In every class, in every subject, throughout their education, students will be required to respond to a prompt or question, especially on tests. They will need to support their answer/position/opinion/idea with details from a text. In sixth grade Reading Workshop, we will spend a lot of time learning how to write a detailed reply that will make sense and score well.
The first prompt focused on the book I am reading aloud, Swear to Howdy.
The questions were:
1. Why did Joey befriend Rusty when he first moved next door?
2. How would your response to a new neighbor be different?
We discussed the need to rewrite the question as a topic sentence. Also, we talked about how a two part question should be a minimum of two paragraphs. Supporting details from the book, and from personal experiences are needed to support the answer.
Below is an essay turned in by James E. that serves as a good example for a beginning sixth grader.
Rusty and Joey became best friends because they were a lot alike. I think they were friends the first day they met because Rusty liked playing with Joey. Rusty thought Joey was playful and adventurous. Joey liked taking Rusty places like fishing and he likes that. Rusty liked having someone to play with.
My response to a new neighbor would be that I might not like him and would not play with him. The new neighbor might not want to do anything I do. I might want to go outside he wouldn't.
Another response to a new neighbor might be that the neighbor and I would like to play together. We might like playing outside with each other. We could ride bikes down the road and have fun. We would play in the woods and become good friends.
James does a good job of turning the questions into topic sentences for each paragraph. He explained his answers by providing details so the reader can understand his points. He might have improved by just picking the one difference and expanding on that, but he does a good job of supporting both parts of the second answer.
Showing posts with label Writing Responses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writing Responses. Show all posts
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Reading Workshop Notes
1/21/09 Correct Commenting
Thanks to Sister Salad,
1. Use correct punctuation
2. Capitalize proper nouns
3. Don't write run-on sentences (put in periods)
4. Spell correctly
5. Use apostrophes only when you need them
6. Write so people can understand
7. Turn off Caps lock
8. Don't use letters to abbreviate words
9. Use correct grammar
10. Choose correct homophone
11. Don't use foul or insulting language
12. Be respectful
13. Make sense, write something worthwhile
_________________________________________________________________
12/8/08 Pronouns
Beware of the evil pronouns. Destroy the evil comprehension confusers. Do not say, “it, she, he, they, we, us, etc. in each paragraph without first telling whom you are talking.
Wrong—It belonged to them.
Right—The treasure belonged to the evil pirate crew.
11/18/08 Predicting is Like Being a Detective
1. Look for clues.
2. Make a guess.
3. Prove it right or wrong.
4. Repeat
_________________________________________________________________
11/17/08 Making Predictions
Effective readers use pictures, titles, headings, and text—as well as personal experiences—to make predictions before they begin to read. They think ahead while reading and anticipate what will happen in the text. After making predictions, they read the text, decide if they were right or not, and revise, making new predictions.
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
1. W's
2. Main Points
3. Ideas that relate to the gist
What is Not
1. Supporting Details
2. Examples
3. Interesting Stories or Opinions
4. Most Adverbs and Adjectives
But remember anything that helps you understand what you are reading is ALWAYS IMPORTANT!
_________________________________________________________________
10/10/08 Parts of Speech and Reading
Adverbs
Reading—Cut it out to simplify
Writing—Add to tell how
Adjectives
Reading—Cut it out to make easier to read
Writing—Add to tell what kind
Pronouns
Reading—Change to proper to be more exact
Writing—Change to give the reader variety
_________________________________________________________________
10/8/08 Highlighting
10/7/08 Is or Are, Was or Were
Use is/was for one
Use are/were for two or more
Jill is going home.
Jill and Dave are going home.
He was going home.
They were going home.
__________________________________________________________________
10/6/08 Adding a Suffix to a one syllable word with a short vowel
Double the consonant
run—running
wrap—wrapper
pit—pitted
9/30/08 A & An
To revise your content, read an essay aloud. Have the listener alert you at any time when your writing does not make sense, or they have a question. Highlight that part, and after you are finished, go back and rewrite. Then read aloud again. Repeat the process until your essay is easy to understand.
9/23/08 Spelling when adding ed & ing
09/18/08 Spelling with Y
Cry—cries Carry—carries
09/17/08 For More Details, Ask Yourself
9/16/08 Thoughts and Feelings in Writing
∆
Thoughts and Feelings
9/3/08 Letter Writing
8/29/08 Writing to a Prompt
8/28/08 Notes Format
Thanks to Sister Salad,
1. Use correct punctuation
2. Capitalize proper nouns
3. Don't write run-on sentences (put in periods)
4. Spell correctly
5. Use apostrophes only when you need them
6. Write so people can understand
7. Turn off Caps lock
8. Don't use letters to abbreviate words
9. Use correct grammar
10. Choose correct homophone
11. Don't use foul or insulting language
12. Be respectful
13. Make sense, write something worthwhile
_________________________________________________________________
12/8/08 Pronouns
Beware of the evil pronouns. Destroy the evil comprehension confusers. Do not say, “it, she, he, they, we, us, etc. in each paragraph without first telling whom you are talking.
Wrong—It belonged to them.
Right—The treasure belonged to the evil pirate crew.
_________________________________________________________________
11/18/08 Predicting is Like Being a Detective
1. Look for clues.
2. Make a guess.
3. Prove it right or wrong.
4. Repeat
_________________________________________________________________
11/17/08 Making Predictions
Effective readers use pictures, titles, headings, and text—as well as personal experiences—to make predictions before they begin to read. They think ahead while reading and anticipate what will happen in the text. After making predictions, they read the text, decide if they were right or not, and revise, making new predictions.
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
10/23/08 When Reading Nonfiction What is Important & What is Not
What is Important1. W's
2. Main Points
3. Ideas that relate to the gist
What is Not
1. Supporting Details
2. Examples
3. Interesting Stories or Opinions
4. Most Adverbs and Adjectives
But remember anything that helps you understand what you are reading is ALWAYS IMPORTANT!
_________________________________________________________________
10/21/08 Reading Rate
The pace of your reading should match your purpose. When reading for information, you must slow down and search for the W's and important details.
_________________________________________________________________10/10/08 Parts of Speech and Reading
Adverbs
Reading—Cut it out to simplify
Writing—Add to tell how
Adjectives
Reading—Cut it out to make easier to read
Writing—Add to tell what kind
Pronouns
Reading—Change to proper to be more exact
Writing—Change to give the reader variety
_________________________________________________________________
10/9/08 Reading Nonfiction
- Skim
- Read & Highlight
- List W’s
- List facts
- Write a topic sentence/Gist Statement
10/8/08 Highlighting
- Look closely at the first and last sentence in each paragraph
- HL the W's
- HL only necessary words or phrases
- Don't HL more than ½ of each paragraph
- Don't get thrown off by interesting details or opinions
10/7/08 Is or Are, Was or Were
Use is/was for one
Use are/were for two or more
Jill is going home.
Jill and Dave are going home.
He was going home.
They were going home.
__________________________________________________________________
10/6/08 Adding a Suffix to a one syllable word with a short vowel
Double the consonant
run—running
wrap—wrapper
pit—pitted
__________________________________________________________________
9/30/08 A & An
Use A before a consonant
Use an before a vowel
A car went by.
An apple fell off the tree.
__________________________________________________________________9/24/08 Reading Aloud to Revise
To revise your content, read an essay aloud. Have the listener alert you at any time when your writing does not make sense, or they have a question. Highlight that part, and after you are finished, go back and rewrite. Then read aloud again. Repeat the process until your essay is easy to understand.
__________________________________________________________________
9/23/08 Spelling when adding ed & ing
Double the consonant with a short vowel: slip—slipped
Don't double with a long vowel: pile—piled
Drop the e and add ing write—writing
__________________________________________________________________09/18/08 Spelling with Y
For plural with a word ending in “Y” change the "y" to "i" and add es.
Cry—cries Carry—carries
_____________________________________________________________________
09/17/08 For More Details, Ask Yourself
1. What kind?
2. Whose?
3. When?
4. Where?
5. Why?
6. How?
_____________________________________________________________________
9/16/08 Thoughts and Feelings in Writing
Teetor-totter
Stuff
∆
Thoughts and Feelings
To write well, thoughts and feelings must carry more weight in your writing.
__________________________________________________________________
9/4/08 Capitalize
1. first word in a sentence
2. proper nouns—names of people, places, and things
3. first letter of words in a title
4. I
_____________________________________________________________________
9/3/08 Letter Writing
1st Paragraph—set the tone
2nd Paragraph—info, facts,
3rd Paragraph—closing, request, message, etc.
_____________________________________________________________________
8/29/08 Writing to a Prompt
When responding to a prompt, you should address the question or topic, and then give facts, reasons, and/or details to support your position or answer.
_____________________________________________________________________
8/28/08 Notes Format
Notes should be dated in the left margin. At the end of the notes, draw a line across the page. The next day, notes go under the line. _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Labels:
Notes,
Reading Workshop,
Writing Responses
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)