Writing lesson 1

So, how did everyone's first outline go? Don't worry, if you did not have time to do that on Friday, you can still get on the schedule if you have your child outline today and retell the story tomorrow. I know one of the questions about the outline assignments was can they look back at the original story? Remember, the outlines are a guide for your child to be able to recall what they read. We want them to have success and feel confident about their ability. Writing is suppose to be fun not something they dread. If they need a little guidance, that is alright. Use it as a time to teach them how important it is to think through what the main ideas really are. We are trying to stick to a 3 word maximum on their outlines (that can be difficult). Please try to encourage only using 3 words, but at times it will be impossible. Phrases like "white blood cells" can count as one word by the way. Right now we are practicing so that the children can become efficient in their writing and in their public speaking. If we let a lot slide now, they will miss teh point of trying to show them not to read paragraphs word for word when telling someone about a story.
During our class, we discussed nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and strong verbs.
Noun- person, place, or thing
While reading, have your child find 3-5 nouns in the story.
Action verbs- what the subject is the sentence is doing (ex. ran, jump)
To be verbs- am, is, are, was, were, be, been , being
Have your child name at least 3 action verbs and go over the to be verbs
Adjectives- describes the noun
Go through the following sentences and add an adjective to each one.
1. The boy laughed.
2. A dog barked.
3. Girls dance.
Ask what kind, which one, how many to help decide what adjective to use.
Adverbs- modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb
They can take the same sentences from above and add an adverb this time.
Ask how, when, where
Remember, they have a list of all type of "ly" words (adverbs) in their notebook. Encourage them to juse that to find a good adverb for these sentences. If you need a copy of the adverb list, just email me and i can send it to you.