An Open Letter to Teachers: Taking off with Shurley English

“Without continual growth and progress, such words such as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”  -Benjamin Franklin

Dear Educators,

Welcome aboard Shurley English flight ABC. Please find your seat, stow your baggage in the overhead bin, and buckle-up as we take off into your new school year!  This year’s destination is progress and growth.  We’ve got a long flight ahead of us so, sit back, stay focused & relaxed, and enjoy the journey! 

For some of you, Shurley English might be a new addition to your curriculum.  Several of you may already be familiar with the effectiveness and uniqueness of our Grammar, Skills, Writing, Reading, and Speaking & Listening features.   Regardless of your passenger status, I encourage each of you to keep your eye on the prize: progress & growth!  Throughout the journey this year, you may experience some turbulence, making you feel a bit outside your comfort zone, but don’t worry!  Simply refer to the previous posts called: “The Perfect Shurley Teacher” and “First Year Freak-Out.”  They are loaded with information to help guide you; you can find them in the archives.  

Passengers sitting in the “New to Shurley English” seats, please remember:

1. Stick to the Script!

2. Repetition & Consistency build Mastery!

3. Trusting the Process leads to Success!

Passengers sitting in the “Seasoned Teacher” seats, please remember to:

1. Aim for Progress over Perfection!

2. Practice what you Teach!

3. Get Outside of your Comfort Zone!

Keep in mind that Shurley English Curriculum is installed with a built-in support system, including modifications, extra-practice, and SEDA lessons, should they be necessary.  In addition, the “Always Keep Learning & Be Brave Enough to Keep Growing” light will stay lit for all passengers for the duration of our flight.  We are here to support you as you teach students to become competent, confident communicators that will be prepared for any and all future destinations!

On behalf of the entire flight crew, “Welcome aboard!”

Does handwriting matter?

While the jury may still be out regarding the importance of teaching handwriting/penmanship, from where I sit, it isn’t something we want to leave out of our teaching repertoire. Though some might think the time needed to develop fluent handwriting would best be spent teaching keyboarding skills, I would contend that there is room for both. And, since keyboarding skills are now a current part of many curricula, it’s the handwriting skill that seems to get left by the wayside.

 As a former primary school teacher, I knew that basic letter recognition, formation, and sound-association were an absolute must for my first and second graders. But, even then, I didn’t understand the neurological underpinnings that learning handwriting has. First of all, I never truly considered what the brain and hand were doing while handwriting practice was conducted. To be honest, at first, I just used handwriting practice as a time-filling seatwork activity that allowed me the time take care of a few morning teacher tasks.

With experience, I began to give the handwriting practice time its due diligence. I started noticing that students developed a much stronger sense of directionality—writing left to right. I also found that students grasped the concept of “return-sweep” when they got to the end of a baseline and had to continue to the far left of the next base line on their handwriting paper. Why did that matter? Well, it had an impact on their ability to “return-sweep” when READING, too. Hmmm…go figure! I didn’t know this when I started teaching early reading, but some young students sort of fell off the face of the planet when they arrived at the end of a line of text they were reading. Amazingly, some students don’t naturally understand that they have to go back to the far left of the next line in order to continue reading fluently.

Another important aspect of teaching and learning handwriting is the support it can lend to students who exhibit dyslexia. Because of the connectedness you can achieve in cursive handwriting, reversals can be avoided. So, I began teaching cursive handwriting as early as my students were willing to put in the time and the practice to write cursive legibly. I know that many first graders just aren’t developmentally ready for cursive, but that never stopped us! I just taught them a simple set of handwriting strokes that would allow them to learn the connections between letters as soon as the basic formations were locked in. Here’s a short list of the handwriting strokes and their names:

If you are of the same school as thought as I am, then try adopting these basic handwriting practice strokes into your kids’ daily agendas, along with some meaningful copy work, such as short poems, scriptures, or famous quotes, and you will be doing your child a great service for now and in the future.

How to help your students develop "voice" in their writing.

In the 1960’s, a researcher by the name of Paul Diederich asked a group of language arts professionals a simple question:  “What makes writing effective?”  As the responses rolled in, Diederich was able to configure them into six distinct traits and coined them as the Traits of Effective Writing.  Amazingly, these six traits are still being used today as a framework for teaching and assessing all types of writing at every stage of writing development. 

Voice

Teaching “voice” doesn’t have to be difficult!  The key is to establish clear goals and objectives to help students understand and apply the 3rd Trait of Effective Writing.  Today, I will provide you with some background information and give you a few tricks to help students effectively demonstrate voice. 

Let’s begin with the definition.  “Voice” is the individual way a writer expresses himself or herself; it’s that personal, unique style of using words and expressions to convey meaning in a way that jumps off the page and leaves the writer’s imprint on the reader.  The same words and expressions that tend to flow freely during conversation are often difficult for writers to express effectively.  One reason is because there are no set rules for “how” or “where” to include “voice” in a piece of writing. 

Teachers need to understand that words and expressions that convey voice do not always magically appear.  Students must be taught how to apply voice in their writing.  Good modeling is important.  As students’ knowledge, skill, and practice pertaining to the use of voice increases, their personalities are sure to shine through.   It’s up to you to nurture the development of voice and help students hone their skills by providing lots of practice!

Authentic Assessments: How Shurley English integrates real assessments

So, what’s happening “testing-wise” in your school and in your classroom? Let’s continue the conversation about real or authentic assessments.  (If you missed part one, click here.) In my opinion, it is vital to add these authentic assessments to your “testing bag-o-tricks.” Just look at some of the benefits:

Authentic assessments…

*provide direct measures;

*capture the true nature of learning;

*focus on the process-integrating teaching, learning, and assessing; and,

*provide a myriad of ways for students to demonstrate their knowledge.

Did you know that Shurley English integrates authentic assessments throughout the curriculum?  Let's take a deeper look...

Shurley English provides the opportunity for students to learn grammar and the connection to writing at such great depth that, when the process is taught correctly, the evidence of this knowledge is seen in a child’s writing. We teach students how to really think about using the knowledge they’ve acquired…we teach them to know the content, think about the content, and process the content correctly. 

By demonstrating a Jingle, the teacher is showing the student how to learn a language arts definition and think about it, not just memorize it. 

The questions asked during the Question & Answer Flow are the set of criteria by which we measure a student’s understanding of specific grammar concepts.  So, that’s your rubric, and when your students correctly identify the parts of speech of each word in a sentence or classify a sentence type, using the Q & A Flow, you have an authentic assessment opportunity!

Even though the Classroom Practices/Chapter Check-ups are essentially paper assessments, they’re still authentic.  Students take the information learned and apply it to questions they’ve never seen.  This is teaching them how to think about using the knowledge they’ve learned.

Have you ever witnessed your students revising their Sentence Blueprints/Practice & Improved Sentences and discussing word choice with another student, or simply thinking through the process of finding a synonym/antonym to improve their word choice?  These actions will eventually become second nature to them.  This is a form of an authentic assessment…because it is observable.

Writing is the obvious authentic assessment in Shurley English!  Whether it’s an entry in a journal, a short constructed response answer, a presentation, or the final paper of a formal piece of writing, the teacher can observe a student’s depth of knowledge.  The teacher can see and hear where grammar, usage, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling have been used correctly or incorrectly.  In Shurley English, the Writing Evaluation Guide (WEG) and Teacher Rubric are key components to the process. The WEG teaches students how to start thinking about what they write and how to apply the skills they’ve learned to their writing.  The Teacher Rubric is used to measure the student’s work against specific criteria. 

I’m suggesting this…

If you imagine the process that the student experienced in learning specific information, understanding the information, and then actually applying the information in a meaningful and realistic scenario, it’s clear that IS an effective form of assessment.

So, don’t just leave your academic assessment up to the paper test, AND AVOID TEACHING to TEST! Be creative and assess your students’ knowledge with authenticity and purpose.

“Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted, counts." -Albert Einstein

Are complex sentences all that complex?

Are complex sentences all that complex? Not really! If you want to see how simple complex sentences can be for young writers, read on.

When I work with young, developing writers, I like to make new concepts seem like they’re no big deal, even if they are a bit abstract. Take writing complex sentences, for example. When you write a complex sentence, all you are doing is making two related ideas compromise a bit in the message they carry. In other words, one of the two sentences will be dependent on the other. By using a simple tool called a subordinate conjunction, you can make one of the two sentences subordinate to the other. It does not matter which of the two sentences gets subordinated, nor does the order or position of the sentences matter—they just have to make sense.

Look at this:

Because the traffic in town is so jammed, I take a different route.

Now watch:

 I take a different route when the traffic in town is jammed.

In the examples above, I have the same complex sentence written two ways. The first one requires a comma after the “Because Phrase.” The second one does not require a comma. Now, did you notice I called the first sentence in the first example a “Because Phrase?” The key to getting kids to write complex sentence is all in how you say it! When I want to see my students stretching their writing, grasping at abstract concepts, and wielding their word power, I ask them to use a “______ Phrase” to start their sentence. In the chart below, any of the subordinate words or phrases work with this writing strategy.

I might say something like:

“Okay, writers. For the next sentence practice, please write me a sentence that begins with an “If (insert any subordinate conjunction here) Phrase, followed by a comma.”

Most students seem to naturally infer that a second independent sentence must follow! I always call attention to the comma that comes after an initial subordinate sentence. If the students decide to make the second sentence subordinate, I tell them to “kick out the comma.”

I will do the same many times throughout a week of writing. I might ask for a “When Phrase,” a “Because Phrase”, a “Since Phrase,” or any of the subordinate words from the list above followed by the word “Phrase.” I don’t bother to get into all the nuts and bolts of complex sentences with very young writers, but the point is—students can learn to write complex sentences easily when you use this strategy.

The Importance of Teaching with Enthusiasm

As a certified elementary teacher, I came to realize the tremendous amount of power and influence I had on my students very early in my career.  It was clear that my energy and delivery during certain lessons (either high or low) made an impression and greatly affected the outcome of “how” and “what” my students learned.  Since my goal was to be an effective teacher, I purposefully taught every subject with enthusiasm in an attempt to influence my students in the most positive, productive ways possible to increase learning.

Teaching with enthusiasm became my mantra!  I actually incorporated the words “with enthusiasm” into my daily lesson plans as I prepared for every single lesson.  I focused my attention on teaching with as much knowledge, positivity, and energy as I could.  By doing so, I noticed that my students’ attention, interactions, and test scores followed.  The enthusiasm was contagious!

There are many characteristics that effective teachers display, and it’s important to know that showing enthusiasm is one of them.  An enthusiastic teacher can be described as:

-Energetic

-Seems to enjoy teaching

-Conveys a love of the field

-Has an aura of self-confidence

Engaging students in the learning process can be a challenge, but demonstrating a high level of knowledge and enthusiasm can increase student learning.  

Authentic Assessments: Breaking the Paper Test Cycle

When you think of testing, do any of these statements come to mind?

“I want to see what my students have learned at the end of each chapter.”

“I want to make sure I’m teaching effective lessons.”

“My administrator says I have to have a certain number of scores in my grade book.”

“I’d like to see the strengths and weaknesses of each student so I can know how to differentiate my instruction.”

We’re all familiar with national standardized testing, the numerous true/false or multiple choice tests a teacher gives throughout a school year, along with the benefits these assessments can provide.  One school of thought says that assessments are a key component of learning because it helps students see how well they understand subject specific material.  Others say assessments can help motivate students.  Still, testing often feels like a necessary evil that all teachers must do to show evidence that students have learned the content teachers worked so hard to teach.

I’d like you to consider looking at the way you assess your students through a different lens.  What if your student assessments consisted of noting missed cues while a child reads from a real book; recognizing correct or incorrect grammar usage and punctuation in a student’s essay or hypothesis in Science; or the actual act of using measurement to build a raised garden bed as opposed to solely using typical paper, true/false, or multiple choice assessments?  Assessments do come in all forms!

If you’re differentiating your instruction for students in the classroom, then differentiating the way your students are assessed is a strategy for best practice.  To me, it makes sense why, in school, I thrived with hands-on and oral work, but struggled taking paper tests; I’m still a horrible paper test-taker, but ask me to “show” you how something applies to a real life scenario, and I’ll nail it all day long. That’s what a REAL Assessment or Authentic Assessment is all about!  You might have heard the terms, Performance Assessment, Alternative Assessment, or Direct Assessment-all common names for the Authentic Assessment.  These kinds of assessments ask students to demonstrate the knowledge and skills they’ve learned when applying them to real-world tasks— then measuring their performance against a set of pre-determined criteria in the form of a rubric.  REAL Assessments value the thought behind the work and the process, as much as the finished product.

So, before you start planning all of your paper tests, consider learning more about and creating a real, authentic assessment. Your students will welcome the opportunity to show their knowledge in a new way! 

“Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted, counts." -Albert Einstein

-You have just read part one of a series on Authentic Assessments. Are you ready for part two? Click here.

The Artistry of Appositives

One of my favorite strategies to teach writers is the effective use of appositives. I like to show kids how appositives, like prepositional phrases, can create a wonderful context for the sentence.

So, what’s wrong with adjectives? 

Usually, with younger writers, we might simply encourage the use of strong adjectives to be placed in front of nouns, and the adjectives work just fine. But in order to help your slightly older kids to elevate their writing, teach them the artistry of appositives. We don’t want students to think that adjectives are the only tool in their Parts of Speech Tool Chest. There are other ways to modify nouns and pronouns. To help build an appreciation for selecting just the right way to say something, appositives are a good go-to.

A positive what?!? 

Appositives are phrases that you set off with commas, and you usually position them just after the word you want described. The appositive is really just a renaming or modified version of the word it follows. Here is an example from one of the Mover and Shaker Sentence activities featured in Shurley English:

In this case, we have the direct object noun, Jackson’s Market. Notice that I have set the appositive off with a comma just before the phrase and right after it. Then, by strategically placing the appositive just after Jackson’s Market, I have modified the direct object without listing simple adjectives in front of it. It adds a bit of zing to the sentence, don’t you think?

Give it a try.

When your young writing scholar has scraped the bottom of the adjective bucket, it’s time to refill the bucket with some appositives. You can help writers get used to this strategy by brainstorming some basic nouns and appositive phrases that do a good job of modifying them. Keep your list of nouns and appositives handy by posting a Matching Wall of Words, specially designed to help writers find just the right appositive phrases to go with the noun of their choice. Over time, the use of appositives will become second nature. So, get out there and practice the skill of writing with appositives.

Can I teach Shurley English out of sequence?

The Shurley English curriculum is uniquely designed to teach students about language arts in a logical, sequential, and systematic way.  Each feature of the curriculum scaffolds into the next as students learn how to make the connection between grammar, writing, speaking & listening, and reading.  So, have you ever wondered if a lesson could be taught out of order? As a consultant, I’ve heard this question before, and the short answer is: Teach it in sequence. Let me explain.   

Periodically, you may need to locate a specific English Language Arts (ELA) rule or to teach a skill in isolation, and that is fine; however, you must realize that Shurley English follows a distinct scope and sequence.  The scope includes the depth and breadth of ELA skills being taught in a specific grade level and the development of that content across grade levels.  The sequence includes the order in which the ELA skills should be taught within each grade level and across grade levels.

Most ELA skills are taught and practiced in ways that are unique to Shurley English.  The techniques for teaching these English skills have been carefully developed to make sure students understand the entire thought process necessary to learn a new skill.  The curriculum is designed to provide ample practice so that students can master concepts.  

The Question & Answer Flow (Q&A Flow) is a multi-sensory strategy that teaches students how to identify and label the role of each word used in a sentence.  The Q&A Flow must be taught in a succinct, consistent order for abstract language arts concepts to become clear and logical to all learners.  Teachers must follow the oral classification scripts provided in the teacher’s manual with fidelity.

Shurley English writing instruction uses student-friendly writing scaffolds that pave the way for exceptional writing.  Chapter 4 (in most grade levels) teaches students about the traits of effective writing as well as the six steps of the writing process.  Once students learn how to engage in each step of our standard writing process, it is okay to teach any particular purpose for writing out of sequence if the need arises.  In some states, one particular writing genre might require attention earlier in the school year than it is taught in the curriculum. As long as the writing steps have been mastered by your students, just use your best judgment about teaching the genres out of order to fulfill those requirements.

So, let’s get back to the original question of teaching Shurley English out of order.  While some teachers may know the curriculum through and through, it is best to teach Shurley English curriculum in sequence.  That way, you won’t miss any of the phenomenal growth and success your students will have when they learn English the Shurley English way!

Pronunciation Matters: A look at commonly mispronounced words

I’ve had the pleasure of living around the United States- on the East coast, the South, the Midwest, and the West; some people say they can even hear a British English accent when I speak. Hmm?  I grew up with one grandma speaking with a thick Southern accent, the other had a Midwestern accent and called the sofa a “davenport.” I call soft drinks “pop” and gym shoes are “tennis shoes.”  I find it interesting to hear the various words we use around our country and the pronunciations for words we use on a daily basis that are actually incorrect.   So today, let’s have a little fun and step back into the classroom to take a look at some commonly mispronounced words.

almond:  The “L” is always silent! Who knew?  Say, “ah-mund” not “all-mund.” 

bury:  It is pronounced just like berry, not “burr-ri.”

dessert:  If you say, “dizz-urt” you’re correct.  It’s not pronounced “des-ert” like the dry barren land.

 coupon:  The correct pronunciation is “Koo-pon” (pon as in pawn). It is often mispronounced as “koo-pun” (pronunciation of u as in sun).

 cocoa:  It should be pronounced as “koh-koh,” not “koh-koh-wa.”

electoral:  We’ve been saying: e-lek-TOR-al; say: e-LEK-tor-al.

mischievous:  We’ve been saying: miss-CHEE-vee-us; pronounce it: MISS-che-vus.

realtor:  We’ve been saying: REE-la-tur; it’s actually pronounced: REEL-tur.

sherbet:  Do you say: SHER-bert; oops! I do! The true pronunciation is: SHER-bet.

often:  The “T” is silent, although you may still see heated debates surrounding the "T." Often rhymes with coffin. 

ideal: While ideal is not necessarily a commonly mispronounced word, it is a word that has a regional variance in usage. Ideal is NOT conventionally a synonym for idea, though sometimes it is used that way. Here’s how Webster’s Dictionary defines these two words:

            Ideal-an honorable or worthy principle or aim

            Idea-existing as a mental image or in fancy or imagination only

It’s easy to get sucked in to the region we live in and pick-up verbal habits of the people by whom we’re surrounded. So, pay attention to the words you use and their pronunciation as you leave your mark on today’s youth.