pattern sentences

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Home : 2004 : September : 19

pattern sentences
By Tammy

I like to give the children opportunities in the beginning of the year to work with pattern sentence writing... We will brainstorm ideas and make sentences together in a pocket chart or on the board, and then they write sentences
for a pattern such as "I like ____." Or "I see _____." Then another day we will use a little more complex pattern like "I hear ______ and _____." or "I hear _______ing (+ a "where or when phrase")... I hear a wolf howling in the night. Children who struggle will write one or two sentences, and those who excel can write many sentences or write more complex sentences. Of course,

we talk about the mechanics, and how a sentence has a doing part and a naming part... but this patterned writing gives them a foundation to work from. Once they learn that they can write this way, they can build from it and begin taking risks and developing their language further...