When in comes to expressive language, especially those more in-depth and layered skills, writing goals that are aimed at the root but also target the over-arching skill can be tricky.
Take compound sentences for example.
First, let’s just get this out of the way. It is well within our scope to target writing directly. Yes, you can write a writing goal, it is with the realm of expressive language. We are aware of the link between oral and written language, so when addressing one we would be naive to think we shouldn’t address it in the other.
Ok, back to compound sentences. So, if you see your student is breaking down with expressive language when the information they need to share increases, and are thinking this is going to be an area to address then you wouldn’t want to write a goal for conjunction, even though that is the basis of a compound sentence.
You would write a goal for create compound sentences, understanding that targeting conjunctions is a part of the process to get there and may not need to be a goal itself. I set up the Compound Sentence Sidekick to support that growth.
Most of our students who would be working on writing within that expression language umbrella, would be analytic language processors. This meanings they acquired language in those building block/ baby steps that the milestones we use are based off of. This means they are learning and testing language in a systematic way and that usually tends to be the best way to start going about teaching and expanding on these concepts.
- Meet them at the beginning, not the middle. We can see they don’t have the foundational skills for this piece of language so that is where you must begin, typically with Simple Sentences. They need to understand parts of speech and syntax before you can even begin to think of tackling compound sentences.
- Start small. I typically start with teaching and focusing on how to use the ‘Big 3’ in terms of conjunctions: and, but, or. Your students will use conjunctions the most in daily life.
- Practicality, not perfection. I want my students to be able to independently and effectively create a compound sentence. This means we will be using practical tools like speech to text features ( which are accessibly on all devices from phones to tablets ) to get their ideas out and then look at them for editing. Teaching practical strategies for communication is something we can integrate into our sessions and even be accommodations, especially for writing.
Data
When it comes to writing, don’t even try to do a percentage. It is just too gray of an area and if you do have a concrete way to measure writing with a tally and percentage system it can get time consuming and out of hand quickly.
I recommend using a rubric style of data collection for writing goals. They are still objective, show detailed progression of the skill, and are easy for parents to understand.
Saying a students got 70% on simple sentences doesn’t tell you much about those sentences but a rating of 3 out of 4 with the detailed description of what ‘qualifies’ as a 3 sure does tell you a lot.
A rubric goal for simple sentences might look something like this, ” Student will create a simple sentence that correlates to a rating of 3 out of 4 on the SIMPLE SENTENCES Rubric, improving from a rating of 1, across three consecutive sessions.” The rubric is always attached to the IEP so anyone who needs to reference it, can.
Don’t be afraid to tackle writing, even if your SpEd teacher is addressing too. Our lens and approach as SLPs is different and don’t forget, you are qualified!
