At the bottom of this page are 15 picture sets. Each set features 10 unique picture-word prompts (e.g., a total of 150 unique picture-word prompts).
Your student has increased their accuracy on writing simple sentences. This should be celebrated! Perhaps, celebrated like the scene below.
Accuracy is typically measured as a percentage. The 3 instructional lessons on this website (under Sentence Instruction) teach simple sentences to 90% accuracy. This can mark a huge improvement in sentence writing.
Like the character at the top of this page on an elevator, your student is going up. We need to help them continue getting to higher levels of performance (pun intended).
Practice is meant to continue building both accuracy and frequency. Frequency is measured as a count over time, such as number of sentences written in 1 min. Sentence writing becomes more useful to sentences as accuracy and frequency increases. This way sentence writing does not get in the way of other important writing skills, such as idea generation and revision.
Before we continue, let’s cover how to structure each practice session for efficiency and effectiveness.
Practice Procedure
Have you ever tried to learn a new skill by yourself? Learning a new skill without feedback from an expert can be difficult. Unfortunately, many students struggling to write simple sentences will not get the feedback on writing they need to improve. You can change this by following the practice procedure listed below.
- Break the practice session into time specific chunks. Specifically, chunk practice into three, 1-minute practice trials.
- Hand the student a fresh copy of 10 picture-word prompts (e.g., One copy of Practice Sheet 1). Say, “I want to see how many complete sentences you can write in 1 min. You can use all the words given. Do you have any questions?”
- Answer any questions they may have. When the student starts to write, start a countdown timer.
- At the end of 1-min, instruct the student to put their pen/pencil down.
- Review each response with the student. Praise the correct responses and have students fix incorrect responses.
- Their completed sheet is put away. A new copy of the same 10 picture picture-word prompts is presented (e.g., A new copy of Practice Sheet 1).
- Repeat the steps above.
These steps are repeated until the student finishes a total of three, 1 minute timings on the same sheet.
These components ensure that accuracy and frequency (count of simple sentences over 1 minute) increase over time. It provides a massive amount of practice writing simple sentences in a few minutes and ensures students do not repeat errors.
- 1 practice set (3 copies)
- 2 practice set (3 copies)
- 3 practice set (3 copies)
- 4 practice set (3 copies)
- 5 practice set (3 copies)
- 6 practice set (3 copies)
- 7 practice set (3 copies)
- 8 practice set (3 copies)
- 9 practice set (3 copies)
- 10 practice set (3 copies)
- 11 practice set (3 copies)
- 12practice set (3 copies)
- 13 practice set (3 copies)
- 14 practice set (3 copies)
- 15 practice set (3 copies)