View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by DigitalCommons@Florida International University Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 6-20-2012 The seU of Computer Graphic Organizers For Narrative Writing By Elementary School Students With Specific Learning Disabilities Mary K. Gonzalez-Ledo Florida International University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Gonzalez-Ledo, Mary K., "The sU e of Computer Graphic Organizers For Narrative Writing By Elementary School Students With Specific Learning Disabilities" (2012). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 675. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/675 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida THE USE OF COMPUTER GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS FOR NARRATIVE WRITING BY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITIES A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION in EXCEPTIONAL STUDENT EDUCATION By Mary Kristina Gonzalez-Ledo 2012 To: Dean Delia C. Garcia College of Education This dissertation, written by Mary Kristina Gonzalez-Ledo, and entitled, The Use of a Computer Graphic Organizer for Narrative Writing by Elementary Students with Specific Learning Disabilities, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this dissertation and recommend that it be approved. _______________________________________ Elizabeth Cramer _______________________________________ Diana Valle-Riestra _______________________________________ Linda Spears-Bunton _______________________________________ Kyle Bennett _______________________________________ Patricia M. Barbetta, Major Professor Date of Defense: June 20, 2012 The dissertation of Mary Kristina Gonzalez-Ledo is approved. ________________________________ Dean Delia C. Garcia College of Education ________________________________ Dean Lakshmi N. Reddi University Graduate School Florida International University, 2012 ii © Copyright 2012 by Mary Kristina Gonzalez-Ledo All rights reserved. iii DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to my boys; Jaden, Joshua, and Julian. Everything I do in this world, I do it for you. Mommy loves you more than words can express. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank the members of my committee for their time and energy. I appreciate all comments and suggestions. Without your assistance and expertise, this dissertation would not have been possible. I would like to thank Dr. Kyle Bennett for his assistance in my graphs and understanding the intricacies in displaying the results in single subject design. A very special thank you should be extended to Dr. Cary Unzueta who was such an asset to this study in many ways. Finally, a thank you is not enough for my major professor, Dr. Patricia Barbetta. Without her firm yet unfailing support and confidence that I could do this, I would have never gotten through. Her guidance, knowledge, support, high expectations and at times, a firm hand, have helped me in more ways than just the completion of this degree. She has helped shaped me to be a better person. I would also like to bestow a special thank you to my husband, Jose. His patience and understanding during some of the more stressful times during this long process is much appreciated. Jose, I love you! I would also like to acknowledge that it was a promise made to my father over 12 years ago that was the impetus for this journey. To my Aunt Norka, you are an inspiration to me in so many ways. Thank you for being a part of my life. Finally I would like to thank my mother, the person who single-handedly has more confidence and belief in me than any other person on the planet. Thanks for always being there and believing in me unconditionally. v ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION THE USE OF COMPUTER GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS FOR NARRATIVE WRITING BY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITIES by Mary Kristina Gonzalez-Ledo Florida International University, 2012 Miami, Florida Professor Patricia M. Barbetta, Major Professor Writing is an academic skill critical to students in today’s schools as it serves as a predominant means for demonstrating knowledge during school years (Graham, 2008). However, for many students with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD), learning to write is a challenging, complex process (Lane, Graham, Harris, & Weisenbach, 2006). Students SLD have substantial writing challenges related to the nature of their disability (Mayes & Calhoun, 2005). This study investigated the effects of computer graphic organizer software on the narrative writing compositions of four, fourth- and fifth-grade, elementary-level boys with SLD. A multiple baseline design across subjects was used to explore the effects of the computer graphic organizer software on four dependent variables: total number of words, total planning time, number of common story elements, and overall organization. Prior to baseline, participants were taught the fundamentals of narrative writing. Throughout baseline and intervention, participants were read a narrative writing prompt and were allowed up to 10 minutes to plan their writing, followed by 15 minutes for vi writing, and 5 minutes of editing. During baseline, all planning was done using paper and pencil. During intervention, planning was done on the computer using a graphic organizer developed from the software program Kidspiration 3.0 (2011). All compositions were written and editing was done using paper and pencil during baseline and intervention. The results of this study indicated that to varying degrees computer graphic organizers had a positive effect on the narrative writing abilities of elementary aged students with SLD. Participants wrote more words (from 54.74 to 96.60 more), planned for longer periods of time (from 4.50 to 9.50 more minutes), and included more story elements in their compositions (from 2.00 to 5.10 more out of a possible 6). There were nominal to no improvements in overall organization across the 4 participants. The results suggest that teachers of students with SLD should considering use computer graphic organizers in their narrative writing instruction, perhaps in conjunction with remedial writing strategies. Future investigations can include other types of writing genres, other stages of writing, participants with varied demographics and their use combined with remedial writing instruction. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................1 Educational Profiles for Students with Specific Learning Disabilities...................2 Writing Profiles for Students with Specific Learning Disabilities .........................4 Writing Strategies for Students with Specific Learning Disabilities......................5 Purpose of the Study ...............................................................................................6 Statement of the Problem........................................................................................ 9 Research Questions............................................................................................... 10 Operational Definitions......................................................................................... 11 Summary............................................................................................................... 20 II. LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................... 21 Writing Genres in Elementary School .................................................................. 22 Educational Profiles of Students with Specific Learning Disabilities.................. 23 Writing Profiles of Students with Specific Learning Disabilities......................... 25 Writing Strategies of Students with Specific Learning Disabilities ..................... 27 Definition of Graphic Organizers and Their Benefits........................................... 27 Graphic Organizers in Teaching and Learning..................................................... 28 Graphic Organizers and Writing........................................................................... 33 Summary............................................................................................................... 41 III. METHOD ............................................................................................................. 43 Participants............................................................................................................ 44 Setting ................................................................................................................... 46 Materials ............................................................................................................... 47 Dependent Variables............................................................................................. 50 Interobserver Agreement .....................................................................................