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Learning difficulties and solutions for Writing - Coggle Diagram
Learning difficulties and solutions for Writing
Writing difficulties
• May have good ideas, but is unable to get those ideas onto paper / unsure of how to start writing
• Reluctant to write or finish written work
• Poor motor control. May write in large, poorly formed and uneven letters / numbers using a low and tight grip which restricts hand movement
• Inaccurate copying even when copying letter by letter & may lose their place in the text they are copying from once they have looked away from it to write
• Copying accurately can be difficult as they are concentrating on the individual letters as well as the actual mechanics of handwriting
• May have no understanding of what they have actually written
• Writing is considerably below predicted levels when compared to their underlying ability
• Written work will often have taken these pupils much longer to complete than a similar piece written by their peers, or be incomplete
• The completed work often has a significantly restricted vocabulary when compared to the pupil's oral vocabulary
Spelling difficulties
• Confused by letters that look similar – b/d, p/q, m/w, t/f
May reverse both letters and numbers when writing them – even when copying
Uses a mixture of lower and upper case letters when writing
Uses unusual sequencing of letters or words
Spells a word several different ways in one piece of writing
Writing solutions: including generating and organising ideas
• The learning objectives should be considered and if the pupil is being asked to demonstrate their knowledge then they do not need to write everything down as this will be a barrier
• Model examples of the task before expecting the pupils to do this. Lots of talk to help generating and organising ideas
• Having a range of scaffolds (including visuals) nearby with letter formation reminders to help with letter reversals / different graphemes for vowels or consonant digraphs / Key vocabulary mats
• Encourage them to talk through all their work as their own voice is a useful learning tool because it supports working memory. Pupil should be asked to repeat instructions as listening to themselves will help them remember what they need to do
• Tasks broken down into shorter chunks - work presented in small, manageable amounts with regular review and reinforcement. One or two pieces of information should be given at any time and then reviewed before moving on
• ICT supports – audio texts, laptop, predictive word processing, such as text-to-speech and speech-to-text, spellcheckers, mind mapping software and orally recording ideas using apps or other recording functions (for ICT interventions see Section 4)
• Be flexible and allow alternative ways of recording information such as pictures, matching labels to pictures/diagrams/maps, dictate verbally to an adult, sorting statements or pictures into categories and mindmapping skills as these all allow a pupil to express their ideas without the constraints of spelling, grammar and handwriting
• Assess written work on content rather than spelling. Try and assess more generally by taking into account the non-written work
Writing solutions: including speed, motor control & coordination difficulties
• Pens and pencils of different thicknesses and shapes which can be tried to see which provides the most comfortable option for writing. Stabilo Easygraph is particularly good as it has finger positions all the way down the pencil, is chunky and therefore easy to hold and has both right and left-handed versions.
• Be aware that writing can be tiring. Try to break down writing tasks into small steps, with frequent breaks.
• While it is sometimes felt that younger pupils should continue to work on improving their handwriting, pen and paper may not be their primary means of writing over the longer term.
• Encourage the development of keyboard skills – word processing with spellcheck is an invaluable life skill for all learners, but is especially important for pupils with a fundamental difficulty with fine motor control. Starting as early as possible is likely to be helpful for some pupils in staying engaged and in learning to express himself through the written word.
• Check seating – desktop should be at elbow height, pupil should be able to sit right back in their chair with knees bending back at right angles and feet flat on the floor. Put box or large book under feet if necessary.
• Use aids supplied – portable writing slope, clipboards to attach paper to, non-slip mats.
• Use a reminder handwriting alphabet and numeral formation guide at top of desk.
• Use larger-lined book or paper, columns or boxes to place numbers in, squared paper
Spelling solutions
• Mnemonics for spellings and number facts can make use of both verbalising and visualisation
• Have pupils work in pairs – a pupil who has good ideas but difficulty with spelling and handwriting with a pupil who is good at writing but not so strong on ideas
• Provide an Aurally Coded English (ACE) dictionary where words are grouped according to sound
• Allow children to type rather than write. It helps them organize their ideas, removes the barriers of spelling and grammar and boosts self-esteem
• Spelling tests do not equal learning for pupils with specific learning difficulties and placing too much emphasis on spelling inhibits the ability to write
• When learning spellings at home encourage the pupil to learn the spellings using the multi-sensory method and to check the words again 10 minutes later to ensure that the words go from the short term to the long term memory
• A specific intervention such as magical spelling or toe by toe
• Visual resource / cards showing specific spelling rules and reversals eg. b/d
• Ensure that the pupil is using a multi-sensory method to learn spellings: for example, read the word say the letters aloud, cover the word, write the word saying the letters aloud, check the word
• Other multi-sensory approaches include – an alphabet arc, chunky letters and spelling games
• The spellings need to be relevant to the pupil rather than learning obscure words for spelling tests which are not going to be remembered or used in everyday situations
Visual, verbal and written scaffolds to support writing tasks
Visual scaffolds can support a pupil in a range of ways including knowing what equipment they need, the steps they need to take or what their work should look like:
• A task planner
• A list of the steps a pupil needs to take
• Model examples of work
• Images that support vocabulary learning or igniting ideas
• Mind map
A written scaffold will typically be provided for a pupil to support them with an independent written task. It could be the notes made on the whiteboard during class discussion; it could even be the child’s own previous work used to support their recall.
• Sequencing or prediction tasks or using cloze procedure (where the pupil fills in missing words in text)
• A word bank / vocabulary mat
• Writing frame and templates (e.g. writing up a science experiment) to help structure thinking and writing
• Sentence starters
• Prompt sheets: questions to answer, key words to build each section or paragraph around, sentences or paragraphs to put in correct order, paragraph openings.
Providing a verbal scaffold may involve re-teaching a tricky concept to a group of pupils, or using questioning to identify and address any misconceptions.
“Let’s look at this together...”
“What have you done before, that will help you with this task?”
“Don’t forget, your work needs to include...”