Writing Children’s Words Taking Dictation from Children Dictation is the process of a teacher writing down Refi ne and Record the Children’s Ideas what a child says. In addition to modeled, shared and independent writing, dictation is a tool for helping the • Once the children are familiar with the process of taking dictation children learn to put thoughts into print. for any work that will be posted in the classroom or read by other children, such as a class book, dictation becomes a process of Two different varieties of dictation are used in Pre-K focusing, refi ning and expanding the children’s initial oral descriptions. At this stage, you will be restating their ideas to form expanded, classrooms. grammatically correct sentences. 1. Exact – the teacher writes exactly what the child • Focusing and refi ning the children’s ideas happens orally, before you take dictation. For example, if a child has drawn a picture of her says, even if it contains grammar or syntax errors. house, you might discuss her work in this way. This style is used for captions or in personal or Teacher: I like the picture of your house. Can you tell me more journal writing. about what you drew? 2. Modifi ed – the teacher writes the child’s ideas, Child: These are my doors. Red. I have two. using most of the child’s own words but creating Teacher: Oh, I see. You have drawn two front doors, and they are a full, grammatically correct sentence. This style red. Can you say all of that in one sentence? Say, “I have two red should be used when creating class books or front doors,” and I will write it down for you. other materials the children will be reading. Child: I have two red front doors. Teacher: “I have two red front doors.” Say that again, and let’s count the words. Then, I will write it down for you. Getting Started • You would then draw six lines and begin writing the words. When you Introduce dictation by labeling the children’s drawings or elements of their are fi nished, talk about what you wrote. Discuss starting with a capital drawings. letter, making the letter, letter-sound connection or talking about the punctuation. 1. Ask a child to describe orally what he drew, such as a picture of his home. Ideas for Dictation Events 2. Repeat out loud the phrase you are going to write, such as “front door.” • Drawing and labeling pictures of family members 3. Write the phrase, saying and stretching out the words as you write. Talk about what you wrote, such as spelling the words, making the • Writing an invitation to “Back to School Night” letter, letter-sound connection or showing the space between the • Writing a thank-you note words. • Making a greeting card 4. Have the child read the phrase out loud with you. • Writing a list of supplies for a project or party Record the Children’s Exact Words • Drawing a favorite character’s portrait • Drawing a setting from a story When initially taking dictation for the children’s personal work, such as drawings that won’t be posted in the classroom or in the children’s • Writing about a favorite part of a story journals, you can record their descriptions word for word, including grammatical or syntax errors. • Creating a class daily news book At this step of the process, dictation is used to model how spoken • Making a menu or taking orders in the “restaurant” language becomes printed language, including one-to-one correspondence between the spoken and written words. Follow this process. 1. Ask the child to say out loud what she wants to say about a drawing. 2. Repeat what the child said. Using fi ngers or other counters, model counting the number of words the child said. 3. Draw lines for the number of words you will be writing. Each line should be large enough for the word that will be written on it. Count the number of lines and repeat the phrase or sentence you will be writing. Begin writing, emphasizing that each line is for one word and that there are spaces between the words. 4. When you are fi nished, have the child help you count the number of words and then say the phrase or sentence together again. 70 You Can Read Reading Environmental Print To become successful readers, preschool children Other Environmental Print Activities need to feel like competent and successful readers from the very start. The activities below allow the • Bind the front and back panels of cereal boxes to make a class book. children to begin to “read” by paying attention to the • Create an alphabet using box fronts or labels. words and letters in recognizable environmental print. • Put labels from food containers in the ABC center. Using magnetic While this “reading” relies mainly on memory skills, letters and lap boards, have the children make the words. (Try to avoid not on decoding skills, the success the children feel products with names that are in all capital letters or use unusual type.) prepares them to be readers. • Using the list of cereal names, ask the children to describe the cereals and record their descriptions on a classroom chart of describing words. Getting Started Collect empty individual-sized cereal boxes. Ask the children to bring empty boxes of their favorites. (These activities can also be done with other recognizable food boxes, such as pasta, frozen food, etc.) In Class 1. Gather the group of children for “It’s time to read!” Tell them you want them to read what you are holding behind your back. Reveal the cereal box. 2. When some or all the children call out the name of the cereal, ask them how they knew the name of it. Discuss their answers and reasons. For example, you can say, “How did you know that this is Cheerios? You mean you can read what this says?”(Point to the word “Cheerios.”) 3. Moving to a board or chart paper, ask them, “If I were to write the word Cheerios, would you know it says Cheerios?” Point to the letters on the box and say the letters out loud as you write them down in front of the children. 4. Repeat with other cereal boxes. 5. Once you have written four or fi ve different cereal names, review the words posted, pointing to each one as everyone reads the names together. 6. Congratulate the children on being such smart readers! Follow-up Activities With whole or small groups of children, return their attention to the list of cereals and try these exercises. Clap Syllables Using the list of cereal words, point to each, say it out loud with the children and then clap out the chunks you hear in each one. You can add more cereal words to the list to extend the activity. Word Analysis Review the list of cereal words and • count the number of words posted to build recognition of words as units of meaning, • ask the children to fi nd letters that they know, • ask if any of the words start with the same letter as their names. 71 Staying on Track Tracking Print Before the children can learn to read, they need to Activity Tip learn print conventions, such as reading from left to right and knowing that groups of letters make up The better children know a refrain by ear, the easier it will be for them words. One great way to teach these conventions to track print when they encounter the refrain in writing. When you have chosen a refrain or short rhyme to use for tracking print lessons, make the is to help the children learn to track print by using a refrain part of daily classroom life. fi nger or pointer to follow the words and lines as they • Use the Trashy Town refrain “Dump it in, smash it down, drive around are read aloud. Books with repeated lines or refrains, the Trashy Town!” as part of the routine of cleaning up, saying it aloud such as Trashy Town, or traditional nursery rhymes when the children throw trash away after meal times or when center can easily be used to help the children practice work is done. tracking print. • Use the nursery rhyme “One, two, whatever you do, start it well, and carry it through” at the beginning of center or independent learning activities. Help Children Learn to Track Print • Use the nursery rhyme “Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jump over the candlestick” when the children are lining up or transitioning 1. Read the book or nursery rhyme aloud several times, drawing the from one activity to another. children’s attention to the repeated refrain and encouraging them to join in whenever it is read. 2. Write each line of the refrain or short rhyme on a sentence strip and place all the strips in order in a pocket chart. Remember to print neatly, leaving plenty of space between words so the children can easily tell when a word begins and ends. 3. With a whole or small group, draw the children’s attention to the pocket chart. Explain that everyone will now practice “reading” these words that they already know. Together with the children, read the familiar words while tracking each word with a pointer as it is read aloud. Some of the children might say the phrase very quickly. Encourage them to follow the pointer and say each word as you point to it.