Modifications:
Accommodations:
Case Studies:
"Andrew appeared to be a typical fourth grade student involving himself in the daily activities of the classroom. Andrew enthusiastically participated in class discussions and demonstrated he had strong verbal skills. He was always very talkative and had a hard time sitting quietly during classroom work time which was distracting for other students.
Looking more closely at Andrew’s academic performance revealed he often avoided writing tasks and would become frustrated during writing activities. When Andrew was asked about his dislike for writing activities, he responded by saying he had a hard time thinking and writing at the same time.
Looking at examples of Andrew’s writing showed he had difficulty using proper grammar in his writing as well as forming sentences or phrases. Andrew’s writing showed reversed letters and numbers with letters sometimes out of order. Andrew also had issues with sloppy handwriting, held his pencil awkwardly, and often bothered other students near him because he would say words out loud when he was working on an assignment."
http://technology-and-disabilities.wikispaces.com/Case+Study
If Andrew was in my classroom, I would provide him with assistive technology to help him complete his writing work. I would encourage him to first use a graphic organizer when he writes to encourage him to think sequentially. I would provide Andrew with a special pencil grip and lined paper to help him organize his thoughts on the graphic organizer. Then, I would ask Andrew to type his writing on the iPad in a word processor to help him better his spelling. If this was too difficult for Andrew, I would provide him with the ability to record his answers orally when writing and provide him with a modified rubric of what areas he needs to meet as if he were writing a paper.
"Eli states, 'Writing is definitely the worst task of all. It's just way too hard to remember all the things I need, like periods and capital letters. Then, it's almost impossible to think about how to spell words when I'm busy trying to think about the story. It's so hard to remember what I'm writing about …. I figure it's easier to write just a few sentences. That doesn't hurt my hand so much either. My teachers complain, but I just keep writing very short stories. After all, teachers don't understand what it's like to struggle and struggle to write and still have the paper turn out sloppy and full of mistakes. They always tell me how messy my papers are. They just can't understand how hard I try. No matter how carefully I work, the words don't look the way they look for the other kids. Sometimes I know how I want the word to look, but it just doesn't turn out that way.'"
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/dysgraphia-students-perspective-writing
By providing Eli with smaller, more manageable tasks, this will help him complete his work and feel more accomplished. Eli would also benefit from a graphic organizer to manage his thoughts in a sequential way. By giving Eli extra time to complete assignments, and chunking them into smaller, manageable tasks, Eli will not feel as challenged. I also would also provide Eli with lined paper and a pencil grip so that his hand does not hurt while writing.
- Allowing students to express their ideas in different ways rather than paper and pencil such as using an iPad, computer, or orally
- Providing students with extra time and minimal distractions when writing
- Providing graphic organizers to help students organize thoughts when writing
- Allowing students to edit written work with support from a dictionary or computer
Accommodations:
- Allowing students to express their work in other ways rather than writing
- Allowing students to use a computer for writing
- Giving students lined paper and pencil grips to use while writing
- Allowing practice with large motor skills before fine-tuning to fine motor skills
- Providing additional work with handwriting in multi sensory activities
- Not counting spelling against students unless it's literacy or spelling
Case Studies:
"Andrew appeared to be a typical fourth grade student involving himself in the daily activities of the classroom. Andrew enthusiastically participated in class discussions and demonstrated he had strong verbal skills. He was always very talkative and had a hard time sitting quietly during classroom work time which was distracting for other students.
Looking more closely at Andrew’s academic performance revealed he often avoided writing tasks and would become frustrated during writing activities. When Andrew was asked about his dislike for writing activities, he responded by saying he had a hard time thinking and writing at the same time.
Looking at examples of Andrew’s writing showed he had difficulty using proper grammar in his writing as well as forming sentences or phrases. Andrew’s writing showed reversed letters and numbers with letters sometimes out of order. Andrew also had issues with sloppy handwriting, held his pencil awkwardly, and often bothered other students near him because he would say words out loud when he was working on an assignment."
http://technology-and-disabilities.wikispaces.com/Case+Study
If Andrew was in my classroom, I would provide him with assistive technology to help him complete his writing work. I would encourage him to first use a graphic organizer when he writes to encourage him to think sequentially. I would provide Andrew with a special pencil grip and lined paper to help him organize his thoughts on the graphic organizer. Then, I would ask Andrew to type his writing on the iPad in a word processor to help him better his spelling. If this was too difficult for Andrew, I would provide him with the ability to record his answers orally when writing and provide him with a modified rubric of what areas he needs to meet as if he were writing a paper.
"Eli states, 'Writing is definitely the worst task of all. It's just way too hard to remember all the things I need, like periods and capital letters. Then, it's almost impossible to think about how to spell words when I'm busy trying to think about the story. It's so hard to remember what I'm writing about …. I figure it's easier to write just a few sentences. That doesn't hurt my hand so much either. My teachers complain, but I just keep writing very short stories. After all, teachers don't understand what it's like to struggle and struggle to write and still have the paper turn out sloppy and full of mistakes. They always tell me how messy my papers are. They just can't understand how hard I try. No matter how carefully I work, the words don't look the way they look for the other kids. Sometimes I know how I want the word to look, but it just doesn't turn out that way.'"
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/dysgraphia-students-perspective-writing
By providing Eli with smaller, more manageable tasks, this will help him complete his work and feel more accomplished. Eli would also benefit from a graphic organizer to manage his thoughts in a sequential way. By giving Eli extra time to complete assignments, and chunking them into smaller, manageable tasks, Eli will not feel as challenged. I also would also provide Eli with lined paper and a pencil grip so that his hand does not hurt while writing.