Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional How to teach written expression

Ds10 has dysgraphia. He had 2 years of OT and has had an IEP for about a year. His IQ scores are in the 99th percentile as is his reading comprehension. His achievement test for written expression is about the 50th percentile. He has had a portable keyboard for about 2 years. He has made a lot of progress, and now his spacing, capitalization, and punctuation are pretty good. He can also write or print legibly but slowly. His spelling has always been pretty good.

His teacher says his writing is lacking in details, and he doesn�t seem to know where to add details. He is able to do so when it�s pointed out where he needs to expand. Without that help, she said a person who was unaware of his difficulties would think he just didn�t put much effort into his writing (maybe why the teacher last year called him lazy). I asked about how one goes about teaching better writing, and his teacher said she isn�t sure �his brain works that way.� She said once he finishes school, he will probably do more technical writing, so it won�t be an issue. I think it might be an issue.

Do you have any suggestions on how to teach written expression? He reads a lot, but mostly non-fiction and graphic novels. I�d like to work with him this summer. I�m afraid he won�t get much writing help in middle school next year.

Is he using the keyboard for all his assignments, or is he writing them out by hand?

If he is writing them by hand, the mental effort required to manage the physical task of handwriting is undoubtedly going to decrease the attention available for content development. If this is the case, see how he does when he is using the keyboard for everything. He also may have developed a habit of saying the most he could fit into the fewest words before he had the keyboard, and he may have to make a conscious effort to un-learn this previously-adaptive skill.

Some basic tips on improving the use of details in writing:

Start working at the level of the sentence. Detailed sentences help naturally develop detailed paragraphs, essays, and stories.

Encourage expressive, specific verbs - strode, slunk, skipped, sauntered, crept, sidled, or bounced, for example, instead of "went" or "walked".

Encourage expressive, specific nouns - jalopy, rattle-trap, clunker, mini-van, coupe, limousine, roadster, or convertible instead of "car".

Using the old journalism stand-by of checking to see if you have answered "who, how, what, where, when, and why" can be very helpful to self-prompt to include more details.

Does the teacher have a rubric that she has shared with the students? If not, could she make one that explains what she is looking for for each letter grade? Sometimes just knowing what you are expected to do can help you meet the goal.

It sounds like he would benefit from a highly structured writing approach that uses rules or guidelines to help expand his writing. My son's school uses a rules based approach that appears very "canned", but once the student is in the habit of following the recipe, they are able to customize and personalize their writing.

For instance, when writing a descriptive paragraph, he must include a topic sentence that is the subject or key idea and at least 3 attributes each which are supported by 2 details. For example: To survive, humans need shelter, food and clothing. (main idea) Shelter helps to protect them from the weather. (attribute). It can keep out the rain so that tools and food do not get wet (SD #1) and it can protect them from harsh cold and heat.(SD#2)

There are many graphic organizers that help with this. Inspirations is available to students and parents and offers an on-line tool that he could use with a computer.

As aculady suggests, he should also be encouraged to use descriptive and strong vocabulary. My son has a list of R.I.P> (rest in peace) words that he CANNOT use. Words such as good, nice, stuff, went.

An editing checklist is also helpful. The checklist would contain the KEY (not every) errors that he should check. It should be based on whatever skills he is working on. For instance, my son is working on maintaining the same verb tense throughout a paper, and this is one of the items on the check list. He also has the RIP words, and use of commas for lists and compound sentences. He makes plenty of mistakes, but his check list is limited so that he can concentrate on just a few things at a time, master them and move on to other issues.

Hope this helps!

I just got a book that you might like, recommended by someone on here. It's called 6+1 Traits of Writing, and it's actually part of a whole collection that has school packages, workbooks and stuff -- but this book is fine all by itself. I haven't even finished it yet, and I can tell that it will be a great help for DS8 and I wish our school would go to this program.

You can see it here on Amazon.