Lesson 5 Remedial Instruction in WRITING

Lesson 5: Remedial Instruction in WRITING A. Areas of Difficulty for Students with Writing Problems (Troia, 2002; Troia & Graham, 2003) 1. Knowledge Difficulties Students with writing problems show: a. Less awareness of what constitutes good writing and how to produce it; b. Restricted knowledge about genre-specific text structures (e.g., setting or plot elements in a narrative); c. Poor declarative, procedural, and conditional strategy knowledge (e.g., knowing that one should set goals for writing, how to set specific goals, and when it is most beneficial to alter those goals); d. Limited vocabulary; e. Underdeveloped knowledge of word and sentence structure (i.e., phonology, morphology, and syntax); f. Impoverished, fragmented, and poorly organized topic knowledge; g. Difficulty accessing existing topic knowledge; and h. Insensitivity to audience needs and perspectives, and to the functions their writing is intended to serve. 2. Skill Difficulties Students with writing problems: a. Often do not plan before or during writing; b. Exhibit poor text transcription (e.g., spelling, handwriting, and punctuation); c. Focus revision efforts (if they revise at all) on superficial aspects of writing (e.g., handwriting, spelling, and grammar); d. Do not analyze or reflect on writing; e. Have limited ability to self regulate thoughts, feelings, and actions throughout the writing process; f. Show poor attention and concentration; and g. Have visual motor integration weaknesses and fine motor difficulties. 3. Motivation Difficulties Students with writing problems: a. Often do not develop writing goals and subgoals or flexibly alter them to meet audience, task, and personal demands; b. Fail to balance performance goals, which relate to documenting performance and achieving success, and mastery goals, which relate to acquiring competence; c. Exhibit maladaptive attributions by attributing academic success to external and uncontrollable factors such as task ease or teacher assistance, but academic failure to internal yet uncontrollable factors such as limited aptitude; d. Have negative self efficacy (competency) beliefs; e. Lack persistence; and

f. Feel helpless and poorly motivated due to repeated failure. B. Qualities of Strong Writing Instruction For teachers to support all students' writing ability development, certain qualities of the writing classroom must be present. Four core components of effective writing instruction constitute the foundation of any good writing program: 1. Students should have meaningful writing experiences and be assigned authentic writing tasks that promote personal and collective expression, reflection, inquiry, discovery, and social change. 2. Routines should permit students to become comfortable with the writing process and move through the process over a sustained period at their own rate. 3. Lessons should be designed to help students master craft elements (e.g., text structure, character development), writing skills (e.g., spelling, punctuation), and process strategies (e.g., planning and revising tactics). 4. A common language for shared expectations and feedback regarding writing quality might include the use of traits (e.g., organization, ideas, sentence fluency, word choice, voice, and conventions). C. Adaptations for Struggling Writers 1. Accommodations in the Learning Environment a. Increase instructional time for writing. b. Provide quiet and comfortable spaces for students to work. c. Provide unimpeded access to writing tools. d. Let students identify and select meaningful reinforcements for achieving writing goals (e.g., a reinforcement menu). e. Consult with an occupational therapist to identify specialized adaptations (e.g., chair and desk height). 2. Accommodations in Instructional Materials a. Simplify language of writing prompts. b. Highlight (e.g., color code) key words and phrases. c. Transition from simple to more elaborate graphic organizers and procedural checklists. d. Post strategies, graphic organizers, and checklists in classroom and give students personal copies. e. Develop individualized spelling lists. f. Have students keep a personal dictionary of “demon” words and frequently used spelling vocabulary. g. Provide paper positioning marks on students’ desks. h. Provide pencil grips for students. i. Provide raised- or colored-lined paper. j. Provide students with personal copies of alphabet strips. 3. Accommodations in Teaching Strategies a. Devote more instructional time to writing mechanics. b. Provide physical assistance during handwriting practice.

c. Re-teach writing skills and strategies. d. Expect and support mastery learning of skills and strategies (e.g., memorization of strategy steps). e. Use cross-age peer tutors to reinforce skills and strategies. f. Assign homework designed to reinforce writing instruction. g. Help students set specific and challenging yet attainable goals for the writing process (e.g., completing a planning sheet before beginning to draft) and written products (e.g., a quantity goal of including 10 descriptive words in a story, which is perhaps linked to a quality goal of improving word choice by two points on an analytic quality scale). h. Help students develop self-instructions (e.g., “I can handle this if I go slow.”) and self-questions (e.g., “Am I following my plan?”) that focus on positive attributions for success and task progress. i. Teach students to evaluate and adjust their writing behaviors and writing strategy use to improve their writing productivity and performance. j. Promote maintenance and generalization of writing strategies by doing the following:  Modeling and discussing how strategies may be used in multiple contexts;  Relating writing performance to strategy use;  Having students teach others how to use strategies;  Having students keep a strategy notebook which they can consult at any time;  Ensuring all staff and caregivers are familiar with and prompt the use of the strategies; and  Reviewing strategies often. 4. Modifications to Task Demands a. Increase amount of time allotted for completing written assignments. b. Decrease the length and/or complexity of written assignments. c. Have students complete text frames (i.e., partially finished texts). d. Reduce or eliminate copying demands (e.g., teach students abbreviations for note taking, supply worksheets with math problems from textbook). e. Allow students to use temporary/invented spelling. f. Pre-teach spelling vocabulary for assignments. g. Evaluate spelling using correct letter sequences (e.g., hopping has 8 possible correct letter sequences) rather than number of words spelled correctly to measure and reward incremental progress attributable to partial correct spelling. h. Permit students to dictate written work to a scribe. i. If students have adequately developed keyboarding skills, permit them to write papers with a word processor.

j. Permit students to use outlining and semantic mapping software to facilitate planning. k. Permit students to use voice recognition technology to facilitate text transcription. l. Permit students to use integrated spell checker and/or word prediction software to facilitate correct spelling. m. Permit students to use speech synthesis technology to facilitate revising and editing. n. Selectively weight grading for content, organization, style, and conventions. o. Grade assignments based on the amount of improvement rather than absolute performance. p. Assign letter grades for body of work collected over time (i.e., portfolio assessment) rather than for each paper. q. Provide feedback on content, organization, style, and conventions for some rather than all assignments (which may reduce students’ anxiety about writing). r. Provide feedback on targeted aspects of writing rather than all aspects to avoid overwhelming students. 5. Modifications to Learning Tasks a. Permit students to dramatize or orally present a written assignment, either in lieu of writing or in preparation for writing. b. Assign students suitable roles (e.g., brainstorm manager) for the creation of a group generated paper. D. Teaching Handwriting The following are research-based suggestions for teaching handwriting. 1. Curriculum Considerations a. The initial use of one type of script (e.g., manuscript versus cursive or different versions of manuscript) does not appear to affect handwriting performance. b. Special emphasis is placed on difficult-to-form letters and those that are frequently reversed. c. Lowercase letters are introduced before upper-case letters, unless they are formed using similar strokes (e.g., C, c). d. Letters that share common strokes are grouped together (e.g., o, c, d, a). e. The introduction of easily confused letters (e.g., b, d, p, q) is staggered. f. The formation of individual upper- and lowercase letters and, for cursive, difficult letter transitions (e.g., roam) are modeled. g. Visual cues, such as numbered dots and arrows, and verbal descriptions are used to guide letter formation. h. Activities to reinforce letter recognition and naming are combined with handwriting practice. i. Students practice using a comfortable and efficient tripod pencil grasp.

j. Students are shown and expected to use appropriate posture and paper positioning for their handedness. k. Handwriting fluency is developed through frequent writing and speed trials, with an emphasis on maintaining legibility. l. Opportunities are provided for distributed practice and judicious review of individual letters and letter sequences. m. Students are permitted to develop their own handwriting style and to choose which script (manuscript, cursive, or even a blend) they prefer to use after mastering handwriting (manuscript tends to be more legible than cursive and can be written just as quickly if given equal emphasis). n. Students are prompted to identify when a high degree of legibility is and is not necessary. 2. Weekly Routines a. In the primary grades, 60–75 minutes per week is allocated for handwriting instruction. b. Students are encouraged to compare letters to discover patterns and to highlight their similarities and differences. c. Students are given opportunities to reinforce target letters by tracing them (a dashed or faded model), copying them, and writing them from memory. d. Students’ handwriting is monitored and immediately reinforced for correct letter formation, spacing, alignment, size, slant, and line quality. e. Students are asked to self-evaluate their handwriting and to set goals for improving specific aspects of their handwriting each day. f. Students are encouraged to correct poorly formed letters and to rewrite illegible work. E. Teaching Spelling 1. Curriculum Considerations a. Spelling vocabulary includes words drawn from children’s reading materials, children’s writing, self-selected words, high-frequency word lists 1,2, and pattern words. b. Students are typically taught phonemic awareness and phonemegrapheme associations (reserving the least consistent mappings, such as consonants /k/ and /z/ and long vowels, for last) in kindergarten and first grade. Common spelling patterns (e.g., phonograms or rime families 3,4,5) are taught in first and second grades. Morphological structures (i.e., roots and affixes 3,4,5,6) and helpful spelling rules (e.g., add es to make words ending in s, z, x, ch, or sh plural) are taught in second grade and beyond. c. Students are taught systematic and effective strategies for studying new spelling words (e.g., mnemonic spelling links, multi-sensory strategies).

d. Previously taught spelling words are periodically reviewed to promote retention. e. Correct use of spelling vocabulary in students’ written work is monitored and reinforced. f. Students are taught and encouraged to use dictionaries, spell checkers, and other resources to determine the spelling of unknown words. g. Spelling “demons” and other difficult words are posted on wall charts. 2. Weekly Routines a. A minimum of 60–75 minutes per week is allocated for spelling instruction. b. Students take a Monday pretest to determine which words they need to study during subsequent activities and to set spelling performance goals. c. After studying new spelling words, students take a Friday posttest to determine which words were mastered. d. Immediately after taking a spelling test, students correct their misspellings. e. The teacher conducts word sorts and guided spelling activities to explicitly teach spelling patterns and rules at the beginning of the week. f. Daily opportunities are provided for cumulative study and testing of new spelling words (e.g., through computer-assisted instruction). g. Students work together each day to learn new spelling words. h. While studying, students monitor their on-task behavior or the number of times they i. correctly spell a target word, to promote active learning.