Just as composing a story, a report, or an argumentative essay is challenging for most students with LD, so it is challenging for teachers in inclusive settings to instruct them (Gillespie & Kiuhara, 2017; Grünke & Leonard Zabel, 2015). The articles in this issue of "Insights into Learning Disabilities" are geared towards special…

Responsive professional development is about watching learners closely, interpreting observations to make nuanced decisions, and taking action to support learners at particular moments. What might they be ready to do next? What instructional moves will best provide "just enough" support? In other words, what is the next wise action?…

Intended for the reluctant writer who finds writing difficult or is unable to put ideas on paper, this guide examines the characteristics of the reluctant writer and suggests strategies for teachers to use when dealing with these characteristics. It also reviews the writing process, categorizes the reluctant writer according to grade level, and…

Offers writing assignments and exercises for students in grades one through eight. (HOD)

Presents a worksheet that asks students to describe themselves as writers. (MM)

Describes two strategies to help students start writing poetry. The first involves underlining key subject words in poems or replacing them with other subject words. In the second, students record interesting facts about an animal and rearrange them in order of interest. (BC)

Frequency is the key to achieving flow in good writing. Generating written responses to a variety of tasks on a daily basis instills confidence and competence. Suggested writing techniques include daily journals reflecting individual thinking, paragraph completions based on topic sentences, object descriptions, creation of dialogs, and…

Writing workshops are held for gifted students (7 to 15 years old) and include journalism, guidebook, and fiction work with critical analysis of each other's writing. Sample exercises and brainstorming techniques are discussed. (CL)

This article presents 15 activities designed to motivate students to engage in creative writing. Also given are ideas on how to reinforce and maintain student interest in writing. (IAH)

Teaching and testing writing can be structured so that the student progresses through a number of stages involving copying and developing sentences from: nonprint visual stimuli, manipulation of the printed word, visual stimulus by means of word completions, and oral stimuli. Sample exercises and evaluation formula are presented. (SW)

Writing can be a fun and rewarding form of self-expression for gifted students. Some specific writing activities which can provide enrichment include recording, in detail, visual observations; making observations about a specific topic (such as television shows or some other subject the students have experience with); and recording personal…

The "controlling statement," a method of teaching students to write in an organized and efficient manner, consists of three basic parts: the idea, the viewpoint, and the key terms. Once introduced to students, these three parts can be easily used throughout the year (or years) to refer to basic areas within the composition process. This method of…

Writing can be a rich source of information for science teachers who wish to take their students' present understandings into account as they plan and carry out instruction. The responses students give when asked to explain in writing what happened in an experiment can help the teacher address particular student's misunderstandings. Even writers…

Based on recent findings in writing research, this document offers the following recommendations on how teachers can improve the writing skills of their students: (1) spend time on activities that require real writing rather than short answers and fill-in-the-blank exercises; (2) have students spend more time putting their thoughts on paper in a…

Generating writing ideas is often a serious obstacle for students. Some classroom techniques to help them out of this dilemma include word associating and self-questioning. Students can also construct a matrix chart with the subheadings from their information resources. Once ideas are generated, they can be arranged in appropriate presentation…