention to producing the letters M, y, d, o, and g, she has no way to hold the idea "is brown" in her memory. As a result, she may forget what she intended to write at the end of the sentence. Thus, the benefit of handwriting instruction is to help children form letters effortlessly so they can think about their ideas rather than transcription.

Research shows that the most effective handwriting instruction occurs in short, frequent, and structured lessons (Christensen, 2009). Lessons should last 10-20 minutes each day and focus on writing fluently and automatically rather than on forming perfect letters or positioning the letters precisely between the lines. It is helpful if teachers demonstrate how to form each letter and then provide time for children to practice writing single letters, individual words, and longer texts. Programs exist for both manuscript and cursive writing, and they often teach the letters in a particular order that has been found to facilitate handwriting development. However, handwriting instruction should only occur until children can form letters fluently. As their handwriting becomes automatic, they should spend time writing for authentic audiences and purposes rather than practicing letter formation.

Rules-Based Approach

Teachers in the U.S. have taught children the rules of language and writing since colonial times. Initially, these lessons occurred in the subject of "grammar" and were considered separate from "writing" (penmanship) instruction. However, as children began composing original sentences, grammar and writing instruction began to merge. By the late 1800s, teachers viewed rules-based instruction as a way to improve students' writing (Weaver, 1996).

Rules-based instruction involves teaching children to correctly write words and sentences. It includes activities like identifying parts of speech, locating sentence elements such as subjects and predicates, learning and applying rules for subject-verb agreement and pronoun use, and practicing punctuation, capitalization, and spelling. One common exercise is sentence correction. Teachers provide sentences with language errors and ask children to correct the mistakes. Students may also write original sentences for the purpose of practicing how to use language. For example, they may be asked to write a sentence that uses certain adjectives or homonyms appropriately. Other activities include adding prefixes or suffixes to lists of words, joining sentences by adding conjunctions, and changing fragments into complete sentences.

Many educators have critiqued the rules-based approach to teaching writing as being decontextualized and inauthentic. It is decontextualized because children mostly write isolated words or sentences rather than full texts. It is inauthentic because, in the world outside of school, people do not write in decontextualized ways. They write stories, blogs, emails, and reports, and those compositions serve meaningful purposes-to entertain, inform, or persuade their readers. Writers communicate meaning, not just correct sentences, so they must generate meaningful ideas and organize their thoughts logically. However, rules-based instruction does not address these higher level aspects of writing. Activities such as correcting sentences and adding prefixes to lists of words bear little resemblance to writing people use in their everyday lives.

Because rules-based instruction is decontextualized from writing authentic texts, it does not improve children's writing skills. As early as 1926, elementary teachers reported that, "the study of grammar did not seem to affect pupils' speech and writing" (Cotner, 1926, p. 525). Later research provided empirical evidence to support what teachers noticed in their classrooms. Many studies synthesized by Myhill and Watson (2013) have shown that teaching children rules apart from meaningful writing tasks makes no impact on how they write. Even when students perform accurately on decontextualized activities, they often do not apply that knowledge in their own writing. For example, a child who can add punctuation to a sentence written by the teacher often incorrectly punctuates sentences in his or her original composition.

One activity similar to rules-based instruction but that research does support as effective is sentence combining (Myhill & Watson, 2013). In sentence combining, children merge two or more short, choppy sentences into one longer, more effective sentence. For example, they may be asked to combine Tim has a dog. The dog is tall and black into Tim has a tall, black dog. Practice combining isolated sentences seems to positively impact students' original writing. Children who become proficient at combining sentences provided by the teacher tend to write longer, more complex sentences in their own compositions. However, it is important to recognize that most of the research on sentence combining has been conducted with high school and university students. Some evidence exists (Saddler, Behforooz, & Asaro, 2008; Saddler & Graham, 2005) that it also positively impacts older elementary students' writing, but more research is needed to determine how effective sentence combining is for younger students.

While decontextualized rules-based instruction does not improve students' writing, there is some evidence that teaching grammar within the context of writing is beneficial (Jones, Myhill, & Bailey, 2013). A contextualized approach looks very different from traditional rules-based instruction. In a traditional approach, children might learn about adjectives by underlining them in sentences printed on a worksheet. In a contextualized approach, they add adjectives to their stories to describe the characters and the setting. The teacher might introduce adjectives as "describing words" and ask the children to give some examples. She then will show them how to use adjectives to create a vivid description of a story setting, and the students will use adjectives to create settings in their own stories. Using adjectives in context, rather than on a worksheet, provides a meaningful purpose for learning about them. In addition, because children apply their knowledge of adjectives directly to their writing, the quality of their writing improves.

Process Writing Approaches

Like the name suggests, process writing instruction focuses on the process of composing texts. In this approach, children learn to brainstorm ideas, write rough drafts, and revise and edit those drafts. Process writing emerged in the 1970s, sparked by teachers' growing rejection of a rules-based approach. At the same time, professional authors, such as the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Donald Murray (Murray, 1968), began to advocate a "workshop" approach to writing instruction that engaged students in the same writing process that published authors used. Soon thereafter, researchers began to study writers as they composed original texts (Emig, 1971; Hayes & Flower, 1980). The findings of this research provided models of 1) what writers do as they compose and 2) the composing process that occurs in writers' minds. Importantly, both this research and the instruction proposed by professional authors such as Murray were based on the writing processes used by adult writers rather than those used by children. However, despite this limitation, process writing became increasingly prevalent in elementary schools.

Because process writing began, in part, in response to criticisms of rules-based writing instruction, it emphasizes what rules-based approaches did not. Rather than teaching rules for creating sentences, it focuses on writing full texts and meaningful ideas, and it de-emphasizes spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Although educators and textbooks often talk about the process approach to writing instruction, in reality it is many varied approaches that all share a focus on the writing process. Consider the writing instruction in the following second grade classrooms. Mr. Johnson assigns a writing topic to his class every Monday morning. One Monday he asked them to write about this prompt: "If you could be any animal for one day, what would you be? What would you do all day?" The students brainstormed ideas by creating a list of different animals and what each of those animals would do on a typical day. On Tuesday, each child chose an animal and wrote a draft of his or her story. On Wednesday, Mr. Johnson asked the children to revise by reading over their first drafts and instructing them to add five more details. He showed them how to draw arrows to blank spaces on the paper to add words or sentences. On Thursday, Mr. Johnson returned the children's stories for editing. Each child checked the spelling, capitalization, and punctuation in his or her draft and made corrections. On Friday, the children copied their final drafts neatly onto clean paper and turned them in to Mr. Johnson. He graded the stories over the weekend and returned the papers on Monday.

In the classroom next door, Ms. Turner began writing time on Monday by telling the children they would be writing memoirs. Because the class had read and discussed many memoirs in the previous two weeks, the children understood that they should write a personal story about an interesting or important experience in their lives. They brainstormed ideas by listing memories about fun things they had done, scary times they remembered, and moments they felt very happy or very sad. Once the children made their lists, Ms. Turner asked them to tell some of their stories to a partner. After 15 minutes of storytelling, she said, "Some of you told a story that your partner liked very much. If you think others would enjoy hearing your story, write it down so you can share it with the class." Some children began writing and others continued telling their stories to different friends in the class.

On Tuesday, Ms. Turner encouraged the children to choose another memory from their list and write about it. Some children wrote new stories, others read their drafts to a friend, and some began revising. While the children worked, Ms. Turner talked to individual students, reading their drafts and showing them how to make changes. She showed Marissa how to add describing words and showed Paul how to write dialogue. She also taught a short "mini-lesson" to the whole class about how to add details that would help readers visualize the story's action. At the end of writing time, two or three children volunteered to read their stories aloud to the class. The audience asked questions and offered suggestions for revising the stories.

Writing time continued this way for ten days. Children wrote, revised, and shared their work, and they received feedback from friends and from Ms. Turner. Some children wrote and revised several stories, while some wrote only one or two. Each day Ms. Turner taught a mini-lesson about how to write a good memoir and met with children for writing conferences. After two weeks, she invited students to choose one story that they wanted to publish. Using speech-to-text software, the children entered their stories into a word processing document and began to edit. Ms. Turner taught them to use spellcheck, and they edited their own and others' work. During writing conferences, she taught some to capitalize the beginning of sentences and showed others how to use quotation marks. After editing was complete, Ms. Turner printed the stories and bound them together into a class book. Each child read his or her published story to the class, and the school librarian put the book in the library so other students could read it.

Down the hall, in Ms. Harrison's classroom, writing time on Monday began with the teacher announcing, "It's time to write." The children enthusiastically scattered around the room, grabbing pencils and notebooks. For the next 25 minutes, they wrote in their journals and talked to one another. Ms. Harrison allowed them to choose their own topics and write any type of text, but most children wrote stories about characters from their favorite movies and television programs. Some wrote an entire story, others wrote a sentence or two, and a few drew pictures without writing any words. Ms. Harrison sat at her desk while the children worked and read anything that a child brought to her. "Great job!" she said to each one. Once a month, she collected the children's journals and put a smiley face at the top of each page.

Although each of these teachers used a "process writing" approach, many differences existed in their instruction. In Mr. Johnson's room, the teacher assigned the writing topic, and everyone moved through the writing process together: brainstorming on Monday, drafting on Tuesday, revising on Wednesday, and editing on Thursday. Students wrote alone and only the teacher read their work. In Ms. Turner's class, children chose their own topics, moved through the process at their own pace, got feedback from peers and the teacher, and shared their writing with classmates. They also received both individual and group instruction from the teacher. In Ms. Harrison's class, the students chose their own topics and moved through the writing process at their own pace, but they received no direct instruction from the teacher.

People sometimes wonder why these different ways of teaching are all called "process writing instruction." This happens because teachers, and sometimes researchers, tend to label any approach in which children draft, revise, and/or edit as "process writing." Research shows that teachers who use process writing instruction implement it in different ways (Troia, Lin, Cohen, & Monroe, 2011). As a result, the term "process writing" means many different things.

Evaluating the benefits of process writing instruction is challenging for two reasons. First, few high quality experimental studies have directly examined this approach (Pritchard & Honeycutt, 2006). As a result, causal evidence about its effectiveness is limited. Second, because teachers implement process writing differently, it is difficult to judge this approach holistically. Consider the three classrooms described above. If a researcher set out to study process writing, which of the classes would he or she include? The instruction in one classroom might be much more effective than the instruction in the others, yet each is considered to be "process writing." Perhaps a more important question than "Is process writing effective?" is the question, "What specific activities within process writing instruction lead to the best learning outcomes for children? However, much more research is needed to answer this question (McQuitty, 2014).

Despite some of the difficulties of studying process writing, some general conclusions about the effectiveness of this approach can be drawn from selected studies that have been done. A meta-analysis of 29 individual studies indicates that process writing is moderately effective at teaching children to write, though it is less effective with students who have writing disabilities than with students who are average or high achieving writers (Graham & Sandmel, 2011). The meta-analysis included only studies that occurred in classrooms with similar types of process writing instruction. The instruction in each classroom had these features: 1) extended opportunities for writing; 2) writing for real audiences and purposes; 3) emphasis on the cyclical nature of writing, including planning, translating, and revising; 4) student ownership of written compositions; 5) interactions around writing between peers as well as teacher and students; 6) a supportive writing environment; and 7) students' self-reflection and evaluation of their writing and the writing process. So, we can conclude that process writing instruction with these seven features is moderately effective for average and high achieving writers but only minimally effective for struggling writers. However, if teachers implement process writing instruction with other features, those approaches might be more or less effective for these groups of children.

While more research is needed about the specific features that make process writing instruction effective, some educators have critiqued the approach. For example, Lisa Delpit (2006) has argued that in some classrooms (like Mr. Johnson's and Ms. Harrison's), the focus on process means there is no instruction about the writing product. This creates difficulties for students who do not already know the characteristics of good writing. For instance, stories usually progress in chronological order, while informational reports are organized around topics and subtopics. Children who have read many stories and informational books will know these organizational structures, but those with few reading opportunities may not. Because some students may not have access to as many books as their classmates, they may lack knowledge of how stories and reports are organized. If their teacher only teaches the writing process and ignores instruction about how the text should be organized, certain children will be at a disadvantage.

Process writing approaches are relatively popular in elementary classrooms and probably offer some benefits. Writing, by its very nature, is a process, so teaching children how to engage in that process makes sense; however, teachers must carefully consider the specific practices they include in their process writing instruction. Research evidence does support several particular practices that teachers should implement as part of a process approach (Pritchard & Honeycutt, 2007). First, they must show students specific ways to improve their writing. For example, they can demonstrate how to add details to a story and provide time for children to add details to their own stories. This explicit instruction about how to create a quality text helps students more than simply telling them to draft, revise, and edit. It also answers Delpit's (2006) concern that some children will not know the features of good writing or how to produce it.

Second, children can benefit from interacting with peers during the writing process. They can learn from one another and help each other improve their writing. However, students do not automatically know how to help their peers, so teachers must show them how to give meaningful feedback. One effective practice is to give children criteria for responding to peers' writing (Pritchard & Honeycutt, 2007). Some teachers give students a protocol that outlines how to engage in peer response (see Figure 1). When children receive specific instruction about how to give feedback, they are better able to help one another.

Finally, there is some evidence that children should engage in the writing process flexibly rather than rigidly (see McQuitty, 2014 for a review). Some children may need more time to write their first drafts, while others may need more time for revision. Writing conferences, in which teachers read over children's drafts with them and provide feedback, also allow for flexibility. The teacher can provide individualized instruction in writing conferences, such as showing one child how to organize a paragraph logically and showing another how write topic sentences. Maintaining a flexible approach to process writing allows teachers to meet each child's specific instructional needs.

Genre Approaches

Although process writing provided a much needed response to ineffective, decontextualized language activities, the focus on process sometimes meant teachers ignored the quality of the writing itself (Baines, Baines, Stanley, & Kunkel, 1999). In some classrooms, children drafted, revised, edited, and shared their work, but their writing never improved. Particularly troubling was the fact that some children-usually white, middle class English speakers-seemed to excel in process writing classrooms while others-usually those from historically marginalized groups-did not. This fact led genre theorists to critique process writing and offer genre approaches as an alternative.

Genre approaches to writing instruction focus on how to write different types of texts. The notion of genre is grounded in the idea that writing is situational, so what counts as "good" writing depends on the context, purpose, and audience. For example, texting a friend and composing an essay are two very different writing situations. A "good" text message communicates ideas informally and efficiently, and background information is not needed because the author and reader share common knowledge and experiences. A text which states, "Ok meet you at 10" suffices. A good essay, however, has very different characteristics than a text message. An essay author must use a formal tone, fully explain all ideas, provide examples, and use complete sentences. Thus, the form of the writing is tied to the situation in which it occurs.

Teachers who use genre approaches teach about different writing situations and the forms required in each one. Instruction usually begins with children reading and analyzing a genre (Dean, 2008). In a unit about informational texts, the teacher will read many informational books aloud to the class and ask the children to read informational books on their own or in small groups. After reading, they discuss questions such as, "What's the purpose of informational texts? When do authors write them? When do readers read them? What do readers expect when reading this genre? What are the features common to informational writing?" Once children understand the purposes and features of the genre of informational books, they would then begin to write their own.

Genre approaches answer critiques of process writing by emphasizing the text and explicitly teaching the features of different text types. However, because teachers often integrate genre instruction with process writing or strategy approaches (described below), it is difficult to measure the effectiveness of genre instruction by itself. Research does show that children need repeated exposure to a variety of genres (Donovan & Smolkin, 2006), so it seems plausible that genre instruction would benefit students. However, we currently have no confirmation that genre instruction alone improves children's writing.

Genre approaches may become more common in elementary schools because the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects ( CCSS; National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers [NGA& CCSSO], 2010) for grades kindergarten through five are organized around three types of texts children should learn: narrative, informational, and persuasive. Therefore, the CCSS support a genre approach to teaching writing. As genre instruction becomes more popular, though, there is concern that teachers will focus too much on the forms and features of the different genres rather than how genres are situational (Dean, 2008). For example, a teacher might only teach that persuasive texts must state an opinion, give reasons for the opinion, and group the ideas logically (NGA & CCSSO, 2010). While it is important children know these features, it is equally important that they understand why people write persuasive texts, how the text features help authors create an effective argument, and how authors might need to vary the form of their argument to persuade different audiences. Thus, while genre approaches hold potential as effective ways to teach writing, it is currently unclear the best way to implement them. More research is needed to provide further evidence about how teachers should use genre instruction in their classrooms.

Strategy Approaches

Strategy approaches to writing instruction teach children the planning, drafting, and revision strategies used by skilled writers. These strategies are specific steps that guide students through each part of the writing process. For example, children might learn the planning strategy POW (Harris, Graham, & Mason, 2006): Pick my ideas (decide what to write about), Organize my notes (organize ideas into a writing plan), and W rite and say more (continue to modify the plan while writing). The teacher would teach this strategy through a series of steps: 1) develop the background knowledge students need to apply the strategy; 2) discuss the strategy and how it will improve students' writing; 3) demonstrate the thinking processes used while implementing the strategy; 4) provide support as students use the strategy, such as working together with a partner; and 5) have students use the strategy independently.

Strategy instruction typically incorporates elements of both process writing and genre instruction. After learning the POW strategy, children learn other, genre-specific strategies for planning and drafting. When learning about persuasive writing, they learn TREE: Tell what you believe (state topic sentence), provide three or more Reasons (Why do I believe this?), End it (wrap it up right), and Examine (Do I have all the parts?). This strategy teaches the features of persuasive writing and guides students through planning, drafting, and evaluating their texts. After completing their drafts, they might learn the SCAN revision strategy (Harris & Graham, 1996): Scan each sentence. Does it make Sense? Is it Connected to your belief? Can you Add more? N ote errors. Using POW, TREE, and SCAN together guides students through the process of writing a persuasive piece and directs them to include features of the persuasive genre.

Strategy instruction is a structured, systematic, explicit approach to teach writing. Teachers thoroughly explain the steps of the writing process and directly demonstrate both the thinking and the actions required to implement each step. Children practice each strategy, first with teacher and peer support and then on their own, until they have mastered it. Thus, while strategy instruction teaches the writing process and genre features, it is more systematic, explicit, and mastery-oriented than either process writing or other genre approaches. These features also seem to make it more effective. Numerous experimental studies have shown strategy instruction to be more effective than other types of writing instruction (Graham, 2006). However, strategy instruction is easily broken down into steps, which means that it is easier to research than other approaches. This may be one reason why more experimental studies about strategy instruction have accumulated compared to research on other ways of teaching writing.

Despite the strong evidence that strategy instruction helps children learn to write well, it is not widely used in elementary classrooms. This reality may be because teachers view it as formulaic or because it is more teacher-centered (rather than student-centered) than other approaches. Of course, teachers who use strategy instruction implement it in different ways. For instance, some teachers use IMSCI (Read, Landon-Hays, & Martin-Rivas, 2014), a somewhat less directed method of teaching strategies. This approach begins with Inquiry in which the teacher and children read various examples of a genre together and create a chart of the genre's characteristics. This inquiry is more consistent with other genre approaches than with models of strategy instruction in which the teacher directly describes and explains the genre features. However, the next step of IMSCI, Model, involves explicit instruction. The teacher directly demonstrates the thinking and actions required to plan, draft, and revise. The final steps- Shared writing, Collaborative writing, and I ndependent writing-are also similar to other strategy approaches in which students first work closely with peers and the teacher before writing independently. However, IMSCI is less mastery-oriented and somewhat less teacher-directed than other strategy instruction approaches.

Because the level of explicitness and teacher direction can vary depending on how strategy instruction is implemented, the question for teachers is, Just how direct and explicit must strategy instruction be in order to be effective? Researchers currently have no clear answer to this question. Studies do indicate that more explicit instruction particularly benefits struggling writers (Graham, 2006), but some educators think that teacher-directed approaches lead to shallower learning than approaches in which students take a more active role. Perhaps the best advice for teachers is to integrate strategy instruction with less explicit process writing methods (Danoff, Harris, & Graham, 1993). Such integration might offer the benefits of both explicit instruction and student-centered approaches to learning.

Multimodal Writing Approaches

Multimodal approaches to writing instruction acknowledge that people in the 21st century write differently than in the past. In addition to composing traditional, linear, paper-based texts, we also-perhaps more often-compose digitally. Writing digitally is not just a matter of typing on the computer rather than writing on paper. Digital texts use many different modes to communicate, and authors can develop proficiency in composing each one. Consider a typical webpage. In addition to written words, it may also contain photographs, artwork, audio, video, and text boxes that allow readers to post their own ideas. Designing and coordinating these various elements requires different skills than writing a words-only story.

Digital writing also links texts differently than traditional writing. Many traditional stories are linear; the author expects readers to proceed from the beginning to the end rather than jump forward and backward through the pages. In contrast, think about how people read digital texts. A typical sequence might be: Read half of the home page, click on a video link, watch half the video, click back to the home page, click on a hyperlink, read the first two sentences of the new page, then click on another hyperlink to yet another page. The options for reading a website are endless compared to the options for reading a bound book. As a result, authors of digital texts that include hyperlinks create a set of pages that can be read in almost any order.

The word "design" (Cope & Kalantzis, 2009) is often used to describe digital composing because many elements must be considered beyond the written words. Unlike traditional books, there are many options for page size and orientation, font style and size, layout of elements on the page, use of white space, and modes of communication (music, video, pictures, written words). The author of a digital text employs writing, graphic design, and possibly even musical, movie making, and visual art skills to design the text. Furthermore, because digital texts can be interactive, authors must also consider if and how they will provide opportunities for readers to make comments, participate in polls or surveys, or otherwise add to the text.

Although digital, multimodal writing is prevalent in our everyday lives, many elementary students continue to compose traditional pencil-and-paper texts in school. This may occur because the technology needed to write digital texts is too expensive or because the curriculum focuses on traditional paper-based writing. Still, some teachers are providing opportunities for children to combine traditional and digital writing. For example, Ms. Bogard's third graders composed digital stories (Bogard & McMackin, 2012). They created graphic organizers on paper that depicted the story events and used the organizers to tell their stories aloud and audio record them. Then, with a partner, they listened to the recordings and received feedback and suggestions. Based on the feedback, each child created a storyboard on paper by drawing the pictures that would appear in the story and the narration that would accompany each image. They also planned how to create the images: take photographs, draw and scan to the computer, create video clips, or create still images using software. Finally, they put all of the elements together-images and audio recorded narration-and used software to create their digital stories.

While digital texts are the most likely types of multimodal writing, some teachers have encouraged children to create multimodal texts that are paper-based. For example, while writing memoir stories, children in a fourth grade class (Bomer, Zoch, David, & Ok, 2010) created books that contained pop-ups, glued-in photographs, and objects such as ribbons and stickers. Some students made their books interactive by concealing some of the content with sticky notes and instructing readers to "lift here." Others attached notecards to the book so readers could write back. All the children incorporated three-dimensional elements such as handmade cardboard boxes filled with confetti, fold out maps, or a packet of sequentially numbered cards that told part of the story. Thus, multimodal writing does not require digital tools.

Because schools have only recently begun to include digital and multimodal writing in their curricula, only a few studies have examined this approach. Qualitative research, such as that conducted in the classrooms described above, shows that elementary children are capable of producing multimodal texts. However, because multimodal writing requires writers to create and coordinate different media, teachers may need to provide a high level of support to ensure children's success. For example, Ms. Bogard (described above) engaged her students in two cycles of planning and revision for their digital stories. First, they created a graphic organizer of the story events, told the story orally and listened to their recording of it, and received feedback from peers. This allowed them to compose and revise the content, which ensured that the story made sense, contained important details, and followed a logical sequence. They then created storyboards that allowed them to plan every image and write the words that would accompany each image. Each step of the process was needed to ensure the children could coordinate the multiple visual and audio elements of their digital stories. Simply asking children to write multimodally, without providing a process to support their writing, would likely be unsuccessful.

Summary

Many different approaches to writing instruction have been used in elementary classrooms. Some approaches, such as short, structured handwriting lessons and strategy instruction, have a strong research base to support them. Other approaches, like penmanship and rules-based instruction are ineffective in improving children's writing skills. Many approaches, including teaching grammar in context, process writing, teaching genre, and multimodal writing, are promising practices that need more research to determine the best ways to implement them. Teachers commonly do, and probably should, combine the best elements of each approach in order to provide the most effective instruction for their students. They must also seek out newly published research on writing instruction so they can continue to make informed decisions about the best ways to teach.

Questions and Activities

What are the different approaches to writing instruction? Describe each approach and explain what the research says about its effectiveness.

Based on the research evidence, how would you design effective writing instruction for elementary children? Describe the elements you would include and explain why you would include them.

Describe the approaches to writing instruction you experienced as a student. How helpful did you find each approach in supporting and developing your writing skills? Given what you now know about writing instruction, what would suggest that your teachers do differently? Explain your proposed changes and why you suggested them.

Observe writing instruction in an elementary classroom or view one of the videos of writing instruction available at http://www.insidewritingworkshop.org/classroom. Analyze the approaches the teacher incorporates into his or her instruction. How did the children respond to the different parts of the instruction? Explain how effective the instruction seemed and why you evaluated that way.

Web Resources

References

Bomer, R., Zoch, M. P., David, A. D., & Ok, H. (2010). New literacies in the material world. Language Arts, 88, 9-20.

Christensen, C. A. (2009). The critical role handwriting plays in the ability to produce high-quality written text. In R. Beard, D. Myhill, J. Riley & M. Nystrand (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of writing development (pp. 284-299). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Cotner, E. (1926). The status of technical grammar in the elementary school. The Elementary School Journal, 26, 524-530. doi: 10.1086/455935

Dean, D. (2008). Genre theory: Teaching, writing, and being. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.

Delpit, L. (2006). Other people's children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York, NY: The New Press.

Donovan, C. A., & Smolkin, L. B. (2006). Children's understanding of genre and writing development. In C. A. MacArthur, S. Graham, & J. Fitzgerald (Eds.), Handbook of writing research (pp. 131-143). New York, NY: Guildford Press.

Emig, J. (1971). The composing process of twelfth graders. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.

Gilbert, J., & Graham, S. (2010). Teaching writing to elementary students in grades 4-6: A national survey. The Elementary School Journal, 110, 494-518. doi: 10.1086/651193

Graham, S. (2006). Strategy instruction and the teaching of writing: A meta-analysis. In C. A. MacArthur, S. Graham, & J. Fitzgerald (Eds.), Handbook of writing research (pp. 187-207). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Harris, K. R., & Graham, S. (1996). Making the writing process work: Strategies for composition and self-regulation. Brookline, MA: Brookline Books.

Hawkins, L. K., & Razali, A. B. (2012). A tale of 3 P's-Penmanship, product, and process: 100 years of elementary writing instruction. Language Arts, 89, 305-317.

Hayes, J. R., & Flower, L. S. (1980). Identifying the organization of writing processes. In L. W. Gregg & E. R. Steinberg (Eds.), Cognitive processes in writing (pp. 3-30). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Murray, D. M. (1968). A writer teaches writing: A practical method of teaching composition. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin.

Myhill, D., & Watson, A. (2013). The role of grammar in the writing curriculum: A review of the literature. Child Language Teaching and Theory, 30, 41-62. doi: 10.1177/0265659013514070

National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers. (2010). Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/

Pritchard, R. J., & Honeycutt, R. L. (2006). The process approach to writing instruction: Examining its effectiveness. In C. A. MacArthur, S. Graham, & J. Fitzgerald (Eds.), Handbook of writing research (pp. 275-290). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Pritchard, R. J., & Honeycutt, R. L. (2007). Best practices in implementing a process approach to teaching writing. In S. Graham, C. A. MacArthur, & J. Fitzgerald (Eds.), Best practices in writing instruction (pp. 28-49). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Puranik, C. S., Al Otaiba, S. A., Sidler, J. F., & Greulich, L. (2014). Exploring the amount and type of writing instruction during language arts instruction in kindergarten classrooms. Reading and Writing, 27, 213-236. doi: 10.1007/s11145-013-9441-8

Saddler, B., Behforooz, B., & Asaro, K. (2008). The effects of sentence-combining instruction on the writing of fourth-grade students with writing difficulties. The Journal of Special Education, 42(2), 79-90. doi: 10.1177/0022466907310371

Saddler, B., & Graham, S. (2005). Effects of peer-assisted sentence-combining instruction on the writing performance of more and less skilled young writers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 43-54. doi: 10.1037/0022-0663.97.1.43

Thornton, T. P. (1996). Handwriting in America: A cultural history. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Troia, G., Lin, S. C., Cohen, S., & Monroe, B. W. (2011). A year in the writing workshop: Linking writing instruction practices and teachers' epistemologies and beliefs about writing instruction. The Elementary School Journal, 112, 155-182. doi: 10.1086/660688

Weaver, C. (1996). Teaching grammar in context. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Endnotes

1: For more detailed information about the role of fluency in proficient reading, see Chapter 3 by Murray in this textbook.

2: For information about using research to determine the effectiveness of an instructional approach, see Chapter 2 by Munger in this textbook.

3: For more information about meta-analysis, see Chapter 2 by Munger in this textbook.

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Steps to Success: Crossing the Bridge Between Literacy Research and Practice

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This chapter focuses on the different approaches to writing instruction that teachers use in elementary classrooms. It includes an overview of each approach, a description of how each is implemented, an explanation of how each has been critiqued, and research evidence about each approach's effectiveness.

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7. Spelling remediation for primary students

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7. Spelling remediation for primary students

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1. Written expression remediation for primary students 

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1. Written expression remediation for primary students 

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33. Written expression remediation for secondary students 

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33. Written expression remediation for secondary students 

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15. The handwriting brain in middle-childhood

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15. The handwriting brain in middle-childhood

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3. Tarjinder Gill: The Holy Grail of Teaching Spelling

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3. Tarjinder Gill: The Holy Grail of Teaching Spelling

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Tarjinder Gill: The Holy Grail of Teaching Spelling - ResearchED

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While spelling is one of the main barriers to effective sentence and whole text composition, it is an area in which teachers receive little or no training. None of the [...]Read More...

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9. Five essential motor skills for handwriting success

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9. Five essential motor skills for handwriting success

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The essential motor skills required for handwriting success - GriffinOT

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Well developed gross and fine motor skills are essential for a a child to be successful with their handwriting. Here we discuss five handwriting essentials.

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8. Pre-writing shapes – what are they and how to teach them?

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8. Pre-writing shapes – what are they and how to teach them?

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Pre-writing shapes - what are they and how to teach them?

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When therapists use the term 'imitate' they mean that the child imitates movements that they have seen. So, the adult draws the shape before and with the child so that they can watch and imitate the movements. This is easier for the child as they don't have to plan (or remember) the movement required.

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3. Letter formation families – the way to teach handwriting

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3. Letter formation families – the way to teach handwriting

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Four more reasons letter formation families are superior - in case you're not convinced yet!

Motor learning principles - teaching skills

Writing is a motor skill which needs to be practiced. When coaches teach motor skills, for example tennis or swimming, similar movements are practiced together. The easier movements are taught first and then they are built on. A tennis coach would never teach a back hand first, in the same way that butterfly would never be the first stroke taught in swimming.

In some schools, this principle is lost when it comes to handwriting. Letters are taught in phonic groups rather than formation groups. What this means is that 's' is taught first. 'S' is a highly complicated letter, especially if you add on cursive joins. It is the equivalent of starting with a back hand or butterfly. It's certainly not going to give confidence to a reluctant writer. The letter 'l' on the other hand can be drawn by most three year olds. It's a much better letter to start with!

It's easier to learn the same letter formation movements together!

It is much easier to learn similar motor movements at the same time. Learning letters in letter families, see picture, can be easier for many children as they can practice the same motor pattern every time. For example, practicing 'c,' 'o,' 'a, and 'd' together reinforces the same pattern each time. However, practicing 's,' 'a,' 't,' and 'p' does not allow for reinforcement of any pattern.

Starting with one of the hardest letters of the alphabet, 's,' can also be demotivating for children who find handwriting more difficult. Whereas, starting with the letters 'l' and 't' means that most children in a reception class can experience success. This will help to build their handwriting confidence.

Correct letter formations from the beginning

In my experience, children with handwriting difficulties typically have poor letter formations. They often start letters in the wrong place. Their letters often include 'add ons'. So, they might start 'n' from the bottom, draw the shape, they add the side at the end. And, reversals are common.

Teaching in formation groups, with directional prompts relating to the movement, gives these children the correct patterns at the start. It gives them a clear rule and structure. And, it takes away the need for them to think about how to plan their pencil movements.

Handwriting fluency

Learning the correct formations right from the start, leads to improved fluency later on. If children write with 'add-ons' or start their letters in the wrong place, they end the letter in the wrong place. This means they make additional hand movements and their printing is not fluent.

If they add the side onto 'n' and 'm' after drawing the shape, they finish on the left. Then, they have to move across to the right to write the next letter. If they made those letters correctly they would end on the right and just continue to the next letter.

When children have poor letter formations, often they can't join letters correctly. For example, when 'n' is drawn as a bump without a correct side, it often looks like a random bump in joined up writing. This makes the writing difficult to decipher. When printed letters are learnt correctly, children have their pencil in the correct position to add entrances and exits. They have also practiced the formations correctly, so don't lose part of the letter when adding the joins.

Make it easier for your children - teach in letter formation families

At the end of the day, when you teach in letter formation families, you make it easier for children to learn their letters. I can't count the number of times a child has told me they 'can't write' and I have asked them to write an 'l'. This they can do successfully and it's a springboard to write more.

Teaching formation groups also reinforces motor patterns, which makes it easier for the brain to learn the shapes. It also helps with reversals and writing fluency. Whilst it may add to your planning, please give it a try. I've already done the planning and made the resources for you in Write Rules. I'd love to hear about your successes!

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Letter formation families - the ONLY way to teach handwriting - GriffinOT

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Writing is a motor skill which needs to be practiced. When coaches teach motor skills, for example tennis or swimming, similar movements are practiced together. The easier movements are taught first and then they are built on. A tennis coach would never teach a back hand first, in the same way that butterfly would never be the first stroke taught in swimming.

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7. Handwriting – looking beyond the tripod pencil grasp

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7. Handwriting – looking beyond the tripod pencil grasp

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Pencil grasp is a complicated affair

The way a child holds onto their pencil is often a focus of assessment in the early years. A mature pencil grasp supports pencil skill maturity and handwriting. The 'dynamic tripod' is considered the 'Holy Grail' of pencil grasps and something that all children are expected to achieve.

In this post we will explore

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Handwriting - looking beyond the tripod pencil grasp - GriffinOT

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If you're trying to understand the difference between a tripod, quardruped, palmer and digital pronate pencil grasp then this page is for you.

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6. Dysgraphia Webinar for Parents - Dr. S. Feifer

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6. Dysgraphia Webinar for Parents - Dr. S. Feifer

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Dysgraphia Webinar for Parents - Dr. Steven Feifer & Dysgraphia Life

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35. EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE WRITING OF ADOLESCENTS IN MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS

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35. EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE WRITING OF ADOLESCENTS IN MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS

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34. Teaching Secondary Students to Write Effectively

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34. Teaching Secondary Students to Write Effectively

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WWC | Teaching Secondary Students to Write Effectively

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This practice guide presents three evidence-based recommendations for helping students in grades 6–12 develop effective writing skills. Each recommendation includes specific, actionable guidance for educators on implementing practices in their classrooms. The guide also summarizes and rates the evid…

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9. Teaching Elementary School Students to Be Effective Writers

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9. Teaching Elementary School Students to Be Effective Writers

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Dictation is a great way to get kids to link reading and spelling in a controlled activity. This activity enables them to practice encoding words they have learned to decode. Writing is a very complex and demanding activity, so it is important to make the dictation activity as stress free as possible.

Ask the learner to listen to the sentence and repeat it before he/she write it down. Some children may need to hear it more than once or to have the sentence broken up into smaller chunks, e.g. 'The cat sat ... in the pan' as they may not be able to hold the whole sentence in their short-term memory. Repeat the sentence and ask the learner to check what they have written.

The words with dots and dashes are high-frequency/common/sight words the learner may need help with. Always show the learner how the sound and letters correspond within these words. You may have them written on a small white board for the learner to copy.

If the learner omits or adds sounds/letters - write lines on which he/she can place the sounds/letters, e.g., P a m s a t o n i t. Use these lines as scaffolding that can be removed when no longer needed.

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Dictation is a great way to get kids to link reading and spelling in a controlled activity. This activity enables them to practice encoding words they have learned to decode. Writing is a very complex and demanding activity, so it is important to make the dictation activity as stress free as possible.

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Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Some excerpts:

"But psychologists and neuroscientists say it is far too soon to declare handwriting a relic of the past. New evidence suggests that the links between handwriting and broader educational development run deep."

"Children not only learn to read more quickly when they first learn to write by hand, but they also remain better able to generate ideas and retain information." "'When we write, a unique neural circuit is automatically activated,' said Stanislas Dehaene, a psychologist at the Collège de France in Paris." "'And it seems that this circuit is contributing in unique ways we didn't realize,' he continued. 'Learning is made easier.'"

"In another study, Dr. James is comparing children who physically form letters with those who only watch others doing it. Her observations suggest that it is only the actual effort that engages the brain's motor pathways and delivers the learning benefits of handwriting."

"The effect goes well beyond letter recognition. In a study that followed children in grades two through five, Virginia Berninger, a psychologist at the University of Washington, demonstrated that printing, cursive writing, and typing on a keyboard are all associated with distinct and separate brain patterns - and each results in a distinct end product." For example, "When these children were asked to come up with ideas for a composition, the ones with better handwriting exhibited greater neural activation in areas associated with working memory - and increased overall activation in the reading and writing networks."

"Dr. Berninger goes so far as to suggest that cursive writing may train self-control ability in a way that other modes of writing do not, and some researchers argue that it may even be a path to treating dyslexia."

"Cursive or not, the benefits of writing by hand extend beyond childhood. For adults, typing may be a fast and efficient alternative to longhand, but that very efficiency may diminish our ability to process new information. Not only do we learn letters better when we commit them to memory through writing, memory and learning ability in general may benefit."

"Contrary to earlier studies attributing the difference to the distracting effects of computers, the new research suggests that writing by hand allows the student to process a lecture's contents and reframe it - a process of reflection and manipulation that can lead to better understanding and memory encoding."

In sum, ""With handwriting, the very act of putting it down forces you to focus on what's important," he said. He added, after pausing to consider, "Maybe it helps you think better."

You can read the rest of the article here.

This article demonstrates that educators need to understand the cognitive basis of learning before making changes in how we educate our students. As the above article demonstrates, we need this both for young learners and our professional students. Here again is my favorite book on the neurobiological basis of learning: Duane F. Shell et. al., The Unfied Learning Model (Springer 2010). ( on Amazon)

Update: My co-blogger, Jim Levy, has just posted above an article on handwriting studies from Scientific American. This is the key sentence for me in Jim's post: "Because students can use these posted materials [ lecture outlines and notes that have been posted by professors before class] to access lecture content with a mere click, there is no need to organize, synthesize or summarize in their own words." When you "manipulate" material, you remember and understand it better. Sorry, there are no short cuts to true learning.

( Scott Fruehwald)

P.S. If students wrote their notes by hand in class then organized and typed them each evening, there would be even greater retention and understanding.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_skills/2014/06/ny-times-whats-lost-as-handwriting-fades.html

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Tuesday, June 3, 2014 Some excerpts: "But psychologists and neuroscientists say it is far too soon to declare handwriting a relic of the past. New evidence suggests that the links between handwriting and broader educational development run deep."

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1. How to teach handwriting and why it matters

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1. How to teach handwriting and why it matters

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Technology is an undeniable fact of everyday life and can support students' learning. But there are limits to that: Completely replacing handwriting instruction with keyboarding instruction in elementary school can be detrimental to students' literacy acquisition. Why are handwriting and letter formation so important?

Research has demonstrated a correlation between letter-naming and letter-writing fluency, and a relationship between letter-naming fluency and successful reading development. There's a strong connection between the hand and the neural circuitry of the brain-as students learn to better write the critical features of letters, they also learn to recognize them more fluently. This recognition of letters leads to greater letter-writing fluency, which leads to greater overall reading development.

In an article summarizing several studies on handwriting and learning, the writer Maria Konnikova notes, "Not only do we learn letters better when we commit them to memory through writing, memory and learning ability in general may benefit." When students write letters manually, they learn them more effectively. Switching to keyboarding before students have developed handwriting skills may reduce their ability to recognize letters. Konnikova also cites a study that found that students who wrote by hand-as opposed to on a keyboard-were able to generate more ideas. Students with better handwriting demonstrated "increased overall activation in the reading and writing networks" of the brain.

How to Teach Handwriting

Learning how to print is a developmentally appropriate first step of handwriting instruction for students in grades pre-K to 2, in terms of their fine motor skills. Handwriting instruction does not require a big time investment: Brief lessons and frequent feedback for students can be incorporated in all areas of the curriculum throughout the school day.

There are four main aspects of handwriting instruction: pencil grasp, formation, legibility, and pacing.

Pencil grasp: When it comes to how a child holds a pencil, there are correct and incorrect grasps. The correct grasps-in which the index finger and thumb hold the pencil against the middle finger-result in comfortable and efficient handwriting, while incorrect grasps can cause poor letter formation and fatigue.

A student with a poor pencil grasp may benefit from using tools such as a pencil grip or from wrapping a rubber band around the ring finger and pinkie-not too tightly!-to fold them against the hand. You can also teach the "pinch and flip" trick: The student places the pencil with the writing end facing her, pinches the pencil between the thumb and index finger, and flips the pencil into the correct position.

Formation: This refers to how a student goes about forming letters. Straight lines are easier for students to write than curved ones, so it's developmentally appropriate to teach students to write capital letters before moving on to lowercase ones.

It's critical that handwriting instruction be integrated with phonics instruction: As students learn how to write the letters, they should also be learning and practicing the sounds that the letters make. Handwriting and dictation activities are the cornerstone of any multisensory phonics instruction program, as requiring students to consistently practice forming the letters while connecting them to sounds will serve to better embed phonics concepts in the brain.

For students who struggle with letter formation, explicit instruction is particularly important. Students should be taught to start their letters at the top (or middle, as is the case with some lowercase letters), and use continuous strokes as much as possible. Some letters will require them to lift up their pencils, and they should be taught when to do this. Using lined paper is helpful, as is giving students a variety of visual aids: arrow cues for stroke direction, dots for starting points, dotted letters for tracing, etc. Students also benefit from "skywriting" letters-tracing letters in the air with an index finger while holding their arm straight out.

The letters b, d, p, and q are often confused by younger students. Teaching the correct formation of these letters can help diminish the confusion, as they have different starting points- b, for instance, starts from the top, whereas d starts in the middle. Internalizing the motor patterns for these letters can help make recognition more automatic.

Legibility: An important factor impacting legibility is spacing between words. It's helpful to encourage students to use a "finger space" between words-right-handed students can put an index finger on the line after one word before writing the next one. This technique doesn't work for left-handed students, who will benefit from using a narrow tongue depressor as a spacing tool.

Pacing: If students are using an appropriate pencil grasp and forming letters correctly, that will often solve any pacing challenges. Another factor to consider when looking at pacing is the press: Students should not be pressing the pencil down on the paper too hard as they write because doing so can lead to writing fatigue and a greatly reduced rate of letter production. But if they press too lightly, it can be a sign of weak muscles or inappropriate pencil grasp. Encourage students to write with a variety of materials (markers, short pencils, crayons, erasable markers on whiteboards) to help them adjust how hard they press.

School days are packed with instructional priorities, and it can be easy to let handwriting fall by the wayside. However, with just a few minutes a day, students' letter formation skills can improve, leading to positive outcomes for overall literacy development.

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How to Teach Handwriting-and Why It Matters

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Technology is an undeniable fact of everyday life and can support students' learning. But there are limits to that: Completely replacing handwriting instruction with keyboarding instruction in elementary school can be detrimental to students' literacy acquisition. Why are handwriting and letter formation so important?

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15. Neuroanatomy of Handwriting and Related Reading and Writing Skills in Adults and Children with and without Learning Disabilities: French-American Connections

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15. Neuroanatomy of Handwriting and Related Reading and Writing Skills in Adults and Children with and without Learning Disabilities: French-American Connections

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Preparation of this article was supported in part by center grant P50HD071764 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to the University of Washington Learning Disabilities Research Center.

1 Aged only 2, the young child spontaneously produces graphic shapes such as strokes, spirals or ellipses. She will soon learn how to combine those shapes into exquisitely precise gestures aimed at transcribing her ideas while coping with legibility constraints. When one realizes how early the learning starts, how long it develops, and how complex the simultaneous acquisition of the motor and linguistic codes is, one can intuitively understand that learning how to write has consequences not only on the organization of the brain, but also on the functioning of other skills such as reading. See Berninger and Chanquoy (2012) for a review of research on writing development from the first year of life through adolescence.

2 Brain imaging is contributing to advancing knowledge of both the brain's role in writing and the relationships of writing to reading. In this article we review what has been learned from brain imaging of individuals with acquired writing disorders, for example, due to disease, stroke, or injury and individuals who are still developing and learning to write. Findings are discussed from both neuroscience and behavioral/cognitive research because both contribute to understanding a complex process such as writing that is a product of both nature and nurture interactions. Because writing is a complex process, in this article we focus on current understanding of handwriting and its relationship to other skills. We also feature research studies and dissemination efforts that have involved collaborations between French and American researchers.

3 The overall shape of a word traced on a piece of paper, on a blackboard, or with a toe on the sand is always preserved despite massive changes in the effectors used to produce the movement. This "motor equivalence", described by Bernstein in 1967, implies the existence of a memory trace of the sequence of gestures necessary to produce each character (the so-called generalized motor programs). When this memory gets disorganized following a brain lesion, the shaping of the letters becomes difficult for the patients. This condition is termed apraxic agraphia, and typically results from lesions in specific brain regions. Historically, the hypothesis of a brain center containing the "graphic motor images" of letters has been formulated first by Sigmund Exner (1881) based on the observation of some agraphic patients' brains. Lesions of those patients overlapped in a region close to the junction between the middle frontal and precentral gyri of the left hemisphere that belongs to the premotor cortex (a part of the frontal cortex anterior to the primary motor cortex; see figure 1) and is often referred to as "Exner's area".

4 The role of a specific left frontal region in writing has later been confirmed by other neuropsychological studies and by several brain imaging studies (see Planton, Jucla, Roux and Démonet, 2013 for a meta-analysis). However, brain imaging results indicate that the exact location of Exner's area along the precentral gyrus is not that clear, with some studies reporting very dorsal premotor activations at the level of the superior frontal gyrus, and other studies reporting more ventral activations within the dorsal extent Broca's area. Further investigations are required to refine our understanding of the exact position, and the functional properties and functional specificity of premotor regions in writing.

5 In an attempt to do so, Longcamp (2014) decided to test whether the response of premotor regions differed when adult participants were writing letters, that is, basic units of written language, compared to digits. Qualitative or quantitative differences in the movements performed to write letters, vs digits or symbols are already detectable in very young children aged around 2 (Yamagata, 2007), undergo a strong dissociation around age six (Adi-Japha & Freeman, 2001), and are still measurable in adults (Delazer, Lochy, Jenner, Domahs & Benke, 2002). These findings indicate that the two representational systems, and their graphomotor functions, develop independently. Longcamp (2014) found that indeed, the dorsal part of the premotor cortex, together with two other brain regions involved in phonological processing, was more strongly activated when producing letters than digits. This raises the intriguing possibility that the motor patterns for writing linguistic items such as letters are implemented in a specific brain region and very finely grained functional specificity present in the motor system. Motor representations of letters may be more stable and more strongly anchored in the precentral regions. More stable central representations are likely to impact execution parameters such as velocity or duration, as shown in the course of handwriting acquisition and practice (Zesiger, Mounoud & Hauert, 1993).

6 Of course the so-called Exner's area is not the only part of the brain that gets activated when writing. As shown in figure 1, when the brain signal during writing is compared to a situation where the participants simply hold the pen on the tablet, an extensive network encompassing the primary sensorimotor cortex and various sensory and associative regions supporting visual and auditory processing activates. This activation is due to the fact that writing is not only a finely controlled hand gesture. It also demands neural resources for analyzing the stimulus (for instance auditory processing if the word is dictated) and most importantly for integrating on-line the visual feedback if what is written can be viewed (or "when the word is copied").

7 In addition, when one tries to isolate the most consistent activations across studies involving various writing tasks (Planton , 2013; Purcell, Turkeltaub, Eden & Rapp, 2011), one observes only a few nodes that seem really crucial independent of the constraints of the task at hand and the control conditions: left superior parietal cortex, the cerebellum, and the left fusiform gyrus (figure 1). The respective functions of these regions are not yet fully understood, but the fusiform gyrus was consistently identified by Purcell (2011) as contributing to spelling, and more specifically to the central processes in spelling. More generally, a subpart of the left fusiform gyrus is related to orthographic word-form processing (e.g., Cohen & Dehaene, 2004; Cohen , , 2002) and another, more anterior portion to letter-form processing (Joseph, Gathers & Piper 2003).
Figure 1. Brain activations during handwriting, in a group of young healthy right-handed volunteers
9 In fact, the writing network evident in many neuroimaging studies of adults also seem to play a pivotal role in children's writing. In an fMRI study involving children between 5 and 6 grade, Richards (2011) compared the brain activation resulting from the writing of an unfamiliar letter shape (round shape right above top of an horizontal line), that is a pseudoletter, to a highly practiced letter of comparable shape in ball and stick manuscript format (round shape with vertical line on right). Good writers were more efficient in writing highly practiced letters than poor writers. Interestingly, the premotor and parietal cortices, the cerebellum and the fusiform gyrus were engaged more strongly when the children were writing a new letter (pseudoletter), as if their activation needs to be higher when the memory of the shape is not stable yet in memory. However, this was true only in the case of good writers, because the activation in of those regions did not differ between newly taught and highly practiced letters in poor writers. Another important, and related, result was that efficiency in writing was linked to the involvement of a more restricted and focused brain network. Good writers engaged fewer neural regions to write a newly taught letter than did the poor writers. The component strokes in the novel configuration of the pseudoletter are highly practiced but not in the taught configuration; so the efficiency of production must be related to the overall context or configuration in which those motor strokes are produced. Conversely, poor writers overactivated the visual system, and extra parietal and cerebellar regions. Finally, good and poor writers differed significantly in activation in left fusiform cortex when writing highly practiced letters. This individual fusiform activation correlated significantly with behavioral measures of automatic letter writing and expressive orthographic coding. Multiple regression in which both individual fusiform activation and individual orthographic coding were entered explained significant variance in written composition. Thus, contrary to a popular belief handwriting is not just a motor or movement skill-it also involves written language at the letter form level.

11 In the great majority of clinical observations, alexia, that is the acquired inability to read following a brain lesion, occurs following a lesion of the left occipito-temporal areas (fusiform gyrus). However, deficits in the visual identification of letters can sometimes be associated with inability to write letters (Anderson ., 1990) , an observation hardly compatible with a pure visual deficit. Conversely, visual and sensorimotor cerebral representations of letter shapes could be somehow coupled. In the case described by Anderson (1990), the patient in question became alexic and agraphic as the result of a left premotor cortical lesion, corresponding to Exner's area. But is Exner's area also activated when subjects without a brain lesion simply observe visually presented letters? A first answer was given by Japanese researchers, who showed that several associative and motor areas are both activated when ideographic and syllabic Japanese characters are visually presented and written, and when the subjects are instructed to retrieve kanji ideograms (Matsuo ., 2001) . However, ideographic characters are fairly complex stimuli since they represent words and are associated to high level linguistic representations. Roman letters are by far less complex and thus it was important to check whether passively viewing Roman letters may activate some of the sensorimotor cerebral areas also involved in writing movements.

12 In a neuroimaging study, (Longcamp ., 2003) directly assessed this possibility. Using fMRI on a group of right-handed subjects, they observed that a part of the left premotor cortex was activated when letters were being passively observed, and that the same zone was also strongly activated when the subjects were actually writing the letters . Interestingly, this area did not respond to the visual presentation of pseudoletters, to which no predetermined motor program could be associated. Furthermore, in a subsequent study, Longcamp Anton, Roth & Velay (2005a) showed that a symmetrical area of the right premotor cortex was activated when left-handed subjects were passively observing letters, confirming that this visually induced activation is controlateral to the writing hand. They therefore suggested that this premotor activation reflected the involvement of the motor programs for handwriting, corresponding to each letter, in agreement with the conclusions drawn by Anderson (1990). These various data indicate that the cerebral representation of letters might not be strictly visual (see also James & Gauthier, 2006). In the framework of an embodied account of cognition (Wilson, 2002), it can be argued that coincident learning of writing movements and visual shapes of letters in early literacy leads to a multimodal representation of letters distributed over the cortical areas that were active when the letters were initially stored in memory.

13 This hypothesis can be formally tested in the context of training studies where participants learn how to read and write characters. In fact, several behavioral and brain imaging studies have provided clear evidence that producing characters by hand as opposed to simply viewing or typing them has an impact on the later recognition of these characters (Longcamp, Zerbato-Poudou & Velay, 2005b; Longcamp , 2006; Longcamp , 2008; James & Atwood, 2009). For instance, Longcamp (2006) trained adults how to write characters from an unknown alphabet (Tamil and Bengali fonts) either by traditional pen-and-paper writing or with a computer keyboard. Following training, they found that characters trained by hand were recognized more accurately and led to stronger activation in several brain regions known to be involved in motor preparation and execution than characters trained by keyboard.

14 In children, recent work (James, 2010) has revealed that writing training, but not visual-only training, induces increased activation in bilateral anterior fusiform gyri, a portion of the fusiform gyrus sensitive to visual configuration of single letters, in a letter recognition task in 4 to 5 year old pre-literate children when from pre-training and post-training scans were compared. The stability of the visual representations of letters is therefore strengthened when letters are trained by writing them repeatedly. This was confirmed in a subsequent study, in which a greater effect of freely producing letters by hand compared to tracing or typing them on the fusiform activation during letter perception was observed in the same age-group (James & Englehardt, 2012).

15 The positive effect of writing on the cortical network sustaining subsequent visual recognition of the characters can be extended to actual reading. Indeed, at a behavioral level, instructional studies, teaching handwriting has shown transfer to improved word reading even when word reading is not directly taught (e.g., Berninger, Dunn, Lin, & Shimada, 2004; Berninger , 1997, 2006; Dunn & Miller, 2009). In a correlational study of Chinese primary school children, Tan, Spinks, Eden, Perfetti, & Siok (2005) found that in both beginning and intermediate readers, the ability to rapidly copy known characters, that is, writing skill, was the best predictor of reading scores . Finally, we previously emphasized the important role of the left fusiform region in the neural network sustaining writing in relation to orthographic word form processing. Several studies indeed show that the fusiform activation is common between reading and spelling and between reading and typing characters on a keyboard, pointing towards shared neural substrates of reading and spelling skills (Purcell, Napoliello and Eden, 2011; Rapp and Lipka, 2011).

16 Letter recognition at the subword level contributes to writing skills at the word level (spelling) and text level (composing) as well as reading (see Berninger, Fayol & Alamargot, 2012 ). Berninger and her colleagues found positive effects of teaching legible and automatic letter writing close in time with writing activities at other levels of language (word spelling and/or composing): Following such instruction students wrote texts that were longer (Berninger 1995) and were completed in less time (Berninger , 1997; Berninger , 2006; see also Graham, Harris, and Fink, 2000 for similar findings). Writing involves cognitive processes such as idea flow (Kellogg, 1994) and strategic planning for composing (Hayes, 2006) and not just language (Richards , 2015). At the brain level, Berninger (2009) showed that good and poor writers differed not only in the basic sensorimotor activations specific to handwriting but also on brain regions involved in executive control and working memory during spelling (Richards, Berninger & Fayol, 2009; 2012) and idea generation for composing (Berninger , 2008). Brain activation of good and poor writers may therefore also differ during the idea generation process of writing because the good writers are more efficient than poor writers in engaging working memory while generating thoughts.

In a recent study, Richards et al (2015) evaluated several measures of white matter integrity (structural connections within the brain), functional connectivity between regions during two cognitive and two writing-related tasks, and correlations between white matter integrity and functional gray matter connections in typically developing children between grades 4 and 9 and children showing persisting handwriting problems (dysgraphia) or persisting word reading/spelling problems (dyslexia). They showed that the control group differed from dysgraphics but also from a dyslexic group, who differed from each other, in both white matter integrity, fMRI functional connectivity from four seed points for written word production (left occipital temporal, supramarginal gyrus, precuneus, and inferior frontal gyrus), and the white matter integrity-gray matter functional connectivity. Overall, controls tended to have more indicators of structural white matter integrity, and fewer functional connections, consistent with more efficient processing on written language tasks at the subword level (writing a letter than follows a visually displayed letter in the alphabet) and word level (adding a letter in a blank in a letter series to create a word-specific spelling). Functional connection differences were found on (a) letter- and word-level writing tasks, and (b) resting-state (mind wandering which probably underlies flow during writing) and goal-related cognition (planning before composing outside scanner). Thus, even when dysgraphia is defined on the basis of a transcription skill (impaired handwriting which may interfere with spelling), the dysgraphia group differed in cognitive as well as handwriting tasks. Collectively, their findings provide evidence for contrasting neurobiological patterns during two written language tasks and two cognitive tasks for typical writing development, developmental dysgraphia and developmental dyslexia during middle childhood and early adolescence.

17 Advances in the understanding of writing organization in the brain are only at their beginning. The basic network sustaining handwriting is now better delineated both in adults and in children. The inclusion of this network in the overall functioning of the brain, and the interconnections between regions during various handwriting and related writing and reading tasks is a promising field of research. Research on the letter level, word level, and text level of the writing brain is fundamental to provide links between brain lessons and teaching tips for educators, to ultimately facilitate writing development (see James, Jao & Berninger, 2015, for an overview). Understanding writing organization in the brain is also crucial to try to understand why handwriting learning is so difficult for some children (with dysgraphia). Finally, it is also highly relevant to anticipate what can possibly change in the writing/reading network if handwriting is replaced by typing teaching at school and hence what would be the impact of such a drastic change in both the writing and reading capacities of children and adults in the next generations.

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Neuroanatomy of Handwriting and Related Reading and Writing Skills ...

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In this article, we present recent neuroimaging studies performed to identify the neural network involved in handwriting. These studies, carried out in adults and in children, suggest that the mastery of handwriting is based on the involvement of a network of brain structures whose involvement and inter-connection are specific to writing alphabet characters.

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13. The effects of handwriting experience on functional brain development in pre-literate children

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13. The effects of handwriting experience on functional brain development in pre-literate children

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The effects of handwriting experience on functional brain development in pre-literate children

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In an age of increasing technology, the possibility that typing on a keyboard will replace handwriting raises questions about the future usefulness of handwriting skills. Here we present evidence that brain activation during letter perception is influenced ...

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12. Bulletin | Volume 51 | No 1, Autumn 2019 Special Issue: Writing and Writing Difficulties

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12. Bulletin | Volume 51 | No 1, Autumn 2019 Special Issue: Writing and Writing Difficulties

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2. How Parents Can Help with Writing at Home

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2. How Parents Can Help with Writing at Home

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Create a Writer's Space

Children thrive with structure, if possible, create a fun space for kids to write at home. This can be a corner in their room, a desk, table, anyplace that they can go to and know it is time to write! Don't have a space to use? Grab an old shoebox and fill it with writing tools your children will need like paper, a notebook, pencils, and crayons. Now they have a portable writing desk that allows them to write anywhere!

Make Bulleted List

Have kids keep a list of all the different activities that they do each day at home in a journal or notebook. Simply put the date at the top of the list and have kids create the list. Some activities may be everyday tasks, like made my bed, while others may be more exciting like, went on a nature walk. No matter the task, have kids record them all. This simple activity not only helps kids to write each day but by creating this list, they are actually creating a brainstormed list of "seed" ideas that they can later turn into narrative writing pieces. If you have students complete this during a school break or summer vacation, be sure they bring this notebook back to school so they can use these ideas and expand upon them.

Descriptive Web

Have students select any household item and create a descriptive web in their writing notebook. To do this, they simply write the word of the item they are describing in a circle and create a web of descriptive phrases about it using their five senses. You could also give more specific directions about what to write about such as a special toy, a piece of fruit, or something that fits in your hand.

Figurative Language Around the House

One writing skill that students love to practice is using figurative language. I don't know what it is, but kids love to write similes and metaphors, pack a sentence full of alliteration, and write using personification and exaggeration. Have children find an object in their home and write about it using figurative language. They can simply write a sentence with one form of figurative language or a paragraph with several.

Write about Reading

Since students are expected to read every day, why not have them write about what they read. This does not have to be a long task at all! Keep it simple and have kids write a sentence or two that summarizes their reading, something that they learned, or a prediction that they have. Just a quick response to practice writing at home each day.

Daily Journal

I love having students write in their journals each morning. While sometimes there is a basic prompt such as, write about your favorite food or something you did over the weekend, I usually let students free-write. This is an easy activity for children to do at home, too. There is no right or wrong way to write in a journal, so just let them be creative.

Tip: If you find your child is stuck and does not know what to write about, give them three minutes to draw a picture in their journal and then have them write about their drawing.

Create an Instruction Manual

Have children keep a procedural writing journal of all the things that they did while they were home over break. They will not only be practicing how to writing skills, but they will never be stuck for an idea. They can write directions for ANY TASK they did that day including making a bed, brushing their teeth, washing dishes, building a lego set, reading a book, really anything! To motivate children to write, have them create a comic book style illustrations to match. If students complete this activity while on break from school. encourage them to bring in their writing when school begins again and "teach" their peers how to do something they are good at! Since this a writing project, it will take several days to complete.

A Picture is Worth 1000 Words

This one is simple! Grab any photo, even a digital one saved on a phone or tablet and have the kids write about it. They can write about what happened that day, a descriptive piece about the setting, or even a short story. Kids love using pictures to write, so why not use ones that they know a lot about already to get them writing?

Juicy Word Journal

In my classroom, we call out of the ordinary words "juicy words." This could be a descriptive adjective, a new word that they found in a chapter book or a very scientific vocabulary word they learned during science class! Simply have kids record the word and its meaning in a journal and before long they will have a dictionary of new words that they not only love but will actually use in their own writing.

Be the Parent for the Day

Let the kids pretend to be the adults for the day, at least when it comes to writing. When and why do parents need to write each day? Maybe you have to write a grocery list, a recipe, or an email. Let the kids help or do all the writing that is needed that day. There is nothing better than using parent role models to encourage writing at home.

Don't Forget the Other Genres

Writing is so much more than a narrative or essay! Encourage your child to think about something that they love and write a poem or song lyrics about it. They can also complete writing activities with a purpose like writing a friendly letter or note to a friend or family member, or an email to a company requesting information or asking a question. Any form of writing is great writing practice!

Writing at home helps writers grow! Be sure to download these ideas for FREE here to encourage your students to write at home or to use it as an at-home writing assignment. Students will be engaged and since these activities require no screens or printables, all students can complete tasks.

You might be interested in reading:

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How Parents Can Help with Writing at Home - TeachWriting.org

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Children thrive with structure, if possible, create a fun space for kids to write at home. This can be a corner in their room, a desk, table, anyplace that they can go to and know it is time to write! Don't have a space to use?

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27. The Writing Road: Reinvigorate Your Students' Enthusiasm for Writing

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27. The Writing Road: Reinvigorate Your Students' Enthusiasm for Writing

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The Writing Road: Reinvigorate Your Students’ Enthusiasm for Writing | LD Topics | LD OnLine

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Teach your students to avoid the avoidance of writing. Learn how to lead them down the path of enthusiasm and self-confidence through research-proven strategies.

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3. Tool Kit for Parents: Tips for Helping With Writing Tasks

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3. Tool Kit for Parents: Tips for Helping With Writing Tasks

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By: Regina G. Richards

A student in elementary school describes his feelings about writing as follows:

"Writing was definitely the worst task of all. It was just way too hard to remember all the things he needed, like periods and capital letters. And then, it was almost impossible to think about how to spell words when he was busy trying to think about the story."

So Eli figured it was easier to write just a few sentences. That didn't hurt his hand so much either. His teachers complained, but Eli just kept writing very short stories. After all, teachers didn't understand what it was like to struggle and struggle to write, and still have the paper turn out sloppy and full of mistakes.... They couldn't understand how hard he "tried." (1)

Let's examine some of the issues that frustrate Eli about writing.

Working memory

Working memory is a form of multitasking . Many refer to it as "active working memory" to emphasize the role of active involvement. This type of memory has five main purposes:

Holding an idea in mind while developing, elaborating, clarifying, or using it

Recalling information from long-term memory while holding related information in short-term memory

Holding components of the task together in memory while completing that task

Keeping a series of pieces of information together so that they remain meaningful

Holding a long-term plan while thinking about a short-term need (2)

Story size

Story size relates to active working memory. When a student deals with or manipulates a larger chunk of information, he also needs to hold together more pieces or components of that information. To compensate for less efficiency in this area, students often shorten what they write. An example of a student struggling to hold an idea in mind while elaborating upon it is when he writes a story that begins about one topic but switches topics several times throughout the story.

Research demonstrates evidence of significant failure to develop students' positive beliefs and motivation towards writing in many of today's writing programs. Students who experience a limited amount of written language success often force writing with a hurried pace, a lagging confidence, and a lingering malaise. Although many students acknowledge that writing is important and directly related to success in school and life, the thought of writing too often evokes negative reactions such as feelings of anxiety and dread, lack of control, and avoidance. (3)

Sloppiness

The issue of sloppiness or neatness also relates to active working memory. Some students may be able to write very neatly when their total concentration is upon the writing mechanics. However, when at the same time they need to think about the content or what they are writing, their working memory system becomes overloaded. They are no longer adequately able to hold together all the components of the task, and therefore, the neatness of their letterform deteriorates. When working memory falters, most often the component that gets "lost" is the one that is less automatic and/or most difficult for the student.

Understanding

The situation described at the beginning identifies Eli's frustrations with what he perceives as lack of understanding by his teachers. Students are able to perform more efficiently when they understand their issues and when they feel that their parents and teachers understand them.

What to do?

The writing task places many demands on a student's active working memory system. To be successful when writing, students need to manipulate multiple components simultaneously and successfully. They also need patience, persistence, and flexibility. They must constantly switch their attention between different goals and subtasks: the ideas, elaboration, descriptions, sentence structure, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and more.

Pediatrician Mel Levine, in his book for teenagers, describes writing as "the awesome juggling act." Under a picture of a boy juggling eight balls, each representing a necessary component for writing, he states, "To juggle, he has to keep all of these balls in the air at the same time. To write well, you have to keep all of the parts of writing in your memory while you are writing." (4)

Chunking

This is an important strategy for all students. Chunking, a computer term meaning, "bundles of information," refers to the strategy of breaking information or a task into smaller manageable parts.

As parents, we can help our children appreciate these important aspects about the chunking process:

we store and organize information more efficiently in small chunks

everything begins with one small step

the small steps then lead up to a bigger accomplishment

Power

When dealing with writing, chunking is critical. POWER is a mnemonic strategy to encourage students to proceed through the writing task in small steps. This strategy gives students power to succeed when writing by encouraging them to use an organized, systematic process. (5)

In mnemonic strategies such as POWER, each letter stands for a single step the child needs to perform. When introducing the strategy, model (show your child) how to do with the step and then encourage her to do it herself. Be sure your child understands each step before moving to the next. After all of the steps, show your child how they come together to create the full strategy and explain how each letter in the mnemonic serves as a memory hint or hook to trigger each step.

POWER: P is plan

This stage includes preparation activities and development of some background experience, with the goal of establishing enthusiasm for the topic. It also involves discussing the basic format and type of writing required by the task, followed by determining the steps needed to complete the task. In doing so, the student plans the focus of the task.

Some suggestions for preparatory activities include reading your child a related story, discussing the book your child has just read, or doing an "experiment" or art project that illustrates a critical concept. Of course, this will vary with the type of task and the child's age.

POWER: O is organize

The goal of this stage is to identify and describe the parts of the task. Visual organizers and use of frames are extremely valuable at this stage. The use of visual organizers was discussed in previous Tool Kit for Parents articles including, Tips for Understanding What You Read, Making It Stick, and Being an Efficient Homework Helper.

Younger students may focus on three primary parts: beginning, middle, and end. Older students may add other relevant components such as characters, setting, problem, solution, and theme.

Some basic criteria to consider in teaching this step of POWER are:

Begin with information/tasks that are more concrete and gradually increase the abstract.

Begin by including fewer components and progressively add more.

Begin with a smaller task or chunk and progressively increase in size.

POWER: W is write

Students write their paragraph/ paper, elaborating the ideas developed in the stage above. Younger students may start with pictures. It is critical to include both adult feedback and self-feedback at this stage. Self-feedback is described below.

POWER: E is edit

In the editing stage, have your student focus on a single component at a time. She proofreads the paper multiple times, each time with a different focus. This step is often the most difficult for students with learning challenges because they tend to "read" what they intended rather than what they actually wrote. A great deal of modeling, scaffolding (helping much more at the beginning, decreasing your help as you progress), and direct instruction is necessary to help students develop appropriate editing skills and to encourage going through the paper more than once.

Specific editing strategies were previously discussed in the article, Strategies For The Reluctant Writer.

POWER: R is revise

Many students attempt to avoid the revision stage. However, it is critical that they learn this as a valuable component of the written expression task. Again, scaffolding, modeling, and direct instruction are very useful in helping them understand how to enhance their writing. Using a self-feedback form to record the number of changes they made provides a concrete record of their progress in revising and enhancing their written products. Of course, changes need to be appropriate and add to the quality of the paper.

In this article, we will focus on some specific strategies for planning and organization.

A note about vocabulary and spelling

Some students may have difficulty thinking of the vocabulary word or words they want to use while writing. Other students have difficulty with spelling. When writing, these students tend to simplify their word usage.

Vocabulary

To help deal with this issue, encourage your student to brainstorm and think about the important or key vocabulary words he may wish to use prior to writing. He then makes a list of these words so they are readily available during the process of writing.

List KEY words FIRST

Spelling

Students who struggle with spelling often become frustrated when attempting to express their ideas in writing. It is especially valuable for these students to list some of the key words prior to starting because then they will be able to write with greater fluency of ideas because they will not become "stuck" trying to think of how to spell a specific word.

These students need to learn to be able to sound out words efficiently so that they can spell them with good phonetic logic. This will enhance their ability to read their own writing and will allow them the opportunity to use an electronic spell checker that works on phonetic principles, such as the Franklin Language Master. ( 7 ) This author's personal preference for such students is the Language Master 6000b because of its large font size and good speech clarity. Because the Franklin recognizes words phonetically, students can input words using logic about the way they sound. The Franklin will then help them match the phonetic spelling to the traditional spelling. This provides a valuable opportunity for students to think about the words and use the process of decision-making as they select the correct choice. This process helps reinforce the accurate spelling of the word.

The use of a speaking component provides multisensory input and helps decrease the student's confusion in reading similar looking words. Your student may also use the Franklin to compensate for sequencing problems when dealing with dictionary work.

Frames

Ed Ellis of the University of Alabama ( 8 ) developed learning frames as a sensible and powerful approach for developing skills related to understanding and expanding ideas. Learning frames help organize ideas, concepts, important implications and sequences.

"Learning frames appeal to the developing brain by structuring thinking, supporting connections between new ideas and previous knowledge, and developing new patterns for complex thoughts." ( 9 )

A basic frame is a series of boxes organized on a worksheet. The basic concept is the same for learning frames and visual organizers. There is often a box at the top for a key concept and other boxes for specific details. Students may use learning frames to organize a report, summarize a story or expository text, or take notes.

This strategy encourages students to think deeply about the topic rather then simply to identify facts. It is important that the teacher or parent directly teach each component of the frame to ensure that the student understands what is involved. Each time you use the same frame, supply less of the information and have your child fill in more until he can use the frame independently.

Students can use simple learning frames as early as first grade because it helps them focus on the patterns within ideas.

Strategies for younger students or students who are "stuck"

Some students say they can't think of anything to write, but in reality they may have many ideas but are stuck because they do not know how to organize them and bring them together.

Using pictures with frames

LHQ describes this technique, among several others, in two of their tool sets: The Emergent Tools and Primary Writing Tools. (10)

Give your child a piece of paper with frames consisting of three boxes and several lines, as in the sample below. Depending on your child's level, you may wish to insert primary spaced lines for his writing.
View a sample picture frame format
Talk with your child about a "story", discussing beginning, middle, and end. Relate these concepts to stories that are familiar to your child. Be sure your child is able to identify these three concepts in a variety of familiar stories.

Your goal is for your child to write his own story. Therefore, the first task is to identify a topic. Your child may come up with an idea for a topic or you may provide suggestions. Suggestions should involve an exciting happening that your child has recently experienced, such as, an incident or event with his favorite pet, a trip to a theme park such as Disneyland, or a birthday party. It is important that your child have direct experience with the topic, as the topic provides an important context for the child to use in developing his ideas.

As an alternative, you can use a wordless picture storybook as a topic. Go through the book with your child and ask the questions below.

Discuss with your child what happened first in his event by asking, "What happened first?" Have your child draw a picture about that happening in the first large box on the frame.

Discuss what happened in the middle of the event. If this seems too difficult for your child, switch to the end and discuss the last thing that happened. Have your child draw a picture about that happening in the appropriate box on the frame. If you discussed the middle of the event, your child draws the corresponding picture in the middle box. If you discussed the end of the event, your child draws a corresponding picture in the last box. Then, have your child draw a picture for the remaining happening of the event.

After your child has drawn all three pictures, encourage him to write a sentence about each, using the lines underneath the appropriate box.

When your child has finished writing a sentence for each picture, he then has a brief story consisting of a beginning, middle and end. Read the complete story with your child. At this point, it is appropriate and useful to have your child use one of the self-feedback forms, discussed later.

Depending on your child's age, you may encourage him to elaborate on his story.

A book report

Preparing for a book report

Frames provide a valuable way to organize ideas for book reports. Identify the components required for your student's report, as these will vary at different ages and grade levels. Create a frame for each component and help your child work with one frame at a time to complete the report.

This frame is a sample of the type of frame you may create to help your student with a book report. ( 11 )

The components used in this frame are divided into three portions: the Introduction, the Body, and the Conclusion. Your child will also use an appropriate self-feedback form, which you may provide on the bottom or on another paper.

Introduction:

Hook

This is a brief statement to highlight something about the story with the goal of "hooking" the reader. For example, a hook for the story, The Sign Of The Beaver by Elizabeth George could be, "Can you imagine living on your own in the wilderness for several months?" Another example is a hook for the story Hatchet by Gary Paulsen: "Can you imagine living on your own in the wilderness with only a hatchet to help you survive?"

Resource

In this frame, your child writes the name of the book and the author. Depending on his curriculum, he may also add the literary genre.

Quick summary

Your child writes a brief summary of the story in one, two, or three sentences. Many students may need significant examples, modeling, and scaffolding to develop the skill of writing a concise summary.

Topic

Your child writes a single sentence, which summarizes the main idea of the story. For example, the topic frame for the book Hatchet might be, "Brian survives the Canadian wilderness by creating new ways to view his environment."

Body:

Ideas or events

The sample frame illustrates three boxes for "ideas" or "events." You may use this format for a book report having three or five paragraphs. In a three-paragraph report, the paragraphs correspond to introduction, ideas, and conclusion. The student integrates the three primary ideas into a single paragraph. A five-paragraph book report describes each of the three main ideas in a full paragraph.

Using the example of Hatchet, the three basic ideas are fire, fish, and meat.

Supporting details

Your child lists details to support each idea within the box under the corresponding idea. In the example above, your student may list three supporting details for the basic idea of fire:

Brian longed for matches.

He tried rubbing to stick together.

He used his hatchet to create a spark.

Conclusion:

The conclusion section includes varying components, depending upon what is required at your child age.

Restate the topic

This section is for a one-sentence summary statement related to the "quick summary" above.

Theme

A theme is defined as a unifying idea that is a recurring element in a literary work. In this section, your child selects a one-word summary to describe the theme of the story. For the story Hatchet, the theme could be "survival".

It is useful to provide students with a list of possible theme topics, making sure that they understand the meaning of each word. Your student can use this list to select a word that matches his story. Some theme words might be:

Interpretation

Interpretation relates back to the initial hook. The answer to the question posed in the hook in the story Hatchet is "yes!" Your student writes this word in the interpretation and box.

Concluding thought

Your child concludes his book report with the statement that forms a concluding thought. An example for hatchet might be, "sometimes survival means looking at the world with a new pair of the 'glasses.'"

Writing the book report

Give your child another blank copy of the book report frame. For some children, it is useful to print the frame on three separate pages, with one page for each of the following sections:

Many children decide that the sections for "hook," "resource" and sometimes "quick summary" remain the same as in the Planning Book Report Frame. If this is your child's decision, she may start with "topic." Your child then completes each box in the frame. However, this time she uses her notes from the Planning Book Report Frame and within each box, she writes elaborate and descriptive sentences for each component.

After the elaboration, you child completes one of the self-feedback forms to analyze her work.

The next step ("W" in POWER) is for your child to write (or type) the Book Report using good paragraph structure and organization. Again, follow this by using a self-feedback form to analyze her work.

Feedback

Research findings suggest that verbal feedback during and after a learning task are key elements in the error-correction process. There is much value in verbal feedback and discussing a learning process. However, interfering too soon in the learning process may get in the way of your child's ability to acquire and retain the information.

In providing feedback to your child, tell him what he is doing well and ask provocative questions to stimulate further learning. An example question might be, "This summary statement is very interesting. What else might you say to point out another important idea in the story?"

It is also critical for your child to analyze his own work by providing his own feedback. This process of analysis and decision-making is critical for the learning process. Self-feedback forms provide a framework for the criteria you child need to evaluate. Some examples of self-feedback forms are in Figures 8 to 13.

Using computer programs

Some options for obtaining ideas for using technology are available from the following sources.

An example of a Clicker4 screen.

Readers may find additional suggestions in Perspectives, the magazine of the International Dyslexia Association in the theme issue, "Assistive Technologies: Making a Difference" (17)

Older students may wish to investigate use of a voice-activated program such as Dragon NaturallySpeaking (18). Several prerequisites must be in place for success in using such software, some of which are listed below:

The student must reorganize the information in advance

The student must be able to state the phrases and sentences fairly fluently, without using filler words such as "um" or "uh"

The student must speak clearly without excessive slurring of words

The student must have a basic understanding of word processing procedures

It is valuable for the student to use the voice-activated program along with a keyboard. This technique is more multisensory and provides visual feedback so that the student can make corrections more efficiently. Newer versions of these programs include a correction device wherein the student can hear what was originally said, a feature, which can be extremely useful.

Help your student develop efficient keyboarding skills. To develop skills to an automatic level, frequency and consistency of practice are imperative. Very few students can learn to type efficiently by only practicing one time a week. It is more efficient to practice on a daily basis for five or 10 minutes. A short practice session repeated on a consistent basis will have more benefit for students. It is valuable to use a variety of typing tutor programs, as this helps decrease boredom. Among this author's favorites are the various versions of Type to Learn (19 , 20 , 2 1).

Investigate use of a program that will read back to the student what he wrote. One suggestion is Screenreader ®

In summary,

Be positive with your child and reinforce successes

Encourage your child to practice writing

Teach your child one strategy at a time

Ensure your child to practice the component skills to a level of automaticity

Encourage your child to use a process approach, focusing on one small chunk at a time

Encourage your child to have fun with the process of communicating in writing

Encourage your child to use an appropriate self-feedback form to think about the quality of her writing

And above all, Have Fun!

References
References

Richards, Regina and Richards, Eli. Eli, The Boy Who Hated to Write: Understanding Dysgraphia, 2000 (www.retctrpress.com

Richards, Regina G. The Source for Learning and Memory. 2003. (www.linguisystems.com). Page 23 (Based on Levine, Mel, Educational Care, page 7)

Boice, R."How Writers Journey to Comfort and Fluency", 1994, in Feifer, Steven G. & DeFina, Philip A. The Neuropsychology of Written Language Disorders: Diagnosis & Intervention, 2002, page 35. (www.retctrpress.com)

Levine, Melvin D. Keeping A Head in School: A Student's Book about Learning Abilities and Learning Disorders, 1990. (www.retctrpress.com) (www.epsbooks.com). Page ---

Richards, Regina G. LEARN: Playful Strategies for All Students, 2001. (www.retctrpress.com) Pages 74-75.

Allen, Rich. Impact Learning Cartoon Posters Series. (www.impactlearn.com) (>www.retctrpress.com).

Franklin Electronic Publishers (www.franklin.com)

Ellis, Ed. Makes Sense Strategies: Framing For Success (2001) (On-line).

Wolfe, Patricia and Nevills, Pamela. Building the Reading Brain, PreK-3. (www.corwinpress.com). Page 131.

Learning Headquarters (LHQ), San Diego, CA. (www.learningheadquarters.com)

Learning Headquarters (LHQ), San Diego, CA. (www.learningheadquarters.com)

Learning Headquarters (LHQ), San Diego, CA. (www.learningheadquarters.com)

Learning Headquarters (LHQ), San Diego, CA. (www.learningheadquarters.com)

Richards, Regina G. The Source for Dyslexia and Dysgraphia. 1999. (www.linguisystems.com) Page 243.

Richards, Regina G. The Source for Dyslexia and Dysgraphia. 1999. (www.linguisystems.com) Page 243.

Richards, Regina G. The Source for Dyslexia and Dysgraphia. 1999. (www.linguisystems.com) Page 243.

International Dyslexia Association, Perspectives, Fall 2003 (www.interdys.org)

Dragon NaturallySpeaking (www.dragon-naturally.com)

Type to Learn 3 (www.sunburst.com); keyboarding grades 3 and up

Type to Learn Jr. (www.sunburst.com); keyboarding grades K to 2

Type to Learn Jr.: new keys for kids (www.sunburst.com); keyboarding grades 1 to 3

Regina G. Richards (2004)

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Tool Kit for Parents: Tips for Helping With Writing Tasks

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By: Regina G. Richards A student in elementary school describes his feelings about writing as follows: "Writing was definitely the worst task of all. It was just way too hard to remember all the things he needed, like periods and capital letters.

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4. Understanding written expression difficulties 

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4. Understanding written expression difficulties 

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A lot goes into getting your ideas across in writing. You need good grammar and punctuation skills. And you need to be able to organize your thoughts. If your child struggles with these skills , you might hear the term written expression disorder. This term isn't an official diagnosis. But people often use it to describe a learning disability in writing.

You may not know yet if your child has written expression disorder. But the more information you have about this writing learning disability, the better able you'll be to help your child.

Lots of kids struggle with aspects of writing, like spelling and handwriting . (Trouble with those skills might be referred to as dysgraphia .) But that's different from written expression disorder. Written expression disorder isn't about the mechanics of writing. It's about expressing thoughts and ideas in writing.

For example, kids with written expression disorder may be able to verbally tell you the story of the Battle of Dunkirk without any problems. But when they try to tell it in writing, they run into trouble. They may not know what to write or where to start and finish.

Before you notice writing challenges, you may see behaviors that seem unrelated. For example, your child might refuse to go to school or get angry over small things that go wrong. But if you look for patterns in the behavior, you may see where the trouble really lies.

Kids with written expression disorder might:

Here are general things you might see in the work of kids with written expression disorder:

Words that are misused or that have the wrong meaning

The same words used over and over

Basic grammar mistakes, like missing verbs or incorrect noun-verb agreement

Sentences that don't make sense

Very disorganized essays and papers

Written work that seems incomplete

Missing facts and details

Keep in mind that kids develop writing skills at different rates. But there are certain skills they're expected to have at certain ages.

The results will give you a fuller picture of your child's strengths and challenges. They'll also show exactly where your child is struggling. That can lead to extra help at school, like accommodations .

You may hear different terms depending on where you have the evaluation done. If you have it done at school, you might hear the term specific learning disability in writing. That's because schools don't "diagnose" conditions. They "identify" challenges.

Private evaluators make diagnoses. You might hear different terms from them, including:

Specific learning disorder with impairment in written expression (the official diagnosis)

Disorder of written expression

Written expression disorder

There are techniques teachers can use to make writing easier. For example, they might give kids graphic organizers. These can help kids organize their thoughts before writing and guide them as they write.

Some kids struggle with written expression because of other challenges, like dyslexia and ADHD . In those cases, addressing the ADHD or the dyslexia may help with writing.

The same is true of dysgraphia. Kids with written expression disorder often have a hard time with the mechanics of writing, too. Working on spelling and handwriting may help them express themselves through writing.

One professional who can help guide you and provide insight is your child's teacher. The teacher can share strategies that have worked in the classroom and recommend next steps for helping your child.

There are many tools your child can use at home to help with writing assignments. These include graphic organizers, software, and apps. Many are free or low-cost.

About the Author

About the Author

The Understood Team is made up of passionate writers and editors. Many of them have kids who learn and think differently.

Reviewed by

Reviewed by

Gary A. Troia, PhD is an expert in phonological processing, writing instruction, and professional development in literacy.

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Understanding written expression disorder in your child

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A lot goes into getting your ideas across in writing. You need good grammar and punctuation skills. And you need to be able to organize your thoughts. If your child struggles with these skills , you might hear the term written expression disorder. This term isn't an official diagnosis.

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38. Dysgraphia Accommodations and Modifications

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38. Dysgraphia Accommodations and Modifications

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By: Susan Jones

Many students struggle to produce neat, expressive written work, whether or not they have accompanying physical or cognitive difficulties. They may learn much less from an assignment because they must focus on writing mechanics instead of content. After spending more time on an assignment than their peers, these students understand the material less. Not surprisingly, belief in their ability to learn suffers. When the writing task is the primary barrier to learning or demonstrating knowledge, then accommodations, modifications, and remediation for these problems may be in order.

There are sound academic reasons for students to write extensively. Writing is a complex task that takes years of practice to develop. Effective writing helps people remember, organize, and process information. However, for some students writing is a laborious exercise in frustration that does none of those things. Two students can labor over the same assignment. One may labor with organizing the concepts and expressing them, learning a lot from the 'ordeal.' The other will force words together, perhaps with greater effort (perhaps less if the language and information has not been processed), with none of the benefits either to developing writing skills or organizing and expressing knowledge.

How can a teacher determine when and what accommodations are merited? The teacher should meet with the student and/or parent(s), to express concern about the student's writing and listen to the student's perspective. It is important to stress that the issue is not that the student can't learn the material or do the work, but that the writing problems may be interfering with learning instead of helping. Discuss how the student can make up for what writing doesn't seem to be providing -- are there other ways he can be sure to be learning? Are there ways to learn to write better? How can writing assignments be changed to help him learn the most from those assignments? From this discussion, everyone involved can build a plan of modifications, accommodations, and remediations that will engage the student in reaching his best potential.

Signs of dysgraphia

Generally illegible writing (despite appropriate time and attention given the task

Inconsistencies : mixtures of print and cursive, upper and lower case, or irregular sizes, shapes, or slant of letters

Unfinished words or letters, omitted words

Inconsistent position on page with respect to lines and margins

Inconsistent spaces between words and letters

Cramped or unusual grip, especially

holding the writing instrument very close to the paper, or

holding thumb over two fingers and writing from the wrist

Strange wrist, body, or paper position

Talking to self while writing, or carefully watching the hand that is writing

Slow or labored copying or writing - even if it is neat and legible

Content which does not reflect the student's other language skills

What to do

Accommodate -- reduce the impact that writing has on learning or expressing knowledge -- without substantially changing the process or the product.

Modify -- change the assignments or expectations to meet the student's individual needs for learning

Remediate - provide instruction and opportunity for improving handwriting

Accommodations

When considering accommodating or modifying expectations to deal with dysgraphia, consider changes in

The rate of producing written work

The volume of the work to be produced

The complexity of the writing task

The tools used to produce the written product

The format of the product

Change the demands of writing rate

Allow more time for written tasks including note-taking, copying, and tests

Allow students to begin projects or assignments early

Include time in the student's schedule for being a 'library assistant' or 'office assistant' that could also be used for catching up or getting ahead on written work, or doing alternative activities related to the material being learned.

Encourage learning keyboarding skills to increase the speed and legibility of written work.

Have the student prepare assignment papers in advance with required headings (Name, Date, etc.), possibly using the template described below under "changes in complexity."

Adjust the volume

Instead of having the student write a complete set of notes, provide a partially completed outline so the student can fill in the details under major headings (or provide the details and have the student provide the headings).

Allow the student to dictate some assignments or tests (or parts of tests) a 'scribe'. Train the 'scribe' to write what the student says verbatim ("I'm going to be your secretary") and then allow the student to make changes, without assistance from the scribe.

Remove 'neatness' or 'spelling' (or both) as grading criteria for some assignments, or design assignments to be evaluated on specific parts of the writing process.

Allow abbreviations in some writing (such as b/c for because). Have the student develop a repertoire of abbreviations in a notebook. These will come in handy in future note-taking situations.

Reduce copying aspects of work; for example, in Math, provide a worksheet with the problems already on it instead of having the student copy the problems.

Change the complexity

Have a 'writing binder' option. This 3-ring binder could include:

A model of cursive or print letters on the inside cover (this is easier to refer to than one on the wall or blackboard).

A laminated template of the required format for written work. Make a cut-out where the name, date, and assignment would go and model it next to the cutout. Three-hole punch it and put it into the binder on top of the student's writing paper. Then the student can set up his paper and copy the heading information in the holes, then flip the template out of the way to finish the assignment. He can do this with worksheets, too.

Sample Template

Break writing into stages and teach students to do the same. Teach the stages of the writing process (brainstorming, drafting, editing, and proofreading, etc.). Consider grading these stages even on some 'one-sitting' written exercises, so that points are awarded on a short essay for brainstorming and a rough draft, as well as the final product. If writing is laborious, allow the student to make some editing marks rather than recopying the whole thing. On a computer, a student can make a rough draft, copy it, and then revise the copy, so that both the rough draft and final product can be evaluated without extra typing.

Do not count spelling on rough drafts or one-sitting assignments.

Encourage the student to use a spellchecker and to have someone else proofread his work, too. Speaking spellcheckers are recommended, especially if the student may not be able to recognize the correct word (headphones are usually included).

Change the tools

Allow the student to use cursive or manuscript, whichever is most legible

Consider teaching cursive earlier than would be expected, as some students find cursive easier to manage, and this will allow the student more time to learn it.

Encourage primary students to use paper with the raised lines to keep writing on the line.

Allow older students to use the line width of their choice. Keep in mind that some students use small writing to disguise its messiness or spelling, though.

Allow students to use paper or writing instruments of different colors.

Allow student to use graph paper for math, or to turn lined paper sideways, to help with lining up columns of numbers.

Allow the student to use the writing instrument that is most comfortable. Many students have difficulty writing with ballpoint pens, preferring pencils or pens which have more friction in contact with the paper. Mechanical pencils are very popular. Let the student find a 'favorite pen' or pencil (and then get more than one like that).

Have some fun grips available for everybody, no matter what the grade. Sometimes high school kids will enjoy the novelty of pencil grips or even big "primary pencils."

Word Processing should be an option for many reasons. Bear in mind that for many of these students, learning to use a word processor will be difficult for the same reasons that handwriting is difficult. There are some keyboarding instructional programs which address the needs of learning disabled students. Features may include teaching the keys alphabetically (instead of the "home row" sequence), or sensors to change the 'feel' of the D and K keys so that the student can find the right position kinesthetically.

Consider whether use of speech recognition software will be helpful. As with word processing, the same issues which make writing difficult can make learning to use speech recognition software difficult, especially if the student has reading or speech challenges. However, if the student and teacher are willing to invest time and effort in 'training' the software to the student's voice and learning to use it, the student can be freed from the motor processes of writing or keyboarding.

Modifications

For some students and situations, accommodations will be inadequate to remove the barriers that their writing problems pose. Here are some ways assignments can be modified without sacrificing learning.

Adjust the volume

Reduce the copying elements of assignments and tests. For example, if students are expected to 'answer in complete sentences that reflect the question,' have the student do this for three questions that you select, then answer the rest in phrases or words (or drawings). If students are expected to copy definitions, allow the student to shorten them or give him the definitions and have him highlight the important phrases and words or write an example or drawing of the word instead of copying the definition.

Reduce the length requirements on written assignments -- stress quality over quantity.

Change the complexity

Grade different assignments on individual parts of the writing process, so that for some assignments "spelling doesn't count," for others, grammar.

Develop cooperative writing projects where different students can take on roles such as the 'brainstormer,' 'organizer of information,' 'writer,' 'proofreader,' and 'illustrator.'

Provide extra structure and intermittent deadlines for long-term assignments. Help the student arrange for someone to coach him through the stages so that he doesn't get behind. Discuss with the student and parents the possibility of enforcing the due dates by working after school with the teacher in the event a deadline arrives and the work is not up-to-date.

Change the format

Offer the student an alternative project such as an oral report or visual project. Establish a rubric to define what you want the student to include. For instance, if the original assignment was a 3-page description of one aspect of the Roaring Twenties (record-breaking feats, the Harlem Renaissance, Prohibition, etc) you may want the written assignment to include:

A general description of that 'aspect' (with at least two details)

Four important people and their accomplishments

Four important events - when, where, who and what

Three good things and three bad things about the Roaring Twenties

You can evaluate the student's visual or oral presentation of that same information, in the alternative format.

Remediation

Consider these options:

Build handwriting instruction into the student's schedule. The details and degree of independence will depend on the student's age and attitude, but many students would like to have better handwriting if they could.

If the writing problem is severe enough, the student may benefit from occupational therapy or other special education services to provide intensive remediation.

Keep in mind that handwriting habits are entrenched early. Before engaging in a battle over a student's grip or whether they should be writing in cursive or print, consider whether enforcing a change in habits will eventually make the writing task a lot easier for the student, or whether this is a chance for the student to make his or her own choices.

Teach alternative handwriting methods such as "Handwriting Without Tears."

Even if the student employs accommodations for writing, and uses a word processor for most work, it is still important to develop and maintain legible writing. Consider balancing accommodations and modifications in content area work with continued work on handwriting or other written language skills. For example, a student for whom you are not going to grade spelling or neatness on certain assignments may be required to add a page of spelling or handwriting practice to his portfolio.

More information on dysgraphia

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By: Susan Jones Many students struggle to produce neat, expressive written work, whether or not they have accompanying physical or cognitive difficulties. They may learn much less from an assignment because they must focus on writing mechanics instead of content. After spending more time on an assignment than their peers, these students understand the material less.

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3. What should Ms. Lin know in order to provide effective writing instruction?

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3. What should Ms. Lin know in order to provide effective writing instruction?

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Page 1: Understanding Difficulties with Written Expression

Writing is a complex process that requires students to attend to multiple elements while also monitoring their performance. Students need to learn not only to pay attention to the rules and mechanics of writing but also to develop effective and efficient composition skills. Negotiating and coordinating basic skills, knowledge, form, purpose, attention to an intended audience, and the rules of written language can prove difficult even for skilled writers. The table below highlights some of the major differences between struggling writers (including students with learning disabilities) and successful ones.

Are unaware of the purpose or process of writing

Have little or no knowledge of the text structure of an essay

Have difficulty developing plans and staying focused on the topic

Experience greater writing anxiety and decreased motivation

Analyze the task

Understand and apply all the elements of an essay

Create goals for their writing

Develop plans to achieve their goals

Produce fewer ideas

Fail to organize their thoughts

Develop additional ideas

Organize their ideas

Plan what they are going to say as they write

Use imprecise and nonspecific vocabulary

Struggle to convey their thoughts, ideas, and opinions

Write fewer sentences

Focus on mechanics rather than on clarity and organization

Write using an organized plan but adjust goals when obstacles arise

Use vocabulary accurately

Experience fewer difficulties with the elements of an essay

Generate sentences that support their ideas

Experience problems with grammar, punctuation, and spelling

Place words and letters too close or too far from each other

Do not review and make corrections

Edit spelling, capitalization, and punctuation

Make more content revisions

Correct overall appearance

Torri Lienemann, PhDDirector of the Graduate Special Education Program

Concordia University, Nebraska

Sample persuasive papers written by two students in Ms. Lin's class are provided below. Malcolm, a struggling writer, has a learning disability. Notice how he has difficulty with grammar, punctuation, and spelling. In addition, he produces few complete sentences and ideas. On the other hand, Nakia, a successful writer, develops a plan to achieve her writing goal. She organizes her thoughts and has few difficulties writing her text. She edits her work for spelling, capitalization, and punctuation errors and makes several revisions before she considers her paper complete.

Research Shows

The writing skills of struggling students, including those with learning disabilities, significantly improve when explicit writing-strategy instruction is provided.
(Graham, S., & Perin, D., 2007)

Students who were taught to use writing strategies produced higher quality written essays than did those who were not taught writing strategies.
(De La Paz, S. & Graham, S., 2002)

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IRIS | Page 1: Understanding Difficulties with Written Expression

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Writing is a complex process that requires students to attend to multiple elements while also monitoring their performance. Students need to learn not only to pay attention to the rules and mechanics of writing but also to develop effective and efficient composition skills.

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39. Supporting Students with Learning Disabilities in Written Expression

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39. Supporting Students with Learning Disabilities in Written Expression

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WRITING: Basics | Difficulties | Responses

Difficulties with Writing

What Can Inhibit Writing Development?
Like all learning problems, difficulties in writing can be devastating to a child's education and self-esteem. As children progress through school, they are increasingly expected to express what they know about many different subjects through writing. If a child fails to develop certain basic skills, he will be unable to write with the speed and fluency required to excel as these demands increase. Indeed, for a child struggling with a writing problem, the writing process itself interferes with learning. Students faced with such difficult odds have trouble staying motivated.

Writing problems rarely occur in isolation, and improvements in writing go hand in hand with the development of other non-writing-specific skills. Thus, a problem with the development in one of these areas is likely to interfere with a child's progress as a writer.

In his book Developmental Variation and Learning Disorders, Dr. Mel Levine identifies the following neurodevelopmental problems and their potential impacts on writing.

Attention Problem
Children who struggle with attention may be inattentive and impulsive. An attention problem may manifest itself as:

difficulty getting started on writing assignments

easy distractibility during writing tasks

mental fatigue or tiredness while writing

inconsistent legibility in writing

uneven writing tempo

many careless errors

poorly planned papers and reports

Spatial Ordering Problem
Children who struggle with spatial ordering have decreased awareness regarding the spatial arrangement of letters, words, or sentences on a page. A spatial ordering problem may manifest itself in a child's writing as:

poor use of lines on the paper

organizational problems

uneven spacing between letters

many misspelled words

Sequential Ordering Problem
Children who struggle with sequential ordering have difficulty putting or maintaining letters, processes, or ideas in order. A sequential ordering problem may manifest itself in a child's writing as:

poor letter formation

transposed letters and spelling omissions

poor narrative sequencing

lack of transitions

Memory Problem
Because so many writing processes need to be automatic, active working memory is critical. Children may have difficulty recalling spelling, grammar, and punctuation rules, accessing prior knowledge while writing, or organizing ideas. A memory problem may manifest itself in a child's writing as:

poor vocabulary

many misspelled words

frequent capitalization, punctuation, and grammar errors

Language Problem
Good writing relies on a child's language abilities improving steadily over time. A language problem may manifest itself in a child's writing as:

poor vocabulary

awkward phrasing and unconventional grammar

inappropriate use of colloquial language

difficulty with sentence structure and word order

trouble reading back what is written

difficulty with word sounds, spelling, and meanings

Higher-Order Cognition Problem
Children who have difficulty with higher-order cognition are often unable to use writing to present a sound argument or convey sophisticated or abstract ideas. A higher-order cognition problem might manifest itself in a child's:

trouble generating ideas or elaborating on them

difficulty developing and organizing ideas

lack of opinion or sense of audience

difficulty with writing tasks that require creativity and/or critical thinking

Try it yourself. Experience an essay assignment.

Graphomotor Problem
Children with graphomotor problems struggle to coordinate the small muscles of the fingers in order to maneuver a pen or pencil, especially as assignment length increases. A child with a graphomotor problem might:

write only very short passages

write exceptionally slowly and with great effort

use an awkward pencil grip

lack fluidity in cursive writing

find it hard to form letters

Try it yourself. Experience a graphomotor difficulty.

It's important to remember that many children and adolescents make mistakes or experience problems as part of the process of becoming better writers. They may reverse words, spell poorly, or have difficulty producing their thoughts in writing, or exhibit other of the signs above. As in any academic area, teachers and parents must watch carefully and try to understand an individual child's strengths and weaknesses to ensure progress. One way to monitor progress is through collecting a portfolio of a child's work over time. This may help in identifying a problem early on and developing effective strategies.

Dr. Mel Levine explains how Nathan Suggs' ideas outpace his ability to get them on paper.

Nathan's output problem focuses a lot on writing, which is the most common and demanding -- particularly at his age -- example of output. And for Nathan, he runs out of steam when he writes, he has motor difficulty with writing. He's a good linguist, so it's not the language part of writing that's impeding him. In fact, his verbal output so far exceeds what his fingers can do that his engine gets flooded when he tries to write.

He also has difficulty mobilizing the mental effort needed for writing, and he has tremendous difficulty organizing an output -- conducting the orchestra.

You know, almost any project you undertake, whether it's a writing activity or something else, is the pulling together of multiple components: How am I going to pull together spelling, punctuation, capitalization, my prior knowledge, my new ideas, letter formation? How am I going to remember the directions that the teacher gave while I'm doing that? How am I going to organize all this so that it has a beginning, a middle, and an end? That's a big orchestra to conduct, if you think of it. And some kids sit down, bright kids like Nathan, and say, "Oh my God, forget it. I'm going to go watch TV." It's just more than they can handle. And Nathan's that way.

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Misunderstood Minds . Writing Difficulties | PBS

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WRITING : Basics | Difficulties | Responses Like all learning problems, difficulties in writing can be devastating to a child's education and self-esteem. As children progress through school, they are increasingly expected to express what they know about many different subjects through writing.

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4. Using Assistive Technology to Support Writing

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4. Using Assistive Technology to Support Writing

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By: Center for Implementing Technology in Education (CITEd)

The challenges of writing problems

"My students hate to write!""The ideas are there, but jumbled."
"If I could only read their handwriting, I might be able to understand what they are trying to say."

These are variations on a lament often heard from teachers who work with students with disabilities, especially those language-learning disabilities that have a direct effect on their production of written language. These students might have problems such as the following: generating ideas, organizing ideas, finding the right words to convey ideas, using correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling, and handwriting. While there are no easy answers to these types of general problems, there are ways to create an environment using a variety of technology tools in which students will be more successful writers.

Selecting technology tools

In order to select appropriate technology tools to support writing needs, teachers need to consider the following: the individual student's abilities and needs; the goals of the curriculum based on standards of performance; the growing body of effective instructional practices (e.g., defining a purpose for writing, providing authentic opportunities for self-expression, drafting, peer review, etc.); and ways to assess or monitor student progress.

Within this context, general and specific technology tools can serve an important role in offering many students much-needed support.

General technology tools

In this context, general technology can be considered as tools that can serve a particular and important purpose in writing for students with disabilities, primarily those with mild disabilities. Students with minor language production problems, difficulties transferring thoughts to paper, poor spelling, illegible handwriting, struggles in organizing their thoughts, and the like, can use standard text production tools.

Word processing and multimedia software

In addition to making writing legible, relevant features of standard word processing and multimedia software that could assist students with a range of difficulties are: sizable fonts, line spacing, spell and grammar checking, opportunities for outlining, use of tables to organize information, and incorporation of media to present ideas.

Tools to organize information

Graphic organizers help students generate and organize ideas through building visual relationships among concepts rather than having to use language-based mediation. New variants on such tools include visual thesauruses that help students build important vocabulary and information concepts through building ideas in physical space.

Specific technology tools

We can distinguish some technology tools for students whose disabilities are significant enough that the technology tools above are not sufficient to address their writing needs. These specific AT tools are those that are typically not used, or even available for use, by most students. This is not to say that such tools might not be worthwhile for many students, but simply that they are designed for more specific needs. We have divided them into three categories here: tools for physical and sensory access, tools for creating text, and tools for reviewing text.

Tools for physical and sensory access

The first group constitutes tools for those individuals with significant motor or sensory impairments that make it difficult to engage in writing and related school activities without a computer and specialized hardware or software. Appropriate tools can range from a larger keyboard that allows a person with movement disabilities to type, to a computer-generated voice (called synthesized speech, or text-to-speech, TTS) to read back what was written for an individual who cannot see the screen. Determining whether individuals with these kinds of physical or sensory challenges need AT tools for writing, and which ones, is relatively straightforward. Moreover, sometimes the use of an AT tool is all the individual needs to get on track with writing, assuming that they have not missed critical instruction and experience along the way.

Tools for creating text

Tools for creating text might be needed by students who have such significant spelling problems that a regular spell checker cannot offer suggestions, or by students with illegible handwriting who need to take notes in class, or by students who are unable to learn to type effectively. AT tools for text creation to consider for each of these students would be, respectively, word prediction, a small electronic keyboard, and speech recognition software. These AT tools offer students support for producing text that matches and compensates for the areas in which they have greatest difficulty and allows them to write at a level commensurate with their strengths.

Tools for reviewing text

Tools for reviewing text could help a variety of students, including those with learning disabilities who have difficulty reading (and therefore revising) texts they have created, even if poor handwriting has been avoided. Text-to-speech engines are the primary tool for reviewing and for reading back the text on the screen. Some students might also benefit from having the words highlighted as they are read back, to help visually track them as they are "spoken." With text-to-speech, students can hear the text read back by an independent and non-evaluative reader, and thereby detect errors they made while writing. With this support, students have the potential of becoming independent in making a first revision of their work.

Requirements and challenges in using AT to support writing

Use of AT in writing ranges from essential to merely facilitative depending on an individual's abilities and challenges. To some extent, use of AT also depends on the student's environment. First, as noted above, the writing curriculum must be comprehensive. Furthermore, in all cases a knowledgeable AT specialist should be consulted when deciding on appropriate technology tools. In addition, the student's teachers and team members must be trained to help the student use AT and integrate it effectively into the curriculum—professional development is crucial. In addition to the teachers involved, students may also have a difficult learning curve in using technology successfully for writing. When using a new technology tool, it is important that the student's initial writing tasks be calibrated to balance the difficulty in learning to use the technology itself.

Finally, when technology is used to support an individual's writing needs, the measure of the success or failure of the technology tool should be made based on an individual student's use. Data about relevant parameters of writing should be collected from the student both before use of the technology, and on similar tasks after the student has gained mastery over the technology itself. This data should not be confined to simple mechanics, even if that is the student's area of weakness, but also to a determination of the student's attitudes about writing, in order to determine whether the student is more likely to continue writing with the technology or without it.
References
References

Click the "References" link above to hide these references.

Alessi, S.M., & Trollip, S.R. (2001). Multimedia for learning: Methods and development (3 rd ed., pp. 138-179). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Anderson-Inman, L., & Horney, M. (1999). Electronic books: Reading and studying with supportive resources. Available at http://www.readingonline.org/electronic/ebook.

Anderson-Inman, L. & Reinking, D. (1998). Learning from text in a post-typographic world. In C. Hynd, S. Stahl. B. Britton, M. Carr & S. Glynn (Eds.) Learning from text across conceptual domains in secondary schools. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Behrmann, M., & Jerome, M. K. (2002). Assistive technology for students with mild disabilities: Update 2002. ERIC Digest. Retrieved May 12, 2005, from http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-1/assistive.htm.

Blankenship, T.L., Ayres, K.M., & Langone, J. (2005). Effects of computer-based cognitive mapping on reading comprehension for students with emotional behavior disorders. Journal of Special Education Technology, 20(2).

Castellani, J., & Jeffs, T. (May/June 2001). Emerging reading and writing strategies using technology. Teaching Exceptional Children, 33(5).

Lee, C. (1999). Learning disabilities and assistive technologies; An emerging way to touch the future. Amherst, MA: McGowan Publications.

Englert, C.S., Manalo, M., & Zhao, Y. (2004). I can do it better on the computer: The effects of technology-enabled scaffolding on young writers' composition. Journal of Special Education Technology, 19(1).

MacArthur, C.A. (1996). Using technology to enhance the writing processes of students with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 29(4), 344-354.

Higgins, E. L., & Raskind, M. H. (1997). The compensatory effectiveness of optical character recognition/speech synthesis on reading comprehension of postsecondary students with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 8, 75-87.

Male, M. (1994). Technology for inclusion: Meeting the special needs of all students. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Okolo, C.M. (2005). Interactive technologies and social studies instruction for students with mild disabilities. In D. Edyburn, R., Boone, & K. Higgins (Eds.), The Handbook of Special Education Technology Research and Practice (pp. 623-641). Milwaukee, WI: Knowledge by Design.

Olson, R. K., & Wise, B. W. (1992). Reading on the computer with orthographic and speech feedback. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 4, 107-144.

Tumlin, J., & Wolff-Heller, K. (2004). Using word prediction software to increase typing fluency with students with physical disabilities. Journal of Special Education Technology, 19(3).

References

Alessi, S.M., & Trollip, S.R. (2001). Multimedia for learning: Methods and development (3 rd ed., pp. 138-179). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Anderson-Inman, L., & Horney, M. (1999). Electronic books: Reading and studying with supportive resources. Available at http://www.readingonline.org/electronic/ebook.

Anderson-Inman, L. & Reinking, D. (1998). Learning from text in a post-typographic world. In C. Hynd, S. Stahl. B. Britton, M. Carr & S. Glynn (Eds.) Learning from text across conceptual domains in secondary schools. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Behrmann, M., & Jerome, M. K. (2002). Assistive technology for students with mild disabilities: Update 2002. ERIC Digest. Retrieved May 12, 2005, from http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-1/assistive.htm.

Blankenship, T.L., Ayres, K.M., & Langone, J. (2005). Effects of computer-based cognitive mapping on reading comprehension for students with emotional behavior disorders. Journal of Special Education Technology, 20(2).

Castellani, J., & Jeffs, T. (May/June 2001). Emerging reading and writing strategies using technology. Teaching Exceptional Children, 33(5).

Lee, C. (1999). Learning disabilities and assistive technologies; An emerging way to touch the future. Amherst, MA: McGowan Publications.

Englert, C.S., Manalo, M., & Zhao, Y. (2004). I can do it better on the computer: The effects of technology-enabled scaffolding on young writers' composition. Journal of Special Education Technology, 19(1).

MacArthur, C.A. (1996). Using technology to enhance the writing processes of students with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 29(4), 344-354.

Higgins, E. L., & Raskind, M. H. (1997). The compensatory effectiveness of optical character recognition/speech synthesis on reading comprehension of postsecondary students with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 8, 75-87.

Male, M. (1994). Technology for inclusion: Meeting the special needs of all students. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Okolo, C.M. (2005). Interactive technologies and social studies instruction for students with mild disabilities. In D. Edyburn, R., Boone, & K. Higgins (Eds.), The Handbook of Special Education Technology Research and Practice (pp. 623-641). Milwaukee, WI: Knowledge by Design.

Olson, R. K., & Wise, B. W. (1992). Reading on the computer with orthographic and speech feedback. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 4, 107-144.

Tumlin, J., & Wolff-Heller, K. (2004). Using word prediction software to increase typing fluency with students with physical disabilities. Journal of Special Education Technology, 19(3).

Article is on CITEd at http://www.cited.org/index.aspx?page_id=108

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Using Assistive Technology to Support Writing

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By: Center for Implementing Technology in Education (CITEd) "My students hate to write!" "The ideas are there, but jumbled." "If I could only read their handwriting, I might be able to understand what they are trying to say."

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Learn touch typing online using TypingClub's free typing courses. It includes 650 typing games, typing tests and videos.

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Dance Mat Typing - Best Typing Training For Students

Do you have kids or students who want to learn how to type? Dance Mat Typing by the BBC is a good choice. It is interactive, fun, free and easy-to-use for kids; the system is complete with animated animal characters, graphics and sounds. We provide friendly menus or lists and other cool stuff to make it easier for you and your kids to use Dance Mat Typing to effectively learn how to type.

Dance Mat Typing is structured as a series of four levels with three stages for each level (you can find them in the menu above). The animated animal teachers take kids through each of the 12 stages, narrating and showing them where to place their fingers on the keyboard, which fingers to use to type particular keys with onscreen cartoon hands. At the end of each stage, there is always a song by the teacher and his or her supporting cast to celebrate the kids' accomplishments.

Dance Mat Typing will help your kids learn to type - or if they can type already, it'll help them get better and better!

No signing up or logging in; the clear instructions and simple interface may very well allow kids to use it without adult assistance.

100% Free

" Dance Mat is great fun! It shows us how to type using the correct fingers. We have been using it each week. Here are some pics. "
Dance Mat Typing Level 1 Dance Mat Typing Level 2 Dance Mat Typing Level 3 Dance Mat Typing Level 4
Hello kids, welcome to join the Dance Mat Typing course. In this course, there are totally 12 stages divided into 4 levels that will help you learn typing from scratch. Even though you don't have any clue about typing now, you will become a "typist" who can type fast without looking at the keyboard when you finish all the tasks in these 12 stages.

There must be tons of different courses and practicing programs for typing, but most of them are not attractive to kids or students because of the boring exercises and low-quality images. With this BBC typing course, you will experience a totally different learning journey.

Now, let me give you guys a general introduction about the BBC typing class - Dance Mat Typing.

You will meet different teachers in this flash course. They are (from the first stage to the last stage) Goat, Octopus, Rooster, Hip, Ninja Turtle, Flamingo, Yak, Giraffe, Queen ant, Cat and Snake. When you come to the last stage, you will meet the whole family there, and I can't wait to tell you that there is a big party waiting for you!

In each stage, there are also some support characters. They will give you some tips when you cannot type on the right key, and they will pay you compliments when you finish a task. Different scenes are designed for each stage in this flash game of learning typing, you will learn how to type while appreciating the beautiful views. It will make you feel like you are traveling if you open your mind to imagine.

In different stage with different scenes, the tasks are set up with different objects. For example, in stage one, because the goat is a rock star, you will break all the music discs at the bottom of the screen when you finish all the tasks; in stage three in which the main cartoon character is rooster, you need to break all the eggs to accomplish all the tasks.

Apart from all the things mentioned above, the characters will say something very interesting in the process of learning typing. For example, the octopus in the stage two will teach you some Italian like "ciao, bambini" which means "hello, kids", and the yak in the stage seven will take you to one of the most mysterious places in this world - Tibet and tell you some mysterious stories about it.

Last but not the least, one of the highlights of this flash is the music. Different cartoon characters will play a different genre of music. For example, the rock star, goat, will sing a rock roll song with playing guitar; the yak from Tibet will play some kinds of Tibet music which are really quiet and mysterious; The flamingo will bring you some lively Spanish style flamenco music.

Anyway, all I want to say is that this BBC typing course is really interesting and useful. You will learn how to type fast without looking at the keyboard while having fun. I promise you won't get bored. Giving it a try will be more meaningful than anything I said here. Enjoy the Dance Mat Typing!

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Dance Mat Typing - BBC Typing Guide, Typing Test and Games

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Learn to Type | Type Better | Type Faster - Typing.com

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World's most popular free typing program! Typing.com's K-12 typing curriculum features touch typing, digital citizenship, coding lessons, and games.

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10. CBM - Written Expression Probe Generator

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10. CBM - Written Expression Probe Generator

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Curriculum based measurement Probe Generator | Writing | Intervention Central|

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The Curriculum based measurement Probe Generator for writing is an important tool that can be included as part of a teacher resources network for classroom management

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13. Curriculum-Based Measurement for Written Expression (CBM-W):The “How To” Guide

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13. Curriculum-Based Measurement for Written Expression (CBM-W):The “How To” Guide

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1. Using Research to Make Informed Decisions about the spelling curriculum

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1. Using Research to Make Informed Decisions about the spelling curriculum

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2. About Spelling and Spelling Instruction

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2. About Spelling and Spelling Instruction

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Uhry, J. K. and Shepherd, M. J. (1993). Segmentation and spelling instruction as part of a first-grade reading program: Effects on several measures of reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 28, 219-233.

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Many young readers are puzzled by the rules and exceptions of spelling. Research shows that learning to spell and learning to read rely on much of the same underlying knowledge. Learn more about the relationships between letters and sounds and how a proper understanding of spelling mechanics can lead to improved reading.

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4 c. LETRS Advanced Spelling Screener (grade 3 and up) - Scoring Sheet

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4 c. LETRS Advanced Spelling Screener (grade 3 and up) - Scoring Sheet

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4 b. LETRS Basic Spelling Screener - Scoring Sheet

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4 b. LETRS Basic Spelling Screener - Scoring Sheet

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4 a. Instructions for Administration of the LETRS Spelling Screeners

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4 a. Instructions for Administration of the LETRS Spelling Screeners