Evidence Based Writing Intervention: Giving Students the Right to Write

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Evidence Based Writing Intervention Giving
Students the Right to Write

• ASHA, 2007
• Laura Green, Ph.D. CCC/SLP
• lgreen_at_twu.edu

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Evidence Based Practice (EBP)

• The process of integrating our clinical
  expertise, best current evidence and the values
  of our client values to provide high-quality
  services.
• Our goal
• A mandate

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Theory Based Practice (TBP)

• The process of integrating clinical expertise,
  theoretically sound treatment principles, and
  client values to provide the best services
  possible when evidence is not available.
• Sometimes our only option
• Should be undertaken with a treatment study in
  mind

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Writing

• Is a complex mental process that requires a high
  level of abstraction, elaboration, conscious
  reflection, and self-regulation.
• Requires a self-efficacious (I can do this) and
  motivated mentality.
• Is facilitated when students have a choice in
  what they are writing (topics, genres), as choice
  promotes interest and autonomy.

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Students with LLDs

• Have specific difficulties with generating ideas,
  creating sentences to convey these ideas,
  organizing the ideas, monitoring their
  performance, and finding and correcting their
  errors
• Require much more practice to achieve mastery of
  writing strategies
• Demonstrate a lack of self-regulated learning
  along with affective and motivational issues

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Educational Perspectives

• The student is an active learner
• The focus should be on the process of writing
• Planning
• Drafting
• Revising
• Writing is a social activity
• We compose for an audience
• We are reinforced through interaction with
  teachers and peers

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Contribution of the SLP

• Writing objectives are grounded in all areas of
  language.
• We understand the need to apply newly learned
  skills in authentic academic contexts.
• We can provide additional practice and repeated
  learning opportunities that may not be available
  in the classroom.

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Intervention Context

• Utilize students existing writing assignments
  when possible.
• For extra practice, create activities that
  utilize content and material related to classroom
  work or of high interest to the student(s)
• Students choose their own topic
• Students complete a composition with
  social/practical significance such as a story to
  be published and shared

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Three Intervention Areas

• Sentence Level Composition
• Conjunctions
• References
• Self Regulated Writing
• Self Regulated Strategy Development
• EmPOWER
• Genre Specific Writing
• Narrative Text
• Expository Text

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Sentence Level Composition

• Students must be able to use a variety of
  sentence structures that are connected in
  coherent ways.
• Goals
• Awareness of different sentence combination
  options that will increase writing
  complexity/fluency and facilitate revision
• Appropriate use of pronominal references (e.g.,
  he, she and they)

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EBP Sentence Combining

• During drafting, provide instruction in
  conjunction use after the student writes
  sentences/paragraphs that provide a context for
  using them.
• During editing, model self-questions such as Do
  my sentences show connections between ideas? and
  make changes accordingly.

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Case Example Conjunctions

• Cindy is a 3rd grader with a language/learning
  disability who receives services for both
  receptive and expressive language difficulties.
  She is seen for therapy in a small group twice
  weekly.
• Her class is doing a unit on narrative writing.

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Cindys story

• First draft (written in class, spelling left as
  written)
• One day there were three boys. They were
  throwing rocks at cars. There cars were wreked.
  They went to court. What happen was the boys
  were counted gluity. Everybody was happy. They
  had to give them money for their cars.

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Measuring Progress Conjunctions

• Compare pretreatment writing samples to samples
  taken during and after treatment
• Compare ability to state the meaning of
  conjunctions before and after treatment
• Compare sentence combining exercises from before
  and after treatment

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TBP Referential Cohesion

• During drafting, provide instruction either
  immediately following construction of sentences
  or after the student has generated a paragraph in
  which references are misused.
• During editing, students can circle the
  references in their text, asking themselves Can
  I tell who or what my references are referring
  back to and do they make sense? Changes can be
  made accordingly.

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Case Example References

• Cindys story
• One day there were three boys. They were
  throwing rocks at cars. There cars were wreked.
  They went to court. What happen was the boys
  were counted gluity. Everybody was happy. They
  had to give them money for their cars.

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Measuring Progress References

• Compare use of references in written narratives
  before, during and after treatment
• Compare students ability to identify incoherent
  references in a written paragraph before, during
  and after treatment

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Self-Regulated Learning

• Self-generated thoughts, feelings, and actions
  that are planned and systematically adapted as
  needed to affect ones learning and motivation.
• Goal Awareness of how and when to use a variety
  of self-regulation strategies for writing (and of
  their usefulness for completing specific academic
  goals).

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EBP Self Regulated Strategy Development(Harris
Graham, 1996)

• 1. Develop background knowledge and skills
• 2. Discuss the strategy goals and significance
• TREE Topic sentence, Note Reasons, Examine
  Reasons, Note Ending
• DARE Develop topic sentence, Add supporting
  ideas, Reject possible arguments, End with a
  conclusion
• 3. Model the strategy
• 4. Have students memorize the strategy
• 5. Support strategy practice
• 6. Independent performance

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EBP EmPOWER(Singer Bashir, 2004)

• 1. Evaluate
• 2. Plan
• 3. Organize
• 4. Write
• 5. Edit
• 6. Rewrite/Revise

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Genre Specific Instruction

• Goals
• understanding and using general text
• conventions (i.e., topic sentences,
  paragraph organization)
• (2) understanding genre-specific information and
  structure
• Students also need examples of well-written text.

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Narrative Text

• Goal Teach students the underlying structure of
  narratives
• Utilizing a story grammar approach involves
• (1) sequentially introducing and teaching the
• individual story components.
• (2) illustrating the ways in which these story
• events fit together.

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EBP Narrative Writing

• Story maps/webs (Beck McKeown, 1981 Idol,
  1987 Zipprich, 1995) are visual/graphic
  representations of the structure of stories
  generated prior to writing and referred back to
  during text generation.
• Story grammar cuing (Montague, Graves Leavell,
  1991) uses a check-off system of story elements
  that students follow as they write a story.
• The Expression Connection A Structured Approach
  to Teaching Storytelling to School Age Children
  (Klecan-Aker Gill, 1995) uses specific
  instruction in story grammar components followed
  by structured multiple choice and
  fill-in-the-blank story practice activities.

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Story Recipe

• Ingredients
• Setting Characters, time, place
• Problem/Event Something that happens to get the
  story started
• Internal Response Character feeling or reaction
  to the problem or event
• Action Character does something about the
  problem or event
• Consequence The result of the action
• Ending Story wrap-up that relates back to the
  problem/event

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Example Story

• Once upon a time there was a giant who lived
  in a castle. The castle was in the mountains.
  The giant had no one to talk to. He was very sad
  and lonely. The giant decided to steal a
  companion. He went into the village and stole a
  little boy. The townspeople became angry and ran
  after the giant. The little boy started to cry
  because he was frightened. The giant took the
  little boy back to the village. The townspeople
  were very happy. They let the giant come visit
  every day. The giant was never lonely again.

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Case Example Narrative Writing

• Cindys first story draft
• One day there were three boys. They were
  throwing rocks at cars. There cars were wreked.
  They went to court. What happen was the boys
  were counted gluity. Everybody was happy. They
  had to give them money for their cars.

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Story Grammar Cuing

• Provide Cindy with a story recipe card to teach
  each of the components and their importance. Talk
  about how they fit together to make a good story.
• Discuss an example story as a model.
• Help Cindy rewrite her story.

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Second Story Draft

• One day there were three boys. They were
  throwing rocks at cars and breaking the windows.
  The people whose cars got wrecked were mad. They
  called the polis and the boys got cawt. They had
  to go to court. The boys were counted guilty and
  felt bad. The people were happy because the boys
  had to give them money to get there cars fixed.
  The peoples cars got fixed and the boys learnd
  there lesson to never throw rocks again.
• Spelling left as written

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Expository Text

• Exposition involves writing for informative
  purposes.
• Text types include description,
  comparison-contrast, sequence, enumeration, and
  cause-effect
• Each type has certain organizational features and
  related key words, but the actual written product
  may have different needs depending on the
  audience, topic or specific purpose.

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EBP Expository Writing

• Goal To help students understand and use a
  variety of expository structures in writing
• A help sheet can be used to assist students in
  generating organized paragraphs (Seidenberg,
  1991).
• Graphic organizers can be utilized to develop and
  organize information to be included in the
  assignment (Wong et al., 1997).
• Example text and signal words can be provided for
  the specific text type.

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Text Organizer Sequence

• Main Idea ________________________
• Topic Sentence _____________________
• Step/Event 1 ______________________
• Step/Event 2 ______________________
• Step/Event 3 ______________________
• Step/Event 4 ______________________

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Example Text Sequence

• Treating Minor Burns
• Minor burns can be treated at home.
  First, cool the burn under running water for
  several minutes. Then, soothe the area with aloe
  vera cream or burn ointment. Monitor the site
  for blistering and take ibuprofen for pain.
  Finally, if you have concerns or questions about
  the burn site, call your doctor.

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Signal Words Sequence

• Before
• After
• Next
• First, Second, Third etc.
• Then
• Finally
• Lastly

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Editing/Revising Questions Sequence

• Are my steps/events in chronological or logical
  order?
• Do they all relate to the topic?
• Did I use signal words to help my reader follow
  my thinking?
• Is my sequence complete?

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Case Example Expository Writing

• Joe is 13 years old and has a language/learning
  disability with specific weakness in expressive
  language. He is seen by the SLP once weekly for
  an hour. Here is his assignment
• Choose two items/ideas that share similarities
  and differences and are of interest to you.
  Write a short essay (3 paragraph minimum) that
  successfully compares and contrasts these
  items/ideas. Final draft is due in 3 weeks, with
  one period of in-class time each week to work on
  it.

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Week 1

• Evaluate Review the assignment. Model
  self-questions such as What are the key action
• words that tell me what to do in the
  assignment? or How many parts will my
  assignment have?
• Plan Discuss the purpose of the essay and look
• at an example text to see how it is organized.
  Brainstorm potential topics.
• Organize Fill in the expository text help sheet
  for a compare/contrast essay.
• Work Write a first draft.

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Text Organizer

• Main Idea Fencing with foil and sabre has
  similarities and differences.
  
• Topic sentence Fencing with foil and sabre is
  similar in some, but different in many ways.
• List of similarities List of differences
• 1. Both have same parts 1. Sword parts look
  different
• 2. Both are used to duel 2. Sabre slash
  Foil-jab
• 3. Need same protection 3. Area you stab is
  different

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First Draft

• How are Foil and Sabre Alike and Different?
• Fencing with foil and sabre is similar in
  some, but different
• in many ways. They are alike because both
  swords have a
• blade, gaurd and hilt. They are different
  because Sabre is a
• lager wepon then foil. Fiol has a round
  guard but a sabre has
• a bill gaurd that is shaped like a pirets
  cutless gaurd kind of.
• You dule with both swords but in sabre you
  slash, and in foil,
• you stab. In sabre it is more likely to get
  hurt than in foil
• because you get hit not stabbed. You wear
  protective gear.
• The difference is in where you can get hit. In
  foil you have
• only an aria as big as a vest. In sabre you
  have from the hips
• to the tip of your head.

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Week 2

• Evaluate Model and encourage Joe to answer
  self-questions in his proofreading checklist.
  Scaffold a discussion of potential changes.
• Rework Write a second draft based on the
  evaluation. This could be done during in-class
  work time.

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Proofreading Checklist
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Second Draft

• How are Foil and Sabre Alike and Different?
• Fencing with foil and sabre is similar in
  some, but different in many ways. They are alike
  because both swords have a blade, gaurd and hilt.
  They are different because Sabre is a lager wepon
  then foil. Fiol has a round guard but a sabre
  has a bill gaurd that is shaped like a pirets
  cutless gaurd.
• You dule with both swords but in sabre you
  slash, and in foil, you stab. In sabre the
  fencer is more likely to get hurt than in foil
  because he gets hit not stabbed. Lastly, in both
  foil and sabre, the fencer wears protective gear.
  This gear is a chest guard, mask and glove. The
  difference is in where you can get hit. In foil
  you have only an aria as big as a vest. In
  contrast, in sabre you have from the hips to the
  tip of your head.
• Both foil and sabre are fun. They are also
  very different and you can take lessons for both
  of them.

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Measuring Progress Writing

• Classroom grades in writing
• Comparisons of writing before and after
  intervention
• Comparisons of multiple drafts of the same
  narrative/paper
• Portfolios that store a variety of writing
  assignments across the school year
• Students personal statements about writing

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Conclusions

• Writing is an important but complicated life
  skill.
• The role of the SLP in writing intervention can
  be one of classroom support and/or direct
  instruction.
• A collaborative relationship with classroom and
  special education teachers helps us keep
  students writing and intervention purposeful and
  relevant.

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References

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• Montague, M., Graves, A., Leavell, A. (1991).
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