Dr. Louis' Blog

Dear Dr. Louis,

Our district is considering summer reading. What is your opinion?

Delainey

‍

‍Dear Delainey:

One answer: the best of times; the worst of times. I say that because summer reading and any outside reading requirement can be a wonderful experience for the students; but, if it is not planned well, it can be a nightmare not only for students, but also for teachers, counselors, administrators, and parents.

The Good

• Reading is just not done at school; it can be done on the beach!
• Summer reading promotes reading year-round.
• If the whole family gets involved, it provides an opportunity for families to read together during the summer.
• Commitment and time management are part of an advanced course; summer reading sets that bar early on regarding the level of rigor expected from the course.
• Because time management is an important component of college readiness, summer reading prepares students for college-level time management skills -- pacing vs. procrastination.

The Bad

• Summer is supposed to be fun! (Well, isn't reading fun? -- I'm just saying, that's what you're going to hear.)
• Students wait until the last minute or do not read at all, and they start the year frustrated and in a slump.
• Students who matriculate into a school during the first week or the beginning of the school year are already behind in their reading and performance.
• If the reading and/or project is too difficult or not planned well, everyone will start the year discouraged.

Some of my favorite College Board® presenters and my own highly respected mentors say, "No," to summer reading.  Other College Board presenters® and mentors of mine say, "Yes, summer reading is a staple of our curriculum, and we love it." I respect both opinions. In some schools at which I taught, we required it. At others, we didn't. The students survived and excelled in both cases. I think that summer reading can be a very valuable requirement if done right. To do it right, however (so that it does not end up being a logistical and academic nightmare), requires a great amount of effort by an English department working together to align curriculum, goals, and expectations. The most successful summer reading includes all or most of the following items:

Teachers

• Meet with school administrators and gain approval regarding the summer reading program and any related reading lists, letters, forms, and documents (remember, parents will call the administrator first if a problem arises, and you want him/her to know and support your requirement);
• Meet with your department and create a summer reading packet for students at each grade level that is cohesive and unified -- in other words, the entire department should sign-off on each grade level's requirement so that the summer reading appears grade-level appropriate, aligned, and equitable. Observe the progression of skills from one grade to another -- introduce, develop, master;
• Decide either to 1) waive the summer reading requirement for students who enroll after school begins; 2) provide those students with a separate, less demanding or less extensive assignment; or 3) provide those students with ample time to read and to catch up; and
• Provide extra packets for counselors to disseminate as students enroll during the summer.

‍

Summer Reading Process and Packet

• Before Summer Break Begins
• Give students a document with two parts: 1) a parent and student awareness letter and cut-away form that is signed by both parent and student affirming the student's participation and submitted to the current  year's grade level teacher before the student leaves for summer break; 2) a list of all grade level selections so that parents see that summer reading is a school-wide program; and
• Hand each student a packet and require a signature (receipt) when a student receives his/her packet (this packet receipt can be on paper or digital);

‍

The Packet

• Provide information about the book: title, author, image shot of the book cover, ISBN, number of pages, pacing guide, price, e-book availability, focused skills (e.g., Watership Down, 7th graders focus on main idea, archetype, imagery, setting, figures of speech);
• Create a plan for students who might have a different edition of the book at home or whose family is unable to afford to purchase the book;
• Provide an alternative title or titles for each grade level (in case a parent is uncomfortable with diction in the text or the subject matter -- e.g., The Things They Carried -- Alternative Title = All Quiet on the Western Front);
• Provide a reading guide or pacing plan (e.g., if a book is 250 pages, and the students have 10 weeks; then, they should read 25 pages per week or 5 pages per day with Saturday and Sunday off. This reading guide helps students and their parents to manage their time more efficiently);

‍

Provide clear expectations:

• If you are asking the students to read a book in preparation for a test to be given at the beginning of the school year and if you have no other projects or assignments in addition to the reading --
• Provide writing prompts, guiding questions, and/or a study guide;
• Provide a model of a dialectical journal entry or how to annotate in the book based on the prompts (in our program, the Jane Schaffer® Writing Program [JSWP], we teach students how to annotate in red and green);
• Through the dialectical journal, introduce Style Analysis;

‍

Administer a test at the beginning of the school year:

• Multiple-choice; and/or
• Timed writing
• Let students select from a group of prompts on the test and write on one of them. Give students the prompts in the packet and tell them they should expect to see at least one of them on the test; and
• If you are expecting embedded quotations in their timed writing, have an open-book timed writing test.

‍

If you are asking students to complete a project in addition to the reading --

• Consider how and when students will submit it;
• Consider format: digital? analog (hard copies)? both?;
• Add Expository writing lessons if the project has a nonfiction piece to it; and
• Provide the due date and your late policy.

‍

If you are giving students a writing assignment in addition to the reading, be sure that students understand your policy about plagiarism and cheating.

• Provide prompt(s) -- I like to work with teachers in my same grade level and create several prompts. Then, I ask students to select one of the prompts in the first 25-30 pages of their reading (I explain more about this in this week's webinar entitled Summertime, and the Reading Is Easy). In fact, around the same time you give the students the summer reading information and packet, you could allow time for sustained silent reading and get them interested in the story before they leave!;
• Provide a dialectical journal or annotation activity;
• Have the students submit their work online through a writing program, such as jswponline.com or our google docs templates;
• Provide a rubric;
• Provide the process for completion (for JSWP, we have graphic organizers that would be submitted) and the due date; and
• Tell students to submit all of their work with the final draft. You must see the process to avoid plagiarism or cheating.

Awareness

• Post flyers on the entrance doors of all campuses and on the counselors' doors during the summer, reminding students about their summer reading;
• Post "Summer Reading Requirement" on the outdoor marquee and/or on banners along the walls;
• Create a brief school and community press release (this form of communication gives parents and summer employers a heads up and reminds adults and students that learning never stops); and
• Post the requirements on the school/district website.

So, to answer your question, I appreciate summer reading and, along with my department, have assigned it to my students for many years. I've also been amenable to decisions by teachers or administrators who are against it. But if you are going to have summer reading,

• Do NOT assign a book EVER that you have not read;
• Do NOT select a novel or drama that will turn off students to reading because they cannot understand it;
• Do NOT assign a book that needs your expertise in guiding the students' understanding of its importance (e.g., The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of my favorite texts to teach to 11th grade students. Because it is racially sensitive, however, it demands a teacher's guidance and expertise);
• Do NOT select a book that is so difficult that it should be reserved for later in the school year when students have gained more maturity and have learned about your expectations;
• DO make the assignment meaningful. Worksheets are not meaningful;
• DO put yourself in the shoes of the student and the parent. Ask yourself, "Is this assignment furthering my students' lives or just giving them busy work?"; and
• DO choose a book that is going to make the students enjoy reading. And, as an added bonus, pair it with a couple of recommended films with the same theme(s) or setting/mood for archetypes found in the book and suggest family movie nights. If you make summer reading interesting and fun, then the parents will enjoy it; and who knows, the students might gain and enhance their love for reading!

‍

Keep writing (and reading)!

Warm regards,

Dr. Louis

I am wondering about the Dialectical Journal form. My students complete dialectical journals as we read our novels, but I love this form that you attached . . . we do them in a journal notebook in class. Now that we are at home and all digital, I would like to use this form.My question is . . . do you give them the writing prompt for the whole novel at the top, or would you give them a writing prompt for the first few chapters?Thank you.Peace, Mrs. Michelle B.8th Grade ELA/Reading TeacherHello, Mrs. B.,Thank you for writing and for your question. It gives me an opportunity to give you some ideas.For novels and dramas and research projects, I give students four to five prompts:

• One of the prompts, I reserve for me. It is the one I use to model the skills. That way, the students aren’t copying my examples because I have a different prompt; however, they see and learn my thinking as I go through the process: decoding the prompt; gathering concrete details; generating commentary; producing well-developed body paragraphs; building introductions with a debatable thesis statement; and creating a memorable conclusion.
• I share all the prompts with the students upfront, and we decode each one. By decoding each one, students learn the skill of decoding prompts. And because we work on four in a row, the intensive focus helps them to understand the pattern, the process of decoding the prompt.
• I tell the students that by p. 25, 35, or 50 (up to you and depending on the length of the text and the content demanded by the prompt), they must sign-up for one of the prompts. Only a certain number of students may sign-up for a prompt. For example, let’s say I have four prompts, and I have 80 students, then after 20 students sign up for prompt #2, it’s gone. This serves several purposes:
• I don’t have to grade 80 essays on the same prompt;
• Different students are attracted to different prompts, and these give them choices;
• I have lottery due dates to stagger my grading. Allowing myself 48 hours for every 35 essays, helps me to stay fresh, fair, and consistent in my grading.
• So here’s how it works: After the students sign-up, I put the prompts in a hat, and we draw for due dates! Let’s pretend I have four prompts in a hat. I’ll have one of my first-period students student draw a prompt from the hat --
• Prompt #3 is due October 1 (+10 points) – the ten points lessens the shock of being the first to submit an essay!
• Prompt #1 is due October 3 (+6 points)
• Prompt #4 is due October 5
• Prompt #2 is due October 7

• I read the first couple of chapters or 25 pages aloud for the following purposes:
• To get them involved in the text;
• To teach them to make inferences;
• To model CD and CM entries for each prompt (that’s right – they have the four prompts, each one sitting at the top of a dialectical journal. And I provide 2-3 examples for each prompt;
• Once they sign up for a particular prompt, I have them turn in their dialectical journals every few days to observe their reading and annotating progress.
• I take just a few seconds, just a quick glance to make sure they are on track with their concrete details and their commentary as they relate to the prompt they have selected.
• I tell them that they should have 5-10 entries per week.
• When they turn in their dialectical journals each week, they star their two favorite entries for me to grade. I glance at all of them; but, I score the two they choose. I also can see how they are interpreting the text as they read it.
• Typically, the ones they star will be the ones they ultimately choose to “Gather CDs,” develop the topic sentence for each body paragraph, add CMs, and produce the concluding sentence for each body paragraph. Some CMs will lend themselves to producing their introductions, their thesis statement, and their conclusion.

Hi Dr. Louis!

Happy New Year! I have a question for you regarding expository writing.

In filling out the T-Chart for a body paragraph, how do you explain the difference between the commentary sentence and the concluding sentence? The ideas all come from the CM side of the chart. Is the concluding sentence more general?

Thanks for your advice. Ginger

‍

‍Hi, Ginger,

Thank you for your astute question. You are correct about the Commentary (CM) and Concluding Sentence (CS)ideas coming from the CM side of the T-chart. And I love to watch students’ eyes beam when they realize that after they have brainstormed their commentary ideas, their body paragraph is all but done! In the past, they would fret over what to write. Now, their task is different: they must discern which of their multiple CM(green) thoughts fit best for the revised topic sentence (blue), the commentary (green), and the concluding sentence (blue).

‍Topic Sentence

‍I say to the students, "Pick up your blue pen! To revise your topic sentence, look at your commentary ideas. Do you see an overarching idea? Do you see something that sheds a true light on the idea you are trying to get across to your reader? Is there some word or phrase that has an umbrella effect? Now, revise your topic sentence.

"After they cross out what they have used to create their topic sentence ("When you use it, you lose it!"), I say, "Keep your blue pens in your hand. You have another blue sentence to write, don't you?"

‍Concluding Sentence

‍They reply, "Yes, our concluding sentence."

"That's right! You don't want to give away all your good stuff, because that concluding sentence is important. It's how you leave your reader. It's how you as a writer -- you as a thinker and productive, global citizen -- make a difference. When Robin Williams in Dead Poet's Society suggests that each student 'add his own verse,' this is what he is suggesting. There are moments in your writing that your input can help us say, 'hmm, that's an interesting idea.' It's possible. So, you want it to have impact. You want your reader to think, 'Wow! That's good!' Look for your commentary ideas that could provide a sense of completion, a finished feeling. In other words, look for the green ideas on the right side of the T-Chart that consider the 'big picture' or 'the human condition.' What green thoughts (CMs) bring home the point you want to make and leave the reader smarter than when s/he started your paragraph!'

They write their concluding sentence, and I remind them to cross out what they used.

‍Commentary

‍"Pick up your green pen! Now, look at what is remaining on the green side. Remember, you must make sure that your commentary sentence or sentences address every part of your concrete details, your evidence. So, if you have two CMs that reveal two examples about your topic, then your commentary must analyze both examples. Since the ratio is 2+:1 in expository (two or more sentences of CDs to one sentence of CMs), see how much concrete detail you have. If you wrote four or five sentences, then writing a couple of sentences of analysis is fine. Just make sure the analysis, the commentary, takes into consideration all of your evidence, not just part of it.

Ginger, that's how I teach them how to produce writing with logic, organization, tone, and voice. And that's how I teach them to discern between commentary and concluding sentence.

Thank you for your question.

Keep reading and writing!

Happy New Year,

Dr. Louis

Good morning Dr. Louis,

I am having my students complete outside reading before they come to class and as a way to support their comprehension and prepare them for a quick reading quiz, I am going to have them write summaries of what they read. How would you apply a Jane Schaffer® structure to a summary?

Thank you,

Samuel M.

‍

Dear Samuel,

Is it one text or several? Is it fiction or nonfiction? Title? Author?

Here’s an idea: Pretend that you have met a person who has not read the novel, but you want to tell them all about it from start to finish. In three well-developed paragraphs (3+:0), summarize1) the setting; 2) the important characters you met, and 3) the events that occurred, and/or conflicts that arose in the beginning, the middle, and the end of the novel.

For the topic sentence of your first paragraph (beginning), provide an overview of the setting; for your concrete details, list three important plot points; for the concluding sentence, provide your opinion as to why the time and place and social mores of the novel are important.

For the topic sentence of your second paragraph (middle), provide an overview of the conflicts in the story; for your concrete details, list three important plot points; for the concluding sentence; provide your opinion on whether the conflicts are justified and why (only one sentence).

For the topic sentence of your third paragraph (end), provide an overview of the resolution of the conflict; for your concrete details, list three important plot points; for the concluding sentence, provide a theme in the novel (only one sentence).

‍Keep reading and writing,

Dr. Louis

Dear Dr. Louis,

I need help with prompt writing, please!

Eileen V.

‍

Dear Eileen,

Well, the first step is asking for help!

When I first started teaching eleventh grade English Language Arts, I would become discouraged as I began scoring the 180-200 essays that I had assigned to my students. “Why weren’t they getting it?” I would ask myself as I sat at my dining room table, scoring one after another until the wee hours of the morning. Their responses were just not in sync with what I had wanted. Why? What was wrong with these kids? The next day, with little sleep and not a great attitude, my kids would arrive, and I when the bell rang, I would shake the stack of papers at them, saying “Y’all weren’t listening! I’m the only one working around here! We’re going to have to start all over again!”

Well, that was a long time ago, and I’ve gained some wisdom and a little humility since then (getting a divorce and fumbling with technology helped). I realized that when class sets of papers are not up to par, the problem is not the students; it's the prompt; and, more importantly, the prompter.

I set forth on a mission to discover what elements are included in a prompt that would yield essays of which my students and I could be proud. I discovered that an effective prompt has three components: one or several background sentences; a trigger sentence; a task. Background Sentences: These are opening statements in a prompt that serve several purposes. First, they are there to engage the students, pique their interest. Gilgamesh is the first superhero text. Or If we didn’t have photosynthesis, we all would be dead! Background sentences provide students with what Aristotle would call the occasion. In other words, what motivates this piece of writing? If it’s understanding symbolism, then perhaps I give the definition of symbolism first. Perhaps I then give an example from the story, providing the students with insight into the significance of the symbol. A symbol is a tangible object that represents an abstract idea. During the first half of the 19^th century, known as the Romantic Era, one important symbol was nature. It was such an important symbol that authors would sometimes capitalize it, personifying it with the status equal to that of an actual character in a literary work. Trigger Sentence: As I continued my research while teaching my eleventh graders, I studied Advanced Placement® prompts. Their prompts would include the following statement: Read the passage carefully. I asked myself, “Why in the world would they say that? What were the students going to do – Read the passage haphazardly?” Then it dawned on me that this was a trigger sentence, designed to separate the background sentences from the task, the third element of an effective prompt. The trigger sentence was there to say to the students, “Everything above me is designed to help you, to give you insight into the content, to set the tone. Everything below me is what you are supposed to do.”

‍Read Chapter 19 in The Scarlet Letter.

Task: The task gives the students the specifications of what should be in the essay.

Then, in a well-developed multiparagraph essay, trace the Nature motif and explain its significance. You might consider the tone that is created when Nature is present and how it contributes to the meaning of the text. Once I learned how to write effective prompts, scoring essays did not seem as burdensome. My students understood what I wanted and did their best to show me their understanding. We all felt more successful. I realized that receiving good essays from my students begins with me and my ability to create good writing prompts.

Here are a couple more prompts that I’ve been working on with teachers of late: A Long Walk to Water Writing

Prompt: The orphaned boys from Sudan have come to be called “Lost Boys.” This is a reference to the book Peter Pan by JM Barrie. In Peter Pan, the Lost Boys are a group of young orphans who join in Peter’s adventures, fighting pirates, and saving an Indian Princess. Despite the fun and the freedom they enjoy, the Lost Boys choose to leave Neverland at the end of the story to find families.  Please read the attached Peter Pan excerpt.   Then, in a well-developed one- to two-chunk paragraph (1:2+), interpret why "lost boys" is an appropriate name to give to boys like Salva.

‍Tangerine Writing Prompt:

In Edward Bloor’s Tangerine, the narrator portrays two communities: Lake Windsor Downs and Tangerine. Though these two communities share many similarities, they are also very different from one another.  Read the novel, carefully, annotating the similarities and differences of these two communities. In a well-developed two paragraph literary analysis (1:2+), compare and contrast Paul’s community (Lake Windsor Downs) with Victor’s community (Tangerine). The first paragraph will be how the communities are alike, and the second paragraph will be how the communities are different. Be sure to focus on the residents, their behaviors and attitudes, family relationships, and economic differences.

‍Keep reading and writing,

Dr. Louis

Dear Dr. Louis,

My son's middle school is using your program. I have searched your website looking for how your curriculum is used in a middle school special education setting for a student entering 6th grade reading and writing on 1st grade level because of dyslexia . . . . I would appreciate it if you could send me information on how your program works, especially in a middle school special education setting, and the implementation/fidelity recommendations.                                Thank you,

F.T.

‍

‍Dear F.T.,

Thank you for your email. For this question, I am going to engage my two national trainers, who are also educational therapists, and have them answer your question. While I demonstrate and discuss differentiation for special education students, I’d like to have my credentialed and experienced authorities respond to your astute question. They are Ms. Lauren Roedy-Vaughn and Ms. Carrie Robinson.

#1: Lauren Roedy Vaughn has an undergraduate degree in drama, a master’s degree in special education, and a learning specialist credential with a subject qualification in English. For the past two decades, she has worked in the United States and abroad as an educator and writing specialist. She is a Board Member for the International Dyslexia Association’s Los Angeles branch and a member of the Association of Educational Therapists. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, along with other civic leaders, presented her with The Walk of Heart’s Teaching Award in 2005. She is the author of the young adult novel, OCD, The Dude, and Me, which made the American Library Association’s list of best books for teens and the Capitol Choice Selections for 2014.

‍Here is Lauren’s response:

The first philosophical tenet of The Jane Schaffer Writing Program is that “all students can think and all students can write.” All students deserve explicit, structured, and sustained writing instruction as part of their literacy curriculum. In fact, just like with effective reading programs, the “explicit, structured, and sustained” parts are key. The Jane Schaffer Writing Program explicitly teaches the language of academic writing and the steps involved in the thinking process of building paragraphs and essays. Too often, these steps remain implicit, and students are unclear about how to answer a prompt or write a paragraph or essay. They often don’t even know where to begin. This program is first and foremost a thinking program, and it acknowledges that writing is a process. Thus, there are steps to writing an academic paragraph and essay, and these steps can be taught.

Explicit instruction from a teacher is key to the success of this program. The teacher first teaches the students the terminology for the parts of the paragraph and the color-coding of each part, so that students learn that different parts of a paragraph function in different ways. This is important information for all students to have before they write. Students with dyslexia benefit from the direct teaching of the vocabulary of the program and then the subsequent steps of building a paragraph. While a student may struggle with spelling, the physical act of writing, and/or getting his ideas down on paper, this program supports his formulation of ideas. Thinking must happen before writing can happen.  The program is structured. When the program is implemented with fidelity, teachers work through the steps of the process with the students. First, the teacher provides a paragraph model. After the model is discussed and the parts are understood, then the teacher provides a model of the steps to build that paragraph. The teacher presents each step and discusses the thinking behind each step with the students. Next, the teacher writes a paragraph collaboratively with the students following each step. We follow the “gradual release of responsibility” model, so that students are not writing independently until they are ready.

The graphic organizers that make up our program provide a visual model for the steps and guide students in their thinking and composition. It is part of the structure of the program.  The program is designed to be taught in a sustained way. This is not a “one and done” program. When this program is used throughout a child’s middle school years, he is markedly more prepared for writing in high school. In my opinion, middle school is the perfect time to teach this program.

For students with dyslexia, there are accommodations that can be used with this program. The student can dictate his responses either to a scribe or through the use of speech-to-text software. Students with dyslexia benefit from working with someone, one-to-one, or in small groups to make incremental improvements with their writing; those add up over time. This program provides a template for what to teach. How quickly a teacher and student move through the steps is up to the student’s individual needs. Our mantra here is that we go “as quickly as we can and as slow as we must.”

Writing is an integral part of any literacy program, and this is especially true for students with dyslexia. While your son may need extensive scaffolding and support to build a paragraph or an essay, he deserves the chance to be taught how. At first, the teacher or tutor may have to do a lot of modeling, but that’s okay. He may have to dictate all his ideas for a while.Finally, working with someone on explicit writing instruction can support his other literacy skills. Additionally, using high-interest material or topics from his own life in his writing may help him engage in the instruction more effectively.

I have a Learning Specialist Credential and a Master’s degree in Special Education. I taught high school English for 20 years to students with language-based learning disabilities, most of whom were students with dyslexia. Some of my high school students read on the second-grade level. I went searching for a writing program for my kids. This was the best one – hands down – that I found. In my classroom, I paired the Jane Schaffer Writing Program instruction with the University of Kansas’s Sentence Writing Program to help my students learn to write functional sentences. I’m actively involved with the International Dyslexia Association and served on their Board in Los Angeles for several years. I care deeply about students who struggle with literacy, and it’s why I use the Jane Schaffer Writing Program. My experience with the program over the last three decades makes me passionate about sharing it with teachers, students, and parents.  I hope this helps you learn more about The Jane Schaffer Writing Program, and I wish you and your son the best of teachers and instruction for his entire academic career.

Best,

Lauren Roedy Vaughn

‍#2: Ms. Carrie Robinson received her Bachelor’s Degree in Speech and Theatre. She is currently an educational therapist who works privately with students who have language-based learning disabilities. Her areas of specialty are reading (decoding and comprehension), writing composition, and study skills. She has experience both as an administrator and as a teacher. At Westmark School in Encino, California, a school for special-needs students, Carrie was the assistant principal for students and teachers, grades 9-12, creating and implementing individualized educational programs for students. As a classroom teacher for ten years, Carrie taught English Language Arts and World History to 9th-grade students as well as study skills remediation to grades 4-12.  

Here is Carrie’s response:

The Jane Schaffer Writing Program is ideal for students with learning disabilities because of the combination of intuitive graphic organizers and an explicit process for generating and organizing ideas. As an educational therapist for over 25 years, I was attracted to the JSWP for that very reason. I needed to find a way to help my students – that didn’t include my putting words in their mouths. One frustrating day, I remember sitting with a student who had asked for help with a writing assignment and thinking, “I know what I would write, but I don’t know how to get you to write it.” Thankfully, Jane gave us all a valuable gift, and I have been sharing this gift with my students for many years with great success.  I work with students and teachers on how to break down skills effectively in multiple ways and to address all types of learning styles. Countless times I’ve had teachers exclaim when I’ve shown them a method that might work for my student in their class, “Wow! ALL my students would benefit from this approach.” That’s what Jane provides teachers. Jane was an [On-Level and] AP English teacher and taught very high-level students, but her program explicitly teaches writing (and even some reading techniques) — she makes what is implicit about writing explicit, and that’s what students at all levels need. This program gives students a vocabulary with which to demystify the writing process.

What drew me to Jane Schaffer’s approach was how the program is scaffolded—a critical component for struggling learners. This method trains teachers to help students to break down the components of paragraphs and essays and gives them a footing to accomplish each step of the process. First of all, Jane color-codes the parts of a paragraph, which helps the brain embed the concepts of topic sentence, concrete detail, commentary, and concluding sentence using a visual cue. Each sentence has a job to do and it’s easy to “see” as the colors blue, red, green, and blue appear on the page. Additionally, the program allows teachers to build skills by taking each step of the writing process and teaching it in isolation if needed. That way, teachers can tailor the program to meet the needs of individual students; they can simplify or make the process more advanced as students become more proficient.

Importantly, students with learning differences need a process—a step-by-step approach for completing a complicated task, and Jane gives them that. Every time they undertake a writing assignment, they know to start with decoding the prompt and finding CDs to help answer it. This approach has them begin with their evidence when most of our challenged students want simply to answer a prompt with an opinion and be done with it. The t-chart is magical because it helps students to corral their overflowing thoughts and to organize those thoughts while also helping students, who never know what to say, find they have all kinds of intelligent responses lurking in their brains. The meta-cognitive process of asking oneself questions about the evidence teaches critical thinking and gives them a way of getting their ideas from their brain to the page. “Picking and stitching” helps them to write more grammatically complex and sophisticated sentences. Finally, the shaping sheet helps them to refine, to edit, to improve, and to connect all their sentences into a coherent paragraph without overwhelming them with revision after revision. In fact, most students don’t even realize it, but each step of the process is its own revision.  For my students who learn differently, knowing there is a writing process on which to rely takes the apprehension out of composing paragraphs and essays. As the process becomes more familiar, it becomes automatic and eventually allows these kids to become independent writers.

Jane has educators using an “I do, we do, you do” pedagogy that allows for lots of practice and support. Teachers begin by modeling the process. They then write with the student—taking them through each step – and they will continue to write together as long as the student needs it. Eventually, students will complete the process independently. This gradual release of responsibility takes the student writer’s individual needs into account every step of the way.I’ve used this approach with students in grade school, middle school, high school, and college and have not found a better program out there that teaches LD students how to write. Jane’s genius is that she knew “all students can think, so all students can write.”No doubt, your son will find “writing with Jane” a very rewarding experience.

Best regards,

Carrie Robinson

‍

‍Please do not hesitate to contact me with further questions. I am at your service.

Warm regards,

Dr. Louis