The main purpose of writing is so others will read what you have written. The secondary reason we write is for ourselves. We write notes to remind us of things we need to get or projects to finish. (Remember the famous Honey Do List!)
When we write for others it might be a letter, an essay of even a book. For instance, read these sentences that a 1st grader wrote:
Mi dog is big. He dusnit lick luttl catz. Mie dogz nam is Busstr.
Translation: My dog is big. He doesn't like little cats. My dog's name is Buster.
The child’s sentences above were probably written as an assignment. But imagine the joy this child received when she took this paper home for her parent(s) to read. Perhaps she had even drawn a picture to go with her writing.
The teacher may have even put this class assignment on the bulletin board in the hallway for other students to read. When students see their work on display, it gives them a sense of accomplishment. At this point, the child has become a published author.
What's the purpose of writing if it isn't so others can read it? The sense of accomplishment spurs students onward and upward. For them, the writing connection will grow stronger with time.
Every person alive has the desire to communicate. Writing is part of communicating. By writing our words, we are able to communicate with people we don’t know. For instance, the internet has become
the new textbook.
We can find almost any type of information we want on the internet.
WORDS HAVE POWER! How does a child with a learning disability express his words if he can’t write them in a coherent paragraph? He does it through a tape recorder, a computer with Dragon Speak or through dictation to someone else.
Most children like to talk. All the teacher has to do is get her student talking about something that the child is interested in and record it at the same time. Later, someone can type it and give it to the child.
The student sees that her words mean something because they were written down. The written word is powerful even if the child doesn’t do the actual writing.
This process continues even as the child is learning how to construct paragraphs and even short stories or essays. As this process continues, she should still be working on her handwriting, either cursive or print.
Even though this child may have problems with writing because of dyslexia or dysgraphia, she still should be taking written spelling tests. Start by having her write just a few spelling words. She can verbally spell the others to someone else or into a tape recorder.
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