Pencils incessantly tapping on desks, feet swishing back and forth, bodies in constant motion… fidget, wiggle, and squirm… Writing time for a special education student can be less than productive – and extremely frustrating. Just putting their name on the paper can often be considered an achievement for an LD student or one who has difficulty attending to the task at hand.As teachers, we differentiate instruction across content areas for special needs students. However, when it comes to writing, how do we break down these crucial skills into manageable tasks for struggling writers?
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We all know that one effective strategy is to break down a task into smaller, more manageable tasks. Teachers often segment a five paragraph essay, by asking students to ‘just write the introduction.’ But it’s the word ‘just’ that’s almost laughable. (In fact, do you ever notice how anytime the word ‘just’ precedes a task, it’s usually in attempt to make a difficult process appear easy?) “Just writing” an introduction can be so overwhelming and anxiety-producing for a special ed student that they simply shut down. The question becomes HOW to teach these skills.
Research has shown that focusing on the discrete skills and aspects of the writing process produces higher student achievement and success rates than writing taught with a holistic focus on product. When not overwhelmed with having to ‘fill’ an entire page of lined paper, special needs students, after direct instruction that includes teacher modeling and guided practice, can celebrate being successful at writing an interesting beginning for a story, or writing an enticing lead for an expository piece. A segment of elaborative detail, or of suspense. Small successes along the way encourage them and build confidence.
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