The Vowel Coach

Category: Writing

  • How to Incorporate Writing into Math

    How to Incorporate Writing into Math

    Imagine…

    Imagine a math class where 2nd grade students solve only 1 or 2 problems a day.

    This class has no worksheets, textbooks, required homework, or teacher’s guide, yet by the end of the first semester, most 2nd grade students are able solve addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and simple algebraic word problems. The students always show their work, and they always explain in writing the exact steps used to solve the problem.

    This math class is not a fantasy, nor is it part of a gifted and talented program. I worked in this classroom and witnessed the magic with my own eyes. Nearly 25 years have passed, and I still look back at that experience with amazement.

    My Experience

    In the fall of 2001, I student taught in a second grade classroom at William Ford Elementary School in Dearborn, Michigan. No Child Left Behind had not been implemented yet, and Common Core was still a few years aways. Teachers in my area had fewer curriculum demands, smaller class sizes, more paraprofessional help, and a lot more creative freedom.

    Most of the students in the class were bilingual, spoke only Arabic at home, and had at least one parent who did not speak English yet. Some had been born in the US, and others recently immigrated here.

    How could a group of 7 and 8 year old ESL students perform so well in math when they only had to solve one or two problems each day?

    CGI

    My supervising teacher, Kris McKinnon, used an approach to math called Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI). She believed that writing was integral to every topic she covered, including math, and CGI was a great fit for her classroom.

    Here’s how it worked:

    • Before the children arrived, the teacher wrote a word problem on a whiteboard. After the students put away their belongings and submitted the lunch count and attendance, they copied the word problem into a designated math notebook and got to work solving it.
    • After the students solved the problem, they were required to write down the steps they used to solve it using words like first, next, and then. (This teacher taught the same class in 1st grade, so the kids already had experience with CGI before I came along. A lot of pre-teaching took place the prior year.)
    • Each day at least 3 children would have to stand at the front of the classroom and show the other kids step by step how they solved the problem. The 3 children usually represented 3 different ways to solve the problem. Perhaps one child drew a picture to solve the problem, one used a number sentence to solve the problem, and one used manipulatives to solve the problem.

    Examples

    Personalized Instruction

    There were many ways Kris personalized instruction for her students:

    Quick workers could:

    • receive an additional problem with larger numbers or more complexity
    • write their own problem and exchange it with another quick student
    • mentor students who were struggling with the work

    Challenged workers could:

    • meet with the teacher or another adult in a small group to work on the problem
    • meet with a student mentor 1:1
    • receive a similar word problem with smaller numbers or less complexity

    Think about all the different things the kids practiced during “math.” Not only were they practicing problem solving skills, they were also reading, writing, communicating, learning from peers, seeing different problem solving methods and more!

    This type of math can easily be reproduced at home. Start with small, age appropriate numbers. Make adjustments for your kid as needed. Maybe you write the problem in yellow highlighter, and your kid traces the letters. Maybe your kid dictates the steps he or she used, and you write those steps down. Get creative! Perhaps you start by focusing on just one part of the process and add another part in a few weeks. As long as your child gets to read, write, problem solve, and verbally explain what he or she is doing, you’re doing a good job!

    Learn more about CGI:

    Here is what AI has to say about CGI:

    Here is more from Heinemann:

    https://blog.heinemann.com/what-is-cognitively-guided-instruction

  • How to Write a Summary for a Fictional Story

    How to Write a Summary for a Fictional Story

    Students often have to write a summary of something they’ve read, listened to, or watched. A summary is a brief description of the main events of the story. It is not a detailed retelling of the story.

    The good news is that stories tend to follow a predictable trajectory:

    • The main character wants something, but a mental or physical problem stands in the way.
    • The character takes action to resolve the problem. This action either brings the character a step closer to the goal or makes the goal seem harder to achieve.
    • The character takes more action.
    • By the end of the story, the character ends up reaching the goal and/or learns an important lesson along the way.

    SWBSTI: A recipe for writing a summary

    I call the acronym SWBSTI a “recipe” for writing a summary. Each letter stands for a different part of the summary.

    • S= Somebody (the main character)
    • W= Wanted (wanted something)
    • B= But (but there was a problem)
    • S= So (so s/he did something)
    • T=Then (then s/he did something else)
    • I= In the end (In the end the problem was either solved or not solved)

    Summary Examples

    Jabari Jumps is one my favorite stories to have students write a summary for. You can listen to the story here:

    Here is an example summary for Jabari Jumps:

    “Jabari wanted to jump off the high diving board, but he was scared. So, he decided to give other kids a turn first. Then he did some stretches and talked to his dad. In the end, Jabari did jump off the diving board and he ended up liking it.”

    • S= Jabari
    • W= wanted to jump off the high diving board
    • B= but he was scared
    • S= so he let other kids go first
    • T=then he did some stretches and talked to his dad
    • I= In the end, Jabari jumped and he thought it was fun.

    Kitten’s First Full Moon

    Summary:

    “Kitten wanted the bowl of milk in the sky, but she didn’t realize it was actually the moon. So, she tried hard to catch it. She jumped, ran, and climbed a tree, but she never got it. In the end, she went home and found a nice bowl of milk waiting for her on the front porch.”

    Here are a few more stories I use when working on summaries with my students.

    SWBSTI can be used to write an original story:

    Children can also use the recipe to create an outline for an original story. It will help them map out the story’s main events and remind them of the order in which a story generally unfolds.

    Ingredient Swapping

    SWBSTI can be used for most children’s literature. However, just like we might eliminate or swap ingredients in a food recipe, sometimes we have to eliminate or swap out a word in our acronym.

    Recently, one of my students wrote a summary for a story called, “The Memory Tree.” In the story, the little girl’s favorite tree fell after it was struck by lightning. My student swapped the word “wanted” for the word “loved.”

    Here is the summary:

    "Katie loved the big maple tree in her backyard, but the tree fell after it was struck by lightning. Katie and her parents decided to plant a new tree where the old one used to be. Katie still felt sad, so she painted a picture of the old tree and taped it to the window. In the end, Katie decided she would take good care of the new tree and keep the memories of the old tree in her heart."

    Notice that this summary does not use the words “so” or “then.” That’s okay too! I prefer how a summary sounds when those words are implied rather than written out. Ingredients can be eliminated, swapped for something else, or rearranged in a different order.

    Some students can’t resist mentioning certain details, using creative language, or adding a personal touch to their writing. As long as the summary is concise and includes the most important ingredients, a dash of creativity will make the assignment more fun for kids who love to read and write.

  • Sentence Types: Simple, Compound, Complex, Compound-Complex

    Sentence Types: Simple, Compound, Complex, Compound-Complex

    There are four main types of sentences that we use in the English language, but before we jump into the different sentence types, let’s review independent and dependent clauses.

    Independent Clause

    • An independent clause is a group of words that has a subject and a predicate and forms a complete thought. The subject is the naming part of the sentence (noun), and the predicate is the telling part of the sentence (verb).
    • You can learn more about subject and predicate in this post:
    Sentence Writing for Kids: From Scaffolding to Independence

    Dependent Clause

    • A dependent clause is a group of words that is missing either a subject or a predicate or for some reason cannot stand alone as a complete thought.
    • This clause is missing information. What does the dog like?
    • My dog likes sleeping in my bed.
    • “He saw a squirrel” is an independent clause. Adding the subordinating conjunction “because” turns it into a dependent clause.
    • My dog barked because he saw a squirrel.

    Sentence Type #1: Simple Sentences

    • A simple sentence is a group of words that has one independent clause.

    Sentence Type #2: Compound Sentences

    • A compound sentence has two or more independent clause joined by a coordinating conjunction. A coordinating conjunction is a word that joins the two independent clauses. We put a comma BEFORE the coordinating conjunction.
    • Kids often learn the acronym “FANBOYS” to help them remember common coordinating conjunctions. “FANBOYS” stands for for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.

    Sentence Type #3: Complex Sentences

    • A complex sentence has one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. The dependent clause usually contains a subordinating conjunction.
    • A subordinating conjunction explains the relationship between the two clauses. They often show timing, cause and effect, or a change in location.

    Sentence Type #4: Compound-Complex Sentences

    • A compound complex sentence has two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses.

  • Sentence Writing: Strategies for Helping Your Child

    Sentence Writing: Strategies for Helping Your Child

    1. If your child does not have any sentence writing skills:

    • Do have the child tell you the sentence so that you can write it down with a highlighter. Then have your child trace the letters.
    • Don’t make your child feel bad for not having certain skills yet.

    2. If your child isn’t sure how to spell a word:

    • Do encourage him to stretch out the word and write down all the sounds he can hear. Using the sound box or syllable strategy can be very helpful
    • Don’t tell your child how to spell every word.

    Here are links to my previous posts about sound boxes and syllables:

    3. If your child has spelling errors:

    • Do have your *child* circle 1-3 words he/she thinks might be spelled wrong and work together to fix them.
    • Don’t circle every word that is wrong or correct every single word your child writes.

    4. If your child forgets to start the sentence with a capital letter and/or put a punctuation mark at the end:

    • Do ask your kid if the sentence is ready for school. Do have your child make the corrections.
    • Don’t pick up a pencil and fix the sentence for your child.

    5. If your child has no clue where to put punctuation:

    • Do tell them to read the words out loud and add punctuation where the voice naturally stops.
    • Don’t grab a pen and put the punctuation marks where they belong.

    6. If your child’s letters look like they are floating off the line:

    • Do have your child pick 3-5 letters to fix.
    • Do have your child rewrite one sentence so that all the letters are “standing on the bottom line” if he or she is agreeable and there is plenty of time to do so.
    • Don’t comment on every single floating letter.

    Remember, if the sentence does not have a capital letter at the beginning and a punctuation mark at the end, it is a NAKED sentence, and it is not ready to go to school.

    Is your sentence ready for school?

    Every morning your child has to get ready for school. At the very minimum that includes putting on clothing and shoes.

    In order for a sentence to be ready for school, it needs, at the very minimum, a group of words that start with a capital letter and end with a punctuation mark.

    On a good day, getting ready for school involves

    1. clean clothes
    2. a pair of shoes
    3. washed hands, face, and body
    4. brushed teeth
    5. combed hair
    6. satisfied belly
    7. a backpack full of everything needed for the day including things like homework, books, notebooks, pens and pencils, snacks, a lunch, and maybe more

    On a good day, what does a sentence need to be ready for school?

    1. proper use of upper and lowercase letters and legible printing.
    2. proper spacing
    3. proper punctuation
    4. a meaningful group of words with a subject and predicate
    5. best guess spelling for young kids and accurate spelling for older kids.

    1. Proper use of uppercase and lowercase letters and legible printing:

    Small, Tall, and Fall Letters:

    If I made the rules, kids would learn to print lowercase letters BEFORE learning uppercase letters. Most of the text we read is written in lowercase letters, and most of the letters we use when we write a sentence are also lowercase letters.

    • Lines 1 and 2 show the small letters. They touch the broken middle line, and they stand on the bottom line.
    • Line 3 shows the tall letters. They all have a straight line that touches the top line and the bottom line. All the letters stand on the bottom line.
    • Line 4 shows the fall letters. These letters go digging in the dirt under the bottom line.
    • Using 3 lined paper helps kids make sure that uppercase letters and truly bigger than lowercase letters.
    • Young learners might need help with letter formation. If you don’t have fancy dotted font, you can write the letters with a highlighter and let your child trace them. It works just as well.
    • Uppercase letters stand on the bottom line and reach all the way up to the top line.

    Stop what you are doing and go get some 3 lined paper.

    When a child is interested in learning to write his/her own name, it is time to bring out the 3 lined printing paper. I think learning on 3 lined paper should be the norm, not the exception.

    2. Proper Spacing

    • Using a finger or a popsicle stick to determine spacing is helpful. Many kids will swing from crowded spacing to spaces that are too large. It’s a process…be patient.

    3. Subject and Predicate

    A sentence needs a subject (the naming part of a sentence) and predicate (the telling part of a sentence.) You can learn more here: add link

    4. Proper Punctuation.

    Every sentence needs punctuation. There are many kids of punctuation and many punctuation rules. Right now I’m concerned with you child choosing between a period, question mark, or exclamation point.

    • Periods are for telling sentences.
    • Question marks are for asking sentences.
    • Exclamation Points are for sentences that show a strong feeling like love, excitement, or fear.

    4. Best Guess Spelling

    Some parents find it really hard not to tell a child how to spell every word or correct every spelling error a child makes.

    Your child’s job is to listen to the sounds in a word and write down the letters that match those sounds. Accuracy will grow with time and practice.

    • This is an example of best guess spelling from one of my second grade tutoring students. Even though only 2 of the 9 words are spelled correctly, she actually did a really great job hearing the sounds in the words and matching those sounds with the appropriate letters.

  • Sentence Writing for Kids: From Scaffolding to Independence

    Sentence Writing for Kids: From Scaffolding to Independence

    Supporting young writers through scaffolding:

    The word “scaffolding” in education refers to providing guided support to a child as he or she is developing new skills and working toward independence. Just like scaffolding in construction is a temporary structure that helps workers safely get their jobs done, educational scaffolding is temporary as well.

    Skills needed for sentence writing:

    Your energetic child might have an amazing imagination, tell detailed, organized stories, and come up with hilarious jokes. However, that energy might collapse like a tower of wet socks when it comes time to pluck the words out of his or her brain and physically write them down on paper.

    The ability to grab words out of our brain and write them down requires many skills. Here are just a few:

    1. Fine motor skills for holding a pencil and drawing letter shapes.
    2. Knowing how to use writing lines properly.
    3. Remembering what each letter looks like and reproducing those shapes on the page.
    4. Finding the letters on a keyboard to type out work.
    5. Stretching out words/spelling accurately/matching sounds to letters.
    6. Remembering punctuation, spacing, and other qualities of text.
    7. Remembering the actual words you want to write down.

    Here is an interesting article from Reading Without Tears about sentence writing: https://www.lwtears.com/blog/how-to-teach-sentence-writing-structure?srsltid=AfmBOoqH31QyXCMOJU0YGesPurCeeWPkgTO41-gBjwWixDog68XKCA16

    Writing a Complete Sentence

    A complete sentence has two parts: a subject and a predicate. The subject is the part of the sentence that tells us the person, place, or thing that the sentence is about. The predicate is the part of the sentence that tells us something about the subject.

    In other words, the subject is the naming part (which is a noun or pronoun), and the predicate is the telling part (which always includes a verb).

    • Take a look at this photograph. There are many subjects we could write a sentence about. We could write about the mom or the dad, we could write about the kids or the family, or we could write about the river or the trash. Mom, dad, kids, family, river and trash are all examples of subjects.

    If we you were asked to write a sentence about the family in this photo, you might write, “The family is cleaning up garbage.” The subject of the sentence is “The family,” and the predicate is, “is cleaning up garbage.”

    Here are two videos about subject and predicate:

    Complete vs. Incomplete Sentences

    As we just discussed, a complete sentence must include a subject and a predicate. An incomplete sentence, on the other hand, is a group of words that is missing either a subject or a predicate. We want to avoid writing incomplete sentences.

    Most kids naturally grasp the idea of complete sentences, but reviewing the concept of subject and predicate can help kids who do find it challenging. In my experience, kids are much more likely to misplace punctuation, completely leave out punctuation, write run-on sentences, or have a series of misspelled words than than they are to write an incomplete sentence.

    Scaffolding Examples for Sentence Writing

    Here are three of my scaffolding techniques for beginning writers:

    1. Dictate and trace: First, the child says the sentence. Next, the adult writes the sentence using a yellow highlighter or a traceable font. Finally, the child traces the words.

    2. Dictate, count, write: The child tells the adult the sentence. The child and adult count how many words are in the sentence. The adult draws a line for each word. The child writes the words on the line.

    3. Graphic organizer: A simple graphic organizer can help a child remember the different parts of a story. In this example, the child would draw a picture of what happens at the beginning of the story, the middle of the story, and the end of the story. Then the child can refer back to the pictures to help them remember what to write about.

    More Scaffolding Ideas for Sentence Writing:

    Please note: The following 6 images were created by and taken directly from Canva, an online platform where you can download pre-made visual content or create your own. Canva offers free and paid subscriptions. Canva has a ton of resources for parents and teachers.

    1. Have your child trace the words. If you don’t have special dotted letters, simply write the sentence with a yellow highlighter instead. A yellow highlighter is one of my favorite tools!

    2. First the child trace the words, then the child writes them independently. I highly recommend using 3 lined paper.

    3. Write down the words the child wants to use in the sentence, but write them down out of order. Have your child independently write the words in the correct order.

    4. Use pictures (real or drawn) to help your child formulate a sentence. Have your child write the words independently.

    5. Have your child draw a picture of what he/she wants to write about and then write the words.

    6. As your child moves toward writing multiple sentence stories, drawing pictures of the beginning, middle and end can help your child organize his or her thoughts and help him/her remember what to write about.

    Putting all these skills together takes time.

    There are a lot of ingredients in the recipe for writing, and it can take some time to gather them up, measure them out, and mix them together for a good final product.

    Cooking times will vary. 😉