Interactive Writing | EL Education Curriculum

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Daily Learning Targets

  • Opening A: I can read, identify the syllable type, and spell words with the spelling patterns “ee,” “ea,” and “y.” (RF.2.3, L2.2)
    • I can explain that vowel team spellings in one-syllable words usually have long vowel sounds.
    • I can apply generalizations for decoding words with common vowel teams.
    • I can decode a two-syllable word that contains a vowel team (two vowels that make a long vowel sound).
    • I can decode two-syllable words with vowel pattern “y” as /ē/.
    • I can identify spelling patterns based on syllable type.
  • Work Time A: I can write a sentence using words with the spelling patterns “ee,” “ea,” and “y.” (L.2.2d)
    • I can identify spelling patterns based on syllable type.

Ongoing Assessment

  • Observe students sharing the pen (or following along) during Work Time A. Determine whether they can write the given sentence, following basic concepts of print such as directionality and spacing.
  • Observe students during Work Time A. Determine whether they can identify and apply spelling patterns based on syllable types of /ē/ words spelled with “ee,” “ea,” and “y.”
  • Exit ticket (see Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher).

Agenda

Agenda

1. Opening (3–5 minutes)

A. Words Rule Review: /ē/ Words Spelled with “ee,” “ea,” and “y”: “need,” “squeeze,” “peach,” “dream,” “party,” “happy”

2. Work Time (10 minutes)

A. Interactive Writing: Writing a Silly Sentence with “ee,” “ea,” and “y”

3. Closing and Assessment (2 minutes)

A. Reflecting on Learning

4. Differentiated Small Group Instruction (40-45 minutes)

In Advance

  • Prepare possible silly sentence examples (students may also generate their own; optional): "I seem to have a sweet peach candy between my cheek and teeth." "Sheep and baby deer eat wheat near the beach every spring."
  • Copy and cut apart Words Rule Word Cards for Work Time A (one set to display; one set per pair).
  • Gather materials for differentiated small group instruction (see Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher).

Vocabulary

Key: Lesson-Specific Vocabulary (L); Text-Specific Vocabulary (T)

  • interact, interactive, proficient, pattern (L)

Materials

  • Words Rule Word Cards (one set to display; one set per pair)
  • Whiteboards or sheet protectors with white cardboard inside (one per student or pair)
  • Whiteboard markers (one per student)
  • Whiteboard erasers (or tissues, socks, etc.; one per student)

Opening

OpeningMeeting Students' Needs

A. Words Rule Review: /ē/ Words Spelled with “ee,” “ea,” and “y”: “need,” “squeeze,” “peach,” “dream,” “party,” “happy”

  • (Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of “The Muffin Man”):

Teacher: “Can you take a closer look, a closer look, a closer look? Can you take a closer look at these words today?”

Students: “Yes, we’ll take a closer look, a closer look, a closer look. Yes, we’ll take a closer look to group the words today.”

  • Begin the Word Rules Review instructional practice:

1. Teacher displays Word Rules Word Cards on the board and reads them aloud (“ee,” “ea,” and “y” (/ē/) words in random order: “need,” “squeeze,” “peach,” “dream,” “party,” “happy”).

2. Teacher says: “Talk to an elbow partner about the rule we have learned about these /ē/ words.” (In “ee” and “ea” words, the vowel sound is in the middle of the syllable and followed by a consonant sound; in “y” words, it is at the end of the word.)

3. Teacher says: “Right! So we can say that ‘ee’ and ‘ea’ are spelling the /ē/ sound in the middle of a syllable, followed by a consonant sound. And ‘y’ is spelling the /ē/ sound at the end of the word.”

4. Teacher says: “Now you will partner up and practice more /ē/ words that are spelled with ‘ee,’ ‘ea,’ or ‘y,’ remembering that when we identify whether or not it is in between consonants, we have a clue as to how it is spelled. Each partner will take a turn reading the words then writing the words he or she hears.”

5. Teacher distributes Word Rules Word Cards and whiteboards, whiteboard markers, and whiteboard erasers to paired students.

6. Students divide Word Rules Word Cards equally with a partner and take turns reading “ee,” “ea,” and “y” words:

      • Student A reads word.
      • Student B identifies each word as “ee,” “ea,” and “y” based on whether or not the long “e” sound is followed by a consonant and writes the word on his or her whiteboard.
      • Student B reads all words written.
      • Students switch roles.

  • Note that there is no generalization applicable to spelling with "ee" versus "ea" in English. Guide students with support to become familiar with these words to know which spelling pattern is accurate.
  • Consider providing support as students make connections between spelling patterns and syllable types with sentence frames. Example:
    • "I notice words ending with 'y' are _____ syllable words."

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Interactive Writing: Writing a Silly Sentence with “ee,” “ea,” and “y” Words

  • (Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of “The Muffin Man”):

Teacher: “Do you know the words we’ll write, the words we’ll write, the words we’ll write? Do you know the words we’ll write on our boards today?”

Students: “Yes, we know the words we’ll write, the words we’ll write, the words we’ll write. Yes, we know the words we’ll write on our boards today!”

  • Begin the Interactive Writing instructional practice:

1. Teacher says: “Today we will use the words we know to make a silly sentence. We will use the words with the ‘ee,’ ‘ea,’ and ‘y’ patterns. Let’s think of words we can use!”

2. Teacher asks:

“Who can think of a word with an ‘ee,’ ‘ea,’ and ‘y’ pattern?” (Answers will vary.)

3. Teacher records the suggested word on the T-chart (refer to Teaching Notes) in the appropriate column and repeats the word.

4. Teacher says: “Yes, _____ fits the pattern!”

5. Teacher asks:

“What do you notice about the word? Why did I put it in this column?” (it has the “ee,” “ea,” and “y” pattern)

6. Teacher says: “Great job! Now it’s time to use your whiteboards to record the words with me.”

7. Students draw the same T-chart on their own whiteboards.

8. Teacher says: “After we make our list, we will write a silly sentence together. The sentence has to have at least one ‘ee,’ one ‘ea,’ and one ‘y’ word in it. If we want our sentence to be really silly, we want to have lots of words to choose from. So, we are going to work together to think of as many ‘ee,’ ‘ea,’ and ‘y’ words as we can. You will think of as many ‘ee,’ ‘ea,’ and ‘y’ words as you can and write them on your whiteboard in the correct column.”

9. Students write words individually or in pairs for 1–2 minutes.

10. Volunteers share out words from their list, specifying which column the word should go under in the T-chart. If a student identifies the incorrect column (incorrectly spells the word),teacher guides student to correct the mistake. Example:

      • If a student spelled “heat” as “heet,” teacher says: “Great word! You remembered that when the /ē/ sound is in the middle of the syllable, it is spelled with one of the vowel teams. In this word, it is actually spelled with the other /ē/ team we are learning. So how would you spell this word?” (“heat”)

11. Student(s) correct on their whiteboard(s).

12. Teacher adds the students’ words to the T-chart in the correct column.

13. Repeat steps 10-12 with more words if necessary (enough from which to create a silly sentence). Students follow along by circling words shared by others on their whiteboards.

14. Teacher says: “Wow! Look at all the words we’ve listed that match our pattern! Now we are ready to write a silly sentence! We need a few high-frequency words to make our sentence, too. I will use the word wall to find some more words for our sentence.”

15. Teacher says: “A silly sentence makes us laugh because we use words that don’t usually go together or that give us a funny picture in our head.”

16. Teacher says a silly sentence. Example (use student-generated words): “Sheep and baby deer eat wheat near the beach every spring.”

17. Teacher asks:

“How many words are in the sentence?” (11)

18. Teacher says: “Yes! We will write this sentence with 11 words together.”

19. Teacher repeats the sentence, tapping out each word on the chart paper or whiteboard.

20. Teacher and students share the pen to take turns interactively writing the sentence (refer to the Interactive Writing lessons in EL Education’s Grade 1, Modules 1 and 2, for additional guidance).

21. Teacher stops to review punctuation rules as needed.

22. When sentence is finished, teacher says: “Let’s read our silly sentence we came up with from the words we know.”

23. Students and teacher read the sentence together.

  • Observe students as they write. Encourage them to fix the spelling of their sentences as they review what the teacher has written.
  • Consider providing students with pre-assigned partners to work with.
  • If time is a consideration, shorten the lesson by calling on students to brainstorm words instead of having them write on their own individual whiteboards.
  • Depending on students' needs, allow them to air-write words instead of writing on their whiteboards.
  • Consider providing students who need support a sentence frame to help them generate a silly sentence.
  • Consider coming up with a structure for celebrating the silly sentences. As the classroom generates more silly sentences, consider making them into a silly poem.

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Reflecting on Learning

  • Emphasize that successful learners take responsibility for their own learning. Invite students to reflect on ways they took responsibility for their learning during whole group instruction or how they plan to take responsibility during differentiated small group instruction. Example:
    • "I remembered to think about where I hear the vowel sound to help me spell the word.
  • For students who need additional support organizing their ideas: Provide sentence frames. Examples:
    • "When I spelled _____ I _____."
    • "When I thought of the silly sentence _____, I _____."

Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher

Suggested Plan: Teacher works with students in the Partial Alphabetic and Full Alphabetic groups. If possible, teacher should also meet with the Consolidated Alphabetic group at least once per week.

Note: Groups not working with the teacher at a given time should be engaged in purposeful independent rotation work. Refer to the Independent and Small Group Work guidance document for more details (see K-2 Skills Resource Manual)

Partial Alphabetic:

  • Students complete exit ticket:
    • Students work with teacher to interactively create a new silly (or normal) sentence, possibly using CVC, CCVC, and CVCC words instead of vowel teams.
  • Use the Assessment Conversion chart to determine appropriate Grade 1 lessons and Activity Bank ideas to use in differentiated small group instruction.
  • Check in with Accountable Independent Reading.

Full Alphabetic:

  • Students complete exit ticket:
    • Students work with teacher or in pairs to interactively create new silly (or normal) sentences using words with the spelling patterns "ee," "ea," and "y." Teacher provides immediate feedback and support.
    • Consider using a Writing Checklist, modified for the needs of this group. Encourage students to peer- or self-edit their sentences based on the Checklist criteria (see supporting materials for Lesson 12).
  • Check in with Accountable Independent Reading.

Consolidated Alphabetic:

  • Students complete exit ticket:
    • Students write their own silly (or normal) sentences using words with the spelling patterns "ee," "ea," and "y." Students use the Writing Checklist to peer- or self-edit their writing (see supporting materials for Lesson 12).
    • Consider keeping these sentences to be used for fluency practice with the Full and Partial Alphabetic students during differentiated small group instruction for the Fluency lesson (Lesson 14).
  • Use leveled readers for fluency practice (refer to the Independent and Small Group Work Guidance document for guidance; see K-2 Skills Resource Manual).
  • Check in with Accountable Independent Reading.
  • Additional Supporting Materials:
    • If silly sentences are being used for fluency practice in Lesson 14, have students write the sentences on chart paper or sentence strips.

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