TEaching Written Language Skills

: Later in chapter: “A great deal of time must be spent teaching
: students a single good paragraph before moving on to longer
: compositions.”I agree with this statement. My son’s last year teacher did just this. They were taught grammar and how to write a single good paragraph. I corrected papers in class (reading comprehension short essay answers) and I could see the improvement in the writing as the year went on.Helen

: If research would change teaching practices, then I’m for the research. To me, though, what you’re saying just makes good sense, with or without research. I know you and I are on the same page here in thinking that we do too much too soon and do it before many kids are simply ready to do it.I’d like to see some historical research just to better understand when and why we started to do this. My theory is that, since 1983, with the publication of A Nation At Risk, teachers and schools have been on the defensive. I conjecture that the response to that was to “speed up” the process rather than examine the process. Teachers and schools are very interested these days, understandably, in making sure they’re giving a good education so they start everything younger and younger.You and I remember when it was considered unusual for a child to read in kindergarten. I remember when first grade was the place where the alphabet was instructed. While I do see many children ready to learn the alphabet much younger, I really don’t see many kids ready to start writing paragraphs any younger.My school starts to teach “research skills” in the 4th grade! Children are given 3 x 5 cards and told to take notes! It’s insanely silly and a waste of time. Those children should be reading and being read to. They should doing art projects and taking science walks. Not beginning the supposed steps of “research.”But I think I’m “preaching to the choir”, Anitya. Thanks for listening.I frequently post my concerns with reaching written lanugage skills
: to LD students. I personally find this to, often, be challenging
: and sometimes an area where progress is minimal. I have posted
: comments in the past re. this text: Multi-Sensory Teaching of
: Basic Language Skills compiled by Judith Birsh (ISBN
: 1-55766-349-1), copyright 1999. Brookes Publishing.: Here are some comments in the chapter on teaching composition, I
: think they give us something to think about: “Written
: language is considered by many to be the most challenging skills
: to teach and to learn. Some proponents of multisensory instruction
: believe that the teaching of written language skills should be
: delayed until students have achieved proficiency in decoding,
: spelling and handwriting (I have asked this question myself).
: There is reason to believe, however, that there are large numbers
: of oral and written language activities that teachers should use
: in the primary grades….. Many individuals with excellent reading
: and speaking skills have problems generating written language.
: Even for typical learners, mastering the skills associated with
: good writing is a daunting task, but those with learning and
: language problems face especially formidable obstacles. They have
: difficulties with decoding, spelling, word retrieval, and syntax
: that are often exacerbated by a limited vocabulary. As a result,
: understanding what others say and expressing oneself with clarity
: and accuracy are significantly compromised. In addition, weak
: organizational skills often accompany learning and language
: problems.”: Later in chapter: “A great deal of time must be spent teaching
: students a single good paragraph before moving on to longer
: compositions.”: I often think that we try to move our students too fast and that we
: fail to recognize that many nonLD youngsters struggle to write
: well. I think we need more research on this topic.

PASSWORD>aaI221mi7wL3IToday I spent about 1 hour working with one student on getting his ideas on paper. This child has trouble with getting his ideas down on paper. I started by reading a short story to him, we did a web. He is starting to get into it and was excited to use my fancy pen to do his final copy. His problems are in the vocabulary, syntax and word retrieval as well. I spend a lot of time working on the semantics and getting him to compose his sentences orally before he writes them down. This seems to be working because kids with Language based LD’s don’t understand syntax and through usage he is able to expand his sentences and grammar. It is very labor intensive to work through this but frankly I don’t know of any magic bullet.

No argument with any of this- I am in the “teach less stuff, teach stuff well” group all the way. Research is sparking what appear to be some good teaching techniques though. We have been doing writing process in Vermont for lo these twenty odd years now. We have moved from “write what you think…” (argh) to using very structured writing frames with all the students to guide paragraph structure. At least in my part of the state we do. It is much better for the kids, a little less creative, though they seem to produce great stuff any way. AND… there is less revision for them to work through because they already have a topic sentence etc….What I find when I test is frequently is kids- LD or not- with reasonable expressive writing skills and horrible basic writing skills. This was true when I was teaching too. Somewhere we are dropping the ball on this I think, so that our kids are not being taught and are not noticing the visual text markers. I learned a lot of punctuation and stuff from reading and reading aloud, along with the boring Warriner’s grammar book. Somehow we need to hit a middle line for students that lets them know that while what they say is important for sure- how it looks is just as important. And… it is a lot easier for them if we can help them have some competence at the production level along with the editing stuff.My small personal whine…Robin

: I think some good points have been raised here. I thank everyone for their contributions. Gosh, you ladies are a “sharp” set.I have been refining my own thinking over the past few years on writing, and I have a long way to go. I think a good start is good sentences, command over the many useful sentence structures. Next, I think good paragraph writing is in order. Perhaps lots of practice with writing good topic sentences. This may include reading/discussing many, many good models. One year I did research reports with my 6th graders. They took forever and it was all I did for 6-8 weeks. They turned out really, really good! Every student did a report on the topic “tigers.” We read articles, took notes. I would read a paragraph or two, then we discussed and then agreed what to note and under what subheading to make the notation (we had already established the categories we wanted to cover in the report). Then the students pretty much told me what the notes should say and I wrote them on overhead, they copied. We went all the way through the research stage this way. Next, we organized our notes/subheads in the order we wanted them in the report. Then I got into the study of introcuctory paragraphs. I read the students many examples of introductory paragraphs from books and articles. We analyzed/discussed them until the students understood what an introductory paragraph accomplished. Then each student wrote his/her own intro. paragraph. Following that, each student’s paragraph was shared and critiqued by the group. Then reworked. We wrote the report paragraph by paragraph like this. They were so good in the end. The trouble is, this is so labor intensive, as Patti acknowledges, I am not able to really teach much else during the weeks spent on the report. IEP’s cover multiple goals/objectives and parents get regular updates, so I struggle with how to allocate my precious little time across so many students/so many needs. I have no doubt that given the appropriate time, we can do much.Also, I suspect that lots of development at the oral language level first is desirable and I like the idea of increasing structure, such as Robin mentioned.Robin, do the teachers create the frames?

Gee, your kids get to wait until 4th grade to do research? Our school system starts kids on their first “research paper” in 1st grade. In second grade they do 2 major research projects. One on a species of whale and the other on a planet. These written (mostly typwritten btw) reports have to have a project component (poster, model etc.) and the students must present them to the class and parents on a special presentation day. Good grief, I still want to know who’s brilliant idea this was.To be fair, I have heard that the requirements have been lightened up somewhat over the years but they still exist. I know many middle and highschoolers still struggling with research papers. How can they possibly expect that these young children are ready to do this kind of work? All I have noted with these research projects is that we have some very stressed out kids and some very talented parents in our school system. :-(: Today I spent about 1 hour working with one student on getting his
: ideas on paper. This child has trouble with getting his ideas down
: on paper. I started by reading a short story to him, we did a web.
: He is starting to get into it and was excited to use my fancy pen
: to do his final copy. His problems are in the vocabulary, syntax
: and word retrieval as well. I spend a lot of time working on the
: semantics and getting him to compose his sentences orally before
: he writes them down. This seems to be working because kids with
: Language based LD’s don’t understand syntax and through usage he
: is able to expand his sentences and grammar. It is very labor
: intensive to work through this but frankly I don’t know of any
: magic bullet.

Yes, by and large they do. We had a consultant come in and work with the staff for a year on how to do this. There was a lot of resistance at first I think- but the fourth graders have this huge Standards Reference Exam they have to take in Reading and Writing that has very specific requirements so there was motivation also as it isn’t a “bubble” test. We also turn in a selection of student portfolios every year to the state that are scored according to a rubric- fifth and sixth. The feedback from the state doesn’t go into the student file as they only score a sample- but the staff gets it and it can be really helpful. Lot of work though.The frames start out as cloze sheets and then gradually fade the prompts.

: I know when I was in school my mother helped me greatly with expository writing. I became a better than average writer (despite the stuff I post around here). I remember my mother sitting with me, helping me start essays, phrase statements, conclude essays. Poor mom (mom had a knack for writing she never used) put so much into this. I have always fallen back on this. If I, who was able to get “A’s” on virtually everything I wrote in H.S. and college, struggled and truly needed assistance and models, how in heaven’s name will LD students catch on? Even in my freshman year I recall getting some help on a particularly challenging assignment (college, that is). My son is a gifted writer and I just a few weeks ago made him rewrite an entire essay to my specifications (I gave him support and some help and he got full credit!).I like the idea of cloze sheets. I think our students need to complete perhaps hundreds of these. We might start off with a 5 sentence paragraph: topic sentence, three supporting details, and a concluding sentence, let them read models and complete cloze activities based on this format. Like you stated, we fade the prompts. Much later, maybe, in high school, we can look at varying the paragraph structure.I did an “experiment” the other day with my 5 6th graders. I wrote a basic introductory paragraph on an essay topic we were working. I then had the students order the sentences, 1-5, in the sequence they thought they should be written (I scrambled them on a worksheet). One student got it right, and in 5 minutes time. Curiously, this student received a rubric score of 5 (on a 6 point rubric) on his district writing test in May of 5th grade! He has an inherent sense of logic and order (I never taught him this). Also, the worst attempt was the student I would have predicted to have the greatest trouble (scrambled thinking skills). I think this approach may be another good one in making the student think out the logic and order in presentation of the sentences in their paragraphs, or building from one sentence to the next.This is a long, slow process for me….figuring out how to teach writing and how to balance the instructional minutes with teaching reading (which I still think is far more critical at this time for most of my students).

: Somehow we need to hit a
: middle line for students that lets them know that while what they
: say is important for sure- how it looks is just as important.I absolutely agree with that and much else you wrote. The question for me, though, is when. And again, I think we’re doing it too young. I agree that the movement went a little too far when it said just write what you think. It should have been write what you think and put a period at the end of it.I watch Middle School Language ARts teacher absolutely struggle with most of the kids to get them to get their writing to conform to a structure. They make a little bit of progress through the year and then - blam - it all dissipates over the summer.To me, that’s a sure sign the time wasn’t ripe. The kids’ brains can’t retain it yet. At best, we’re getting them to “parrot” back the instructions, follow the template, but the understanding and the skill doesn’t embed. And with some kids, that’s more true than with others.To each their own, of course, but if I had my school to run, I’d make Middle School, Middle School. A side point, of course, but Middle Schools have become wanna-be Upper Schools, not big kid elementary schools. That model of Middle School and the writing instruction that goes with it, doesn’t work well for these highly active, short attention span, very informed kids that are the modern Middle Schooler.We spend years unsuccessfully trying to teach them what would only take months if we waited until the right time to do it.No argument with any of this- I am in the “teach less stuff,
: teach stuff well” group all the way. Research is sparking
: what appear to be some good teaching techniques though. We have
: been doing writing process in Vermont for lo these twenty odd
: years now. We have moved from “write what you think…”
: (argh) to using very structured writing frames with all the
: students to guide paragraph structure. At least in my part of the
: state we do. It is much better for the kids, a little less
: creative, though they seem to produce great stuff any way. AND…
: there is less revision for them to work through because they
: already have a topic sentence etc….: What I find when I test is frequently is kids- LD or not- with
: reasonable expressive writing skills and horrible basic writing
: skills. This was true when I was teaching too. Somewhere we are
: dropping the ball on this I think, so that our kids are not being
: taught and are not noticing the visual text markers. I learned a
: lot of punctuation and stuff from reading and reading aloud, along
: with the boring Warriner’s grammar book. Somehow we need to hit a
: middle line for students that lets them know that while what they
: say is important for sure- how it looks is just as important.
: And… it is a lot easier for them if we can help them have some
: competence at the production level along with the editing stuff.: My small personal whine…: Robin

: “All I have noted with these research projects
: is that we have some very stressed out kids and some very talented
: parents in our school system.”I agree. I’ve written more research reports for my sons in school than I ever did when I was in school.Gee, your kids get to wait until 4th grade to do research? Our school
: system starts kids on their first “research paper” in
: 1st grade. In second grade they do 2 major research projects. One
: on a species of whale and the other on a planet. These written
: (mostly typwritten btw) reports have to have a project component
: (poster, model etc.) and the students must present them to the
: class and parents on a special presentation day. Good grief, I
: still want to know who’s brilliant idea this was.: To be fair, I have heard that the requirements have been lightened up
: somewhat over the years but they still exist. I know many middle
: and highschoolers still struggling with research papers. How can
: they possibly expect that these young children are ready to do
: this kind of work? All I have noted with these research projects
: is that we have some very stressed out kids and some very talented
: parents in our school system. :-(

What a great experiment! You are absolutely right about the reading skills being the first priority- no questions there. But what your experiment shows clearly I think is that in many cases classroom instruction begins at a level that is far too high for many of the kids who are being taught. And then we wonder why they have a hard time understanding it and retaining it? Ah…We had an experience like this too with our 5/6 about two years ago. We had a lot of students that year with deficit expressive and receptive language skills at all levels. We planned a workshop sort of series of lessons that we called PEARLS (Practicing Expressive and Receptive Language Skills- cute, yes?) We began with a unit on listening skills. The SLP and I helped with the planning. It included a segment on increasing memory skills etc. and was quite therapy oriented. The idea was that the classroom teachers and the specialists would directly teach the skills in small groups, and then they ( the skills) would be applied back in the classroom. The planning group developed a list of content oriented ways for that to happen. It was a great model.Well, the listening skills unit took a really long time, as I am sure you can imagine- but I think the kids learned a bit and we were fairly happy with it. The second planning group did not include the SLP and I and it was on comprehension and isolating the main idea I think- I would need to see my book. Anyway- it was planned in the way many classroom teachers plan- from the end product backwards- and while the activities were fun and useful- it was more of a survey than a direct instruction model. When the time came to assess skill development (about midway through the sequence) most of the kids choked because the instruction had begun too far above their functioning level. So… we had to regroup and back the level up. It was an interesting lesson for some of the classroom teachers who expected- not unreasonably I think, that many of the students already had the prerequisite skills they needed. They knew that some of the kids would not understand- but it was surprising how many there were. These are very good teachers also, who are very sensitive to there students and provide great instruction.The point of this ramble is that it is critical to look at what kids know before we try to teach them something new. You could do your experiment in a classroom and get have virtually identical results I bet. We have a gift in SPED I think, because we have to do that. Our programs are driven by student skill levels. Classroom teachers have a lot of other pressures to cope with, not the least of which are the demands that they teach more stuff in less time.Robin

: I absolutely agree with that and much else you wrote. The question
: for me, though, is when. And again, I think we’re doing it too
: young. I agree that the movement went a little too far when it
: said just write what you think. It should have been write what you
: think and put a period at the end of it.: I watch Middle School Language ARts teacher absolutely struggle with
: most of the kids to get them to get their writing to conform to a
: structure. They make a little bit of progress through the year and
: then - blam - it all dissipates over the summer.: To me, that’s a sure sign the time wasn’t ripe. The kids’ brains
: can’t retain it yet. At best, we’re getting them to
: “parrot” back the instructions, follow the template, but
: the understanding and the skill doesn’t embed. And with some kids,
: that’s more true than with others.: To each their own, of course, but if I had my school to run, I’d make
: Middle School, Middle School. A side point, of course, but Middle
: Schools have become wanna-be Upper Schools, not big kid elementary
: schools. That model of Middle School and the writing instruction
: that goes with it, doesn’t work well for these highly active,
: short attention span, very informed kids that are the modern
: Middle Schooler.: We spend years unsuccessfully trying to teach them what would only
: take months if we waited until the right time to do it.: No argument with any of this- I am in the “teach less stuff,