Writing

  • 15 minutes

Prewriting

Teachers should always remember and share with students that writing is the culmination of stages and processes. This is important because we don't want learners with dyslexia to see writing as a single act leading to one destination.  

  • Prewriting is the act of brainstorming, imagining, and generating ideas that ultimately express the student’s thoughts and emotions.
  • Learners with dyslexia require this step to feel comfortable with putting ideas on paper without the pressure of correct mechanics or the daunting feeling of filling a blank piece of paper.
  • Using technology can create freedom, safety, and confidence in the writing process for a learner with dyslexia to use their strengths.

Reflection

  • What are ways you connect the passions and interests of a learner with dyslexia to the prewriting process?
  • Why is it important to not expect or demand perfect spelling at the prewriting step of writing?
  • How can you incorporate visual elements into the prewriting process?

Other resources

Drafting

During the drafting stage of writing, learners with dyslexia are given the opportunity to bring structure and organization to their ideas.

  • Not every piece of writing needs to be a polished masterpiece. Students should use the drafting stage to practice and master putting the pieces together.
  • The use of sentence combining is a great way to solidify the drafting stage and still not be concerned with spelling and grammar.

Reflection

  • Explain why the drafting stage is important for the solidification and mastery of writing skills.
  • How can a teacher use the drafting process without having students actually write something down?
  • Why is it important to not expect or demand perfect spelling at the drafting step of writing?

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Writing and editing

If the writing process is taught in sequential steps, then the initial instruction is focusing on the goal of idea generation and composition. The next step is editing and is often hardest for the learner with dyslexia.

  • The use of checklists that contain the common traits of writing, student-to-student peer editing, and interactions with a student’s own writing helps students with dyslexia have confidence in their own writing.
  • Remember the editing stage is about analysis over criticism, content over mechanics, process over product, and growth over perfection.
  • Technology, like text to speech, can aid a learner with dyslexia who often reads what they want the words to say rather than what is actually written.

Reflection

  • Why will editing be a hard step in the writing process for a learner with dyslexia?
  • How can a teacher use this stage to promote and encourage a learner with dyslexia?
  • In what ways can listening to a piece of written expression help a learner with dyslexia in the editing process?

Other resources

Assessing

Assessing is an important part of all classrooms and teachers need to be thinking about it in a different way.

  • Before a writing assignment begins, present a clear message about grading and marking.
  • The learner with dyslexia needs time to work through stages of writing. Do not rush the process to fit into a specific unit of time and expect a polished masterpiece every time.
  • Knowing how the student will be assessed prior to the assignment gives the student ownership and a tool to guide the process.
  • Assessing a student's writing can feel subjective or as if you're picking the piece apart. Therefore, focus on clear and explicit areas of writing to assess such as content, transitions, vocabulary usage, and mechanics. These can even be individual or separated grades.

Reflection

  • How can giving multiple grades on one assignment tap into the strengths of a learner with dyslexia?
  • Does the assessment of writing have to have the same objective every time?
  • Name four areas of writing that are essential in a strong piece of written expression.

Other resources