WEBVTT 00:00:02.429 --> 00:00:06.930 Welcome to Building a Solid Foundation for Writing. 00:00:06.930 --> 00:00:10.139 Boyce: My name is Erin Boyce. 00:00:10.139 --> 00:00:15.320 I’m a kindergarten teacher here at Eagle View Elementary in Fairfax, Virginia. 00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:17.310 Boddie: My name is Sarah Boddie. 00:00:17.310 --> 00:00:21.640 I’m a third-grade teacher at Eagle View Elementary in Fairfax, Virginia. 00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:23.440 Kim: I’m Sarah Kim. 00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:30.440 I teach fifth grade here at Eagle View Elementary in Fairfax, Virginia. 00:00:41.690 --> 00:00:46.030 Boyce: We do a lot of air writing, it’s called, or we’ll write in our hands so students 00:00:46.030 --> 00:00:47.420 are constantly engaged. 00:00:47.420 --> 00:00:51.600 And it’s still meaningful, so students aren’t just sitting there; they are involved. 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:54.840 So if we are doing community writing, and one student’s writing on the board, we say, 00:00:54.840 --> 00:00:56.850 “Air writing, fingers up.” 00:00:56.850 --> 00:00:59.950 And there’s a lot of lowercase letters that we call “Magic C” letters. 00:00:59.950 --> 00:01:06.030 So it starts with “Magic C, up like a helicopter, slide down, bump the bottom.” 00:01:16.030 --> 00:01:20.189 Boyce: In kindergarten, we teach spelling not by itself. 00:01:20.189 --> 00:01:24.830 We teach sight words, which overlap nicely with reading and writing. 00:01:24.830 --> 00:01:28.299 We’ll start with a check-in of practicing sight words they know. 00:01:28.299 --> 00:01:33.229 And in each guided reading group, we practice one new sight word where we have four steps. 00:01:33.229 --> 00:01:38.220 We read it, we erase the letter, and then we guess what’s missing. 00:01:38.220 --> 00:01:41.030 So they see that visual, and they can also see the right and 00:01:41.030 --> 00:01:42.030 the wrong way to write a word. 00:01:42.030 --> 00:01:47.170 We mix it and fix it, and then we practice writing it on the table and on a whiteboard. 00:01:47.170 --> 00:01:51.530 Each child has an individual word wall in their writing folder, so they need to check 00:01:51.530 --> 00:01:52.920 their word wall. 00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:56.540 As a kindergarten teacher, I do expect each one of those word wall words to be spelled 00:01:56.540 --> 00:01:58.119 right in their writing. 00:01:58.119 --> 00:02:01.909 So if it is spelled wrong, that is the only time I as a teacher write on their paper is 00:02:01.909 --> 00:02:05.750 if it’s a word wall word, and I circle it, and they correct themselves if they are not 00:02:05.750 --> 00:02:09.318 doing that already through self-editing and peer editing. 00:02:09.318 --> 00:02:14.730 Boddie: In third grade, we use a program called Word Study, where it’s not just learning 00:02:14.730 --> 00:02:20.099 how to spell words, but it’s learning spelling patterns and then using those spelling rules 00:02:20.099 --> 00:02:24.090 and the exceptions to the rules so that they can apply that 00:02:24.090 --> 00:02:25.489 to unknown words in their own writing. 00:02:25.489 --> 00:02:28.719 Kim: In fifth grade, we continue the same pattern. 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:33.269 Most students by fifth grade are no longer working on sound, 00:02:33.269 --> 00:02:34.930 they are working on meanings now. 00:02:34.930 --> 00:02:39.569 So it’s a lot more etymology, Greek words, roots. 00:02:39.569 --> 00:02:43.569 So that’s when they start breaking up the meaning within a word. 00:02:51.369 --> 00:02:56.090 Boyce: In kindergarten, forming a sentence can be a complicated and complex process because, 00:02:56.090 --> 00:03:00.680 first, they have to think what they want to say in their heads and then they have to verbalize 00:03:00.680 --> 00:03:02.370 it and say it aloud. 00:03:02.370 --> 00:03:07.109 And they have to be able to say the same sentence again and actually remember it, which is more 00:03:07.109 --> 00:03:10.959 complicated than adults, who don’t really think of a sentence. 00:03:10.959 --> 00:03:15.809 So I have come up with four steps in kindergarten that we use when we first develop a sentence. 00:03:15.809 --> 00:03:16.980 Step one, think it. 00:03:16.980 --> 00:03:18.599 Step two, say it. 00:03:18.599 --> 00:03:20.459 Step three, write it. 00:03:20.459 --> 00:03:23.769 And step four, reread it after every word. 00:03:23.769 --> 00:03:28.449 Kim: In fifth grade, we embed grammar in reading/writing workshop. 00:03:28.449 --> 00:03:34.379 We teach in isolation first the specific grammar rule, and we have to do that so they understand 00:03:34.379 --> 00:03:38.029 the reason behind why the comma needs to be put there. 00:03:38.029 --> 00:03:43.569 But if we teach it in isolation alone, usually they do not retain that information. 00:03:43.569 --> 00:03:49.680 So I use a mentor text, and that’s when I use authors, real authors write stories, 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:51.430 where they actually use those rules. 00:03:51.430 --> 00:03:56.549 So we read it together as a group, and we look at where they actually put those commas 00:03:56.549 --> 00:04:00.639 and see what the reasons were for those commas to be placed there. 00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:05.540 And we sort of discover what other authors do so that they, when they become the writers, 00:04:05.540 --> 00:04:09.540 and they are the authors of a story, they know exactly where to put them. 00:04:17.289 --> 00:04:20.289 Boyce: In kindergarten at Eagle View, our students are fortunate 00:04:20.289 --> 00:04:21.978 to be exposed to technology often. 00:04:21.978 --> 00:04:28.210 They are using laptops in stations, and at least twice a month, in my classroom, we go 00:04:28.210 --> 00:04:31.699 to the computer lab, where there is a laptop for every student. 00:04:31.699 --> 00:04:36.550 So in the beginning, we want to begin them as soon as possible now that testing is online 00:04:36.550 --> 00:04:39.740 already in third grade, where they have to type their stories. 00:04:39.740 --> 00:04:45.250 Boddie: In third grade, our students all have the opportunity to use a typing instruction 00:04:45.250 --> 00:04:50.819 program where it teaches them their home keys and how to reach to the other keys in order 00:04:50.819 --> 00:04:54.250 to type so that it expedites the process. 00:04:54.250 --> 00:04:58.849 So they are already comfortable with logging on to a computer, but they are getting a lot 00:04:58.849 --> 00:05:05.449 of exposure to being able to type and draft and write a story on the computer. 00:05:13.480 --> 00:05:18.680 Boyce: At Eagle View, we have found that teaching grammatical skills, spelling skills, all these 00:05:18.680 --> 00:05:23.719 foundational writing skills cannot be taught in isolation, they need to be embedded across 00:05:23.719 --> 00:05:29.000 the curriculum because it is in context and it is meaningful to students 00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:31.740 when it is in context. 00:05:31.740 --> 00:05:36.039 To learn more about Building a Solid Foundation for Writing, please explore the additional 00:05:36.039 --> 00:05:38.830 resources on the Doing What Works website.