Writing Skills Activities for Special Children

DARLENE MANNIX, B.S. Taylor University, M.A. Indiana University, has taught emotionally handicapped and mentally disabled, language disordered, and learning disabled children of all ages. She is an active member of the Council for Exceptional children, and Ms. Mannix is also the author of six other practical resources for special educators.

• Section I: Writing Words 1Part 1 Beginning WritingLesson I-1 Matching Words to Pictures 2Lesson I-2 Completing Sentences by Copying Words 4Lesson I-3 Completing Sentences with Picture Clues 6Lesson I-4 Sentence Starters 8Lesson I-5 Completing Sentences to Make a Short Story 10Lesson I-6 Composing and Copying a Class Story 14Part 2 Writing High-Frequency Words and PhrasesLesson I-7 Twenty Little Words (1-20) 16Lesson I-8 Twenty More Words (21-40) 24Lesson I-9 Another Group of Twenty Words (41-60) 31Lesson I-10 Yet Another Group of Twenty Words (61-80) 38Lesson I-11 A Final Group of Twenty Words (81-100) 45Lesson I-12 Dictated Sentences with High-Frequency Words 52Lesson I-13 -ould and -n't 59Lesson I-14 More n't Words 62Lesson I-15 ough 64Lesson I-16 a, e 66Lesson I-17 igh 68Lesson I-18 Pronouncing Words "Funny" 70Lesson I-19 Question Words 72Lesson I-20 Confusing Words 74Lesson I-21 Having Enough Letters 79Lesson I-22 A Few More Tricky Words 82Lesson I-23 Personal Words 84Lesson I-24 Sight-Word Games 86Part 3 Increasing Vocabulary WordsLesson I-25 Writing Color Words 95Lesson I-26 Writing Number Words 102Lesson I-27 Writing Common Nouns 108Lesson I-28 The Days of the Week 116Lesson I-29 The Months of the Year 120Lesson I-30 Abbreviations and Titles 125Lesson I-31 Proper Nouns 130Lesson I-32 Antonyms 134Lesson I-33 Synonyms 139Lesson I-34 Homonyms 143Lesson I-35 Contractions 152Lesson I-36 Compound Words 160Part 4 Editing WordsLesson I-37 Changing the Noun 166Lesson I-38 Changing the Adjective 169Lesson I-39 Changing the Verb 172Lesson I-40 Changing One Word 175Lesson I-41 Finding Omitted Words 178Section II: Writing Sentences 183Part 1 Writing a Basic SentenceLesson II-1 Identifying a Complete Sentence 184Lesson II-2 Identifying a Sentence in Print 187Lesson II-3 Writing Short Sentences 189Lesson II-4 Identifying a Fragment 191Lesson II-5 Repairing a Fragment 193Lesson II-6 Identifying a Run-On 195Lesson II-7 Repairing a Run-On 197Lesson II-8 Writing a Telling Sentence 199Lesson II-9 Adding a Sentence 201Lesson II-10 Writing a Question 203Lesson II-11 Writing an Exclamation 205Lesson II-12 Other Exclamations 207Lesson II-13 Writing Commands 210Lesson II-14 Sentences with Quotation Marks 214Part 2 Writing Sentences for a Specific PurposeLesson II-15 Writing to Describe 219Lesson II-16 Writing a Reaction 224Lesson II-17 Writing to Give Information 226Lesson II-18 Writing to Explain/Give Instructions 230Lesson II-19 Answering a Question with Appropriate Information 234Lesson II-20 Answering a Question with Complete Sentences 238Lesson II-21 Turning a Statement into a Question 241Part 3 Varying SentencesLesson II-22 Varying the Beginning 245Lesson II-23 Lengthening Sentences 248Lesson II-24 Lengthening Sentences by Using Prepositional Phrases 251Lesson II-25 Using More Specific or Varied Words 255Lesson II-26 Changing the Position of Phrases 258Lesson II-27 Combining Short Sentences (and, but, so) 261Lesson II-28 Using Commas in a List 268Lesson II-29 Using a Comma When Addressing Someone 272Lesson II-30 Varying the Length of Sentences 276Lesson II-31 Paraphrasing 280Part 4 Proofreading/Editing SentencesLesson II-32 Legible Writing 284Lesson II-33 Capital Letters--Only When Necessary! 289Lesson II-34 Editing for Punctuation 295Lesson II-35 Editing for Spelling 300Lesson II-36 Editing for Meaning 305Lesson II-37 Editing for Overuse of "and" 309Lesson II-38 Editing for Interest 313Lesson II-39 Editing with Proofreader's Marks 318Lesson II-40 Rough Draft and Final Copy 324Lesson II-41 The Editing Team 328Section Ill Writing Paragraphs 333Part l The "Sandwich" Model for ParagraphsLesson III-1 Sandwiches and Paragraphs 334Lesson III-2 Writing a Topic Sentence 337Lesson III-3 Adding Details 341Lesson III-4 More Practice in Adding Details 344Lesson III-5 Writing a Concluding Sentence 347Lesson III-6 More Practice in Writing Concluding Sentences 351Lesson III-7 Putting a Title to Your Paragraph 354Lesson III-8 Evaluating a Paragraph 358Part 2 Types of ParagraphsLesson III-9 Writing a Descriptive Paragraph 361Lesson III-10 Writing an Opinion Paragraph 366Lesson III-11 Writing a Narrative Paragraph 371Lesson III-12 Writing an Informative Paragraph 374Lesson III-13 Writing a How-to Paragraph 378Lesson III-14 Writing a Persuasive Paragraph 382Lesson IIl-15 Review of Paragraphs 387Part 3 Multiple ParagraphsLesson III-16 Ways to Organize Multiple Paragraphs 392Lesson III-17 Writing an Informative Report 396Lesson III-18 Writing a Sequential Report 402Lesson IIl-19 Writing a Compare/Contrast Report 407Lesson III-20 Writing a Topic-Support Document 413Section IV Other Types of Writing Activities 419Part 1 Writing a StoryLesson IV-1 Elements of a Story 420Lesson IV-2 Using Dialogue 424Lesson IV-3 Plot: Beginning, Middle, and Ending 428Lesson IV-4 Character Development 431Lesson IV-5 A Checklist for Writing a Short Story 435Part 2 Writing for School ProjectsLesson IV-6 Writing a Book Report 437Lesson IV-7 Writing an Essay Response 441Lesson IV-8 Keeping a Journal 445Lesson IV-9 Writing a Letter 448Lesson IV-10 Writing Definitions 453Lesson IV-11 Writing Spelling Words in Context 457Lesson IV-12 Writing a Current Events Summary 462Lesson IV-13 Writing a Math "Story" Problem and Math Log 468Lesson IV-14 Writing an Interview 472Lesson IV-15 Taking Class Notes 479Lesson IV-16 Completing an Assignment Sheet 483Part 3 Practical Writing ActivitiesLesson IV-17 Taking a Phone Message 488Lesson IV-18 Making a List 490Lesson IV-19 Writing Directions or Instructions 492Lesson IV-20 Writing Notes on a Calendar 496Lesson IV-21 Completing a Form 500Lesson IV-22 Writing/Completing an Invitation 505Lesson IV-23 Writing a Thank-you Note 507Lesson IV-24 Addressing an Envelope 510Part 4 Creative-Writing ActivitiesLesson IV-25 Writing a Poem 513Lesson IV-26 Writing a Song 517Lesson IV-27 Writing a Classified Ad 519Lesson IV-28 Writing a Commercial Ad 522Lesson IV-29 Writing a Travel Brochure 524Lesson IV-30 Writing a Cartoon Strip 526Lesson IV-31 Writing a Greeting Card 531Lesson IV-32 Writing a Joke or Riddle Book 533Lesson IV-33 A Written Time Capsule 535Lesson IV-34 Writing a Skit or Play 537