Instructional Plan in Writing for Learners With Disabilities Report

Description of the topic and subject matter

The purpose of this essay is to provide an instructional plan for learners with disabilities in writing. For any students, writing remains a fundamental way of expressing, asserting and defending opinions. Writing helps learners to demonstrate their knowledge about a given subject and depict their experiences, thoughts, ideas and feelings. Students who wish to become writers must develop writing skills in high school. Writing skills require learners to account for the task, the aim of writing and audience. Therefore, abilities to choose words, develop structures, contents and format written materials should be deliberate.

At high school level, learners should be able to apply technology techniques when developing and refining their written materials. Writing requires learners to be adept in collecting relevant information, assessing sources of information and ensuring a proper citation as required. At the same time, students must understand how to present and report their findings from researched and analyzed data. This process must be clear and logical in presentation. Writing skills should allow students to develop flexibility, attentiveness and fluency for producing critical, best drafts within minimal time. Moreover, students should be able to review and revise their written materials in order to produce the best final drafts. Learners must dedicate a part of their time and effort to researching and writing to achieve these writing goals. Thus, writing literacy is a fundamental instruction for students, and teachers must prepare adequately to deliver the best content and meet needs of learners with disabilities in writing class.

Setting and Grade Level

The study unit has been developed and modified to meet various characteristics of learners with disabilities. The study unit is critical writing in which 20 students with learning disability in expressive language will benefit. Some of the learners have single or multiple expressive language disabilities.

A review of the learners’ files revealed their diverse writing disabilities. This is necessary for developing an instructional plan that accounts for different learning disabilities among students. The teacher noted learners’ current levels of performance and decided on the most effective interventions. The process will also include a pre-assessment to identify any changes among learners.

They display attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), reading difficulties, and high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Learners do not show extreme cases of intelligence relative to the rest of the population. Students have trouble in expressive writing.

According to Russell Gersten and Scott Baker, research-based instructional strategies can help in teaching learners with expressive writing disabilities (Gersten and Baker 34). The instructional plan is designed to allow students to analyze different materials within the course content and materials from different sources to support their persuasive, critical writing.

The aim of the instructional plan is to ensure that learners improve on their quality of writing and self-efficacy i.e., being able to write critical and technical assignments.

The teacher will include a needs assessment plan, study objectives, learning materials, intervention or teaching strategies, lesson contents and modes of assessment.

The instructional plan focuses on learners with expressive difficulties in writing. However, learners display diverse levels of competencies. This makes the development of the instructional plan a little complex because developing an appropriate plan for a single learner with specific goals may be difficult. Therefore, this instructional plan has focused on the following elements to ensure inclusion.

First, the instructional plan concentrates on learners’ engagement. The teacher will ensure that all learners participate in learning activities and are motivated to gain insights and new knowledge. Second, the instructional plan will ensure that students with disabilities have a sense of belonging in a classroom. Students will feel safe and valued as they contribute in the classroom. Third, the instructional plan aims to demonstrate a connection with constructs i.e., learners with prior knowledge about the subject matter being taught will be able to demonstrate such knowledge through pre-assessment. Fourth, the instructional plan aims to ensure that learners with disabilities understand facts and ideas in the lesson content. The teacher will ensure that learners can easily retrieve and apply learned techniques in practical writing.

For instance, a teacher shall demonstrate the effect of inequality among Americans to illustrate how learners can retrieve information and apply it in other areas. Finally, the instructional plan will account for meta-cognition. In this context, the teacher will encourage learners to write and explain their thoughts so that he can monitor and note any improvement. Meta-cognition will allow learners to apply their background knowledge as a way of improving current knowledge and identifying areas of difficulties (Flanagan and Alfonso 220).

In the first week, the teacher would conduct pre-writing assessment to identify areas of difficulties. The teacher shall introduce pre-writing techniques to learners. The approach will allow learners to develop thesis statements, topical sentences and other important elements of critical writing. The second week will involve reviewing available materials in the area of inequality in America. Learners shall develop research abilities as they evaluate different material to select the best ones to support their claims. In the third week, the teacher shall support learners to identify the most relevant contents for their critical writing.

This will involve analysis and synthesis of evidence, as well as presentation of the discovered ideas in well-developed paragraphs. In the last week, learners will write complete drafts, review, revise and edit them as necessary.

The instructional plan is a long-term strategy, which will ensure that learners with disabilities develop the necessary skills required in critical and technical writing. Consequently, they would be able to develop structures and present their ideas in a cogent manner.

California Common Core Standards and Learning Outcomes

California Common Core Standards in writing were designed to “encourage the highest achievement of every student by defining the knowledge, concepts, and skills that students should acquire at each grade level” (California State Board of Education 85).

The California Common Core Standards draw from some of the best existing standards. Therefore, it offers comprehensible and reliable learning objectives so that teachers can prepare their students for academic and life success.

The Core Standards indicate that learners will be able to acquire knowledge at every level of study with the support from others.

This instructional plan accounts for the following aspects of the Core Standards in critical and technical writing.

• Extensive research and evidence-based writing;
• Clear, comprehensible and consistent writing;
• Reflect learners career and life expectations;
• Reflect high-order thinking by concentrating on the subject matter and use of knowledge for critical thinking;
• Develop current knowledge of learners;
• The Core Standards aim to prepare learners for success in learning and society.

The instructional plan is based on each of the above Core Standards so that learners with disabilities in expressive writing will acquire skills for success in learning and life.

The Core Standards have allowed the instructor to develop the writing lesson based on the core concepts and processes, which match the students’ academic level. Students will have adequate time to master the lesson contents.

Learning Objectives

Text types and purposes

• Learners should write papers to support their claims by analyzing substantive texts through valid, logical and reliable processes.
• Learners can demonstrate the presentation of complex thoughts and show clear and accurate presentation of facts. The text should be informative and reflect effective choices of ideas, structural development and analysis of findings.
• Learners should be able to write contents, which reflect critical thinking (real or imagined) by applying different techniques, selecting details and developing sequences.

Writing style and text distribution

• The Core Standards focuses on the development of clear and coherent essays in which the structure, contents and writing styles are suitable for readers, purpose of the essay, and the task itself (Williams 3).
• Learners should be able to improve on their texts by evaluating, revising, editing, and rewriting the text where appropriate. Alternatively, learners may adopt new styles of writing.
• Students should be able to use different learning tools, including the Internet to conduct research, format, and publish their works.

Research for knowledge building

• Students should be able to demonstrate abilities to conduct thorough and highly demanding research by concentrating on specific issues and reflecting the contents of the subject matter under examination.
• Research processes would require learners to review several sources of information, gather relevant contents, establish their credibility and content accuracy and integrate such that information in their written texts show the necessary care on academic honest as they strive to avoid plagiarism.
• The Core Standard indicates that learners should be able to draw evidence from different sources to support their claims in research.

Range of Writing abilities

• Students should be able to conduct long projects with extended periods, as well as short projects within a single sitting. Such projects must account for the task, audience and objectives.

Learning Activities and Experiences

Scope and Sequence

• Monday: 90 minutes
• Tuesday: 60 minutes
• Thursday: 30 minutes
• Friday: 90 minutes

Week 1: Introduction to critical writing and text types and purposes

• The teacher conducts a needs assessment to note if learners have difficulty in finding new ideas or formulating relevant ideas for the subject matter.
• The teacher conducts pre-writing activities to establish prior knowledge, select texts and set the study purposes.
• The teacher offers a study guide for learners.
• Students brainstorm to generate ideas (Lerner 13).
• Learners compare texts.
• The teacher demonstrates how students can identify important ideas.
• Use visual image.
• Learners can work in small groups.

Week 2: Writing style and text distribution

• Students may have difficulties in recalling instructions on critical writing and understanding essay requirements.
• Teacher offers opportunities for students to explain writing requirements in their own words.
• The teacher provides clear step-by-step instructions.
• The teacher simplifies, rewrites, and provides spoken directions.
• The teacher demonstrates how learners can use texts, seek for clarification and adopt self-regulation approaches when in groups.
• Groups should result in key skill development.

Week 3: Research for knowledge building

• Learners may have difficulties in conducting research, taking notes and recalling ideas (Kuder 89).
• The teacher must demonstrate research skills with available texts, identify major ideas, and relevant information.
• The teacher should teach note taking and summary skills.
• Learners should learn brainstorming techniques.
• The teacher must identify irrelevant ideas and revise them with learners.
• Students identify difficult words and the teacher focuses on vocabulary development.
• The teacher provides a question for class discussion and encourages learners to use prior knowledge, establish the relationship and demonstrate new knowledge.
• The teacher should limit the amount of information provided to learners at one given time.
• Learners may have difficulties in expressing their thoughts and research outcomes in writing.
• The teacher should concentrate on brainstorming skills, prewriting skills and offer flexible presentation models.

Week 4: Range of Writing abilities

• The teacher provides opportunities for learners to review, revise, edit or rewrite their initial drafts.
• Learners demonstrate writing abilities based on specific writing goals e.g., 55% for base line with a goal of 90%.
• Learners are able to formulate the propose the study topic, identify relevant literature and incorporate evidence in their writing.
• The teacher must help learners to overcome any spelling, fluency and information retrieval difficulties.
• Learners may learn keyboarding skills and run spell checks on a given program.
• The finally essay should demonstrate thesis statement, organization, content structure, research, evidence-based work, and logical reasoning.

Evaluation Process

Assessment & Evaluation of Student Work

For learners with expressive writing difficulties, the teacher will assess and evaluate several aspects (Harrison and Flanagan 47).

• The teacher will assess learners’ prior knowledge, choices of text, and learners’ abilities to determine the purpose of writing.
• Students’ abilities to brainstorm, organize ideas and identify supporting materials.
• Assess learners’ comprehension abilities, such as note taking and summary skills, knowledge of writing requirements, questions, and inferences.
• The teacher shall assess if learners can conduct thorough research, identify new ideas and relevant information from different sources.
• Assessment should focus on learners’ abilities to define research questions, conduct both long-term and short-term research, write coherent essays without plagiarism and abilities to use technology in research and writing.
• The teacher will administer pre-assessment and post-tests to determine any improvement in learning outcomes.
• Students will receive an essay about inequality in America and analyze it to identify majors ideas and writing styles.

Assessment of the Unit of Instruction

• The content of the instruction plan covered what students need to study and the teacher adapted study contents to accommodate learners’ diverse disabilities.
• Learning processes and activities were student-centered as the model aimed to accommodate learners’ diverse disabilities (Coyne, Carnine and Kame’enui 24). Learners had adequate time to concentrate on studies, pursue the topic further and self-regulate.
• Learning outcomes shall be clear through assessment because students shall have opportunities to apply and extend learning activities in real-life. This would demonstrate knowledge acquisition and difficulties among learners.
• The learning environment favored collaboration and group activities for developing specific skills in writing, summarization, and note taking (Reid, Lienemann and Hagaman 72).

Lesson learned: Closure/Reflection

It is imperative to acknowledge that developing an instructional plan for learners with diverse learning disabilities in a single classroom should be student-centered and promote individualized learning under certain circumstances, although it may be difficult.

Learners with disabilities require a well-formulated instructional plan, which can ensure that they achieve full potential and develop Core Standards in specific grade levels.

Works Cited

California State Board of Education. California Common Core State Standards: English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. California: California Department of Education, 2013. Print.

Coyne, Michael, Douglas W. Carnine, and Edward J. Kame’enui. Effective Teaching Strategies that Accommodate Diverse Learners. 4th ed. New York: Pearson, 2010. Print.

Flanagan, Dawn, and Vincent C. Alfonso. Essentials of Specific Learning Disability Identification. New York: Wiley, 2010. Print.

Gersten, Russell and Scott Baker. Teaching Expressive Writing To Students With Learning Disabilities: A Meta-Analysis. Eugene, OR: University of Oregon, 1999. Print.

Harrison, Patti and Dawn Flanagan. Contemporary intellectual assessment: theories, tests, and issues. New York: Guilford Press, 2005. Print.

Kuder, Jay. Teaching Students with Language and Communication Disabilities. 3rd ed. New York: Pearson, 2007. Print.

Lerner, Janet. Learning disabilities: theories, diagnosis, and teaching strategies. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. Print.

Reid, Robert, Torri Ortiz Lienemann, and Jessica L. Hagaman. Strategy Instruction for Students with Learning Disabilities. 2nd ed. New York: The Guilford Press, 2013. Print.

Williams, Jane. Resources You Can Use Adaptations & Accommodations for Students with Disabilities. Washington, DC: NICHCY, 2001. Print.