I am a [b]first year teacher[/b], and I do 7th grade collaboration (students are in a regular setting and I make accommodations for students with disabilities, pull them out for testing, etc.). I have run into a bit of a problem because we are working on writing portfolios… writing is extremely difficult for my students…the class moves at a fast pace and leaves little time for me to pull my students out of their regular class without them missing other things and getting behind. [b]Does anyone have any strategies or activities for helping students with LD write short stories?[/b] Their regular language arts teacher has done numerous activities on elements of a short story, idea generation, etc. with the entire class (but she moves at an extremely fast pace). They can pick out elements (with a little help), but writing a story of their own (and coming up with ideas that will be broad enough to write a story) is a completely different story. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to improve on what they have already started on…[b]so far, they have written their stories, but I need to help them improve the bulk of their stories (not spelling, etc., but more or less expanding on what they already have)[/b]. [b]Suggestions on ANY aspect of short story writing would be helpful and greatly appreciated!!![/b]