K-2 Editing Training

With the upcoming changes to the ELAR STAAR test, I began thinking about what I could do to help my school be better prepared. I spent a great deal of time looking at the revising and editing question examples provided by TEA. By the time I finished, I felt like any teacher who had prepared students for the former writing STAAR test would have a head start. I also felt like they would probably tell the other grade levels that the task would be so much more manageable if all grade levels spent some time really getting students ready ahead of time. This means that K-2 are going to really need to step up their game in this area since revising and editing will begin in third grade. 

I thought about my K-2 friends and how I could help them prepare their students. Ultimately, I felt like it could be really overwhelming to throw revising and editing at them together. So, I chose to begin with editing. My hope is to follow this up with revision training next year.  

My next thought was that a lot of problems could be headed off if everyone sat down and really talked about what the standards mean, how the district wanted to define things, how the district wanted to address some of the less specific TEKS, and to find a way that everyone could agree on to really teach and review the concepts in a way that was realistic and sustainable. 

I did not want these trainings to be whole group because that just means someone ends up wasting time listening to things that do not apply to them. I also feel like a large group can make everyone feel less open to say what they actually think. So, I designed one training for each grade level. Another plus would be that if someone left the district in the future, one could easily pull up this short training for a replacement. 

Materials Needed:

Notebook Paper–at least one piece per person

A variety of colored pens/pencils

The District Editing Alignment Agreement–Admin or the person presenting the training needs to record decisions made by the group onto this master document. Clicking the link will give you a copy you can edit on your own. All I ask is that you leave credit for the original document to my blog. It would be a good idea to revisit this document as a whole group perhaps at the end of the semester and certainly at the end of the year to make any updates that your district needs. 

Training slides for each grade level—I am happy for you to modify these to make them pretty (I am not capable) or adapt them to fit your needs. I only ask that you give credit for the original document to my blog. 

Kindergarten Training–Make your own editable copy

Preview, including presenter notes

editing-across-grade-levels-kindergarten-4Download

First Grade Training–Make your own editable copy

Preview, including presenter notes

editing-across-grade-levels-first-grade-1Download

Second Grade Training–Make your own editable copy

Preview, including presenter notes

editing-across-grade-levels-second-grade-1Download

*Optional*

I made some guides to help teachers if they want to create their own model sentences to edit. This cuts down on some of the thinking involved because it lines out the order to teach things, when and what to review, and even whether the model sentence should be correct or incorrect.

I am in the process of writing model sentences that I will upload for free on the blog when they are completed, but I really feel like it is better if teachers write their own.  Teachers know what their students are interested in, and I think it helps if the sentences are geared towards a specific audience. 

Kinder Guide

First Grade Guide

Second Grade Guide

Let me know if you find any of this helpful. I am planning on a 3-5 series, but I am afraid the end of summer is sneaking up on me!

Singular and Plural Nouns

If you read my post on common and proper nouns, you know I do not spend days having students identify common versus proper nouns. I do not personally find it super necessary. Do I want them to remember how to capitalize names? Yes. Do I think they should be able to identify a NOUN? Yes. Common versus proper? Eh.

Now, I have a totally different opinion on singular versus plural. I DO spend some time on this. Identifying singular versus plural is important for subject/verb agreement as well as apostrophe rules. I talk about this one. A LOT. However, I do not find it helpful to spend a week or two with worksheets where students mark if a noun is singular or plural. Instead, I find it is much more useful to simply, once or twice a week, look at a sentence in bell work and focus on the types of nouns in the sentence. Teach once, review FOREVER!

Writing Objective: We can identify singular and plural  nouns.

Proof: We can prove we met our objective by completing the invitation centers. 

Materials:

Lesson video if desired

Task Cards (just pages 51-71)

Vocabulary:

noHun

Singular  noun

Plural  noun

Questions:

Lesson:

Review noun, common and proper. Have you ever heard a little kid say something that just sounded funny? Maybe something like, ¨The mens run.¨ This is because they are still learning about singular and plural forms. Introduce singular/plural nouns using the anchor chart (which you can see on the lesson videos). Talk about the difference between the regular singular/plural pattern and irregular plurals. Explain that it is important to distinguish between singular and plural for sentence agreement and for apostrophes, which we will learn about soon. You can play a lot of games with the task cards, but I usually just show them on the board and ask the kids to stand up if there is a plural.

If I have time, I ask students to call out some different nouns and we all stand up if the form is plural. We also can go back through and talk about irregular and regular.

VCE Syllables

TEKS:

4.2Bi spelling multisyllabic words with closed syllables; open syllables; VCe syllables; vowel teams, including digraphs and diphthongs; r-controlled syllables; and final stable syllables;

Time: The first six weeks, I have a 45 minute WIN time. I have each of my three rotations for two weeks. I use this time to train my students to do spelling centers. This way, my kids know how to do them on their own by the second six weeks. All of the centers combined usually take a full week. I give them cursive review pages as well during this time.

Lesson objective: We can identify and spell words with the VCE syllable type.

Proof: (Evaluation)  We can prove we met our objective by explaining how to identify and spell words with VCE syllables to a partner.

Vocabulary:

Syllables, VCE syllables

Materials:

VCE syllable lesson video— You can show the video in a center or teach a mini-lesson yourself.  

Quizlet Test

Discussion Questions:

How do you tell if a syllable is using the VCE pattern? How does this help you with reading? How can it help you with spelling?

Centers:

Review the definition of syllables before students begin. Review closed and open syllables. Students watch the video in centers and explain what they learned to at least one other person.

Since I have some extra time this week, I love to ask students if they have heard of the magic E rule from the video before. I love to then use the info graphic from the All About Learning blog to lead a discussion abut this ¨rule.¨ I explain that often teachers (including myself) use the term rule when we should say pattern, mostly because it was the term we learned growing up. I challenge the students to catch me saying rule instead of pattern. If they do, I give the class a small reward.

Then, students use what they learned to pass a test on Quizlet. I let my kids play the games during the week in centers and let them test when ready. They test online and show me the results. I don’t give grades on these tests. I just give a reward when they pass it. I also let them try as much as they like.

Tricky Proper Nouns–Professions

Have you ever accidentally made up a great lesson on the way to work because you forgot to run off some papers? That is how this lesson came about, and I have used it in a pinch for a lot of different language skills.

TEKS: singular, plural, common, and proper nouns; [11 D, iii]

Lesson Objective: We know when to capitalize professions.

Proof: We can prove we met our objective by at least four points for our team.

Materials:

Lesson Video (if desired)

Dry eraser markers and mini-white boards or notebook paper/pencils

Vocabulary:

common noun

proper noun

professions

Lesson:

You can either do a similar lesson to the video with the whole group, or you can have the students watch the video and give you a summary before beginning the game. Then, divide the class into groups to play the game. I personally try to avoid groups of more than three because I have found larger groups just mean more people sit and do not participate. I prefer partners above all. Give the groups dry erase markers and white boards.

Next ask students to call out professions they heard in the video. Brainstorm other professions that may also sometimes need a capital. List each one on a note card or small piece of paper. Explain the rules to the game. I will draw one profession name out of the pile. I will then flip a coin. Heads means capitalize. Tails means lower case. Groups must then write a sentence using the profession and either capitalize the profession or not. Groups who write correct sentences get a point.

Open Syllables

TEKS:

4.2Bi spelling multisyllabic words with closed syllables; open syllables; VCe syllables; vowel teams, including digraphs and diphthongs; r-controlled syllables; and final stable syllables;

Time: The first six weeks, I have a 45 minute WIN time. I have each of my three rotations for two weeks. I use this time to train my students to do spelling centers. This way, my kids know how to do them on their own by the second six weeks. All of the centers combined usually take a full week. I give them cursive review pages as well during this time.

Lesson objective: We can identify and spell words with open syllables.

Proof: (Evaluation)  We can prove we met our objective by explaining how to identify and spell words with open syllables to a partner.

Vocabulary:

Syllables, open syllables

Materials:

Open Syllable Video— You can show the video in a center or teach a mini-lesson yourself.  

Quizlet Test

Discussion Questions:

How do you tell if a syllable is open? How does this help you with reading? How can it help you with spelling?

Centers:

Review the definition of syllables before students begin. Review closed syllables. Students watch the video in centers and explain what they learned to at least one other person. Then, students use what they learned to pass a test on Quizlet. I let my kids play the games during the week and let them test when ready. I don’t give grades on these tests. I just give a reward when they pass it.



If you are looking for something extra, here is a great, free game on TPT.





Teaching Revision

Once students have learned the steps to pre-writing, i begin asking them almost daily to tell me the steps to prewriting using our anchor chart. I do the same with steps to editing and revision. We say them when we are lining up and often when they enter as well. By the end of the year, I am pretty sure the at the very least know the parts of the writing cycle!

TEKS: revise drafts to improve sentence structure and word choice by adding, deleting, combining, and rearranging ideas for coherence and clarity;[11C]

Lesson Objective:

We can name the four parts of revision.

Proof:

We can prove we met our objective by saying the parts as a ticket out.

Materials:

Anchor chart

Optional Video Lesson

Optional checklist for future use if you want. You can download it for free.

copy-of-revision-checklist-texas-teks-4th-grade-2020-1Download

Vocabulary:

Revision

Add

Remove

Move

Substitute

Questions:

What is revision?  How is it different from editing?  Why would it be important? When should you revise?  What might happen if you don’t?

Lesson:

Use questions above to discuss and explain the parts of the revision anchor chart.  Chant the parts and make the motions to each part. Students must say the parts before leaving today.  Tell them that this week we will work on revising some essays together. Have students say the parts of revision as part of our clean up routine. 

Capitalizing Family Names

This topic is one of those topics that so many adults have difficulty grasping. While there is not a specific TEKS that describes this lesson in fourth grade, it is one that I have seen come up often in student writing and in STAAR material.

Students are required to know when to capitalize names, but there is nowhere that I’ve seen at any grade level that specifically addresses this issue (or earth/sun for that matter). I am sure the reasoning behind this is that students will learn to use critical thinking skills to analyze proper nouns and figure out what to do with them. The problem with that, in my opinion, is there are some proper noun instances that everyone struggles with, which is why I teach them specifically.

Writing Objective:  We known when to capitalize family nicknames. 

Proof:  We can prove we met our objective by making a 70 or higher on a practice. 

Vocabulary:

common and proper nouns

family nicknames

Materials:

Lesson Video

Quizziz Practice–either printed out or online

Lesson—

Students watch the lesson video on their own and tell me a summary of the rule. After that, they can do the Quizizz practice on their own. My kids love using Quizizz. I usually let them do the practice a few times on their own until everyone finishes. Then, we play team games if we have time. If you haven’t tried a Quizziz team game with your class, it is similar to Kahoot but without the speed requirement. Again, I don’t spend a lot of time making students master this today because I know it will be reinforced time and again with the bell work.

Tricky Proper Nouns–Earth/Sun/Seasons

Students probably have a basic knowledge of when to capitalize names (proper nouns), but some proper nouns are confusing for all of us. After talking about proper nouns in general, I begin teaching them some that are more difficult and require more discussion. I start with when to capitalize earth and sun and what to do about seasons.

TEKS: singular, plural, common, and proper nouns; [11 D, iii]

Lesson objective(s):

We know when to capitalize earth/sun and the seasons. 

Proof:  We can prove we met our objective by making a 70 or above on a practice. 

Materials:

Sun/Earth Video Lesson

Seasons Video Lesson

capitalize-earth_sun-seasons-practiceDownload

Vocabulary:

earth

sun

seasons

common noun

proper noun

Mini-Lesson:

I use the videos linked above and ask students to watch the lesson videos and then explain the rules to me once they finish. If they need to watch them again, they may. Once they finish, they can work on the short practices over each one. I really like them to work with a partner if someone is finished in time because the conversations really are what helps them grasp these rules. There is something about having conversations about our thinking that really make these rules stick. We review these skills with our bell work weekly all year long, so if a student doesn’t master this right away, I don’t stress about it. I either go over the correct answers with groups as they finish or as an entire class. We talk about which ones were easy and which were difficult to decide.

Using Video Lessons

One thing I learned from teaching both remotely and in-person at the same time was the power of video lessons. Although I have used video lessons frequently over the years in social studies, my use of them in ELAR was pretty slim. That all changed last year. Honestly, it happened on accident.

One day early on in the year, I was frankly just feeling exhausted during the last rotation of the day. I just didn’t have it in me to teach the writing mini-lesson again. So, I asked the class to watch the lesson I had recorded for my remote students and then tell me what they learned. I didn’t ask them to take notes or write anything down because we had other things to do that day. I expected it to go pretty quickly because the lesson was over something relatively easy. I am not 100 percent sure of the topic that day, but it was perhaps common and proper nouns.

The quick lesson turned into the majority of my writing time that afternoon, but it was well worth it. We all know that students zone out and get distracted. Holy Wow. I did not know how much. The lesson video was perhaps 3 minutes long over a concept that wasn’t new to fourth grade. Many of the students couldn’t tell me one single thing from the video. So, I told them to watch it again and raise their hand when they could tell me about it.

Some students took notes. Some students watched the video five or six times. In the end, everyone really, knew what the lesson was about. Everyone.

I used this strategy for the rest of the year on almost every new grammar/punctuation/capitalization concept. I don’t feel this would be useful in most other forms of writing mini-lesson because it is so important to model the thinking-writing process when teaching the writing genres or writing traits. However, I am telling you, it worked miracles with the more rule-based concepts.

Not only did it help them truly learn so many editing-based rules, it also improved their listening skills by leaps and bounds. By mid-year, most students could watch the lesson video just once.

If you have the technology available, I highly recommend giving this method a chance.

Common and Proper Nouns

I don’t get too hung up on whether or not students know the names of all the parts of speech unless I really think it is necessary for future understanding. I DO think it is necessary for students to understand what a noun is because it often really helps them understand what a sentence really is as sentences become more complex. I do not give students tests that require them to differentiate between common and proper nouns. I do like to introduce the concept, however, because it is one of the TEKS. This is one of those things I go over pretty quickly and then generally refer to proper nouns as often as possible in conversations from then on. I have found over the years that simply modeling the terminology and then encouraging students to use the proper terms during discussion goes a lot farther than vocabulary tests and worksheets. Not only that, but you don’t have time for the worksheets anyway!

The following lesson plan should be a review from previous grades, but fourth graders are little still. No matter how great their teacher was before, there is a good chance this still needs taught.

TEKS: singular, plural, common, and proper nouns; [ 11Diii]

capitalization of historical periods, events, and documents; titles of books; stories and essays; and languages, races, and nationalities; [11D ix]

Writing Objective:  We can identify common and proper nouns.

Proof:  We can prove we met  our objective by working on task cards together as a class.

Materials:

noun-task-cardsDownload

Vocabulary:

noun

common noun

proper noun

Questions:

How can you identify which nouns?  What will be your proof? How can you identify which nouns are common and proper?  How can you prove it? Why will it be important?

Lesson:

First, I ask students to watch the lesson video on their own. Then, I ask them to tell me a summary of what they learned. If they don’t know, they must watch it again until they do. You can learn more about that process in this post. When they finish, I send them to work on their workshop goals until everyone finishes. Since this is the first time I ask them to do this, it sometimes takes awhile, maybe 20 minutes.

Then, I display the task cards on the overhead. We work through the cards together.

Level One–These cards will focus on identifying nouns in general.  Students will be asked to prove the noun by putting an article in front of it. I ask the students to stand up if the word is a noun, stay seated if it isn’t. We then talk about how they knew it was a noun or not.

Level Two–These cards will focus on the difference between common/proper nouns.  Students will be asked to prove the proper noun by saying the specific dog, Ryan. These cards will cover capitalization rules of historical documents, events, people, etc. We do stand up/sit down again with these cards and discuss their reasoning.

Level Three–These cards will focus on tricky nouns that can be both common and proper–familial names–mom, dad, aunt, uncle, etc. I do NOT use these today, but if you wanted to save them for future small group lessons, I included them.