Special Education

Teaching Students with Learning and Behavioural Differences
A Resource Guide for Teachers

See appendices 3 and 4

Acquiring basic writing skills such as:

Teach students to mark a green dot at the beginning of the first line and a red dot at the end of the first line as a guide on their page.
Teach students to draw a heavy black line on top of the margin as a reminder to return to the left side of the page.
Place a sticker on the left side of the page.
Encourage the student to wear a piece of jewellery on the left hand to remind him/her to read from left to right.

Developing correct letter formation skills such as:

Give students ample opportunity to gain knowledge and skills of letter formation prior to determining if remediation is necessary.
Tape a visual reminder on the student's desk for the most commonly reversed letters. See the diagram in Appendix 3 of a bed with b as the headboard and d as the footboard.
Expose students to letters in a variety of situations using visual, tactile and kinesthetic cues. For example: a visual cue would be to find all the words that start with b on page 1, a tactile cue would be to draw the letter d in the sand and then draw it in the air, and a kinesthetic cue might be using your bodies make the letter p on the carpet.

Developing fine motor control.

Give students ample opportunity to practice printing letters and words without space constraints such as lines.
When lines are introduced, encourage students to write on alternate lines to reduce confusion.
Teach and encourage the use of word processing.