Teaching the Writing Process to Students with LD

The complex process of writing poses many challenges for students with learning disabilities. Such students evidence basic writing skills and cognitive deficits and may be overwhelmed by the interdependency of the five accepted stages of the writing process (prewriting/planning, drafting, revising, editing, publishing). The writing process wheel presented in this article has been designed as a task-specific tool for assisting teachers of students with learning disabilities to develop their competence in writing. In displaying the five writing stages in a circular fashion and the appropriate activities for each stage, the Writing Wheel facilitates student application of the five stages as they complete assigned writing tasks.