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		Additional resources From the ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education Teaching Expressive Writing To Students with Learning Disabilities Classwide Peer Tutoring Shown Effective in Spelling Instruction in Inclusive Classrooms Assistive Technology for Students with Mild Disabilities Graphic Organizer Minibib From the National Center for Learning Disabilities Teaching Expressive Writing to Students with Learning Disabilities: A Research Synthesis On the Web Center on Accelerating Student Learning Self-Regulated Strategy Development in Writing: Story and Opinion Essay Writing for Students with Disabilities or Severe Difficulties in the Early Elementary Grade

The articles included in Teaching How-to’s are drawn from TEACHING Exceptional Children (TEC), a publication of The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). TEC is published specifically for teachers and administrators of children with disabilities and children who are gifted and features practical articles that present methods and materials for classroom use as well as current issues in special education teaching and learning.

All articles are offered in PDF and require Acrobat Reader software to download and view.

© Council for Exceptional Children. All articles are reprinted with permission.

What Can I Do to Help Young Children Who Struggle With Writing?
Authors: Barbara Fink-Chorzempa, Steve Graham, and Karen R. Harris
In this article, we identify a variety of instructional adaptations that teachers make for the struggling writers in their classroom.
PDF (3p, 81k)

No More Friday Spelling Tests? An Alternative Spelling Assessment for Students With Learning Disabilities
Author: Kelly A. Loeffler
This teacher found that, by using a spelling rubric rather than a traditional spelling test, her students were able to more easily find misspelled words, correct them, and use an appropriate spelling strategy.
PDF (4p, 136k)

Extra Spelling Instruction: Promoting Better Spelling, Writing, and Reading Performance Right from the Start
Authors: Steve Graham, Karen R. Harris, Barbara Fink-Chorzempa
The CASL Spelling Program contains 20-minute lessons for word sorting, phonics warm ups, spelling patterns, short vowels, long vowels, and a five-step study strategy. Teachers who participated in the program found it effective.
PDF (3p, 65k)

How Adam Became a Writer: Winning Writing Strategies for Low-Achieving Students.
Author: Leigh Ann James, Mary Abbott, Charles R. Greenwood
This article describes a 9-week writing workshop in a fourth grade classroom. The workshop included a process-writing model, graphic organizers, and ongoing assessment using a six-trait writing assessment rubric. Although both high and low scoring groups made significant progress, the low group made the most progress.
PDF (8p, 180k)

Spell Checking: Making Writing Meaningful in the Inclusive Classroom
Author: Tamarah M. Ashton
This article describes the CHECK procedure for teaching students with learning disabilities skills in the actual operation of a computer spell- check. Students are urged to check the beginning sound, hunt for correct consonants, examine the vowels, make changes, and keep repeating the process.
PDF (6p, 199k)

From Illegible to Understandable: How Word Prediction and Speech Synthesis Can Help
Author: Charles A. MacArthur
This article uses a case study of a third-grade student with a severe learning disability and an attention deficit disorder to illustrate use of word prediction and speech synthesis software to help students with such tasks as communicating via dialog journals. Guidelines (such as using a relatively small word list) and evidence of the method's effectiveness are offered.
PDF (6p, 70k)