The REACH (Reaching to Educate All Children for Heaven) initiative provides teachers with resources, training, and ongoing support.
| Frequently fails to form letters correctly |
| Frequently has sloppy writing, illegible |
| Frequently fails to punctuate correctly |
| Frequently has spelling problems—omits, adds, or substitutes letters |
| Frequently demonstrates letter reversals |
| Frequently has trouble copying (close-up/distant) |
| Frequently fails to capitalize correctly |
| Frequently fails to write within a given space |
| Frequently grips pencil, crayons or scissors awkwardly |
| Frequently shows difficulty with fine motor skills (e.g., nuts and bolts, screwdrivers, puzzle pieces, buttoning, zipping, tying) |
| Frequently shows inconsistencies in printing upper and lower case, printing and cursive |
| Frequently does not complete written assignments |
| Frequently has inconsistent spaces between words and letters |
| Frequently is unsure of right or left handedness |
| Tires quickly while writing |
| Says words out loud while writing |
| Has difficulty organizing thoughts on paper |
| Exhibits large gap between written ideas and understanding demonstrated through speech |
| Exhibits poor use of punctuation |
| Engages in slow, tedious, incomplete note-taking |
| Has poor handwriting, poorly shaped letters, and irregular spacing |
| Often does not use complete sentences when speaking or writing |
| Is clumsy, uncoordinated, poor at ball or team sports; prone to motion sickness |
| May use either hand for fine motor tasks; confusion with right/left dominance |
| Has difficulty writing thoughts orderly and clearly |
| More information | |
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| Spelling | |
| Provide technology such as word processors, AlphaSmart, electronic spell-checkers (see resources) | |
| Assist students to create a personal spelling dictionary | |
| Use on-line websites i.e., spellingcity (see resources) |
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| Teach students to spell with sign language or body motions |
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| Display word walls |
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| Teach phonics skills through a repetitious, multisensory, hands-on-approach, i.e., Orton-Gillingham (see resources) | |
| Writing / Processing | |
| Offer different options for communicating ideas, such as power point presentations, models, speeches, mime, murals, rap, video productions, creative movement |
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| Provide a copy of class notes (i.e., a buddy notetaker, a copy of teacher's notes/lesson plans, audio recording of lesson, etc.) |
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| Allow extra time for writing assignments |
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| Explicitly teach different types of writing |
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| Teach keyboarding | |
| Allow students to dictate written assignments and tests |
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| Give students a checklist for editing work-spelling neatness, grammar, syntax, clear progression of ideas, etc. |
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| Have students proofread work after a delay—it’s easier to see mistakes after a break |
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| Have student complete task in small steps |
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| Encourage practice through low-stress opportunities for writing such as letters, diary, making household list or keeping track of sports teams |
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| Group students together to write “round robin” story |
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| Encourage students to include the wording of the question in their sentence answer (complete sentence responses) |
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| Use graphic organizers | |
| Use Slant Board | |
| Allow student to create illustrations in lieu of writing |
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| Grade written assignments according to content, rather than spelling and mechanics |
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| Use “cut and paste” to create research projects |
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| Fine Motor / Handwriting | |
| Provide a rubber stamp with student’s name |
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| Provide paper with raised lines as a sensory guide to stay within the lines (see resources) |
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| Try different pens and pencils to find one that’s most comfortable |
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| Practice writing letters and numbers in the air |
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| Encourage proper grip, posture, and paper positioning for writing | |
| Use pencil grips | |
| Use multi-sensory techniques for learning letters, shapes and numbers (e.g., speaking through motor sequence) |
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| Allow use of print or cursive |
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| Use large graph paper for math calculations to keep columns and rows | |
| Teach or reinforce penmanship using varying strateigies |
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