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Fluency #3 - Short Paragraph |
Subject Matter:
Elementary, Writing
Grades:
1
Software Application:
StarOffice Writer, or any word processing program.
Summary:
Students will revise run-on sentences into shorter, more fluent sentences.
State & National Standards:
CO- Colorado Academic Standards
• Subject : Reading and Writing
• Standard 2: Students write and speak for a variety of purposes and audiences
Writing and speaking are essential tools for learning, for success in the workplace, and for responsible citizenship. Developing a range of writing and speaking abilities requires extensive study, practice, and thinking. Students need frequent opportunities to write and speak for different audiences and purposes, and they need to be able to communicate expressively, informatively, and analytically. Growth in writing and speaking abilities occurs by applying skills to increasingly challenging communication tasks
• Grade/Level : CO- Colorado Academic Standards
• Grade/Level : Grades K-4
Performance Indicator : organizing their speaking and writing
Performance Indicator : revising and editing speech and writing
Performance Indicator : creating readable documents with legible handwriting or word processing at the appropriate time• Standard 3: Students write and speak using conventional grammar, usage, sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling
Students need to know and be able to use standard English. Proficiency in this standard plays an important role in how the writer or speaker is understood and perceived. All skills in this standard are reinforced and practiced at all grade levels and should be monitored by both the teacher and student to develop lifelong learning skills
• Grade/Level : CO- Colorado Academic Standards
• Grade/Level : Grades K-4
Performance Indicator : knowing and using subject/verb agreement
Performance Indicator : knowing and using correct modifiers
Performance Indicator : knowing and using correct capitalization, punctuation, and abbreviations
Performance Indicator : spelling frequently used words correctly using phonics rules and exceptions
Local Standards:
Adams 12 Technology Standard 2: Student uses productivity software as a basis for learning and skill building, and demonstrates an understanding of the universal tools of word processing.
- begins to use special function keys: enter/return, space bar, shift, delete and backspace
- locates letters, numbers and ending punctuation characters
- knows how to make capital letters using the shift key.
- uses the backspace/delete key to edit text.
Lesson Outcomes:
Students will be able to revise long, run-on sentences into shorter more fluent sentences by eliminating unnecessary linking words such as "and", "then", etc. and adding punctuation. Skills learned in the two previous lessons (combining sentences and changing sentence structure) can also be used.
Assessment:
This is the third of five lessons on writing fluency. Students will be assessed by teacher observation, and on the Style section of the attached rubric.
Student Prerequisites:
Students should have basic word processing skills, and should have completed the Conventions Unit (Lessons 1-4) as well as Lessons 1 and 2 of the Fluency Unit.
Lesson Preparation:
The teacher should prepare examples of revised run-on sentences to model for the students, and should give them sample run-on sentences for them to revise. These samples can be loaded into each student's electronic folder, or can be printed as a handout. Grade 1 samples are attached under Lesson Resources.
Time Frame:
1 class period. 30 Min. per class.
Implementation Steps:
1. The teacher models the revision of sample run-on sentences for the class.
2. The teacher provides the students with one or two long run-on sentences, either as a handout or pre-loaded into the student folders on the file server.
3. Students read the sentence and revise the piece by deciding how to break the sentence into shorter, more fluent sentences by eliminating words and adding punctuation. Students type the new sentences.
4. The teacher may want to encourage the use of skills taught in the two previous lessons (combining sentences and changing sentence structure) as additional ways to revise run-on sentences.
5. Students check for errors, revise as needed, and print a copy of their sentences.
6. Teacher and students go over the sentences in the lab or back in the classroom.
Lesson Resources:
The attached example is designed for first graders.
Attachments:
1. Model Example and Run-on Sentence to Revise
Product(s) Description:
A sample of student work is attached.
Attachments:
1. Student Revision of Run-on Sentence
Comments:
This is the third lesson in a sentence fluency unit of five lessons. Each lesson builds on the previous lesson.
Most first grade students write a story in much the same way they would tell it orally, stringing together ideas with lots of "and then's". This lesson is designed to make them aware of that. Most first graders did well, although some of my struggling writers had difficulty understanding what makes a complete sentence. Those students might benefit from a shared writing activity, paired with another student.
Sometimes we put too much into a single sentence. This makes our writing unclear and hard to read.
Example:
I went to recess and I dug in the sand and then my friend made a castle and I helped her.
Revised:
I went to recess. I dug in the sand. Then my friend made a castle. I helped her.
OR:
When I went to recess, I dug in the sand. I helped my friend make a castle.
Now you rewrite the following sentence:
We went to music and we sang songs and then the teacher let us play the drums and then we danced.
Eliminating Run-on Sentences
Name: Student Sample
Run-On Sentence:
We went to music and we sang songs and then the teacher let us play the drums and then we danced.
My Sentences:
We sang songs in music. The teacher let us play the drums. Then we danced.
Developed under a grant from Sun Microsystems, Inc. Open Gateways at Mountain View Elementary School by Steve Gandy, Technology Coordinator - mountain.adams12.org/TISS © 2003