It’s critical that your son get daily instruction in how to write. As Leif Fearn and Nancy Farnan said, struggling writers write better when they know more about how.
For struggling writers to become good writers requires instruction that the writers view as important, enjoyable, and practical. They need teachers who focus on the writers’ progress and show them exactly how they can improve their sentences, paragraphs, and the overall structure of their writing, all without overwhelming them. These teachers need to take the mystery out of writing by showing them that good writing is a structured, step-by-step process, like building a house.
But what can schools do immediately to help your son succeed on his writing assignments outside of writing class, like his assignments from health and social studies? Here are several ideas that may help if he gets daily help from a knowledgeable, skilled, and enthusiastic writing teacher. And if someone with influence in the school coordinates his writing assignments and is immediately available to help him if he runs into difficulty.
If he has difficulty organizing his writing, his teachers can discuss the subject with him, focus on the more important points, and then teach him to use graphic organizers (simple diagrams) and simple lists of no more than six phrases that he puts in sequence. If he has trouble with lists, they can teach him to put the phrases on post-it notes, which they can teach him to sequence.
The school can teach him to use a quality speech-to-text software program like Dragon Dictate 10. But notice the word in italics: teach. This means that for three or more months he’ll need daily instruction, supervision, and support in using the program. If he’s in special education and has an Individualized Education Program (IEP), it should have goals and objectives for mastering the software. A brief introduction to the program, along with good wishes, will only frustrate him.
If he’s a slow writer (like I am), he’ll benefit from shorter and fewer assignments. To prevent him from feeling stigmatized, the school can let him choose the assignments he wants to complete. This may result in his doing fewer assignments. But it may not: Some struggling writers appreciate the opportunity to make choices, which may motivate them to finish all the assignments. To make assignments shorter, he might choose which questions he’ll answer (such as which four of 12 questions), or chose to stop when tired. Again, choice is a wonderful motivator, one that can motivate struggling writers to finish all the work.
Finally, you should discuss his assignments with all his teachers. Make sure they’re committed to giving him assignments he can succeed on if he makes a moderate effort. If they’re not, request different teachers.
Below are two excellent resources for teachers that you may want to study; they tell you far more than this short posting:
- Fearn, L., & Farnan, N. (2008). Classroom instruction for struggling writers, In Susan Lenski and Jill Lewis (Eds.), Reading success for struggling adolescent learners (pp. 209-226). NY: Guilford Press. (Nancy Farnan’s work always teaches me a great deal.)
- Santangelo, T., Harris, K. R., & Graham, S. (2007). Self-regulated strategy development: A validated model to support students who struggle with writing. Learning Disabilities: A Contemporary Journal, 5(1), 1-20 (available from www.ldworldwide.org).
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