Promoting Writing Stars

Abstract

A mnemonic strategy designed to increase the written production of students with learning disabilities he paradox was immediately apparent! While the teacher of ten learning disabled students was telling me how her students hated to write, I couldn't help noticing bookcovers decorated with words and pictures and scraps of paper on which notes had been written from one student to another. (In all likelihood, there would have been additional evidence of covert writing had I visited the rest rooms!) In spite of the fact that these LD students seemed to be giving ample evidence of writing, this teacher, as with many teachers of LD students, was having a difficult time involving her students in classroom writing activities.We have learned that we can help our students who have writing problems by using mnemonic strategies, and it seems apparent that classroom teachers can also benefit from using mnemonic strategies when planning and teaching written expression skills. An example of a mnemonic strategy for written expression is the proofreading strategy titled COPS

The Remediation of Written Expression Problems: “Best” Practices for Teaching Composition Skills

“…Schwartz and MacArthur (1990) viewed writing as a "social process" in that students write to convey meaning to audiences. Some authors (e.g., Dangel, 1988;Houck, 1988) have suggested creating a writing center in the classroom with permanent work tables and chairs and materials for writing.…”

“…Graves (1983) provided many examples of "questions that teach" and examples of student-teacher dialogue during individual conferences. Gaskins (1982) suggested four aspects of writing for student consideration: a. thought content-the value of the ideas expressed and the extent of development b. organization-the flow of ideas and the logic with which they are developed c. effectiveness-the clarity of expression, including use of precise vocabulary and originality Positive feedback is a must (Dangel, 1988;Gaskins, 1982;Simms, 1983). "Learning disabled students, by virtue of their low frustration level and poor self-concept, are especially vulnerable to negative, inappropriate teacher feedback.…”

“…Students can be paired to brainstorm ideas or ask each other questions about the selected topic (Dangel, 1988). The before-writing time can also include the search for other facts needed to write.…”