Constructing written text in English can be a challenging endeavor for all students, but it holds particular challenges for English Language Learners (ELLs) with learning disabilities (LD). For this reason, effective instruction needs to recognize the gifts of emergent bilingualism and respond to the challenges that ELLs with LD bring to the task…

Students with disabilities often find expressive writing frustrating and difficult. The prospect of writing a well-developed five-paragraph essay can be especially daunting. One reason is that struggling writers may have difficulty conceptualizing how the elements of an effective essay are developed. This article describes an instructional…

How can teachers integrate rap and technology strategies to teach students with learning disabilities the art of persuasive argument writing? This teacher research study presents creative new approaches for teaching argument writing. Strategies used in the study helped college freshmen with learning disabilities (LD) succeed in developing…

Twenty-three students with varying academic and linguistic profiles were taught a strategy for revising expository essays, using the Self-Regulated Strategy Development model for instruction. Students learned basic revising tactics and to consider text structure as they managed decisions on how to improve their essays. Instructional effects were…

Students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often experience serious academic deficits. One area that is particularly problematic is written expression. This study assesses the effectiveness of a persuasive essay-writing strategy taught by using the self-regulated strategy development model on the writing skills of 3 high school…

The authors conducted two studies as part of a federally funded project to improve the writing performance of students identified as at risk for behavioral difficulties and struggling with writing. One study focused on improving persuasive writing abilities, whereas the second study focused on improving story writing abilities. Many of the…

Fourth- and sixth-grade students with and without learning disabilities wrote essays about a controversial topic after receiving either a general persuasion goal or an elaborated goal that included subgoals based on elements of argumentative discourse. Students in the elaborated goal condition produced more persuasive essays that were responsive…

This study investigated the effects of an expository writing strategy implemented using the Self-Regulated Strategy Development model on the writing skills of four, 4th- and 5th-grade students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Instruction had a pronounced positive effect on students' writing. Student essays were longer and more…

Rubrics are an integral part of many writing programs, and they represent elements of good writing in essays, stories, poems, as well as other genres and forms of text. Although it is possible to use rubrics to teach students about the processes underlying effective writing, a more common practice is to use rubrics as a means of assessment, after…

This article focuses on strategies in expository essay instruction. Detailed descriptions of instructional procedures in teaching students the recursive processes of planning, drafting, and revising expository essays are provided. Ways to foster students' self-regulation and motivation in writing are provided and potential problems in strategy…

Writing expressive essays is especially difficult for many students with learning and behavior difficulties. They struggle not only with basic writing skills such as spelling, sentence formation, capitalization, and handwriting, but also with the cognitive processes of writing such as planning, organizing, and writing (Schumaker & Deshler, 2003).…

A study of 14 adolescents with learning disabilities and 7 low-achieving adolescents was conducted to evaluate a writing strategy designed to enhance the quality of compare-and-contrast essays. Results indicate the students improved substantially in the clarity of writing, appropriateness, and organization of ideas in their essays, but not in…

A study of three fifth-grade students with learning disabilities examined the effectiveness of a strategy deigned to help them become more reflective when writing opinion essays. Following the instruction, students wrote essays that were longer, provided more support for their premise, and were qualitatively better. (Author/CR)

Two studies of intermediate grade students with and without learning and writing disabilities evaluated the Self-Regulated Strategy Development model in teaching students how to plan persuasive essays before and during composing. Instructional effects were investigated using different research designs, in different settings, and with different…

Self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) is presented as way that middle school students with learning disabilities can learn task-specific strategies for composing. A strategy for planning expository essays is discussed, along with the PLAN and WRITE strategies for teaching basic parts of an essay, different types of sentences, synonyms, and…