When my class is ready to start writing simple sentences by sounding out words and using the word wall, I like to introduce Sentence Dictation. This guided approach to writing helps to boost their confidence so they can become independent writers.
We take this slowly and start out with the "Teacher Assisted" page so the students can have guided practice and build their confidence before they are expected to complete it on their own.
We work together to write the sentences and will complete one sentence a day until the paper is finished. I will read the sentence aloud a few times and we will count how many words we hear. Then I will read the sentence again one word at a time as we work together to sound out the words. I write the sentence on the board as the students write it on their own papers, remembering to start with a capital letter, leave spaces, write neatly, and end with the correct punctuation.
When the students are ready to move on to the “Independent Work” paper, we use the same procedure, I’m just not writing the words on the board, or helping the students to sound it out. I will still read the sentence out loud a few times and we will count how many words we hear. Then I read the sentence one word at a time, while they write it on their papers.
For both the "Teacher Assisted" and the "Independent" papers, we will only complete one sentence a day. The students turn in their papers after each sentence so I can make corrections for them to see before they write the next one. This way they can see what they need to work on.
You can find these Sentence Dictation pages in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!
