Revision Activity: Breathing new life into students' sentences

One of my favorite things to do is to play with words. I love to figure out how to turn a phrase in just the right way to make my meaning clear. That’s my goal for all students so that they can master the language and control it. Being able to manipulate language to fulfill your own purposes for communication is, in my opinion, an endeavor worth pursuing.

One of the features of Shurley English that I enjoy dabbling with is the Mover and Shaker Sentence. It is the off ramp from the Sentence Blueprints I have discussed in an earlier post. This kind of skill practice can help a student writer take the next important step toward highly refined revision skills. If you can convince a student writer to explore word and phrase arrangements to maximize their impact on a sentence, you have truly helped to elevate their writing. Here’s an example from our text that will show you a basic Mover and Shaker maneuver that you can have student writers begin practicing immediately.

To get started, guide your students through a Sentence Blueprint to construct a good focus sentence. After that, be sure to have them go through the revision process initially to make sure they have chosen the most effective words to express their thoughts. Then, try a Mover and Shaker strategy like the one in this example. Notice, we have done a little finagling with the verb. (In Shurley English, we teach students early and often about verb forms, so it will be a walk in the park for them to understand a verb form change from the past tense to the progressive tense. We also teach students how to manage affixes with expertise, so in the case of the verb tromped from our example, we drop the –ed past tense ending and replace it with the progressive tense –ing suffix.) Next, we take everything after the verb and, along with the new verb form tromping, we move it to the front of the sentence. Now, all that’s left is to come up with a new past tense verb to replace tromped from the original sentence. In this case, the verb bellowed serves up a great visual. Can’t you just picture it?

When your students have demonstrated their knowledge of basic revision skills and you want them to breathe new life into their sentences, why not try a Mover and Shaker strategy? It’s like word to word resuscitation! Until next time…

Effective Strategies for Building Vocabulary

A broad, diverse vocabulary is essential to good writing, and that’s a fact!  Since vocabulary directly affects Word Choice and Voice, two of the Traits of Effective Writing, meaningful vocabulary instruction is absolutely imperative.  As you decide how to approach vocabulary instruction in your classroom, look for effective strategies that will help students:  (a) understand and learn new words, (b) make sense of new vocabulary by incorporating it into what they already know, and (c) remember the meanings of words when they are encountered at a later date or in new material. 

Here are some effective strategies to build vocabulary:

 1. Synonyms and Antonyms: A great place to start building vocabulary is with synonyms and antonyms of words students know.  Synonyms and antonyms can help you write by giving you choices for saying things in more interesting ways. 

2. Read, read, read!: Books, magazines, and newspapers contain more words that you will ever use or hear in a conversation or on television.  Reading teaches new vocabulary, so spend time reading!

3. Context Clues: As you come across a word you don’t know when you are reading, try using the other words in the sentence to figure it out. 

• Study the sentences before and after the sentence that contains the word you don’t know.
• Search for clues to identify the new word’s part of speech.
• See if a synonym or antonym is given.

4. Vocabulary Notebooks: One way to increase your vocabulary is to keep a list of words you know and add new words as you learn them.  Increase your knowledge by including the word’s definition and also write a sentence using the word.

5. Use the Thesaurus: The thesaurus is a book of words and their synonyms.  It’s a book that can help you find the best way to say something by giving you those synonyms as other options or word choices.  The thesaurus also includes antonym word choices.

6. Use a Dictionary: A dictionary helps you understand the meaning of a word.  It also teaches:

• Spelling
• Capital Letters
• Syllable Division
• Accent Marks
• Pronunciation
• Part of Speech
• Etymology
• Synonyms and Antonyms

7. Study Word Parts and Forms: You can figure out the meanings of new words by learning about prefixes, suffixes, and roots.  Study them so you can commit them to memory.  Also, look for other word forms of words you already know.

Students need a strong command of different vocabulary words so that they can express themselves using just the right words.  The more words they have in the “word-bank,” the richer their communications with others will be!  Invest in your student’s vocabulary today!

Key Skills for ELA Success

Words, Words, Words…what are they all for?  I’d like to invite you to reflect on your early learning years as a young child and remember what it might have been like before you knew about sentences, paragraphs, or reports.  If you find this to be challenging, then catch a glimpse of very young children (PreK or younger) and consider how they communicate.  You will probably notice that words are the primary means for communication.  A broad vocabulary is essential to good writing and will directly affect a student’s word choice and voice in their writing.

Learning new vocabulary words, understanding analogies, delving into a word’s etymology, making vocabulary cards & notebooks, taking the time to do vocabulary enrichment, mastering spelling rules, and playing with Power Words are all strategies within the Shurley English curriculum that assist your students in building and expanding their “word bank” in order to begin to own their language.  Owning one's language opens the door to fully understanding how words work together in sentences, how sentences are organized and developed into paragraphs, and how being able to write for all purposes sets you up to connect with the world differently.

The path to ultimately owning one’s language is making sure you as the teacher provide your students the knowledge, skill, and practice in these key skill areas:

• Alphabet
• Phonics
• Rhyming Words
• Spelling
• Reference Skills
• Figurative Lanugae
• Sound Devices
• Word Study: syllabication, etymology, analogies, synonyms/antonyms
• Comprehension: context clues, inferences, drawing conclusions

Set your students up for success by giving them the opportunity to own their language and become confident, competent communicators.