Following Written Assignment Directions: Secondary
Multi-clause written directions with exceptions, minimums and conditions.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Make the student find the qualifying clause before answering. Skip seven, no more than one of which, not on the first line — these are the phrases that decide the answer, and highlighting them is the transferable habit. The minimum-total item is worth extra time because it requires arithmetic on top of comprehension, which is exactly what a rubric does. Fifteen minutes covers the sixteen.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentPresent the item and wait 5 seconds of quiet before helping.Log as correct
- RepeatRepeat the direction once, at the same speed, stressing the key words.Log as cued
- Chunk itBreak the direction into its steps and give them one at a time.Log as cued
- ModelShow the steps yourself, then the student does them.Log as cued
Adjust it
Give one step at a time, with a picture or a written list for each step.
Add a step, or a concept word such as 'before', 'after' or 'except'.
Matching IEP goal
Given spoken or written directions, Student will complete every step of the direction in order in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than one repetition.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Sixteen questions about written directions with something buried in them: answer questions four through nine, skip seven — how many do you answer; choose two of the four prompts, write 300 words minimum on each — what is your minimum total; cite at least three sources, no more than one of which may be a website — how many websites may you cite. Every item hides its answer behind a condition.
What to listen for
Watch what happens to the negation. Not on the first line and no more than one are the two constructions students consistently reverse, answering with the thing that was excluded. Notice whether the student re-reads before answering — a first-pass answer on a direction with a condition in it is usually wrong, and building the re-read habit is worth more than getting any one item right.
Carrying it home
Assignment sheets are the practice material and they arrive weekly. Asking a student to underline every condition before starting takes a minute and catches the missed clause while it still matters.
What's in this activity
- 'Answer questions 4-9, skip 7, and show your work on a separate page.' How many questions do you answer?
- Six
- Five
- Four
- Nine
- 'Submit the draft by Thursday and bring a printed copy Friday.' What is due Thursday?
- The printed copy
- Both
- The draft
- Nothing
- 'Choose two of the four prompts. Write 300 words minimum on each.' What is your minimum total?
- 300 words
- 450 words
- 600 words
- 1,200 words
- 'Cite at least three sources, no more than one of which may be a website.' How many websites may you cite?
- One
- Two
- Three
- Zero
- 'Use 12-point font, double spaced, with your name in the header -- not on the first line.' Where does your name go?
- The first line of page one
- The header
- The last page
- Nowhere
- 'Post one question to the discussion board and reply to two classmates.' How many posts total?
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- 'Highlight the claim, then annotate each piece of evidence.' What do you do to the evidence?
- Highlight it
- Count it
- Delete it
- Annotate it
- 'Late work loses 10 percent per day, up to three days; after that it is not accepted.' You turn it in four days late. What happens?
- You lose 40 percent
- You lose 30 percent
- It is not accepted
- You lose nothing
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Sixth through ninth, where written directions get long and carry exceptions.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all sixteen items play with no account and no card.
- Why do students miss these when they understand the content?
- Because the difficulty is syntactic rather than conceptual. Exceptions and conditions sit in subordinate clauses, and a student who reads for the main clause gets a coherent instruction that happens to be the wrong one.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.