What special difficulties do struggling writers face and how might these be overcome?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Struggling writers face a number of difficulties:
• Struggling writers might have difficulty with the mechanics of writing and with spelling and handwriting. Instruction in these area and scaffolding would be of help. Students might also use a computer to compose and use programs that provide assistance. 
• Aware of the flaws in their writing, struggling writers might be reluctant to write. Provide encouragement and scaffolding. Use guides or frames if necessary. Encourage selection of topics that they want to write about. 
• If they are poor spellers, struggling writers may restrict their writing to words they can spell. Put spelling in perspective. Emphasize getting one's thoughts down on paper as the essential task. 
• Struggling writers might be satisfied with knowledge telling rather than knowledge transformation. Through modeling and instruction and conferences, lead them into knowledge transformation. This is more likely to happen if they are writing about a topic that they care about and know a great deal about. 
• If struggling readers are also struggling readers, they may not be able to understand sources of written information well enough to put them into their own words. Provide source material that is on their level. Some of the source material might be video clips. 
• Struggling readers may rely on topics that they have written on in the past and may overuse personal narrative. Through conferences and discussions, encourage students to dig deeper. Have them collect possible topics. 
• Revising for struggling writers might consist of checking surface features. Model the process and focus on one or two areas.
• Struggling readers may write texts that lack elaboration or explanation. Use conferences and prompts to draw them out.