Younger children are taught spelling skills and narrative composition, while older students learn expository writing. For example, teachers may describe animals from Australia during a classroom lesson. Clinicians then will ask students to name as many of the animals as they remember. After a classroom discussion about the animals, students are asked to write a short narrative about them. During this writing lesson, clinicians provide guidance to help children organize their writing.
Therapists use various methods to keep the children interested and involved in writing and reading.
Some common techniques are having the students write about interesting subjects and maintain a portfolio to track their improvement. When children are first taught rules for composing narratives, they learn that the purpose of writing is to affect the audience. It helps for children to understand that what they have to say affects their readers. When they realize this, children change their planning strategy and get more of a sense that writing is permanent, Dr. Silliman noted. The program at Metropolitan Ministries continues to develop.