Date
15 March 2024

Support writing skills

Ideas are an important part of writing. Provide a structure for organising ideas, as well as supports for spelling.

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Three ways to support writing development

Three ways to support writing development

Teach the code – systematically teach phonics in the first three years of school.

Adapt the instruction and expectation, not the content. Provide access to the curriculum for all learners.

Self regulation – support students to set goals and self-monitor.

Source: Lyn Stone (opens in a new tab/window)

Provide a multifaceted approach

Provide a multifaceted approach

Stress on one part of the writing process can affect a student’s ability to use another part of the process. A multifaceted approach is more effective than a single intervention.

Support learning with these strategies and accommodations.

Provide templates

Provide templates

Use templates, such as story maps, to support planning and organisation of writing. This reduces the cognitive load for students and scaffolds the writing process.

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Source: Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga

Source:
Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga

Model spelling strategies

Model spelling strategies

Shared writing provides explicit opportunities for developing students’ abilities to hear and articulate the sequence of sounds within words.

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Source: Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga

Source:
Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga

Provide word lists

Provide word lists

Have a variety of class-generated word lists, alphabet-based word lists, verb-family lists, and dictionaries available in the classroom.

These are more effective when generated from discussions with the students.

Word wall examples.

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Source: Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga

Source:
Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga

Useful resources

Useful resources

Website

Why children with dyslexia struggle with writing and how to help them

Read time: 80 min

This article describes the challenges that children with dyslexia have with writing and outlines instructional strategies to increase spelling and overall writing quality.

Publisher: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Visit website

Writing for impact Teaching students how to write with a plan and spell well

Writing for impact: Teaching students how to write with a plan and spell well

Based on a simple view of writing, these books provide simple, effective strategies to improve teaching and learning. The books include templates, plans, and links to videos that support these strategies.

Publisher: NZCER Press

Price: One off charge $90.00

Visit website

Next steps

More suggestions for implementing the strategy “Support early literacy development through a structured literacy approach”:

Return to the guide “Dyslexia and learning”

Guide to Index of the guide: Dyslexia and learning

Strategies for action:

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