Helping Students Who Struggle to Write: Classroom Compensations
April 14th, 2009LD Online just posted this interesting article from Educational Therapist Regina Richards. I thought you would enjoy it.
By: Regina G. Richards (2008)
I shake myself to stop daydreaming…Writing is definitely the worst task of all. It was just way too hard to remember all the things I need, like periods and capital letters. And then it’s almost impossible to think about how to spell words when I’m busy trying to think about the story. It’s so hard to remember what I’m writing about.
— Eli Richards from The Boy Who Hated to Write: Understanding Dysgraphia, p. 36
Students benefit when they compensate for writing problems. Why? Because the struggle to write often interferes with learning and prevents students from fully demonstrating what they have learned. Compensating helps them bypass the problem area and still accomplish the goal of the activity.
Classroom compensations
Some example classroom compensations include the following:
Staging
Dividing the task into smaller units and performing each subtask independently. Some students become overwhelmed because tasks appear to be too large or have too many steps. Staging helps them focus on each subtask with greater concentration and an emphasis on quality.
Other topics include: Decreasing Quantity, Increasing Time, Copying, Adjusting Writing Format, etc. Read more…
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For more writing help and games that teach grammar and sentence writing that solve the 3 roadblocks to writing…writing help
Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET
