Feature Article The Impact of Mini-Lessons on Writing Skills

The effects of mini-lessons on writing skills during whole-group instruction were investigated. Four sixth-grade students with learning disabilities in two classrooms were taught two skills during the writing process by the teacher in the general classroom. The two skills taught were the use of adverbial phrases and the use ofpossessives. The replicated multiple baseline across behaviors with counterbalancing orders demonstrated increases in the skills for three of the four students. Limitations of this study are seen in the ascending baseline of two of the eight baselines. The ascending baselines may be due to the stu-dents hearing the instructions for the skill being taught to the other group. The results indicate that mini-lessons during the writing process in general classroom instruction can be employed to teach skills to students with learning disabilities. The results from the treatment and the main-tenance phase support the use of mini-lessons to increase learning of skills for students with learning disabilities. E FFECTIVE SCHOOL RESEARCH encourages schools and teachers to use methods that are based on sound research. Written expression is now being taught through a process model that is based o