Colors or shapes?

Graphic organizer
designs and paragraph writing skills
Kathy B. Ewoldt, Ph.D. & Suzanne Byrne, M.Ed., BCBA
October 15, 2021
College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 Applying principles of reverse
engineering to instructional design
teaching students with LD
expository paragraph writing using
a color-cued or shape-cued
graphic organizer.

College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 Reverse Engineering
• Reverse engineering is the process of
analyzing a subject system to (i) identify the
system’s components and their
interrelationships and (ii) create
representations of the system in another
form or a higher level of abstraction”
(Rekoff, 1985)
• Different from backward chaining and
‘beginning with the end in mind’.
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 Reverse Engineering
What is this sub-part’s role in the successful
operation of the mechanism as a whole?
Requires deep understanding
Detective-like: How & why?

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 (Machado, 2020, p. E24)
College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
Reverse Engineering a Paragraph
Well-written
exemplar
expository
Topic paragraph Conclusion
sentence sentence

Explanatio
Detail
n
sentences
sentences
(see Harris & Graham, 1985)
College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 Color & Shape Cueing
• Organizational tool
• Cued similar locations across graphic organizer &
exemplar paragraph
• Highlighting/Shape-coded function of each sentence
• Color cuing assists with spatial reasoning and
differentiation ( Joh & Spivey, 2012)
• Cueing has a greater effectiveness for students with
LD than typical peers (Swanson et al., 2010)
• Cueing to direct attention effective for students with
LD (Swanson & Sasche-Lee, 2000).
College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 Color Cueing
• Different than overlays
• Systematic, constant
– Blue: topic & conclusion
– Pink: detail
– Yellow: explanation

TOPIC DETAIL EXPLANATION

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 Shape Cueing
• Systematic, constant
– Triangle: topic & conclusion
– Rectangle: detail
– Oval: explanation

Detail Explanation
Topic

College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 Graphic Organizers
Greater effect on students with LD than typical
peers (Dexter, 2010)
Explicit identification of information (DiCecco &
Gleason, 2002)
Used to decrease extraneous cognitive load
(Paas & Sweller, 2014)

Improve planning time (Evmenova et al., 2016; Saddler &

Asaro, 2007), elements (Dunn & Miller, 2016); quality of
written expression (Evmenova et al., 2016)

College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 Draft

Typical writing Graphic

Draft
process Organizer

Sentence Types Backed into

Reverse Analyzed Draft
& Graphic
Engineered
Characteristics Organizer

College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 Research Questions
• Does the type of graphic organizer coding (i.e., shape
v. color) impact acquisition of sentence types?

• Does the type of graphic organizer coding impact

composition quality of expository paragraphs?
• Which component of the intervention package
yields a change in student writing?

Pre/ Intervention: Intervention: Post/

Baseline Lessons Practice Maintenance
Components (1 & Components (1 &
2) Supported writing
2)
(5-7)
Analysis (3 & 4) Analysis (3 & 4)
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College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 Knowledge assessment: 18 MC
Pre assessment Randomly assigned writing prompts (GL 3.3-8.8 Mn = 5.8)
& baseline 3 – 4 probes before intervention

Learned expository sentence types [2 sessions]

Exemplar paragraph: Analyze sentence by characteristics, code
accordingly to type [1 session] MM 75% to move to next lesson
Intervention:
Main idea to cued graphic organizer [1 session] MM 75%
Lessons (4)
-> Practice = Next dyad from baseline phase
Writing sample after each lesson

Review 4 sentence types

Intervention: Randomly assigned writing prompt
Practice (3) Supported graphic organizer (GO)
Supported GO idea to sentences

Post & Repeat knowledge assessment: 18 MC

Maintenance +1 week & +2 weeks, Randomly assigned writing prompt

College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
    
Sentence Types and Characteristics
Type  Characteristics Label
Topic States main idea Blue/Triangle
Sentence Keeps the idea general/broad
Only 1 main idea
Detail Gives specific information about Pink/Rectangle
Sentence the topic
Answers the “What” question
Explanation Gives information about the detail Yellow/Oval
Sentence Answers the “Why” or “How”
question 
Conclusion General statement about the topic Blue/Triangle
Sentence Similar idea of topic sentence using
different words
Wraps up the paragraph
Signals reader paragraph is ending
(or transitioning to new paragraph)
Typically the last sentence
May include the author’s general
feeling/attitude
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 Analyzed & Coded Exemplar

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Sample graphic organizer

College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
Multiprobe, Multiple Baseline Across Participants with Pre- and
Post-Assessments

Intervention
Pre/ Post- Maintenanc
: Lessons &
Baseline Intervention e
Practice
 Students/Participants

Carme
Alika Bartoli Adam Eddy
n
4th grade, 4th grade, 6th grade, 6th grade, 6th grade,
10 years old 9 years old 12 years old 12 years old 11 years old

Dyslexia, Dyslexia,
ADHD, Dyslexia ADHD Reading, ADHD
(Dysgraphia) writing

Female
Male Male Non-binary Female
White &
White White White White
Hawaiian

College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 Setting
• Student locations: Home office,
bedroom, kitchen.
• Materials delivered to each
student’s home prior to intervention.
• Students read their sample at the
end of each session, interventionist
pickup of original samples.

College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 Results
• Improvement across 4 participants
on knowledge assessment scores.
• Substantial improvement in paragraph
quality for all participants, maintained at
high levels 1-2 weeks after intervention
ended.

College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 4th grade
Baseline mean: 6.7
Maintenance mean: 13.5

4th grade
Baseline mean: 9
Maintenance mean: 18.5

College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 6th grade
Baseline mean: 9.25
Maintenance mean: 21.5

6th grade
Baseline mean: 8
Maintenance mean: 18

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 6th grade
Baseline mean: 4
Maintenance mean: 21

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20

16
Alika (4th grade, Dyslexia,
Lesson 6
12 ADHD, Dysgraphia)
8

20 Lesson 5
16
Bartoli, 4th grade, Dyslexia
12
8
4
0
20 Lesson 5
Lesson 2
16
Adam, 6th grade, ADHD
12
8
4
0
20 Lesson 5
16 Eddy, 6th grade, Dyslexia,
12 Reading, Writing
8
4
0
Lesson 5
20

16

12 Lesson 4 Carmen, 6th grade, ADHD

8

0
1 2 3 College
4 of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 Knowledge Assessment Scores
Carme
Alika Bartoli Adam Eddy
18
n
18 18
16
16 16
14 15 15

12

10 11

8 9

6 7
6
4

0
Alika Bartoli Adam Eddy Carmen

Pre-intervention Post-intervention
College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 Paragraph Quality Scores
Carme
Alika Bartoli Adam Eddy
22
n
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2

Baseline mean Post-intervention Maintenance mean

College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 Alika
Baseline responses Post & Maintenance sessions
(independent/pre intervention) (independent/post intervention)

Baseball. I can hit things and it My mom is my favorite teacher.

is fun. She is a math teacher. Math is
her specialty. She is amazing at
what she does. She teaches
math a lot. She teaches 6th, 7th,
and 8th. And I love her teaching
math to me.

College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 Bartoli
Baseline responses
(independent/pre intervention)
Baseball is my favorite sport. It is
fun. When you hit the ball you run.
When you get to the base you wait.
When you get to home you score
one point.
College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
Post & Maintenance sessions
(independent/post intervention)
My favorite school lunch is a
combination. A pizza is part of my
combination. I would put pineapples
on my pizza. I would put olives and
pepperoni on my pizza. A hamburger
is the next thing in my combination.
First, buy it from MesaRosa. Then put
cheese on it. Last, take a bite and it
tastes good. Nuggets is the last thing
in the combination. I would serve them
with ketchup. I would get nuggets
because they are very tasty and they
come with a toy. A combination with
pizza, hamburgers, and nuggets will
be good.
 Adam
Baseline responses
(independent/pre intervention)
I think some of my unique
qualities are that I can make
friends easily. I also eat very
slowly (I don’t know if that is a
unique quality). And most cats
like me.
College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
Post & Maintenance sessions
(independent/post intervention)
YouTube is helpful and funny.
SFM*s are hilarious. I like
America Day and A Series of
Strange Events. Team Fortress
2 is a good SFM video game.
There are walk-thrus in Plants v.
Zombies, Team Fortress 2, and
Zelda. I like the theories: game
theory, food theory, and film
theory. I like video game videos.
 Alika
Baseline responses Post & Maintenance sessions
(independent/pre intervention) (independent/post intervention)

Baseball. I can hit things and it My mom is my favorite teacher.

is fun. She is a math teacher. Math is
her specialty. She is amazing at
what she does. She teaches
math a lot. She teaches 6th, 7th,
and 8th. And I love her teaching
math to me.

College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 Eddy
Baseline responses
(independent/pre intervention)
Dreams are hard to explain and I
can’t explain anything about one in
particular. Most people can agree
that dreams take a gifted mind to
understand.
College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
Post & Maintenance sessions
(independent/post intervention)
“Game It Out” is one of my favorite
YouTubers. The channel is run by a guy
named Josh. He makes me laugh my
eyes out. He makes sure that you want
to watch more because he makes jokes
and references that only so many
people get. He keeps your interest and
his videos are a watchable twenty
minutes. Understanding the videos is
what makes them good. He makes
them a bit mind-boggling. He also edits
well until its looking good. He uses time
skips with good exiting. The video closet
is in his home to record. All these
factors make Josh a good YouTuber.
 Carmen
Baseline responses Post & Maintenance sessions
(independent/pre intervention) (independent/post intervention)

My favorite lunch would be One of my favorite animals are

spaghetti, Oreos, sour patch
kids, ice cream, and some fruit.
elephants. They are cute and
you can feed them. They are
smooth, and they have huge
ears that make them really cute.
They’re smart, they can paint
and when their friends are stuck
they help each other out. And
they are gigantic. They have
huge tusks and huge ears and
they can be even bigger than
cars. And that’s why I love
elephants.

College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 Sample results by prompt
Prompt: The third week in October is school lunch week. If you
could create the perfect school lunch, what would it be? Write a
paragraph that describes your perfect lunch. (3.3)

Baseline paragraph 6th grader: Maintenance paragraph 6th grader:

My favorite lunch would be
spaghetti, Oreos, sour patch
kids, ice cream, and some fruit.
Creating a good school lunch is part of a good day.
You need to have a healthy balance. Tomatoes
make a good fruit and a good way to get vitamins.
Ham is a good protein. Lettuce will make a good
crunch. Now the unhealthy parts make the
sandwich more attractive. Bread is not that healthy
but it holds the meat together. Cookies make you
want to open the lunchbox. Chips are a crunchy
filler. It has to be made perfectly. It has to have the
right amount of time. You have to eat it correctly.
You can’t put the tomato up against the bread.
That’s how to make a good ham sandwich.”

College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 Sample results by prompt
Prompt: Some people remember parts of their dreams, but the places
and people in the dreams can be unclear. What’s the best dream you
ever had? Write a paragraph that describes what you remember. (4.1)

Baseline paragraph 6th grader: Maintenance paragraph 4th grader:

Dreams are hard to explain and
I can’t explain anything about
one in particular. Most people
can agree that dreams take a
gifted mind to understand.
Copper is my first pet. He died before my dream. In
my dream I was in the house. It was a bad dream. I
was standing. It was about Copper. He was a dog.
He is nice. I remember him. I found Copper by the
window. I asked my parents how he got back and
they said he ran away. I remembered he did not run
away. The vet put him to sleep and had his heart
stop beating, and I woke up and had to go to
school. Copper was a very nice dog.

College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 Discussion
4/5 Participants improved scores on the knowledge
assessment, 1 remained the same (+3, +8, +3, +7, +0).

Students with ADHD had more improvement in paragraph

quality (+12.25, +17) than students with dyslexia (+6.8, +9.5,
+10).

4/5 Participants had large jumps in writing quality at Lesson 5

(double or more baseline averages). Visual analysis of the
slope indicates color coding outperformed shape coding

1 Participant had a large jump at Lesson 6. Although she had

the lowest gains, she still averaged 6.8 points higher during
maintenance than baseline.
College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 Noteworthy

Challenges of remote: Keeping materials

organized, collecting samples, checking student
writing delayed

Challenges of pandemic context: Zoom fatigue,

recruitment with new coordinator (hired during
Covid)

College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 Q&A
Kathy.ewoldt@utsa.edu

Suzanne.byrne@utsa.edu

College of Education and Human Development, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
 References

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