Interactive Writing | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA G1:S2:C6:L34

Interactive Writing

In this Lesson

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Daily Learning Targets

  • Opening A (optional): I can review taught phonemes, high-frequency words, and decodable words. (RF.1.2, RF.1.3)
    • I can decode regularly spelled one-syllable words by mapping graphemes and phonemes.
    • I can read first-grade words that "don't play fair" in isolation.
    • I can look at each consonant and say its sound.
    • I can identify the short sound for each vowel.
    • I can identify the sound that corresponds to "sh."
  • Opening B (optional): I can review taught graphemes and phonemes. (RF.1.2)
    • I can look at each consonant and say its sound.
    • I can identify the short sound for each vowel.
    • I can identify the sound that corresponds to "sh."
    • I can say a two-phoneme or three-phoneme word and segment it (break it apart) into individual phonemes (sounds) (in order).
    • I can blend two or three phonemes (sounds) to form a spoken word.
  • Work Time A: I can collaborate with my teacher to write a sentence with VC, CVC, CCVC, and high-frequency words. (RF.1.1, RF.1.2, RF.1.3, L.K.2)
    • I can look at each letter and say its sound.
    • I can identify the sound that corresponds to "sh."
    • I can point to where a sentence begins and ends.
    • I can find the capital letters in a sentence.
    • I can say a two- or three-phoneme word and segment it (break it apart) into individual phonemes (sounds) (in order).
    • I can use what I know about common spelling patterns to correctly spell words with those common patterns.

Ongoing Assessment

  • Observe students during Opening A. Determine whether they can make the sound for letter(s), decode, and read familiar words using letters and sounds from this cycle.
  • 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.

Agenda

Agenda

1. Opening (3-5 minutes)

A. Reviewing Skills and Knowledge: Question and Switch (optional)

B. Reviewing Skills and Knowledge: Call and Response (optional)

2. Work Time (10-15 minutes)

A. Interactive Writing: Writing Regular and Familiar One-Syllable Words

3. Closing and Assessment (2 minutes)

A. Reflecting on Learning

4. Differentiated Small Group Instruction and Rotations (40 minutes)

In Advance

  • Prepare:
    • Question and Switch Cards ("e," "p," "n," "h," "i," "s," "m," "r," "d," "b," "g," "sh") (each letter and digraph should be on its own card, and a handful of regularly spelled one-syllable words using the same letters taught to this point); see supporting materials.
    • Snapshot Assessment (optional; one per student)
  • Predetermine one sentence to be used for the Interactive Writing instructional practice. Suggested sentences: "Sam begs his dad for a pet," or "The pet dashes from the shed."

Vocabulary

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

  • interact, interactive, possession, proficient (L)

Materials

  • Question and Switch Cards (one per student)
  • Interactive Word Wall (begun in Module 1)
  • Whiteboards or sheet protectors with white cardboard inside (one per student or pair)
  • Whiteboard markers (one per student or pair)
  • Whiteboard erasers (or tissues, socks, etc.; one per student or pair)
  • Snapshot Assessment (optional; one per student)

Opening

OpeningMeeting Students' Needs

A. Reviewing Skills and Knowledge: Question and Switch

  • (Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of "The More We Get Together"):

"Gather around together, together, together. We're going play a quiz game, a quiz game, a quiz game. We're going to play a quiz game to check what we've learned."

  • Distribute Question and Switch Cards. Each card should include one of the following:
    • A letter or digraph from this or a previous cycle ("e," "p," "n," "h," "i," "s," "m," "r," "d," "b," "g," "sh")
    • One word that can be decoded ("bed," "pen," "dig," "pink," etc.)
    • One of the high-frequency words from this or a previous cycle ("for," "get," "to," etc.)
  • Begin Question and Switch instructional practice:

1. Teacher says: "Question and Switch is a way for us to review the graphemes, phonemes, and words we have learned. You each have a card. Your card has either a letter or a word on it. Look at your card. Raise your hand if your card has a letter."

2. Students with Question and Switch Letter Cards raise their hands.

3. Teacher holds up a Question and Switch Letter Card, shows it to students, and models saying the corresponding sound and skywriting the letter with proper letter formation.

4. Students with Question and Switch Letter Cards take turns saying the sound and skywriting the letter on their card.

5. Teacher says: "Raise your hand if your card has a word (decodable and high-frequency)."

6. Students with Question and Switch Word Cards raise their hands.

7. Teacher holds up a Question and Switch Decodable Word Card, shows it to students, and models reading the word automatically. Teacher explains that if students do not know the word automatically, they can use the thumb-tapping technique to decode each of the phonemes in the word. Teacher models the thumb-tapping technique.

8. Students with Question and Switch Decodable Word Cards read the word on their card.

9. Teacher holds up a Question and Switch High-Frequency Word Card, shows it to students, and models reading the word automatically. Teacher explains that if students do not know the word automatically, they can identify the sounds they do know and look at the Interactive Word Wall or anchor charts to help them figure it out.

10. Students with Question and Switch High-Frequency Word Card take turns reading the word on their card.

11. Teacher says: "Now you are going to find a partner with a different card. You will show each other your card. Your partner will read your card aloud, then you will read your partner's card. Then you will switch and find a new partner and do it again."

12. Teacher models this process with a student volunteer.

13. Teacher tells students it is okay to help each other if they are not sure how to read a word or say a sound: "That's something effective learners do."

14. Students find a partner and begin.

15. Teacher circulates and supports as needed.
  • Consider extending the challenge with the Question and Switch High-Frequency Word Cards to have students use the words in a sentence.

B. Reviewing Skills and Knowledge: Call and Response

  • (Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of "The More We Get Together"):

"March along together, together, together. We're going to say the sounds we find in words. Come now, and chant together, together, together. Say the sounds you know as we march along."

  • Begin the Call and Response instructional practice using Cycle 6 phonemes:

1. Teacher says: "Let's warm up our brains by reviewing some of the phonemes (sounds) with a chant. You can also warm up your bodies by marching in place while we chant. Watch and listen to what I do. When I point to myself, it is my turn to say something. When I point to you, it is your turn to say something."

2. Teacher marches in place. Students follow along.

3. Teacher models with a grapheme-to-phoneme connection (followed by a phoneme-to-grapheme connection, then blending phonemes into a spoken word).

4. Teacher: grapheme (letter) to students: phoneme (sound):

      • Teacher points to self and says: "When I say 'e,' you say (points to students) _____." (Students respond with the sound /e/.)
      • Teacher points to self and says: "e."
      • Teacher points to students.
      • Students say: /e/.
      • Teacher points to self and says: "e."
      • Teacher points to students.
      • Students say: /e/.
      • Repeat with "b," "sh," and "d."

5. Phoneme to Grapheme:

      • Teacher points to self and says: "When I say /e/, you say (points to students) ______." (Students respond with the letter's name: "e.")
      • Teacher says: /e/.
      • Students say: "e."
      • Teacher says: /e/.
      • Students say: "e."
      • Repeat with /b/, /sh/, and /d/.

6. Blending Phonemes into Spoken Word:

      • Teacher points to self and uses thumb-tapping technique for each phoneme. Teacher says: "When I say /b/ /e/ /d/, you say (points to students) _____." (Students jump once when saying the blended word: "bed.")
      • Repeat with "shed."

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Interactive Writing: Writing Regular and Familiar One-Syllable Words

  • (Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of "The More We Get Together"):

"Now let's all be writers, be writers, be writers. Now let's all be writers like the authors we love. Listen to the sentence, the sentence, the sentence. Listen to the sentence, we will write as a group."

  • Optional: Distribute whiteboards, whiteboard markers, and whiteboard erasers (or have students follow along by skywriting).
  • Begin the Interactive Writing instructional practice.
  • Explain to students that when they played Question and Switch, they were interacting with each other. That means they were talking to each other, learning together, and taking turns. Inform students that during interactive writing, they interact with each other as well. Emphasize interact in the word interactive. The group talks, learns together, and takes turns. Tell students that during Question and Switch, the emphasis was on speaking words. During interactive writing, the emphasis is on writing words in a sentence.

1. Teacher models the Interactive Writing instructional practice with one word:

      • Teacher pronounces the word: "met."
      • Teacher segments the word into three phonemes: /m//e//t/.
      • Teacher asks:

"What is the first sound you hear in /m//e//t/?" (/m/)

      • Teacher writes the letter on the board: "m."
      • Teacher says: "Now I will share my pen with one of you at a time. You will come up to the board and write the letter that represents the next sound in the word. Everyone else will write the same letter on their own whiteboard at the same time."
      • Teacher chooses a volunteer. Student writes "e."
      • Teacher chooses another volunteer. Student writes "t."
      • Teacher invites students to read the word they have written together. Teacher and students read: "met."

2. Teacher reads the chosen sentence aloud and taps out the words on the paper/whiteboard.

3. Students repeat the sentence. (Rehearse as needed.)

4. Teacher says the first word in the sentence and repeats step 2 with letters, words, or word parts from the chosen sentence. Teacher asks:

"What do we need to remember to do to this first letter so that our reader will know this is where our sentence starts?" (Capitalize it.)

5. After the first word in the sentence is complete, teacher asks:

"What comes after a word?" (a space)

6. Teacher taps out the remaining words of the sentence.

7. Repeat step 2 with the remainder of the sentence. Teacher may write some of the letters, word parts, or words to speed up the process if necessary.

8. Teacher asks:

"What do we need to remember to put at the end so that our reader knows we are done with this sentence?" (a period)

9. Teacher points to each word as he or she reads the completed sentence aloud.

10. Students read the completed sentence aloud.
  • For students who are ready for more challenge, use a more complex sentence, similar to one from the Decodable Reader (example: "Pat has a big blue hat") or a sentence aligned with content from the Integrated Literacy Block (example: "I use a hammer and nail to fix the fence") that does not necessarily stick exclusively to sounds, letters, and patterns introduced in the letter cycles. You can invite students to contribute parts (examples: a high-frequency word, a beginning phoneme) that they know and then model and fill in the rest. Doing this allows for vocabulary and content learning reinforcement.
  • For ELLs: Consider using pictures to clarify any nouns or verbs in the sentence that may be new. Act out verbs for clarification. Letter-sound connections are strengthened when students see that they are tools that allow them to communicate an idea.
  • If students are writing words that they have read previously, remind them that these are familiar words and they should try to remember how the words were spelled when they read them. This supports the goal of automaticity with letter sound connections.
  • If students need help independently recording the grapheme for each sound on their whiteboards, provide and/or model using the sound boards.
  • When working with the word "begs" or "dashes" in the chosen sentence, consider an extension, prompting the students to note the action word "beg" or "dash" and model adding the suffix "-s" or "-es" to the end to show the action is happening now.

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Reflecting on Learning

  • Emphasize that effective learners keep track of and reflect on their own learning. Point out that they are doing this each time they consider how what they did today helps them become more proficient readers.
  • Remind students that today they reviewed letters and sounds and irregularly spelled words, practiced decoding, and used the skills they've been learning to write a sentence together.
  • Invite students to reflect independently. Ask:

"What did you do today that is helping you become a more proficient reader?"

  • Invite a volunteer to share. Afterward, invite any students who did something similar to indicate that in an interactive way (examples: stand and turn in place, hop up and down excitedly).
  • For students who need additional support organizing their ideas: Provide sentence frames. Examples:
    • "When I made the sounds for the word _____, I _____."
    • "When I wrote the letter _____, I _____."
    • "When I blended the sounds _____, I _____."

Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher

Suggested Plan: Teacher works with students in the Pre-Alphabetic, Partial Alphabetic, and Consolidated Alphabetic groups. Teacher will not work with students in the Full Alphabetic group today.

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).

Pre-Alphabetic:

  • Aim small group instruction at building students' knowledge and skills of letter identification and phonological awareness.
  • Use the Assessment Conversion chart to determine appropriate Kindergarten lessons and Activity Bank ideas to use in daily small group instruction (see Assessment Overview and Resources).
  • Lead an interactive writing experience using a different sentence, focusing on initial letters and letter formation. Use a sentence that places letter sounds you are working on at the beginning and end of words. For example, if working on "e," "i," "m," "p," "t," and "s," you can work with "I met a red pet."

Partial Alphabetic:

  • Extend or create a new interactive writing piece focusing on VC and CVC words. This may include a new sentence related to the Decodable Reader or the content in the Integrated Literacy Block, or a sentence that naturally follows the one written during work time.
  • For students working at the early to middle Partial Alphabetic phase, emphasize short "e" VC and CVC patterns, as well as one high-leverage (i.e., can be used a lot in their independent writing), high-frequency word (example: "get").
  • For students working at the middle to late Partial Alphabetic phase, consider extending the interactive writing work as described above, using words with any of the short vowel sounds taught in the cycles. Use initial or final consonant clusters, as well as a new high-frequency word or one from a previous cycle that may need review.
  • Related Activity Bank suggestions:
    • An Activity Bank activity from the High-Frequency Word category (HF)

Consolidated Alphabetic:

  • Extend work with interactive writing by inviting students to compose sentences related to the Engagement Text: "Sam Wants a Pet" (consider making a copy for each student). Give individualized feedback to students on conventions of print (including spelling patterns and grammar). Have students share out sentences/stories and reflect on new learning.
  • Follow up with the Lesson 31 Word List and exit ticket.
  • Check in on Accountable Independent Reading.

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