Before we move on to writing and coaching complete sentences, we must first teach the students how to coach sentences. And before we have students write their own sentences, we teach them to copy correctly written sentences.
In writing these lessons, we chose to introduce the coaching in a very precise manner to provide enough support and practice for the students. By the end of these three lessons, students should be confident in coaching sentences. At the same time, they are learning what is important when they write sentences. This builds to the next set of lessons in which students act as both writers and coaches.
| Lesson | Organization |
|---|---|
| SC-4 | I DO/WE DO. Students have no materials. WE DO is done on teacher template. |
| SC-5 | WE DO that follows the same pattern. Students have WE DO worksheet. |
| SC-6 | WE DO is done as a class on the teacher template. Students have YOU DO worksheet. |
Sentence Construction Coaching Icons
As in earlier lessons, we teach students to coach from left to right, one icon at a time. It is important to stress that the coach does not look at handwriting at all on these pages until a thumbs up is received. Students may only circle one icon and then stop. We reinforce that we want to help the writer fix one mistake at a time.
The icons, in order from left to right, are: spell check, spacing, capitalization, punctuation, and finally, if no errors are found, thumbs up.
If no mistakes are found, a thumbs up is circled. Then, the coach looks at the letter formation and may circle one letter that might need practice. To practice this, the student card is used and the letter is traced three times. When teaching coaching, be sure to mention that there may NOT be any letters for practice. If this is the case, no circles are made.
For spell check, students are taught to check that each letter is copied, and in the correct order. If not, the spell check icon is circled. Students are taught a spell check motion that goes with the icon. This motion is used during I DO and WE DO portions so that the teacher may do a quick assessment for understanding. The students place their hands above their eyes as if they are searching when they find a spell check error.
The spaceman represents finger spaces that are used between the words. Students make sure the writer has used finger spaces when copying the sentence. If not, the spaceman icon is circled. The students raise their pointer finger in the air to indicate a spacing error.
The capital and lower case A icon is for capital letters at the beginning of the sentence. If the writer did not copy the first letter as a capital, this icon is circled. The motion for finding a capitalization error is the raising of both arms straight above the head, like a tall capital letter.
The period and question mark icon is for punctuation. If the writer does not include this, the icon is circled. The motion used when finding a punctuation error is placing the palm of the hand up in a “stop” signal. We teach that the punctuation mark is like a stop sign at the end of the sentence.
The thumbs up icon is circled when no mistakes are found. Then, the coach may look at letter formation and circle one letter that could be practiced.
SC-4 I DO
