Colour-cued paragraph writing instruction for students with learning disabilities

Abstract

Expository paragraph writing is difficult to learn and teach. For many students, particularly those with learning disabilities, it is difficult to manage the multiple, simultaneous complex processes required for success. And for their teachers, writing is the content area in which they feel least prepared to teach. This intervention applied the concept of reverse engineering to instructional design to teach expository paragraph writing using a color-cued graphic organizer. The study evaluated the effects of using a systematic color code to highlight the alignment of where ideas originate in a graphic organizer to their development into a sentence within a well-organized expository paragraph. Using a single case research design, with a pre- and post-intervention assessments, students (n = 5) with dyslexia improved their expository paragraph knowledge and skills. Percentage of non-overlapping data and Tau analyses indicate a large to very large effect of the 2-week intervention. Results, suggestions for further research, and implications for practice are discussed.