Vocabulary use across genres: implications for students with complex communication needs.

Purpose: This study examined the vocabulary words and multiword sequences used by 124 typically developing kindergarten and 1st-grade students when they wrote about self-selected topics. The study extends previous research by examining the vocabulary used in different genres.

Method: A total of 457 writing samples were analyzed.

Writing instruction in elementary classrooms: making the connection to Common Core State Standards.

This study used a survey of primary general education teachers to examine the frequency of writing instructional activities and the genres composed most frequently by students in these classrooms. Surveys were completed by first-, third-, and fifth-grade general education teachers, with questions addressing writing activities, writing instruction, instructional strategies, writing genres, and writing environment. Means of teacher responses were calculated for each grade level to determine how many days per school year each activity occurred.

What happens to reading between first and third grade? Implications for students who use AAC.

School-age students who use AAC need access to communication, reading, and writing tools that can support them to actively engage in literacy learning. They also require access to core literacy learning opportunities across grade levels that foster development of conventional literacy skills. The importance of the acquisition of conventional literacy skills for students who use AAC cannot be overemphasized.

Enhancing literacy development through AAC technologies.

There is a critical need to understand teaching and technology supports that enable students who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems to engage in meaningful literacy experiences and foster conventional literacy skills. To thrive in classroom environments, they must have access to tools that can support them in active and independent literacy learning. These students need technology that allows them to move seamlessly between reading, writing, and communicating.