Power Sentences

We began the year with asking questions: who, what where when, why and how?

R.L. 2.1- Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

This ELA standard has been a foundational standard for the entire year. Remember, every question needs a response; verbally or orally. My kids asked questions all year long and I used this standard to help build sentences as well. I created question cards for my students to use in collaborative groups and with partners. I also created comprehension bookmarks with 6 sequential questions for them to easily answer and write retells, all aligned with the common core. If I can do it, you can too J Check for Visual Reading and Writing Activities for the Common Core in my store. All can be found at www.visualccl.com

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Elaborated Sentences

Other Ways to Use This Lesson:

Remember to allow the opportunity for your learners to write “visually”. Let them see the picture before they write. Train them early to ‘visualize’ and see the details. Guaranteed, your students will feel more confident with this approach.

As stated earlier, this lesson can focus on one skill at a time. When you are introducing “verbs” or action words, decide which kind of verb you want them to use and circle those words in their descriptive sentence. The children can use 3 pictures or clip art and compare “verbs” to make and create a verb list or verb pictorial dictionary. This activity can give you an on-going assessment as well. Try this activity with adjectives too.

Elaborated puppet sticks are a creative way to excite the children when they write. Children can use colored pictures, clip art, or their own art work to glue at the end of a craft stick as a puppet. Keep the puppet sticks in a basket to be reused throughout the year. Perhaps your puppet sticks are not of people or characters. Let them create scenery or object puppets too. Depending on the objective taught, if you only want to reinforce elaborative writing, allow the children to take a stick out of the basket and write a descriptive sentence. If the children want to use two puppets as characters, let them describe the puppets in an elaborative sentence while comparing the differences and similarities. The puppet is just a visual to ‘hold’. Their writing can be as creative as an elaborative poem, descriptive paragraph or narrative. Let your experienced writers stretch their imaginations and encourage them to use ‘details’.

Additionally, you can use this activity every week for practice along with reinforcing various topics throughout the year. For instance, you may be reading about birds one week, so allow the children to do a similar activity using pictures of birds. If you have stickers, try them to save time. Just illustrate the background.  If time is a challenge, keep pictures or sculptures of animals/people available, with or without a background for your students to use rather than spending time illustrating. If you have time to illustrate, try stencils to trace and add details as needed.

Moreover, create a worksheet with several clip art pictures along the left side of the paper corresponding with a blank line for kids to write an elaborated sentence. Remind the children that color will help their descriptions as well. You can cut the elaborated sentences into strips, glue to construction paper and trim, laminate them and use throughout the year. If you use dry erase markers, the children can color code parts of a sentence by circling each part and simply erase when completed.

Lastly, experienced writers can keep their elaborated work in a personal journal or portfolio to be shared as the year progresses. All you need is a cover.  Check for Visual Reading and Writing Activities for the Common Core in my store. All can be found at www.visualccl.com

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Visual Display Boards

I create boards like these to get the children excited about writing vocabulary. In this case, we were learning about Verbs. I often times gather pictures to bring it all to life. The children can play charades and act the words out and discuss words (verbs) that describe the cat’s actions. I keep the poster displayed as a vocabulary list. I have also used the poster as a learning center visual too. It is portable and fun for kids to use. Check for Visual Reading and Writing Activities for the Common Core in my store. All can be found at www.visualccl.com

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Clip Art and Visual Descriptions

I use clip art and small coloring pictures for my students to color and write about all year long. I begin the year with this activity because I can focus on Verbs, Adjectives, and Nouns in elaborated sentences. Now I can keep multiple copies in a basket to use at any moment.

This is an example of the beginning of 2nd grade writing. Ella is a verbal child and reading on grade level. She has a rich vocabulary too. Ella wrote her own story and was inspired by the visual. My below average students may only write a sentence. Either way, all learning styles are encouraged and successful. Check for Visual Reading and Writing Activities for the Common Core in my store. All can be found at www.visualccl.com
 

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Retell Bookmarks

My students use retell bookmarks all year long.   They are encouraged to memorize the order of questions on their bookmark so they can write their own retell/recount . My children love to reach this goal without using their bookmarks.

My above average learners have a retell notebook to respond with during guided reading. This allows them to write their own elaborative paragraphs. They are also encouraged to respond orally. This practice has been wonderful for public speaking and hearing how a story sounds as a retell.

My benchmark students complete a retell worksheet and store in their reading binder. They can read their work to a partner too.

My below average kids may answer the questions orally and try to respond with a shorter written application. Check for Visual Reading and Writing Activities for the Common Core in my store   LAMINATE BOOKMARKS… USE IN CLASS AND AT HOME!

All can be found at www.visualccl.com