Field Notes:
Goals: Expand bare bones
Sentences
*Going on field trip to Bagdad, KY
*Disappointed he cant't do ziplining because the teachers won't let them.
*Talked about why I wrote the previous note :)
*Reviewed complete sentences
*Mentioned his class is learning prepositions.
*Has to memorize first 20 from a list by Monday
*Talked about songs as a memorizing technique
*I sang my high school chemistry elements song, which reminded his of Harry Potter character singing all of the elements--looked up on YouTube
*Direct Instruction for expanding sentences
*Rules: Noun must come before verb
Adjectives modify (fancy word for describe) nouns
Adverbs modify verbs
*Expanded bare bones sentences from last week, his included adjectives and prepositional phrases
*I mentioned sentence 2 has two prepositional phrases, but tell two different things.
*Didn't change any phrases to the beginning.
*Since we had not really discussed conjunctions or interjections, I showed him the two corresponding Schoolhouse Rock videos on YouTube.
*Discussed using conjunctions sparingly so sentences don't get too long and the reader gets lost.
**Follow up on long sentences, work on where to end.
Reflection:
I worked with one of my students on expanding "Bare Bones" sentences. We have discussed the elements of a complete sentence--a noun followed by a verb--and wrote three "Bare Bones" sentences, literally on bone shapes. S/He had just a little trouble getting started, so I wrote one and that got him/her jump started to do two more (The page I used had three bone shapes). The focus of this session was to expand these sentences. We discussed how parts of speech like adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases are not essential to sentences, but make sentences better. I took the Bare Bones sentence I wrote (Miss Angie drove.) and expanded it to read: The stunningly gorgeous Miss Angie drove her lime green Porsche quickly down the street. We worked together to deconstruct what I had written, though not formally "diagramming" it. My student pretty easily identified the parts of speech i added to make my sentence more interesting. I also switched phrases around to read: In her lime green Porsche, the stunningly gorgeous Miss Angie quickly drove down the street. I gave him/her a general rule that if a sentence does not begin with a subject phrase (our reading tutoring calls it the "who phrase"), a comma is needed between each phrase until you reach the subject. S/He seemed to catch on. Then it was his/her turn. Overall, I was pleased with the sentences. S/He achieved the goal of expanding the sentences to be more interesting, but didn't expand them as fully as I think s/he is capable. As I noted in my previous post, I think there is a disconnect between verbal and written expression, which I was prepared for, I just didn't take the time to talk through the expansion first.
We also deconstructed the expanded sentences, noting s/he included two different prepositional phrases. I noticed that s/he didn't really expand much at the beginning of the sentence, only adding an adjective before the subject noun. That's something I'd like to work on in the future--just writing the same sentence different ways. Maybe make it a game--how many ways can you write the same thing? Ha! S/He'll LOOOOOOOVE that (insert eye roll here)!
I worked with one of my students on expanding "Bare Bones" sentences. We have discussed the elements of a complete sentence--a noun followed by a verb--and wrote three "Bare Bones" sentences, literally on bone shapes. S/He had just a little trouble getting started, so I wrote one and that got him/her jump started to do two more (The page I used had three bone shapes). The focus of this session was to expand these sentences. We discussed how parts of speech like adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases are not essential to sentences, but make sentences better. I took the Bare Bones sentence I wrote (Miss Angie drove.) and expanded it to read: The stunningly gorgeous Miss Angie drove her lime green Porsche quickly down the street. We worked together to deconstruct what I had written, though not formally "diagramming" it. My student pretty easily identified the parts of speech i added to make my sentence more interesting. I also switched phrases around to read: In her lime green Porsche, the stunningly gorgeous Miss Angie quickly drove down the street. I gave him/her a general rule that if a sentence does not begin with a subject phrase (our reading tutoring calls it the "who phrase"), a comma is needed between each phrase until you reach the subject. S/He seemed to catch on. Then it was his/her turn. Overall, I was pleased with the sentences. S/He achieved the goal of expanding the sentences to be more interesting, but didn't expand them as fully as I think s/he is capable. As I noted in my previous post, I think there is a disconnect between verbal and written expression, which I was prepared for, I just didn't take the time to talk through the expansion first.
We also deconstructed the expanded sentences, noting s/he included two different prepositional phrases. I noticed that s/he didn't really expand much at the beginning of the sentence, only adding an adjective before the subject noun. That's something I'd like to work on in the future--just writing the same sentence different ways. Maybe make it a game--how many ways can you write the same thing? Ha! S/He'll LOOOOOOOVE that (insert eye roll here)!
I think today exemplified what we have been learning about and recently treating in our office--students' memory difficulties. Some dyslexic students have excellent visual memory. It's why so many "fly under the radar" for so many years; they can quickly and easily memorize words. They just have no idea how to break down words they don't know. Other students have terrible memory. One little guy we saw over the summer couldn't tell you what he had for breakfast that same day. Often I ask how a student's day was and they'll respond, "Good." I ask what they did and they have no idea, can't even name one thing.
That's why I spent a lot of time talking about memory devices today. Anytime a dyslexic must memorize a seemingly arbitrary list of items, he or she is essentially set up for failure. Memory tricks help. That's why I've been using pneumonic devices like IVAN CAPP. We've talked about what a pneumonic device is--of course they all look at me like I have 5 heads when I say "pneumonic device." Once I show them the popular ROY G. BIV, they can usually name others they've heard.
Songs are another great memory trick. Hopefully this student will be able to put the list of prepositions to some kind of tune. The alphabet song is why most of our students can even tell us the letters of the alphabet and even then, if they get stuck, they have to start all over to pick back up. Songs are also why I showed this student the SchoolHouse Rock videos. What haven't I learned from SchoolHouse Rock? To this day, I can still sing the preamble to the Constitution. I think it brought conjunctions and interjections into a relatable level, since we had not really talked in depth about them. My student had never seen these videos and, while they are a little young for him/her, I think they got the point across and dare I say were enjoyed. I was also careful to note use conjunctions to combine sentences sparingly. If you've used "and" more twice in one sentences, it's too long and needs to be broken up.
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