Writing Interventions and Resources for School Personnel

Rachel Trainque

Marist College
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Introduction to Writing

Writing is a process that develops over time, with new skills being built on top of

previously learned skills. Some of the important skills required to advance the writing process

are spelling, grammar, vocabulary, and organization (Aupperlee, Geraghty, & Lien, N. D.).

The ability to write well is important for effective written communication, but according to the

National Center of Education Statistics, only about one quarter of students in the nation perform

at the proficient level in writing, while 54 percent of eighth-graders and 52 percent of twelfth-

graders performed at the basic level (NCES, 2012).

Writing difficulties can manifest in different ways, such as difficulty with handwriting or

difficulty with basic writing skills, such as spelling. Handwriting is a complex activity, which

requires the interaction of perceptual-motor (motor planning and execution) processes and

higher-level cognitive (psycholinguistic and executive) processes. Some students have difficulty

producing handwriting at the same level and speed as their peers, which is known as dysgraphia.

In one study, third grade students diagnosed with dysgraphia and at risk for dysgraphia were

shown to have messier and slower handwriting than their peers who produced “normal

handwriting” (Overvelde & Hulstijn, 2011). The cognitive skills that appear to have the most

influence on a student’s future writing abilities are phonological awareness and visual-motor

skills (Maki et al., 2001). Additional factors, such as working memory deficits and deficits in

executive functioning can also affect a student’s writing performance (Kellogg & Raulerson,

2007).

Students with difficulties in decoding, phonographics, and orthography of words have

also been shown to have difficulty with spelling due to the inability to break down words.

Spelling difficulty has not only been related to difficulties with effective written expression, but
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has been suggested to be correlated with difficulties in reading comprehension as well

(Shankweiler et al., 1996). Many students who struggle with writing have not developed their

reading skills. These types of students are unable to interpret what they read, so they cannot

write adequately (Collins, Lee, Fox, & Madigan, 2017).

Since effective writing skills are central to higher education and the work world, it is

important that students are able to demonstrate age-appropriate writing abilities in all areas. One

study looked at the importance of early intervention to improve writing for students with Specific

Learning Disabilities (SLDs). This study found that if teachers tailor their writing instruction in

the areas of spelling, planning, and revising for students with SLDs, they can facilitate the

development of these areas for struggling writers (Graham, Harris, & Larsen, 2001). An article

on improving the handwriting of college students further supports the need for early intervention

presented in the aforementioned research. Regarding the importance of using written expression

in college years and beyond, Kellogg and Raulerson (2007) explain that the ability to write an

extended text is the best predictor of one’s success during their first year of coursework in

college.
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Website Resources

Writing Den

URL: http://www2.actden.com/writ_den/index.htm

Mission: This website is designed for students in grades 6-12 and aims to help them improve

their reading, comprehension, and writing skills. The site also offers a “tips-o-matic” tab which

provides help in three areas of writing: sentences, paragraphs, and essays. This information

includes the parts of a sentence, parts of a parapgraph and how to organize a paragraph, and how

to organize an essay.

Overview: The homepage of the site provides a “feature topic” which is beneficial for students

who need to practice in any area of writing, such as organizing essays, spelling, or grammar.

They can take the opportunity to create a writing sample on the featured topic and then receive

feedback from a parent or educator. There is also a link to view more topics for writing ideas. A

link to tips for writing sentences, paragraphs, and essays is also available for students, which

includes a breakdown of the parts of each, how to write paragraphs and essays, and grammar

rules. Parent, students, and teachers can use this link, which makes it especially beneficial.

Students can review the tips while writing, and parents and educators can use these tips to help

assist their child/students who are having difficulties with writing.

A “teacher’s guide” tab is available on the website which is usefel for educators in the

classroom. The tab provides a variety of information for teachers regarding what the site is, the

goal of the site, how to use the site, and how to incorporate the website into the class curriculum.

The teachers’ page lists seven different ways to incorporate the site’s resources into the class

curriculum, including how to help students create their own writing topics. A tab offering

information about the website is available from the homepage, as well as a link to a word of the
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day signup available to everyone. The word of the day sends a new vocabulary word daily to

your email, should you choose to enter it.

All About Learning Press

URL: http://resources.allaboutlearningpress.com/#activities

Mission: This website aims to provide resources for teachers, parents, and students to improve

reading and spelling. To help in spelling, this website offers a variety of free resources including

apps, activities, articles and reports, and has a teaching program available for purchase as well.

Overview: Although there are two programs available for purchase on this site, one for reading

and one for spelling, there are also a variety of free resources available for parents, students, and

teachers, although some require a free login of an email and password.

On the website, the free resources tab offers reports, activities, top articles, and apps to help with

spelling. Reports are particularly helpful for teachers. They offer insight into topics including

the best ways to teach reading and spelling, how to solve letter reversals, and ways to make

spelling easy. Information about the Orton-Gillingham Approach to teaching spelling, which is

the approach used in the program offered on the site, is also provided. All reports are

downloadable e-books, but require filling in your name and email address for a free login.

The activities section of the site offers free downloadable and printable activities. One of the

printable resources in this section is a spelling rules poster, which can help students learn and

remember spelling rules when put up in a classroom. There are also a variety of practice

activities to help students master spelling.

The top articles section of the site provides a variety of articles helpful for teachers and

parents. Articles cover topics such as spelling strategies, how to help struggling learners, and

how to teach the alphabet to preschoolers.

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There are also a variety of free apps available for download. One of the apps contains

pronunciation of the 72 basic phonograms so that the student can hear the letters and letter

combinations to help them with the spelling of these sounds. The other app allows the student to

tap a letter and hear its most common letter sound.

Lastly, there is a blog section on the website. The blog section offers a variety of

different posts including posts about teaching and posts that offer examples of educational

activities to help improve a student’s spelling.

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Intervention Coach Card

(POW+) TREE Plus Peer Corrective Feedback

Summary: This writing strategy teaches writing and self-regulation through a self-regulated

strategy development approach. The strategy uses cognitive modeling, explicit instruction,

guided discovery, and peer practice to help students generate possible writing ideas. The POW

strategy should be used in all writing and is a mnemonic for Pick an idea, Organize notes, Write

and say more. The (POW+) TREE strategy is primarily used for persuasive or opinion writing.

TREE is a mnemonic for Topic sentence, Reasons (at least three to support topic sentence),

Examine it, and End it. This intervention strategy has a total of six stages.

Location: Any classroom or small group

Required Materials:

· Pen or pencil

· Journal

· TREE graphic organizer (Appendix A)

· Rocket graph (or other graph for self-monitoring)

· “My Self Statements” sheet (Appendix B)

Frequency: This intervention should be implemented daily and taught in stages. Each of the

stages may take up to four class sessions to complete, depending on the individual needs of the

class.

Baseline/Progress Monitoring: Students should discuss with the teacher their current

knowledge about persuasive or opinion essays. This includes how to organize essays and the

common parts of these types of essays. The intervention should be implemented until students

are able to consistently and accurately independently organize and write a persuasive or opinion
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essay. Self-monitoring of included essay parts will be used for progress monitoring to determine

when the goal has been achieved by all students in the class. The length of each stage is

dependent on the class’ progress and how long it takes them to accomplish each stage.

Directions for Implementation:

Stage 1: Develop Background Knowledge:

1. The teacher will discuss with the students their current knowledge of opinion or persuasive

essays

2. The teacher introduces and explains the TREE mnemonic strategy (see Appendix A)

3. The teacher explains how a real tree fits all the parts of a persuasive essay

4. Students and teacher read several short essays together and pick out the topic sentence, the

reasons, the explanations, and the ending

5. The TREE graphic organizer is then filled out for each short essay they read together

6. The teacher begins helping the students memorize and generalize the TREE mnemonic

Stage 2: Discuss It

1. The teacher reviews TREE to help students memorize it

2. The teacher helps students evaluate their own previous writing and reads some previous essays

aloud

3. Students are asked to brainstorm reasons for the topic sentence and explanations for these

reasons that the author could have added to the story (supporting sentences)

4. Students evaluate their previous opinion essays and what parts they have accodrding to the

TREE model

5. The class discusses commonly missing parts of their essays

6. The teacher discusses additional things that can be done to make more powerful essays
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7. Each student is given a rocket graph to track how many parts they have in their essays

8. The teacher and students discuss goals for improving essays

9. Students move to stage 3 when the teacher determines they are ready

Stage 3: Model It

1. Teacher models POW + TREE, talking it out as they plan and write an essay

2. Students assist the teacher in planning and making notes on the TREE organizer

3. The teacher uses think-a-loud instructions while planning and writing

4. Each student is given a “My Self Statements” sheet and writes one thing to him/herself to help

think of good ideas (see Appendix B)

5. Students use “my self statements” throughout instruction and while they write

6. Students evaluate this collaborative essay and graph the parts on a new rocket graph

7. Students move to stage 4 when the teacher determines they are ready

Stage 4: Memorize It

Students have been memorizing this process/strategy from stage 1. At this stage, students should

be able to ptoduce the TREE mnemonic on scrap paper independently

Stage 5: Support It

This is the longest stage, but it is suggested that this is the stage where students show the biggest

improvement in writing performance.

1. Students set a goal to include all five essay parts (topic, three reasons w/explanations,

conclusion) included in the TREE organizer for each essay they write. Each essay is evaluated

and graphed.

2. Students will write the toal number of parts (out of the five) that they have in their essay,

above the essay, to document it. If students use more than three reasons (supporting sentences),
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they have “busted the graph”. Students can help each other during this stage, as well as receive

help from the teacher.

3. Use of the POW + TREE mnemonic charts, list of self-statements, and graphic organizer is

faded and eventually discontinued

Stage 6: Independent Performance

1. Students write one or two opinion essays independently using the learned strategies

2. Each student then swaps his or her essay with a peer

3. Peers provide written and oral corrective feedback as to whether or not all essay parts were

included

4. Students hand in their essay to receive further written corrective feedback from the teacher

5. Goal setting and graphing continue for two essays to ensure all essay parts are incorported and

students are given the option to contonie with these methods in the future

6. Students are required to swap essays with a peer for all future essays in the class to monitor

and maintain each other’s writing progress

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Appendices

Appendix A

Appendix B
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About the Author

Rachel Trainque is a third-year school psychology graduate student at Marist College.

She worked with Dr. Trent as a graduate assistant last year and had the opportunity to present
that research at the 2018 EPA Conference. Her current interests include play therapy, social
psychology, and applied behavior analysis (ABA). Rachel began studying Psychology during
her undergraduate years at the University of New Hampshire. She then started working as an
ABA Therapist in 2014 with a 7-year old boy with Autism, which drove her interest in becoming
a School Psychologist, particularly working with elementary students. She also worked as an
Outreach Specialist and Youth Group Leader for at-risk children and adolescents at Lahey
Health Behavioral Services in Haverhill, MA. Here, she did outreach with parents and the
Department of Mental Health, as well as mentoring at-risk youth in the community. She was
then an ABA Therapist in the Hudson Valley Region of New York, working with a 7-year old
boy with Autism and also with a 16-year old girl with Autism, Depression, and Anxiety. Rachel
is now an ABA therapist in Albany, NY and is completing her internship at an elementary school
in North Colonie with a high population of students with autism. Due to her interests in
behavior, research, and working with youth, Rachel plans to pursue her BCBA credential, as well
as become a School Psychologist in an elementary school setting.
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References

Aupperlee, J., Geraghty, N, & Lien, M. (N. D.) Page 1: Definition, characteristics, and causes of

written expression difficulties. Retrieved from

https://msu.edu/course/cep/886/Writing/home.htm

Collins, J. L., Lee, J., Fox, J. D., & Madigan, T. P. (2017). Bringing together reading and

writing: An experimental study of writing intensive reading comprehension in low-

performing urban elementary schools. Reading Research Quarterly, 52(3), 311–332.

Graham, S., Harris, K. R., & Larsen, L. (2001). Prevention and intervention of writing

Difficulties for students with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research &

Practice, 16(2), 74-84.

Kellogg, R. T. & Raulerson, B. A. (2007). Improving the writing skills of college students.

Maki, H. S., Voeten, M. J. M., Vauras, M. M. S., & Poskiparta, E. H. (2001). Predicting

writing skill development with word recognition and preschool readiness skills. Reading

and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 14, 643-672.

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) (2012). The Nation's Report Card: Writing

2011. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/main2011/2012470.aspx

Overvelde, A. & Hulstijn, W. (2011). Handwriting development in grade 2 and grade 3 primary

school children with normal, at risk, or dysgraphic characteristics. Research in

Developmental Disabilities, 32, 540-548. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14(2),

237-242.

Shankweiler, D., Lundquist, E., Dreyer, L. G., & Dickinson, C. C. (1996). Reading and spelling

Difficulties in high school students: Causes and consequences. Reading and Writing:

An Interdisciplinary Journal, 8, 267-294.

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