First Author™

This special education writing curriculum transforms students taking the alternate assessment into early communicators capable of expressing themselves. It was designed specifically for students with autism and other complex needs.

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Building Bridges through Writing

First Author™ is a comprehensive writing curriculum that guides educators to teach beginning writing skills to students with special needs including autism. It helps prepare students for the alternate assessment (including DLM, STAAR, and NCSC). But most importantly, you will help your students see themselves as authors who have the potential to share and communicate with others.

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Comprehensive Writing Instruction

Scripted lessons guide educators step-by-step through the process of teaching writing to students with special needs. It covers a range of abilities from scribbling to writing complete words and paragraphs.

Assessment

A comprehensive group of measurement tools monitor writing development, communication, and behavior.

Standards-Based IEP Goals

Guides standards-based IEP goals tied to Common Core State Standards and alternate standards including examples for writing, language, speaking, and listening.

Classroom Management

Structured classroom time is broken down through mini-lessons (4x/week), writing time (4x/week), and sharing time (Author’s Chair) (1x/week).

Teacher using First Author with students in classroom

Accommodation Strategies

Guides instructional supports for each student including “writing” tools and communication methods.

Three First Author students smile in the classroom

What’s Included

• Curriculum & Writing Measures Assessment Guide
• 82 Mini-lessons designed to be repeated with variety
• Successful Strategy Tip Sheets for teachers
• Tip Sheets for students
• 6 Posters to reinforce lessons introduced during Mini-lessons
•Teacher Tools including assessment forms, teacher fidelity checklist, and other supplemental materials
•Teacher Resource USB with master copies of student and teacher resource folders, as well as additional content

Download our First Author Curriculum Sampler

The assortment of First Author materials including Curriculum Guides, Teacher Tools, Resource USB, etc.

Leading with First Author

Woman sits in front of bookshelves during interview

In my 24 years of teaching I have never known my students so well.

Jenay Prytula, Special Education Classroom Teacher Watch the Video

Denise Jackson smiles during interview in classroom

My teachers love using First Author. I see great changes in my classrooms. Not only do I see changes in the students, I see changes in the teachers. The teachers are reinforced by the progress that the students are making.

Denise Jackson, Principal - Bovenschen High School

Mary Ann Burke sits in front of bookshelves giving interview

I’ve seen the kids just come out of their shells, and able to comment and really think about another person’s perspective and just see them…blossoming with their communication skills.

Mary Anne Burke, SLP

Janet Sturm smiles in front of glass doors

Students learn about the writing process. They learn about writing, they learn how to be a better communicator.

Janet Sturm PhD, CCC-SLP

Young boy sits in classroom during interview

You get to talk about what you like and don’t like. What you can and can’t do.

Student

Student sits in classroom during interview

You get to express your feelings…you get to express yourself.

Student

Woman sits in classroom during interview

For Sean to come home and tell me what he did at school. It’s huge, it’s really huge.

Mom

First Author™ Writing Curriculum Pricing

Check out sample lessons included in our First Author Writing Curriculum Sampler…

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Curriculum Samples

^$Free/

(no credit card required)

The Curriculum Sampler includes sections of the Curriculum Guide to help you become familiar with the philosophy behind this curriculum, as well as two scripted Mini-lessons with student Tip Sheets. It also includes the complete Table of Contents so you can see what topics are included in the complete Curriculum Guide.

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Writing Curriculum

Full Curriculum

^$699/classroom

(item code: P76WRTCURWEB)

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Resources & Support

Get the most out of First Author with our how-to guides, video tutorials, and more.

Product Resources Technical Support Professional Development

About the Authors

Janet Sturm, Ph. D, CCC-SLP, Professor, Department of Communication Disorders at Central Michigan University (CMU). Dr. Sturm’s research and clinical interests include developing high-quality differentiated writing instruction for students with developmental disabilities (DD), assistive writing software, formative and summative writing assessments of beginning writers, and tools and strategies to support effective classroom communication. Her work in special education classrooms with students with DD has spanned nearly 25 years. For the past three years she has been principle investigator for an NIH Fast Track Small Business technology transfer research grant (STTR), together with Don Johnston Incorporated, where they developed an innovative writing process software tool for students with DD, including those with severe speech and physical impairments.

Kathleen S. Cali, M.A., is a doctoral student in the Early Childhood, Special Education, and Literacy Program in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she specializes in K-12 writing instruction and assessment. Previously, she was an English and writing resource teacher in the Rochester, NY, City School District. She has also collaborated with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and LEARN North Carolina to develop online writing instructional resources for K-12 teachers statewide. She currently works as an Academic Coach for EnCompass Resources for Learning, which provides supplemental educational services for at-risk students in the Rochester City School District.

Maureen Staskowski, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is a consultant for speech, language and literacy at Macomb Intermediate School District. She consults regarding curriculum-relevant practices, literacy for at-risk learners and the implementation of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). She has served on state and national committees related to language and literacy and currently serves on the National Joint Committee of Learning Disabilities. She also presents and publishes on these topics.

Nickola Wolf Nelson, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology and Director of the PhD program in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences at Western Michigan University and Editor of the journal, Topics in Language Disorders. She has published widely on language-literacy, including Language and Literacy Disorders: Infancy through Adolescence (Allyn & Bacon, 2010) and is conducting standardization research (with support of a grant from the U.S. Department of Education on a Test of Integrated Language and Literacy Skills (TILLS). Nelson is a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities, a Board Certified Specialist in Child Language, recipient of the 2007 Kleffner Clinical Career Award from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation, and recipient of the Honors of the ASHA in 2011.