I had Clay write two paragraphs about his weekend. He came up with two solid topic sentences and did a pretty good job with his supporting statements. His writing had a nice logical progression to it, he used different types of sentences and he fully developed his ideas. He's come a long way.
I had Clay write 25 sentences about the camp he's going to this weekend. He continues to improve and is mixing up the different types of sentences without me reminding him. I'm very pleased with his progress.
Finish writing rough draft then proofread together explaining why corrections are made. It takes a while for Will to put his thoughts on paper. He often will start giving me additional information-sometimes relevant and other times just something he's thinking of. Will's attitude about school is different this year - he is more social. I'm very proud of him!
Go over ideas, add new ones, then begin writing rough draft. Will is doing a good job...we are working on organizing his ideas and using specific, colorful words in his writing.
Clay did a great job with the worksheets today. He has a solid understanding of the different types of ssentneces and how to punctuate them. I gave him a run-on sentence worksheet and he had no problem identifying the problems and correcting them. I'm very pleased with his progress and effort.
Today we reviewed the five types of sentences we've been working on. Clay had no trouble with identifying each, but then I had him write 5 sets of 5 sentences, in which he had to write about each topic and use each type of sentence once. At first he thought it was impossible and looked at me like he was crazy. But once he started doing it, he realized it wasn't that hard. Being able to mix up his type of sentences is part of the mastery they look for in the fcat.
Introduce compare/contrast paragraph - explain/give examples. Discuss possible topics for writing assignment - select one. Next, brainstorm ideas...what are the likenesses/differences?
Will's topic is Cats/Dogs - we have a good list to work with and will write the rough draft next week. He was excited and came up with good ideas.
One of our goals is for Clay to be able to use a variety of sentences in his writing. Being able to mix simple, compound, and complex sentences together will enhance to flow of his writing which is something they look for on the FCAT. Clay did a great job recognizing independent and dependent clauses, and seemed to understand the concept of a complex sentence. We talked about the proper use of commas in each case and he did very well. I'm very pleased with his effort and progress thus far.
Go to computer lab and fininsh typing final copy of expository paragraph "How to Build a Lego Car". Wil did a good job! He seems pleased with the finished products and takes them home to show his mom. He is gaining confidence each day.
Clay has gotten the hang of compound sentences. He worte 10 perfect sentneces using different conjunctions which is a marked improvement from earlier in the week. I then gave him a proofreading exercise out of the workbook and he caught every mistake. Great work!
