How to Teach Writing & English to High School Learning Disabled Students

Teaching writing to learning-disabled students is challenging, but not impossible.

For many students, English is a difficult subject to master. Between understanding grammar rules, analyzing poetry and writing essays, even the best student can become overwhelmed with any given assignment. English, and especially writing, presents an even bigger challenge to high school students who are learning disabled. However, armed with the proper tools and techniques, learning-disabled students can become proficient writers.

Things You'll Need

• Graphic organizers
• Sample sentences, paragraphs,and essays

Instructions

1. Teach the writing process. Before teaching any writing assignment, it is essential to review the writing process, regardless of student ability. According to LD Online, a resource for students with learning disabilities, "most of the interventions [for learning support students]used a basic framework based on planning, writing, and revising." Teachers should review the five parts of the process ---brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing and publishing --- to ensure that all students realize that writing is not a one-shot-and-done practice; rather, it involves multiple revisions and edits to help a piece reach its maximum potential.

2. Model your expectations. Provide students with examples of acceptable paragraphs or essays. Work with them on identifying what is "good" or "bad" about each example. Teach them to recognize the different parts of a paragraph, such as the topic sentence, support and examples for the topic sentence, and concluding statement, then have them practice this skill independently.

3. Start small. Once students have grasped the writing process, start with a simple assignment. Depending upon the student's ability, this can be a sentence or a simple thesis statement before leading to a paragraph. Once the student has mastered the paragraph, then you can work with him on building upon the paragraph; eventually, the goal is to have the student independently write a five-paragraph essay complete with an introduction, three body paragraphs and a conclusion.

4. Use graphic organizers. Graphic organizers are invaluable tools when it comes to helping learning-disabled students. Provide students with Venn diagrams to help them decipher a compare/contrast assignment, or use idea webs during the brainstorming process. Websites like ReadWriteThink and Web English Teacher have links to free, printable graphic organizers that students of all abilities can use. Tailoring graphic designers to specific assignments and specific needs of students will help students remained focused and on track.

5. Provide explicit feedback. According to LD Online, feedback is essential for strengthening communication between teacher and student. Direct feedback also helps students to develop their own voice and writing style. Feedback also allows students to correct their mistakes, which, in turn, helps to improve their writing and apply what they have learned about the writing process to their own work.

Tips & Warnings

• Offer one-on-one or small-group tutoring, if possible. In a classroom setting, it is sometimes difficult to reach students who are severely learning disabled. Providing one-on-one tutoring to these students can make an enormous impact when it comes to achieving writing goals.

References

• LD Online

Resources

• ReadWriteThink
• Web English Teacher