Signs a student may be struggling with this area:
The student's writing contains many errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar. They may transpose words or get common words mixed up. You may notice that they misspell the same word in different ways throughout a writing piece.
Diagnostic Tools (to help determine if a student is struggling with this skill):
Ohio Department of Education -New Ohio Diagnostic Assessments
Research-Based Interventions to try:
COPS Editing Intervention (Think Aloud) COPS is a mnemonic strategy that cues students through an editing process to edit written work for mechanical errors and clarity. Editing makes the written product more legible and understandable to a reader. This mnemonic strategy should be posted in the room and taught to the students through a teach, demonstrate and practice model.
SCOPE- This provides students a simple, easily memorized plan for proofreading. (SCOPE Poster)
Mastering the Mechanics- Ready to Use Lessons for Modeled, Guided, and Independent Editing by Linda Hoyt and Teresa Therriault
Includes a great skill continuum
St. Vrain Teachers have this resource
Progress Monitoring Tools:
Writing Curriculum-Based Measurement using Correct Writing Sequence
AIMSweb Written Expression- Correct Writing Sequence (WE-CWS)
Curriculum-Based Measurement: Directions for Administering and Scoring CBM Probes in Writing by Jim Wright
Using CBM for Progress Monitoring in Written Expression and Spelling by Fuchs and Fuchs for U.S. Office of Education
Writing Rubrics used regularly to monitor progress in the area of mechanics
Signs a student may be struggling with this area:
There are many signs a student may be struggling with this skill. The following list provides some example skills that may be missing:
The student does not stay on topic when writing.
The writing sample leaves the reader struggling to follow along.
The student does not write enough to provide a complete idea or story.
Diagnostic Tools (to help determine if a student is struggling with this skill):
Research-Based Interventions to try:
Giraffe is a keyword strategy (which is a type of mnemonic) for teaching writing that can help students to remember the construction of a paragraph.
6 Trait Writing This is a traits-based approach designed to integrate instruction and assessment. It is intended to help teachers teach and assess student writing through an analytic approach by focusing on the following six traits that characterize quality writing: Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, and Conventions. Rubrics are utilized in order to clearly communicate expectations.
The DEFENDS acronym is a task-specific writing strategy used in conjunction with an organizer to cue students through the writing process. (DEFENDS Poster)
Self-Monitoring Fluency- Students monitor and chart their own and class-wide rates of writing fluency.
Progress Monitoring Tools:
Writing Rubrics used regularly to monitor progress in the area of mechanics
Also see rubric information included in the 6 Trait writing intervention description above
Using the same criteria every week over a period of 6-9 weeks to show growth
Signs a student may be struggling with this area:
Student does not generalize sound symbol knowledge from reading to writing.
Student often demonstrates spelling errors.
A student who struggles with spelling could be missing a good phonemic awareness and phonics knowledge base.
Diagnostic Tools (to help determine if a student is struggling with this skill):
Look for error patterns in the students spelling.
Research-Based Interventions to try:
Making Words- Early writers can begin the writing process by learning to spell simple words with letter cards, tiles, or plastic letters. (Letter Tiles)(Elkonin Boxes) (Making and Writing Words) (Making and Writing Words 3rd & Up) (Word Ladders 1st-3rd) (Word Ladders 3rd-6th)
Making and Writing Words- Early writers can begin the writing process by learning to spell simple words from a letter bank at the top of the page. (Making and Writing Words) (Making and Writing Words 3rd & Up)
Word Ladders- The letters in a key phrase are used to compose new words based on teacher prompts and hints. Word ladders activities are a fun supplemental intervention that can be added to your curriculum to get students involved in manipulating sounds in words to increase spelling skills. (Word Ladders 1st-3rd) (Word Ladders 3rd-6th)
Progress Monitoring Tools:
Writing Curriculum-Based Measurement using Correct Writing Sequence
AIMSweb Written Expression- Correct Writing Sequence (WE-CWS)
Curriculum-Based Measurement: Directions for Administering and Scoring CBM Probes in Writing by Jim Wright
Using CBM for Progress Monitoring in Written Expression and Spelling by Fuchs and Fuchs for U.S. Office of Education
Signs a student may be struggling with this area:
Based on classroom performance, you may notice a student who struggles with composing and/or completing constructed responses.
TCAP data may also indicate a student is struggling with this skill.
Diagnostic Tools (to help determine if a student is struggling with this skill):
Ask student to practice this skill and use that demonstration to determine what part of writing a constructed response the student is having difficulty with.
Research-Based Interventions to try:
DARE is a mnemonic strategy that cues students through an editing process to help generate an opinion essay focusing on generating, organizing and evaluating content. (Think Aloud)
Progress Monitoring Tools:
Writing Curriculum-Based Measurement using Correct Writing Sequence
AIMSweb Written Expression- Correct Writing Sequence (WE-CWS)
Curriculum-Based Measurement: Directions for Administering and Scoring CBM Probes in Writing by Jim Wright
Using CBM for Progress Monitoring in Written Expression and Spelling by Fuchs and Fuchs for U.S. Office of Education
Signs a student may be struggling with this area:
An awkward pencil grip could be an indication that a student is having difficulty controlling the pencil stroke.
Diagnostic Tools (to help determine if a student is struggling with this skill):
Observe the student writing to determine what the difficulty is.
Research-Based Interventions to try:
Graham's Alphabet Exercises- This intervention was designed as supplemental instruction to teach the lowercase manuscript alphabet to children who were struggling with both handwriting and content writing.
Progress Monitoring Tools:
Collect writing samples of the same writing task for 6-10 data points and look for growth over time.